Looking for a new 2nd boat.

I'm looking for input.  My main concerns are stability and paddle ability in big water, Needs to be able to make decent headway in wind and current.  Is it true that you have to sacrifice stability to gain speed?  I want a faster boat but man I push it to the limits in the conditions I fish and like being comfortable landing fish in windy conditions.  Lets keep Hobie out of the discussion for now since they aren't in my price range as a rule.

Those Fish n Dives sound interesting but they seem shorter than I would favor.

Any feedback ins a appreciated. 

Fish and Dive and speed are rarely used in the same sentence  .  Very stable but not fast, think of them as the 3/4 ton pickup of the kayak world.  I think one of the Ocean kayaks is what you are looking for.

OhB,
BoogieD was gracious back in '09 and loaned me his FnD for use in that years Papio Open at Haleiwa, North Shore. Around 1030 in the morning, the waters within 2 miles of shore turned into a washing machine, and i had a dickens of a time paddling to the beach.  Trust me, while it's a great boat for low n slow, it's not a boat for heavy or sketchy waters.

 Stable,? yes. Slow? definitely. It's a great boat for more protected waters, but not what would be my choice for the waters you normally fish.

An OK Trident 13 or one of the older Prowler models would fit that bill.

The scupper pro I just saw posted here by photosenior would also work

When we finally connect you should drive my t13 and see what you think.

OhB,
BoogieD was gracious back in '09 and loaned me his FnD for use in that years Papio Open at Haleiwa, North Shore. Around 1030 in the morning, the waters within 2 miles of shore turned into a washing machine, and i had a dickens of a time paddling to the beach.  Trust me, while it's a great boat for low n slow, it's not a boat for heavy or sketchy waters.

 Stable,? yes. Slow? definitely. It's a great boat for more protected waters, but not what would be my choice for the waters you normally fish.

Can't say I agree with this but we all get our own opinions.  I've had fish n dives in some of the roughest conditions I've ever fished and they handled very well.  If they'd put a mirage dive in a Fish and Dive its would be my only kayak

Is OK Mr. Ron, like you say, we all have our opinions.

Looking back at that, maybe i should have quantified it by adding that it all depends on the paddler and their comfort level. When i start hitting 4-6 feet at 7-8 seconds, it's time for the old "drizzle, drazzle, drozzle, drone, time for this one to go home" routine for me. I'm not comfortable in that.

OK, thanks fellow fishaholics.  I'll take you up on that Rev.

So I just looked at the Scupper Pro, you boys think that will do the job, looks to be a good deal.

So I just looked at the Scupper Pro, you boys think that will do the job, looks to be a good deal.

It can be a bit squirrely, but that's a damn quick boat.  You sit kinda low so your butt might be wet, but you get a lower center of gravity in return.  Add some thigh straps to it and it's about as close to a sit-inside as you can get as far as sit-on-tops go. 

Thanks Rawkfish, by squirrely what do you mean.  I like the idea of low-profile and speed but there's the rub I think, if I'm sideways to the wind trying to land a sizable fish am I likely to stay upright in winds over 10mp?  Still having a fast boat would be a plus for sure.

It can be sort of tippy.  It doesn't have the best primary stability.  But that goes back to what's been mentioned already in this thread.  It's all about tradeoffs.  It has been a while since I've been in a Scupper Pro and I never attempted to land any big fish off of it when I had one.  I wouldn't say that you'll be very comfortable trying to land a big fish in sloppy conditions though.  Best thing you can do is try it out if that is possible. 

Of all the boats I've owned or paddled I think the OK Prowler/Trident is a good mix of speed and stability (unless you went with the Prowler Big Game, in which case you'll just be getting stability).  Only paddled one twice and it's been awhile but I recall the Wilderness Systems Ride feeling fast for it's girth

Thanks for all the feedback, think I'm gonna give the "fast boat" a try, can always swap it out if I don't like it, still have the stable slow boat.