Cobra Fish and Dive VS. Tarpon 140

'creeks,
my normal ride is an OK T15... its max load out is rated around 450lbs. i've not even come close to that yet. it's sleek, and probably with a far better paddler, respectably fast for a SOT. i make a mistake with it, it lets me know, real quick.

in Hawaii this past summer, was graciously loaned an older FnD. i used to think, yeh yeh, slow chubby sloppy. well, slow and chubby turned out to be me. and there weren't no sloppy in that boat. i paddled 3 miles out of Hale'iwa Harbor, and when things got too choppy for this fat boy, the boat was fine.. i never once felt in danger out there on it.

have to also remember, it's 99% the paddler, and 1 % the boat. plenty of good people go past the breakers with that model and do very well with it.

Since this is your first kayak any you like both models, I'd go about this in a different way if I were you.

Get both! 

No, seriously! 

Get your Tarpon for you, first.  Get it all set up for what you wanna do solo.  Play with it a few months or at least till the weather and water warm back up.   Then talk your finance department into letting you pick up a family oriented yak to play with as well.  Go look for a new or used FnD to add to your yak pile.

Maybe down the road I'll had a second boat, but for now, I gotta stick to just one.  I am leaning heavily towards the Fish N Dive.  For you FND folks, what's your choice in paddles for these boats?  Paddle length, blade width, etc?  I am 6'2 and about 195(ish) and am in pretty good shape but still a neophyte paddler.  Any recommendations?

Maybe down the road I'll had a second boat, but for now, I gotta stick to just one.  I am leaning heavily towards the Fish N Dive.  For you FND folks, what's your choice in paddles for these boats?  Paddle length, blade width, etc?  I am 6'2 and about 195(ish) and am in pretty good shape but still a neophyte paddler.  Any recommendations?

It sounds like we a pretty well Matched in size/fitness (6'2 X 185), and I currently use the Cobra Powerflex that I got with the boat in I think a 220cm. It works really well for pushing me around, but it is as much of a hog as the boat. I'm looking to buy either a Werner Shuna or Corryvrecken. I found my personal preference for moving her about to be big, long, slow paced vertical strokes. I have tried a couple of paddles and techniques, but this just seems to be what works for me and my F'n'D.

Power Flex
http://www.actionwatersports.com/images/kayak/acc/dlxpaddle.jpg

Corryvrecken
http://www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/touring/premium/corryvrecken/

Shuna
http://www.wernerpaddles.com/paddles/touring/premium/shuna/

Thanks for the input thus far.  I was pretty set on the Tarpon 140 but I really like the jump seat / extra width and stability of the Fish N Dive.  Of course I've heard about it's barge like qualities.  I have a couple of little ones that love to fish but aren't old or big enough to paddle their own boats.  The extra seat and stability of the Fish N Dive do strike a chord with me especially if I have a stow-away on board.  I loved the Tarpon I paddled ('09) model.  But I wondered if it had enough stability for a stow-away.  Anyways, thanks again. 

I as well have two of the Fish N Dive's.  Disclaimer: I have only had them out a few times thus far.   
I agree with the others on the large boat to lug "paddle" around and the difficult to turn.  One thing that I have noticed and I am sure it is the same issue with other yak's that have the extra position in the front is that if you get someone that is too heavy in the front it is a real workout to get it to turn.  I haven’t had much of a problem with my 10 year old but when I had my 14 year old up there I noticed it to be a bit more challenging.  Now don’t say anything to the misses but when I had her up there I thought that I was going to die.  :-[Disclaimer: In the case she does find out she really isn’t large and weigh's about the same as me.    Now I have yet to do it but what I would like to do is get something set up behind me so that one of my sons can sit back there up out of the water and more comfortable.  Just having them back there (even though right now it is not comfortable to them) makes it much easier to maneuver.   

When/if you do end up getting a new fish n dive.  Make absolutely sure that you have them put extra shipping protection on the sides, front, and back of the kayak.  The way mine came in was wrapped in a thin layer of card board and then in plastic that may of been about 6 mils.  Both kayaks came in with a couple gouges on the side edges from shipping.  Nothing went thru the hull of course, but still quite disappointing.   

Good luck!

Any f-n-divers out there with a pic or two of a "rigged" kayak?  I'm a minimalist at heart so will probably stick to a couple of rods/holders, plano w/rod rack, ff w/gps, flare gun, whistle,, and marine handheld radio.  I would love to see how you all put one together.

I have mine rigged fairly simple.  The less clutter and crap to break or get in the way is best if you plan to fish the salt often IMO.

I have one rod holder on a RAM mount midships, with a mount for my VHF attached, a depth finder on a RAM mount, a Plano box shackled down in the back with 3 rod "rocket launcher style holders" on the back of the Plano. Also a mount on the top of the Plano for moving the the front rod holder back for trolling (3rd pic)

This is my third and final config. First I had my FF and trolling rod holder on my large hatch, but that made it cumbersome to use on the water. Then I tried the Rod holder on the angled cutout on my rail (the silver screws in the pic), but this got in the way of me paddling. Here is what finally worked. My daughter is still plenty comfy in the front seat as well. I haven't put her in the water with the new config, but I had her climb aboard in the garage. I just remove the 8" extension, and her feet straddle the rod holder and fish finder. She also has plenty of room to sit cross legged, plus she now has the rod holder in a place easy for her to reach. It's easy for me to reach in a hurry as well thanks to the stable ride of the boat. My seat has two water bottle pockets, and a gear pack where you can stuff air horns, flare guns, or whatever. Don't forget about the round hatch right in front of you as well. The other two rod holder you see near my seat are for my flyrods. I moved them back closer to my flush mounts, so they do not interfere with my paddling.

PPaddler that's just the sickest setup! No frills, everything where it needs to be, fish killing machine. If I wasn't addicted to pedals I'd be riding one of them.

Z

PPaddler that's just the sickest setup! No frills, everything where it needs to be, fish killing machine. If I wasn't addicted to pedals I'd be riding one of them.

Z

Those Pedals are looking really tempting these days... I can see one in my future

Those Pedals are looking really tempting these days... I can see one in my future

You've been warned salmonids!! 

Z

Thanks fellas for the pics, great set-ups.  Ok, gotta ask PP, I assume that's a small piece of stainless that acts as a base to your ram mount for your FF?  Its it gooped and bolted or just gooped?  Both of your yaks look perfect.  All the essentials without the clutter.  Thanks again.

The plate the finder is bolted to is thru bolted to a slightly larger plate inside the yak.  I was worried about it being secure and might have over done it a little

hey, nothing wrong with that.. a little robust engineering is always a good thing.   

have yet to surf launch mine, but I can't imagine what it would take to turn her over.

I've had my F&D since 1992. I'm low budget, so minimalist by default. F&D is very forgiving in the surf. I haven't purled endo , but if you lose your brace & get sideways in a wave w/o lowering center of gravity quickly by leaning way back, you will roll. don't ask me how I know.  As far as turning, it's all in technique (brace, combo of forward paddle - back paddle, port - starboard variation works well for me).  When tracking in current, I find myself paddling more on one side than the other with some bracing, NBD. Wind is a big deal. Quartering has a tendency to push the bow sideways; easier for me to paddle directly into it but still wears me out. Don't expect to lead the pack when paddling a F&D. Although the Hobie looks tempting $$$$, I would probably buy an updated F&D rigged similar to PP, Spot, & Ravda.