michaelb

I’m thinking pike/musky are going to hit that thing ???

It is heavy and the plastic is thick, you need a good hookset, and so I would rig it with the hook point flush (and maybe work it around a bit to make sure it can move). Is this a belly weighted swimbait hook? that will keep it vertical and the point out of the weeds for the most part. This isn't your question, but I have switched to swimbait jig heads for skinny dippers for most of the time; they work well, are pretty weedless for the most part, and the hookset is instant and hard to miss. https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/VMC_Ike_Approved_Swimbait_Jig_Heads/descpage-MVCSBHD.html?from=BASRES

Are using a leader or just a snap swivel? I only use one swivel when i make a leader but most are sold with two, one on each end. I wonder if two good swivels would make a difference. I don’t have twist when i use a leader but i don’t have a rig solely for spinners. I have had twist trolling spoons when they get fouled up.

I don’t know what to call them apparently but i use skinny dippers as linked above. Several colors work but i am currently using white on a swimbait jighead. I also can’t say they are the best since there are so many others out there, but i like them better than the keitechs and they are bigger and more durable. Pike love these too.

The shearwater looks like a nice boat, but it is made overseas and may be slighter cheaper. Like J. Francho, my first thought was the Radar (which has been on the market for several years and may have been one of the very first with this option). The big rig option is also a very good choice. I think the Kaku Zulu is the coolest boat on the market. It may not be the right choice for you and you may not have been thinking of boats like that. If you were at all curious, you could call them and talk to them about it and its 500 lb capacity. There is an aspect to these boats of being able to self rescue, so if you fall off, can you get back on. I have several kayaks and several paddleboards, and I can do that will all of them. But there is a major difference between them, and getting back on a paddleboard is much much easier. So I think getting back on the Zulu (and boats like that) would be significantly easier then getting back on a bathtub shaped boat like a Hobie PA. The difference being exponential, so a 6" side wall vs a 3" is not twice as difficult, but 5x or 10x harder, something like that.

The paddle length can depend on your stroke angle, both that you are comfortable with and that is appropriate for the conditions, so with a high stroke you would use a shorter paddle and with a low stroke a longer paddle. I like werner paddles, so depending on your budget the skagit at $135 or for $315, the camano (low angle) or shuna (high angle); those come in 260-280 adjustable. finding those in stock may be tricky. I just upgraded to an adjustable camano, but haven't used it yet (from the skagit).

I have a boat but it is mostly a money pit that i keep running for my family and relatives. I would much rather fish off one of my kayaks. I have thought about rigging a rack so we could use the boat to haul the kayaks to places to fish. it is more fun and more challenging to fish on the kayak. You are right at the water level. You are alone on the boat. You have to figure out how to catch fish where you are or paddle/peddle yourself to somewhere else. You can haul the kayak to water that doesn’t have a trailer launch and also go to wild lakes that don’t have any motors.

This.

I use the ice extent daily sat image. Does your lake show up as visible there? You need to look on sunny days (today is cloudy). The high country still has snow but most lakes in the daks look clear yesterday. https://ge.ssec.wisc.edu/modis-today/index.php?satellite=t1&product=true_color&date=2021_04_04_094&overlay_sector=false&overlay_state=true&overlay_coastline=true&sector=USA4&resolution=250m

Yes you will. But with your water temps at 68 maybe you should learn to flip first. So go out with just a paddle and pfd and try to flip. Get out on edge, walk and turn around. It may be much harder to flip the boat than you think. once you are in the water you need a plan and you need to practice this. If the boat is turtled you probably need to reach under and grab the other side and pull it to you to get the boat up. Hopefully you can pull yourself back up. If not i think some hobie owners rig a sling to step on. this can be fun and is an essential skill to master.

It seems like this is more complicated than just buying keel weighted hook. So start with a 1/4 and try that. If you want to go light buy a 1/8 or if heavier get 3/8 or 1/2. But you are probably always going to want a 1/4. i like the vmc hooks.

I think for car topping, the weight and size of the kayak really does matter. So while I can do it, getting my 12' 75lb+ kayak on the roof is a challenge (I have a honda element, so have a very high roof though). My smaller and lighter 10' boats are pretty easy. I have a trailer now for my big boats. Given your height and weight, and the places you are thinking of paddling, you can reasonably consider the boats in 10.5 to 11 range. The 12 boats are faster and paddle better, but again, that size and weight makes a very large difference in heaving them around. I like the nucanoe's and think those are cool and useful boats. Another brand to consider is Crescent, so the brand new Venture for example. https://www.crescentkayaks.com/product/ck1-venture/

The boats you are looking at are not that similar, so I am not sure you have narrowed this down. there is a still a lot to think about. How big and tall are you? that matters for looking at the 10ft boats. If the plan is to use a trolling motor, the paddling speed doesn't matter, and you can look at the really fat boats that are super stable but would be terrible for paddling. So the F10 over the flint, as an example, or the F12 too (I know I am spending more $). It seems like stability/standing are a top priority and that makes sense. And not car topping or getting the boat to the lake, where weight/size would matter? How about the perception outlaw 11.5 as an idea? Yakgadget makes trolling motor mounts, that fit lots of boats with powerpole mounts. So that may expand what you are going to consider potentially. https://yakgadget.com/collections/trolling-motor-mounts

I don't have any direct advice, sorry, since I don't have a trolling motor on my kayak. But I have done many canoe camping trips that involving loading boats with gear and weight and paddling those in wind and waves. You have a big kayak with a trimmable seat. In the absence of a reason to do otherwise, I think the default would be to trim the boat as neutral as possible, and slide your seat to adjust if necessary. You are not paddling, so this matters less, but the boat will still run best if the trim is right. Trim "neutral" meaning you want the boat to be floating equally, so without more weight in the front or the back. So I would take your boat to a lake, and mount the motor and your heavy gear, and then figure out the best spot (almost certainly in the front) to put the battery to try to offset the weight of the motor.

This looks cool. What do you use usb for? Where is your phone mount?

I like the 4/0 or 5/0 ewg because the bigger hooks make releasing the fish easier if deeply hooked. I may switch to twist locks though because i do think the senko holds up and lasts longer.

I think 10' kayaks are too small for you and you should be looking at 12' boats. So I am no on the slayer 10 for that reason. The only reason to think about a 10' boat is for moving water on a river, basically running rapids where you need to spin the boat into turns. I have a tarpon 100 that I think is too small for me for open water, and I am 5'9". I would also buy a used boat solely on the boat, and not factor upgrades into that at all (unless that is a nice trolling motor or something worth real money). I don't have a peddle kayak and never tried one, but your original idea of the 120 PDL seems pretty good to me (if you don't want to jump up to a hobie). Natives are really good boats, just think you should be in the larger 12' model.

good choice, awesome boat, looking forward to some fishing pictures.

Yes leave them open and have fun. They drain water off the boat.

Peddling or paddling? I don’t know. Atak 140? Big rig? Nucanoe f12? I like the kaku zulu and that seems very stable. It is hard to trade off all the other qualities of a kayak form just for stability. If u are sitting these boats are going to be extremely stable.

One spec that is almost never listed and hard to figure out is the height of the seat. So for the OP here, the height at the elevated position on these various boats. I will go out and measure my kaku, but it is pretty low, so 4" or so. The bonafide at its top position looks really high. Since the coosa is designed for river running, my guess is that it is lower (even the replacement seats don't list this spec in the info). The higher the seat, the higher your center of gravity, but on these big boats they are stable enough to handle that. But every inch makes a big big difference in the ease of standing up. I have more trouble actually sitting back down carefully, so doing that gracefully is harder for me than the standing up part (particularly when I have a fish on). edit: the kaku wahoo seat height is 6.5”. So sweet spot maybe something like 8-11” or so.

Both are nice kayaks, and you should get what you really want since this is an upgrade for you. I agree that the higher seats can make standing easier (and so look at the various heights). I can step off my boat while standing up, but you have to be nimble enough to pull that off. So a high seat, and clean foot area to step in and out of can make that access easier. To me though, the real question is how twisty are your "creeks" and how many obstacles are you weaving around? The bonafide and in part the coosa are big 12' boats, and the bonafide isn't really designed to quickly turn on a dime. Is the current really slow, so you could use a push pole or stand up and paddle, or are you sitting the whole time? For creeks and small rivers, the nucanoe f10 or frontier 12 would be worth a look. They are very wide and would be stable, and offer an adjustable seat (and maybe with an option to have the seat rotate 360). The ATAK 120 could also be worth a look.

As noted, this does matter on a kayak. More when sitting than standing and more related to reach, than to overall height. So it is nice to have a rod where you can reach the tip while still holding the reel when seated. Also, when landing a fish, you need to able to get the fish to the side of the boat so you can lip it, net it or grab it, and that means you are probably holding your reel hand off to the other side of the boat.

They can work fine and are worth the money. Perfect for guests and children.

I use white when targeting bass and white chartreuse when targeting pike. But i am not sure if the fish know the difference.