.

What type of water do you fish 90% of the time (ponds, small reservoirs, huge reservoirs, rivers, creeks, etc.)? Also, how do you plan to transport your kayak?

I fish lakes and ill transport it on the back of a small ford ranger pickup. 

You can probably find a Commander 140 used for around that.  It's a hybrid with a high capacity.I use it with gear, myself (160) and my 9 year old (85) with no issues.  Plus, you will have no trouble learning to stand and fish from it.

 

Has anybody tried the Pelican catch 120?

Check out the Vibe Sea Ghost 130. It's a really nice kayak for the price man. 

350+ when I bought my first kayak (280ish now and losing)... I bought a Ride 115.

At your size, you'll be fine in almost any of the 'major brand' fishing kayaks.  That said, try to find an event where you can go and paddle as many boats as possible. You'll be surprised what insignificant-seeming design element in Brand X will drive you insane with frustration, while Brand Y's seemingly insignificant design element will make your heart sing.

Always wear a PFD.  Have fun.

The more I look into it and the more brands I see the more I think 1000 bucks ain't gonna cut it. I like the wilderness ride 115 tho it's seems like that's the kind of boat I want.

If you have a local dealer check out their demo models.  I bought my Jackson Cuda 12' with a rudder for right around that price as a demo model.  The above advice to paddle as many boats as you can is also great advice. 

4 hours ago, Cheesefrank said:

Wilderness makes the Perception boats. It's the same boat but without the bells and whistles and they are also cheaper. You can get the perception version of the ride at a lower price. 

Thanks for the replys I'm gonna do my homework and stay within my budget. One thing is for sure I'll be saying goodbye to bank fishing soon enough!

The new Vibe Sea ghost looks awesome at that price point.

Check out the Diablo Amigo too.

11 hours ago, Cheesefrank said:

Thanks for the replys I'm gonna do my homework and stay within my budget. One thing is for sure I'll be saying goodbye to bank fishing soon enough!

That's what keeps me humble and grateful. I remind myself of the tough days on the shore. Also, I remind myself not to act like the boat guys. LOL 

If you go with the Ride I suspect you may be able to pickup a 115 for under your budget. Wilderness Systems has several new kayaks coming out in early 2017 and I am betting that the Ride series winds up getting phased out down the road. Shop around and give the suppliers a call, I would expect one of them can make you a deal.

p.s. - I transport my 115 in a Chevy S-10, one of the reasons I went with a 11.5' kayak, easy on and off the water leads to more frequent fishing trips

 

The Ride 115 fishes "bigger" than it's spec length, meaning, lots of room, storage, and tracks well.

Also as a heads up, the bigger boats (Big Rig, Lure 13.5, ATAK, etc), while they have a ton of space, features, and can hold a ton of weight, can be pretty rough to get on top of a car/truck if you're heading out alone.  I bought a heavily discounted Lure 13.5, and while it has some awesome perks, getting it onto/off of a car easily is not one of them. 

I've got a fully loaded big rig with a truck bed extender. Let me tell ya, if your not on level ground it can be a real pain. There are some lakes I won't even attempt because of the steep banks. Even steep ramps can be a big pain.

I would highly recommend paddling as many boats as you can as well.  I was fully planning on ordering a feel free lure.  After reading a lot of recommendations to test paddle as many as possible, a friend and I decided to drive 4 hours to hook1 in Tennessee because they were the closest place that had a wide variety of fishing kayaks to demo.....and I am very glad we did. The kayak I was planning on getting was my least favorite that I paddled. It saved me a lot of money and frustration.  All were quality kayaks but some just fit your needs better than others.

The ride 115 is a great boat, like mentioned before wildy makes perception kayaks check out the pescador pro 120 it's definitely in your budget and one heck of a boat. Like J Francho said also a used commander will do well also. 

I would suggest though going and test paddling each kayak and every brand also. Even though I'm on the wilderness prostaff I would still suggest check out some of the competitions boats paddle both wildy and Jackson or what ever brand and then make your decision. 

 

You could always wait till January and I'll be selling a ATAK 140 I'll give you a good deal haha, I'm upgrading to the radar and or the ATAK 120 

Absolutely best way is to get yourself in
as many kayaks as possible before putting
down your hard-earned $$ on one.

We all have favorites, but we're also different
body types, have different desires as for 
what we are looking for in a yak.

For me, I wanted a hybrid and it was between
the WS Commander and the Native Ultimate.
I got to sit in each and felt *for me* the Ultimate
was the better fit. Both are excellent hybrids.

Just about every brand makes great fishing yaks
now-a-days.

15 hours ago, venom said:

I would highly recommend paddling as many boats as you can as well.  I was fully planning on ordering a feel free lure.  After reading a lot of recommendations to test paddle as many as possible, a friend and I decided to drive 4 hours to hook1 in Tennessee because they were the closest place that had a wide variety of fishing kayaks to demo.....and I am very glad we did. The kayak I was planning on getting was my least favorite that I paddled. It saved me a lot of money and frustration.  All were quality kayaks but some just fit your needs better than others.

 

@venom What did you end up going with?

2 hours ago, bholtzinger14 said:

 

@venom What did you end up going with?

I narrowed it down to the ride 115x max, Jackson cuda, and Coosa hd.   Thought the ride was the best combination of stability, speed/ease of paddling, and tracking for me. Plus I could take one with me right away, whereas I would have had to wait about a month to get either Jackson so it was an easy decision.  Now I just need these 100 degree days to go away so I can really put it to use.

Post some pics when you get it rigged up.

No doubt 

Have you thought about a small jon boat instead.Sometimes you can get some decent 14 foot jons and a trailer cheap. That with a trolling motor and battery might work out  for you. My first boat was a 12 foot jon set  up that way without a trailer and 3 people fished out of it an a reservoir. Of course we were all high school kids at the time.