As many have stated here, the Old Town 106 is a great stable kayak, but that really depends on how good you are at balancing yourself.. I personally have the athleticism of manatee and I'm still able to stand up and fish on the 106 PDL.

Hope that helps. 

 

 

You don't a Titan or a Pro Angler to get something stable. In fact, there are more stable kayaks than the PA14 for less money.

 

If you want a pedal, take a look at the Kaku Zulu with the pedal drive. It's a little above $2k, but probably the cheapest pedal kayak I'd consider too. My kid just got one, arrived yesterday. Haven't even got the chance to assemble the pedal drive and the rudder yet. You can add a blackpak or cooler or blackpak and small soft cooler behind the seat, and then a a YakGadget Lowpro Tray below the seat for more storage. Then add a YakAttack double header for a paddle holder and an Omega Pro rod holder on the double header for a place to quickly set your rod down. It's great to stand on and you can also sit on the back of the seat to fish so you sit super high and can sight fish.

 

If you want a paddle kayak that you can add a motor to later, the Old Town Sportsman 120 or even the 106 or Bonafide SS127 (what I used for the past few years) would be worth a look. The Bonafide is great because it allows for a center mounted fish finder and a really great setup. The Old Town is definitely faster and has better initial stability but maybe slightly worse secondary but still it's still top tier there too so I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I'm a big guy and I just got an Old Town Sportsman Bigwater 132PDL for this season. Not the most stable kayak, but if you're smart enough to not lean you won't flip it. I'll take the extra speed anyway, plus I have a bad back so I don't stand too long anyway. The Sportsman 120 PDL is the pontoon hull that is more stable, but also half the speed.

 

 

On 4/17/2024 at 10:29 AM, JayMac89 said:

Yeah i was just curious. I love my pedal drive. The biggest benefit for me and the way i fish is having hands free. 

 

I'll usually travel the bank, making casts. If I'm coming up on a good looking laydown I'll slow down, stop, swing back around if need be, yada yada yada. Then I'll stand and fish if I'm really picking a spot apart. My point is though i have a hand on a rod at all times outside of the split second it takes to make a slight steering adjustment. Other than that everything's done with feet/pedals. The TM powered yaks don't seem to suit that style of fishing. But again, lots of guys like them so maybe I'm missing somthing

For my kayak, which is a DIY stern mounted trolling motor, I pretty much do the same as you.  The difference being that instead of having to make slight steering adjustments, I'll have to make slight speed adjustments, since for me, my foot pedals control the steering, and I have to adjust the speed with my hands, instead of the opposite. 

 

An advantage to having a trolling motor over pedal power is you can have the trolling motor running while you stand and fish.   Without a programmable TM, it's not a huge advantage, as it's a pretty dumb system.  You just point and hope.  I mean, I do have a little control over it, as I can lean the kayak or position the rod during retrieve to steer the kayak a little bit.  But I can usually only get one, maybe two casts in before I have to reposition or adjust the motor or something.  Fishing is a lot easier if I stay seated and keep in constant contact with my foot pedals.  Typically, if I'm standing and fishing, I'll either anchor or drift.  A drift chute comes in really handy with this.  Especially if the current or wind runs parallel to the bank, so I can drift with it and maybe just adjust every once in a long while.  With an anchor trolley and a drift chute, you can fine tune it to keep you on path pretty well where you might not have to do anything until the bank, wind, or current changes direction.  

Academy (Magellan) just announced a new line of budget pedal kayaks. I'm interested to see reviews on those. Pretty inexpensive so they're cutting costs somewhere on it. 

Nucanoe unlimited is a great choice. Comes in a 10 amd 12 foot model