I’d say that’s excessive

[Koz]

I love the mods and gadgets on my kayak, but not this much. Someone put a complete Power Pro 2 unit on their kayak!

 

[MediumMouthBass]

Drew Gregory helped Crescent design the kayak i have now. I love my Shoalie, the way they made it fits me and my needs 100%. I bought it for several reasons, the most being his walkthrough video of it talking about how he wanted it made to be minimalistic, simple, all while being able to handle rivers.

 

Now the mans cruising around in a plastic boat. Wheres the live well?

[Susky River Rat]

Honestly I think what most the kayak guys do is excessive. If that’s what people want to spend their money on though have at it.

[FryDog62]

My kayak electronics (Livescope/360 Imaging) is probably thought of excessive by many… and yet, I have no desire for Power Poles… 

[Koz]

1 hour ago, FryDog62 said:

My kayak electronics (Livescope/360 Imaging) is probably thought of excessive by many… and yet, I have no desire for Power Poles… 

I gave brief consideration to the Power Pole Micro but I couldn’t justify the cost.

 

It would take a 50%+ discount for me to consider it again.

[casts_by_fly]

I'm in the same place on the micro.  I seriously considered it, but a lot of the places I'd want to pole down the boat is in 12+' of water...  So the number of places that it would actually be useful for me is less than 'all of my lakes'.  If it was half the price then sure.  For $350 or so as a part time used item I'd have it.  But not $700.

 

I've also watched for used versions to come up on marketplace or other.  There are SO many scams run with them its unreal.

[kjfishman]

The big advantage of kayak fishing for me is the ability to fish places you can't easily go with a big boat.  If your kayak gets so big or heavy with accessories  that you have to trailer then you lose that advantage. I kayak fish out of a sit in Old Town Loon 126 with a Lowrance 5" fishfinder that can easily put in the bed of my truck.  Start adding motors and power poles and you need to trailer it.

 

[Alex from GA]

There are live wells in kayaks.  When we were tagging bass the leader has a big Jackson kayak with a live well in the center.  BTW Drew designed the Jackson Coosa for the rivers he fishes.  

[Swamp Girl]

On 11/7/2024 at 6:29 AM, kjfishman said:

The big advantage of kayak fishing for me is the ability to fish places you can't easily go with a big boat.

 

Yep. And a canoe is often even lighter. 

[TnRiver46]

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

Yep. And a canoe is often even lighter. 

Much lighter! My canoe is heavier than yours but 53 lbs (aluminum). My wife’s kayak weighs in at around a sports hernia (89 lbs). I’ve got a pretty good method for cartopping it that I developed out of necessity, it involves a pivot and you need a car you don’t mind scratching and denting. The canoe I can easily pick up and set on the rails 

 

 

both are much easier to toss into the bed of my truck but the Honda mpg is much nicer 

[Bigbox99]

On 12/16/2024 at 12:25 PM, TnRiver46 said:

Much lighter! My canoe is heavier than yours but 53 lbs (aluminum). My wife’s kayak weighs in at around a sports hernia (89 lbs). I’ve got a pretty good method for cartopping it that I developed out of necessity, it involves a pivot and you need a car you don’t mind scratching and denting. The canoe I can easily pick up and set on the rails 

 

 

both are much easier to toss into the bed of my truck but the Honda mpg is much nicer 

Check out rack extenders.  They let you load a kayak or other large object one side at a time while the other end rests on the ground or rack.  I can one hand load my 77 pound kayak with ease.   I use a $130 Rhino rack thing but you can probably make something for dirt cheap.

[padon]

For you guys that could use a power pole but dont want to spend the money check out bernies river stick. its basically a manuaal power pole. very clean mount , works very well and is much less expensive. he makes custom mounts depending on your kayak weather you run a motor or not.

[RLinNH]

I keep going back and forth in my head on whether or not I want to install a motor on my Hobie PA14. The thing is heavy enough as it is. Now add a trolling motor to the bow and a battery and she'll be right at around 135lbs. But the convenience of one sure would be nice... See the dilema?🤪

[Koz]

1 hour ago, RLinNH said:

I keep going back and forth in my head on whether or not I want to install a motor on my Hobie PA14. The thing is heavy enough as it is. Now add a trolling motor to the bow and a battery and she'll be right at around 135lbs. But the convenience of one sure would be nice... See the dilema?🤪

A motor adds a whole new world of fishing. Most notably for me, I could fish longer periods of time and not be worn out from pedaling. That alone made a huge difference when it came time to load up at the ramp.

 

What you need to decide is if you want a bow mount motor or stern mount. With the bow mount the benefit is getting a motor with spot lock.

 

With the stern mount you lose spot lock, but you gain more speed. It’s also better for river fishing and can be better in heavy weeds. You can use your pedal drive in place of spot lock.

 

Good luck with your decision.

[J Francho]

And I've been sticking a stake through my scupper holes for two decades when it could be this simple 😂

[Darren.]

Excessive is in the eye of the beholder. For me,

two power poles on a yak is excessive. That said,

give me a motor on a yak every day of the week! 😁

 

Absolutely love my motorized yak setup.

[Standard]

On 11/5/2024 at 6:21 PM, Koz said:

I gave brief consideration to the Power Pole Micro but I couldn’t justify the cost.

 

It would take a 50%+ discount for me to consider it again.

 

It all depends on where you fish.  I primarily fish shallow rivers and the micro power pole is a game changer.  I think I'd give up the pedal drive before the power pole.  

[Cuivre]

I have a stern drive on my Coosa FD, along with the pedals, but I added 2 Anchor Wizards/drop points able to be deployed either from the bow or stern, depending on the need and wind direction.  On some lakes, I found myself subconsciously sabotaging myself by not moving, due to the effort it would take to move to another spot, then return.  With a motor, that is no longer a barrier and the only cost is the time to get there.  Even then, I can move between 4.5-5 mph with Torq Ultralight 403.  It also helps with instantaneous steering, vs relying on a rudder.  

[Brian11719]

On 12/22/2024 at 10:11 AM, J Francho said:

And I've been sticking a stake through my scupper holes for two decades when it could be this simple

plus think of all the money you could be spending. I've got a pdl 106 (similar to that one) and don't use one either...just pedal backwards a bit if need be but I can keep it pretty still and it seems like the spots I'd really want to stay still at (docks around the big lake) would be too deep for one anyway. Plus I use the power pole slot on mine to help strap it down when I car top it...I've considered a small anchor but I actually like to keep my setup relatively simple and haven't had enough of a need to even justify buying that yet.

[Koz]

3 minutes ago, Brian11719 said:

plus think of all the money you could be spending. I've got a pdl 106 (similar to that one) and don't use one either...just pedal backwards a bit if need be but I can keep it pretty still and it seems like the spots I'd really want to stay still at (docks around the big lake) would be too deep for one anyway. Plus I use the power pole slot on mine to help strap it down when I car top it...I've considered a small anchor but I actually like to keep my setup relatively simple and haven't had enough of a need to even justify buying that yet.

In some ways I do miss my pedal kayak. It became intuitive to jog the pedals and bump the rudder to stay in place while still fishing.

 

With spot lock I need to first position myself properly in the wind or current, and many time that means looping around where I want to fish to get in position. Other times it’s simply impossible to spot lock where I want to fish because it’s card to fish off the back of the kayak sitting down in a fixed seat. I am getting better at standing. Maybe I need to look into a swivel seat.

[Brian11719]

8 minutes ago, Koz said:

In some ways I do miss my pedal kayak. It became intuitive to jog the pedals and bump the rudder to stay in place while still fishing.

I actually got into bass fishing because I tried pedal kayaking and really liked it but then felt like I needed something to do with my hands. The bass fishing slowly took over and years later I fish from the shore over half the time but still like taking the kayak out when I can. The pedal drives are also one of my favorite things about the old town models...not sure I would like one of the ones where you can't just pedal backwards and immediately back up...also less noisy than a motor which can be nice and sometimes I can pickup a school of shad on my poor mans fish finder (helix 5 that I'm actually happy with) and then cast out and slowly go backwards right back over them again...I suppose the exercise probably doesn't hurt either.

[KYKBassing]

On 12/26/2024 at 9:53 AM, Standard said:

 

It all depends on where you fish.  I primarily fish shallow rivers and the micro power pole is a game changer.  I think I'd give up the pedal drive before the power pole.  

Same here. I mainly fish the back waters of the Mississippi and it works perfectly. Pull up to a spot, anchor and stand up to pick it apart.  Won’t leave the ramp without it.
 

Deeper water is constantly busy with boat traffic, I try to avoid that as much as possible.

[FishTank]

On 12/22/2024 at 8:46 AM, RLinNH said:

I keep going back and forth in my head on whether or not I want to install a motor on my Hobie PA14. The thing is heavy enough as it is. Now add a trolling motor to the bow and a battery and she'll be right at around 135lbs. But the convenience of one sure would be nice... See the dilema?🤪

 

I have a Motorguide Xi3 on my PA14 and it's been great so far but it does have a few odd ball things with it. The GPS isn't always perfect so anchor mode can be challenging. You also need to reinforce the install as the screws that old the plate in are not enough. And there is the cost, around $2000 when it's all said and done.  With that said, I don't know if I could fish without it know. It was a game changer. 

[RLinNH]

1 hour ago, FishTank said:

 

I have a Motorguide Xi3 on my PA14 and it's been great so far but it does have a few odd ball things with it. The GPS isn't always perfect so anchor mode can be challenging. You also need to reinforce the install as the screws that old the plate in are not enough. And there is the cost, around $2000 when it's all said and done.  With that said, I don't know if I could fish without it know. It was a game changer. 

     That's just it. All said and done, it would be around $2800 to add a Minn Kota to the bow of my PA14. At that price point, I can just purchase an Old Town Sportsman Autopilot 136. Sooooo, holding off for right now until I make my mind up.

[FishTank]

15 minutes ago, RLinNH said:

     That's just it. All said and done, it would be around $2800 to add a Minn Kota to the bow of my PA14. At that price point, I can just purchase an Old Town Sportsman Autopilot 136. Sooooo, holding off for right now until I make my mind up.

 

I've seen guys running the Bixby motors and the ones Newport. Not sure how they are setup but they are moving faster than me.