Kayakers, I'd like to hear your opinions on the Fluxjet Kayak releasing soon.  I would provide a link but I know forums have certain rules when it comes to brand names and promoting things, to which this post certainly is not.  I am teetering on pulling the trigger, but I would like current kayaker opinions.

 

Quick background.  I had a Hobie at one time but about 10-ish years ago, I bought a boat.  It was fun but I sold it this year.  In my area of SE Pa, the number of places available to fish from a boat are limited so with my personality, you can only fish the same place so many times and I got bored, so I moved on.

 

So here I am looking for a kayak to fish from.  The Fluxjet is really attractive to me as I have MANY miles of river available in my area to fish where boats cannot go but a kayak surely can, especially one that can go through a few inches of water.  It's new though and I've been an early adopter of many products in the past, and I know the headaches that can sometimes create.

I visited the website. It's a good price, but at 11', 88 pounds is pretty heavy. Would you tow it?

It is clearly not designed for the maneuverability needed for river fishing, especially among rocks.  For rivers in SE Pennsylvania, you’d be better off with a real kayak and paddle.  

 

Advantages

•A kayak/motor combination at only 88 pounds is very light. Compare that to an Autopilot 120 with motor at 152 pounds. Younger/stronger guys can just toss it in the back of a truck. 

•$3000 for both a kayak and motor is cheap - again in comparison to an Autopilot 120 at $4500.

 

•Very fast at 7 mph with the 36 volt battery. Compare that to an AP120 at 3.7 mph. 
 

•Drafts only a few inches of water, no prop to drag in the shallows. 
 

Disadvantages

•No spot-lock unless you add a second motor in the bow. 
 

•It reportedly has a weedless impeller, but it will be interesting to get real world reports from people on this aspect. 

•It’s a new product with unknown bugs/warranty/customer service support.

———————————————————-

Overall, a pretty interesting rig - I’m trying to talk a friend into buying one, to throw on top of my current yak/trailer so I can fish with a partner more often. It’s relatively light, inexpensive, fast and easy to transport..

 

 

 

 

It’s more of a recreational kayak than a fishing kayak despite how the are marketing it.

 

Sure, the added speed would be great. It may ride well on smooth water, but how well will that jetting concept work on lakes with lots of wakes and waves?

 

What happens if it sucks in weeds, leaves, and sticks?

 

If I need to get in really skinny water in my Autopilot I just pull

up my motor and paddle.

 

I just don’t see the pros outweighing the cons with this one.

3 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I visited the website. It's a good price, but at 11', 88 pounds is pretty heavy. Would you tow it?

Yes, I have space in my garage to back a trailer in and plug in the charger just like my old boat.

 

 

3 hours ago, OldManLure said:

It is clearly not designed for the maneuverability needed for river fishing, especially among rocks.  For rivers in SE Pennsylvania, you’d be better off with a real kayak and paddle

Your perspective seems opposite of mine.  It can turn on it's own radius, something my Hobie could not do.  What are you seeing that I am not?

 

@FryDog62 the advantages you listed are things that are attracting me to it.  The disadvantages, it has been weed tested so that gives me more confidence than say a pedal prop drive or tm.  I had spot lock on my boat, I got so use to toe tapping that button when hooking a fish that I found myself toe tapping the shoreline when pond fishing, LOL.  The new company thing is a concern, as said in my original post, I've early adopted many products, they come with their own nuances.

 

24 minutes ago, Kayak Koz said:

If I need to get in really skinny water in my Autopilot I just pull

up my motor and paddle

 

This is of interest to me.  If you are in say a 2 MPH current, I know that would be really fast, how hard or easy do you find paddling upstream in say 8" of water.  I know, just get out and pull the kayak but how does paddling do in that situation?

 

 

Thank you for all of the responses.  Keep them coming.  I know I am buying a kayak, I just need to figure out which one.  I do want the propulsion to be battery powered and I do not plan on installing any electronics but I will never say never on that.  Like I said earlier, I am an early adopter and had livescope for 4-5 years.  Great tech, it taught me a ton! but I've watched it make fish scatter as they've become use to it now.  My intent is for river fishing, I doubt it will make a visit to Blue Marsh, Beltzville or even Nox.  Marsh and Leaser, maybe?

I fish the river out of a jet boat. Here are my two cents coming from a jet boat owner and not a kayak owner. 
 

jets are very inefficient. How long will you be able to do 7mph in current?

 

Jets handle best up and running on plane. Not only is that what lets us get through 3” of water it keeps us from sucking up gravel and other debris on the bottom. Jets not on plane handle like a wet noodle. 

 

How will this handle sucking up debris? It maybe weed less (I personally don’t trust that) how will it hold up to leaves, gravel, stones, nuts, bolts, anything else the vacuum on the bottom will pick up?

 

how durable is it? 7mph doesn’t sound fast till you hit something I promise that will change your mind. You won’t have the vantage point of seeing stuff you would from a boat.

 

Safety! How stable is it? What happens if you start spinning in a rock shoot with it? Can the motor take an impact and not fail?  Does it come with a clearing device on the grate so if it does get clogged you can unclog it?

@Susky River Rat great points. I can only go off of what the engineer of the company states at this point. I can say that they have categorically addressed your points, other than the spin but video reviews by testers will be coming out in a few weeks. I can see through video reviews like a hawk so I’ll have my ears and eyes wide open for bias.

14 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I visited the website. It's a good price, but at 11', 88 pounds is pretty heavy. Would you tow it?

Says it’ll take any group 31 battery, a 36v lithium will add another 30-40 lbs.

 

@Craig P there is lakes and there is rivers than there is the susky. Unless you are talking more about using it in the skook. Which I really do not have much experience.  There is no way you won’t trash impellers. I sharpen mine often 

59 minutes ago, padlin said:

Says it’ll take any group 31 battery, a 36v lithium will add another 30-40 lbs.

 

 

My comment about weight was the length-to-weight ratio. It's only 11' long. That's a pretty short boat. its weight would overwhelm me even without the battery.

 

Heck, at this point, I can barely manage my 32-pound canoe. 

Just now, Susky River Rat said:

@Craig P there is lakes and there is rivers than there is the susky. Unless you are talking more about using it in the skook. Which I really do not have much experience.  There is no way you won’t trash impellers. I sharpen mine often 

My interest is the Skook.  Susky is about 2 hours from me.  I never say never but in owning a boat for about 10 years, I never made the trip to the Susky with it.  I do have a ton of experience on the Schuykill with boats as well as the Hobie I had.  With a boat on the Skook though, you are very limited with how far you can go and prop damage is very real thing.

17 minutes ago, Craig P said:

prop damage is very real thing.

Impeller damage on a jet isn’t really talked about. It’s very real and causes major issues. I lost an impeller blade on my intake over the summer. It’s a worse situation than damaging a prop. Remember a jet is nothing more than a vacuum. At least a prop pushes you.  One little nick in an impeller will take you from 7mph to 4 real quick. 

43 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

Impeller damage on a jet isn’t really talked about. It’s very real and causes major issues. I lost an impeller blade on my intake over the summer. It’s a worse situation than damaging a prop. Remember a jet is nothing more than a vacuum. At least a prop pushes you.  One little nick in an impeller will take you from 7mph to 4 real quick. 

I have never worked on a jet impeller so I only understand it in theory. The fluxjet electric one is contained within a housing and then that housing is contained in a space covered with a guard. I can’t see it being easily damaged.

 

For my wants, I see a prop motor as not being able to meet the want other than pulling up the “X” brand electric motor or even pedal drive and paddling.

 

I’ve thought about just buying a cheap kayak and doing drifts down the river, we did that as kids with inflatable rafts, was fun for sure but you can’t thoroughly fish it that way. 

Looking at the promotional videos the boat isn’t stable standing, too narrow the guy is doing his best but very wobbly. The concept is good and second or third generation probably improve the kayak or it’s gone!

Tom

PS, recreational the kayak needs to offer a 2 seater.

I hope it works out for you. I just have a lot of reservations about it. Just remember you are reading a sales pitch. 
 

My honest opinion is just suck in general. It’s just the best tool for where I fish. 

18 minutes ago, Susky River Rat said:

I hope it works out for you. I just have a lot of reservations about it. Just remember you are reading a sales pitch. 

I’m not fully committed.  I’m doing a lot of research right now to figure out the best tool for the job. “Sales” wise, it makes many promises and checks off all the boxes for me if true. Videos releasing in the next few months will tell the tale I hope. 

 

I do appreciate the input from you and others on this thread.  It makes me think of other aspects than just fishing the Skook but getting over skinny spots on the Skook is huge for me. 

On 12/14/2025 at 11:59 PM, Craig P said:

Yes, I have space in my garage to back a trailer in and plug in the charger just like my old boat.

 

 

Your perspective seems opposite of mine.  It can turn on it's own radius, something my Hobie could not do.  What are you seeing that I am not?

 

@FryDog62 the advantages you listed are things that are attracting me to it.  The disadvantages, it has been weed tested so that gives me more confidence than say a pedal prop drive or tm.  I had spot lock on my boat, I got so use to toe tapping that button when hooking a fish that I found myself toe tapping the shoreline when pond fishing, LOL.  The new company thing is a concern, as said in my original post, I've early adopted many products, they come with their own nuances.

 

 

This is of interest to me.  If you are in say a 2 MPH current, I know that would be really fast, how hard or easy do you find paddling upstream in say 8" of water.  I know, just get out and pull the kayak but how does paddling do in that situation?

 

 

Thank you for all of the responses.  Keep them coming.  I know I am buying a kayak, I just need to figure out which one.  I do want the propulsion to be battery powered and I do not plan on installing any electronics but I will never say never on that.  Like I said earlier, I am an early adopter and had livescope for 4-5 years.  Great tech, it taught me a ton! but I've watched it make fish scatter as they've become use to it now.  My intent is for river fishing, I doubt it will make a visit to Blue Marsh, Beltzville or even Nox.  Marsh and Leaser, maybe?

I don’t fish rivers in my Autopilot, but I will push up creek channels. If I do have to paddle at some point, I am also usually able to find a pool to spot lock.

 

If river fishing is your thing, you’re better off with a Hobie fin pedal drive and a Torqeedo.

I have been fishing the Mississippi River north of the twin cities since August with my kayak and Torqeedo travel ultralight.  It is supposed to be a 6 horse motor.  I can run up the Mississippi for 2 or 3 mile and still have 50% batteries.  I could maybe go further if I was more conservative with the throttle.  Depending on the flow I can go about 3 miles an hour up stream for short bursts.  I do some times pull the motor up and paddle if the river is too shallow.  I thing the fluxjet will be awesome but I also don’t want to be the first guy to try it.

 

i would like to know the real world fully load speed up stream it can do.  

I put my money where my mouth is and placed a fully refundable deposit. Note that FR portion.   Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, it will not deliver until late summer so I have plenty of time to see what people who start receiving them next month and forward think about it. 

I love the concept of a jet kayak for taking on the river here to fish for big catfish. Even in my kayak, I often have to drag against the current to get to my spots. Bad thing is, the Kansas River is mostly sand so if it sucked that into the impeller it might be a nightmare. 

I think they’re trolling everyone! Introduced last year and have yet to deliver. I’ve even seen “new” add on additions and accessories for something that has never been sold.

 

It’s an internet shell game 😆

15 minutes ago, Motoboss said:

I think they’re trolling everyone! Introduced last year and have yet to deliver. I’ve even seen “new” add on additions and accessories for something that has never been sold.

 

It’s an internet shell game 😆

Where have you seen these ad ons?  Yes, the internet is quite toxic, Fluxjet even had a video of a site trying to fake sell them. This isn’t the owners first gig though, he has a successful background. 

On 12/15/2025 at 1:15 PM, WRB-2.0 said:

Looking at the promotional videos the boat isn’t stable standing, too narrow the guy is doing his best but very wobbly. The concept is good and second or third generation probably improve the kayak or it’s gone!

Tom

PS, recreational the kayak needs to offer a 2 seater.

 

I noted that too, Tom. The guy could stand, but not without wobbling. 

I’ve been seeing jet powered kayaks on rivers for 10 or so years, mokai I believe. They will go very shallow