Hello:
I’m in the market for a fishing kyak and considering three manufacturere: Wilderness, Ocean Kyak, Perception.
What I am concerned about is: tracking and stability of the models 13.5 ride from wilderness, Ocean Kyak Prowler or Drifter, of the Angler 12 by Percpetion…
All are sit on top.
Can you advice?
Ride tracks well, is stable.
The Drifter is a wet ride and not a fast boat…speed is relative. The Prowler is a favorite among bay fishermen. My fishing buddy who owns one sometimes loves it, sometimes hates it…he thinks its slow…again, relative to the individual. All the ones you mentioned are stable. I like the large tank well of the Ride. Rides prior to '07 have a different design and a tank well that a milk crate will not fit into.
SOT
I am not familiar with any oehrr kayks, but have one of the new model Ride 135s. It is a stable boat. I can stand in it and fish. I am a little shakey, but have not felt I would fall out when I do that. It does track well. I have another friend who has tried several kayaks, and has worked with 2 or 3 kayak companies to help them develop better SOT fishing kayaks. he tried mine and liked it. He was impre3ssed wioth the maneuverability and the tracking on it, as well as the speed, even though it was not as fast as his Phpenix 160 and 130 models. I do mostly salt water fishing now in shallow salt water creeks on the NC coast. I just recently slid my yak over a marsh island when the water was just over it and threw a cast net from it. I am 61yo. Hope this helps you make a decsion. It took me a long time to make up my maind before buying my 1st.
Tracking is severely over-rated
– Last Updated: Oct-06-07 11:05 AM EST –
And in some conditions can actually be problematic. My advice is not to pick a kayak based on having the best tracking. Initial stability is also over-rated. Kayaks aren't jon boats. Within 1/2 hour of getting into a kayak, assuming you have even half-way good instruction on your forward, sweep, and reverse strokes (the three essential strokes for recreational kayaking), you won't need exceptional tracking and you'll be used to the 'wobbly' feeling. Seriously. 1/2 hour. You don't want to buy a boat that's only fun for the first 1/2 hour.
That said, all the manufacturers and models you listed make good boats. I would suggest to you to purchase the one in which you are most comfortable. Remaining comfortable in your seat is a WHOLE lot more important than tracking straight as an arrow.
- Big D
My Ride 135
has that wobbly feeling when standing, but I get more used to that as I do it more. I still don’t get the feeling the 135 will tip. If anything, if I were to lose my seal legs, I may would fall out, but don’t think the yak would turn over. I have to stand now and then because of some arthritis. I haven’t stood for over 20 min yet, but feel if I did, I would get even more used to it. Evidently the Ride 135 has good secondary stability. Mine is the new model with the scuppers under the seat molded over.
wittemann
let us know your decision and what you think of theyak you decide to buy. I’ve found that it is a very personal choice from the experience from other people who would have the same ideas as you do in a yak for your own persoanl use.
Wow!
If you can activate secondary stability while standing, you are nothing short of amazing!
- Big D
stability
Big_D, I haven’t had a kayak long enough to know all the technicalities like yourself, but I think the man understands where I’m coming from. Whatever, I am 61 yrs old and have arthritis and can stand in the Ride 135 and fish while standing. That should give him a good idea of the stability of the kayak. I’ve also pulled over the top of flooded salt marshes and stood while throwing a cast net.
Gotcha
I took your comment at face value. There are those who can activate secondary stability while standing. One fellow in Pennsylvania has a technique he calls “striding” wherein he paddles an inflatable kayak while standing and running technical whitewater - including significant waterfalls!
For these purposes - primary stability refers to the feeling of tippiness or wobbliness. Kayaks or canoes with high initial stability feel less ‘wobbly’ than ones with low initial stability. All the kayaks he mentioned have high initial/primary stability. Primary stability is a good feature to have in a fishing kayak.
Again, for these purposes - secondary stability refers to the ease with which one can operate the boat ‘on angle’, or ease of recovery from ‘over-reaching.’ In general, kayaks and canoes with high initial stability have relatively low secondary stability - in other words when they feel like they’re going to tip over, they are. Boats with high secondary stability are often leaned significantly as part of the paddling style. Take a look at some Whitewater videos on YouTube or Yahoo!Video - especially open canoes. You’ll see folks leaning hard downcurrent and bracing with their paddles way out to the side - those are good examples of ‘secondary stability’.
There’s usually a tradeoff between these types of stability, and the tradeoff is usually decided based on the kind of water in which the boat is intended to be used.
Wasn’t meaning to come off as a smart ass. Was actually meaning to complement you. The kayaks mentioned don’t have much in the line of secondary stability, and it really would be amazing to be able to activate it while standing.
- Big D
Very informative
info Big_D. Really, I know nothing technical about kayaks. I was just coming from my experience with the one I have. I have sit on the very edge of my kayak and observed that it WOULD most likely tip over, but it would have to be on the very edge for it to do that. The times I’ve stood and fished was when the kayak was barely moving with he tide or wind, or when I was just into some marsh enough to keep it from moving if the wind isn’t too high. I can sit very comfortably with my legs over the side without ever thinking of the kayak tipping. When I am standing, I have my feet placed inside out to each inside edge.
Guess i came off as a little touchy yesterday. I appologize for that. You are a very informative person and I value your knowledge. I just was hoping my sharing my experience with the Ride 135 would help Witteman with his choice of whichever kayak he chooses. If he has the chance, he should try each of them out. If not, he should ask more than one person about his choices.
Rides are nice
I’ve only paddled the old model and not the remodeled Ride 135, but I liked it very well. I got it up to speed quick, had no problems ferrying in swift water, and I felt totally in control. It has HUGE initial stability. Even so, I don’t think I’d be able to stand, so that much is impressive to me.
One of my kayaks is an Ocean Kayak Malibu II. It’s got a hull a lot like the Drifter, but the top is configured as a tandem/solo paddler. Like you, I sit on it sideways or even backwards. No problem getting up on my knees to crawl forward to grab things strapped to the front. Whatever. HUGE initial stability. I did get it up on it’s side in a rapid and was thrown by a big roostertail. I was able to recover and return to people-side-up, so was impressed that it had ANY secondary stability. I expected that boat to go right on over if it ever got started. But, I rode out the rapid on edge and somehow or other got the part that’s supposed to be wet back in contact with the river. I was grateful that I had had the brains to pull the scupper plugs before entering the rapid because for all intents and purposes, the boat was underwater until it drained.
- Big D
Until they realized that bigger boys
liked to play in the water also, the Malibu II was very popular among saltwater fishermen. Its still a good one, but others like the Ride have passed it by for paddling ease. Some consider it an excellent craft for breaking through the surf to fish off the beach.
Ride 135
My ride 135 has a double tunnel trype make up. I’m not sure if the old Rides had that. Before I had decided to buy a Ride, I was thinking about a Malibu. I have heard they are very stable boats.
The Malibu II is the name of an OK
tandem kayak, as opposed to the Malibu line of kayaks. Malibu kayaks are fine kayaks. Several are great for bigger guys, as are the Cobrax.
Yeah it did
Though I have heard that the new hull is an improved design. The old one did have a sort of “pontoony” look to it. That’s my official high-fallutin’ hull description.
- Big D
Ride 135
The pontton look will fool you as far as maneuverability. Even though it is 13 1/2 feet, it maneuvers very well. I am saying this with almost no experiences on other kayaks, but I have a friend who has assisted with the design of fishing kayaks with 2 major kayak companies. He tried my 135 out and seemed to be impressed with the stability and the maneuverability with it.
Ride 135
I built my own kayak cart out of PVC for my Ride. I did it with instructions off the net. After I was finished with it, I had to redesign it because the supports would not work on the outside. I had to make it so the supports would fit under the bottom, within the tunnels. Also, I wanted my cart to fit toward the rear of the yak, so I had to move the supports at an angle. Without any experience to speak of with other kayaks, I donm’t see how the tracking could be much better on other yaks. The Ride seems to go exactly where I want it to, even if I am not postions in the center of the yak, and the yak is slightly tiltited to one side. I did try out one other major brand kayak and that was one thing about it I did not like. If it was tilted, I had to paddle much harder to account for that. However, it was a 12 foot yak, but I did paddle it for a couple of hours.
Malibu 11
Yakcanfish, ty for reminding me that the maibu 11 is an OK kayak. I had heard that before and had forgotten that. The Malibu brand kayaks are very stable kayaks I’ve heard, but very heavy. Since I’ve finally found a way to carry my 13 1/2 foot kayak on the back of my short body Ranger PU, I could have bought a Mailbu anyway. I just sit my yak, with the cart on it in the bed of my PU and out the tailgete up and let the kayak rest on the top of my truck. I lash it down and take it on and off with a ramp I built for it.