Family surprised me for my 73 birthday with a 14.5 Native Slayer fishing kayak ,
Prior 10 ft Pelican was a box store inexpensive beginner , Pluses were light weight , 4.5 ft smaller , , Single hull , guessing around 30 lbs
Was a sit in and could not get up without assistance , no help was rolling over
New Native is a double hull , I am guessing weight is 90 lbs
Kayaking is salt water , Strong currents
Never thought I would consider a trolling motor but paddling against current with larger , heavier kayak is a bear , NO WERE FAST ,
Kayak can hold 450 lbs , room for battery , plan is side mount
those of you that have installed a 12 volt trolling motor what thrust/ shaft mfg would you recommend ?
90lb? Can you safely move that around, motor and battery aside?
Be sure to check your state law since you may need to register your watercraft and put bow numbers on the kayak once you install mechanical propulsion.
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36 inch shaft should be plenty. A kayak is pretty light, so a 12 V system will be fine, something like 30-50 foot pounds of thrust.
Long ago, we had a Pamlico 160T with a trolling motor. Among the reasons we got rid of it was the toting of the large deep cycle marine battery. Right solid pain in the posterior. I’m not sure what happens to that large brick should you ever capsize. Just my two cents.
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Alan, happy belated Bday!
MY wife and I had a 15’ Old Town Canoe that weighed 79 pounds AND it carried both she and I (together weighing 260) plus 12v deep cycle marine batter, medium size cooler and fishing gear and actually moved us along lakws quite nicely.
Here’s what we used …a Minn kota endura max 40lb, 45 lb thrust electric trolling motor!
We used it for about maybe a year we took it out probably 9 times on lakes only here in napa county Ca. We did register the canoe at a cost of $36 a year as is required her in Ca.
We also have kayaks then for a wedding gift my father gave me his 14’ aluminium fishing boat which has a 15 horsepower motor so we stopped using the Canoe.
In fact we just sold the Canoe.
We don’t use the trolling motor on our aluminium boat because it’s just really not necessary so we decided to also sell the trolling motor and mounting bracket.
If you are interested in discussing the logistics of how we dealt with the battery and trolling motor in our Canoe or any other thing regarding that set up and or if you are interested in buying the electric motor from us I am happy to discuss it. It’s still in great condition and have all its paperwork and manual. It has been stored in our garage away from the elements.
You can reach me at jodiecampbell618@gmail
Have fun!!
I have almost been run-into three times by people who thought they could make a canoe with a motor go up-stream. They are hard to handle and that makes them dangerous.
They also take another trip to your car to drag out, then another for the battery.
It is a canoe, not a ganoe, paddle it, it will do your heart and lungs good things.
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I don’t know about kayaks but I took out our trolling motor the other day on a 16’ canoe with two adults in wind. It’s just a cheap $100 Minn Kota 30lb thrust motor but it moved us around just fine. The winds did get up to 15mph and it didn’t move us fast, but it moved us. You also may want to look into AMG batteries. The one I bought is 20lbs compared to a stand deep cycle which is around 50lbs. Here’s a link to the battery https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00K8E0WAG/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
I run a Watersnake with a DIY remote control, to avoid the car shuffle. Motor up river. Paddle/float back
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For your Native Slayer fishing kayak in saltwater with strong currents, consider a Minn Kota Endura C2 55 with a 36-inch shaft. It offers suitable thrust and durability for your needs.
I put a 5hp 4 stroke Honda on this canoe with outrigger. It’s very stable and I can take it out in bays and sound. I only do on calm wind days to be safe.
That’s looks like a nice fishing boat for two.
I realize the original question is OBE, but I think if I were getting into kayak fishing today, I would definitely lean towards getting a Bixpy.
THIS
I just posted how nice it is to Kayak in the Northeast as basically you can do so as if no laws exist. A few do but they are not enforced at all. You can be anarchist and act like government doesn’t exist and be totally free all 1776 style in any vehicle in New England as long as it does NOT have a motor.
The moment you stick an engine on your boat everything changes and you now have to follow a much stricter set of laws and those laws, registration and what not is ENFORCED.