offshore kayak
 

Looking at the trident 15, manta ray 14 or the tarpon 160. I am 6'5 230lbs. and I live in S Florida. I fish offshore, bay and Florida Keys. Over the years I fished on Ocean Kayaks, recently tried the ocean prowler 13. It just didnt have enough capacity. Any suggestions or additional reccomendations or insight? Lots of choices. Thanks,

Trident
 

I love my 15. Great offshore. Manta rays aren't big here so can't comment on it. The 160 is great. I suggest you find people that will let you take each offshore when there's wind chop. See which one handles your size the best. Always test paddle.

I love my Manta 14. Very stable and fast enough. Not great for surf launching as there's not much below deck storage. The 160 is better for the storage issue, but can be a bitch to land in the surf. Very fast, not as stable as the Manta 14. Trident has great storage, but I'm not sure on the paddling characteristics. What ever you do, do what Patrick suggested and try each one. I'm sure you have a kayak shop that will let you test them out. If they don't give free demos, see if they'll rent them to you and apply the rental fees towards your purchase.

Bump

offshore Kayak
 

Just picked up a Santa Cruz kayak . I own an OK Scupper Pro and Prowler 15. I wanted more stability and to be able to move around and stand up. I can do both with the Raptor. I am in the process of rigging up a live well. It comes with a large tank well all set up to take an Atwood Live well pump in the pre configured scupper hole in the well. Should work very nice. I have been out twice and really enjoy the ride and stablility. Not much slower than the Prowler fish the bays and Gulf of Tampa Bay and look forward to doing some king fishing off the beach in the Gulf! Here is their website www.santacruzkayaks.com Check out the video.

Here is a pic of my kayak:

how does it compare comfort wise, dry ride etc?

:D

offshore Kayak
 

It has a large seat area for any size body and the seating area is elevated by about an inch above the center part of the kayak where 4 large scupper holes drain any water that might enter the kayak over the side or front. I have found this kayak to be very dry. You can see from the picture is sits higher out of the water. Ride was comfortable. Looking forward to trying out in the gulf with some larger waves.

no dealers here in SoCal so your input is greatly appreciated especially since you've owned other yaks. Me. I'm still a lookie loo :mad:

You should go to Nautical Ventures off Griffin Rd. in Ft. Lauderdale. They have everything. You can test your new yak there. I'm in soflo as well. I fish off a Hobie Outback. Is slower than a longer boat but it gets me to 200' in less than thirty minutes with the turbo fins and sailin rudder. I go out all the time.

Personally I love the Ocean Kayak brand of kayaks. I made it a point to try the most popular kayaks that I see out on the water. I have owned 2 Cobras, 3 O.K. Prowler 15s, Malibu X-factor, and have test paddled the Tarpon 140.

The entire time I was on the Tarpon I felt like I was going in the water at any given point. The most stable was the Malibu and it had a lot of storage space. I chose to avoid the pedal kayaks because I see a lot of issues with the pedal systems, the main reason is they are more pricy and have less storage than the O.K. and Malibu. Something I also think will be an issue is knee and hip joint issues later in life with the pedal systems. I have no proof, but I sure will be interested to see how many Hobie owners end up with Hip and Knee issues down the road.

I own a Prowler 15 at the moment and will be saving up for a Trident 15 or newer. I like the T15 for the length, speed, Rod Pod, and stability. So long story short I would recommend the T15 Ocean Kayak.

JungleJim, What seat do you have on yours? I've found that the seat makes all the difference in the world in comfort.
My favorite is the Surf to Summit KGT 400 About as good as it gets short of a recliner.

offshore Kayak
 

Hi Baitman,
I am looking to get the Surf to Summitt Seat for Xmas

thanks

Jim

I'll respectfully disagree with you on this one. I have been on a Hobie for about 8 years now. I also have a Kinesiology degree, and about 60 post-graduate units related to Sports Medicine.

The motion that you make while pedaling the Hobies is very low impact, inline, and very low stress on the joints. It is very similar to the motion used while riding a recumbent or stationary bike, which are both commonly used to rehab after a knee/hip injury. I'll suggest the opposite of you- that those that do not use their hips and knees regularly in low impact activities, will be more likely to develop problems later in life than those that are using them regularly.

You ever see those really old old old old people that keep exercising? I'm talking about the 80 year old ladies that can lap you on the track without breaking a sweat? They are like that because they keep active, and keep using their body. Ever see what happens to one of those physically fit old people after they take a fall and are no longer able to exercise? It usually isn't pretty, and the body deteriorates pretty quickly after that. Whether you paddle or peddle, I'd say you are better off than the typical cattle boat passenger, simply because you are out there on your own power.

I wouldn't write off the Hobie's just yet. Of course- if you have chronic or sharp pain while using them, I'd consider switching to something else. If your legs are just sore after a day on the water, sack up before your man card is revoked. However, there are plenty of guys like myself, that ended up in a Hobie due to shoulder injuries that prevented them from paddling. There is also the other group guys that switched from the paddle to the Hobie claiming a "shoulder injury" but they really just wanted the ability to have hands free fishing, to stay out longer than those that paddle, to not be blown off the water when the wind kicks up like the paddle guys are, to go further and faster than the paddle guys, and also to catch more fish than the paddle guys :boxing_smiley: :wsb::yt:

Ya, I like my Hobie kayaks :spam:

I ride a Malibu Stealth 14 and love it. VERY stable and lots of room. The bait tank in front is a huge plus for me.
:kayak-surfer:

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