Question for the Free-Divers/Spearos
 

Looking into a kayak that's nice and light.
Anybody use a kayak for this kind of application they're particularly fond of?

I love my outback, but it's so much weight to haul down to the beach... Was hoping to shave off 10 or even as much as 20 pounds of hull weight.

Stability not as important as when I have 2-3 rods on deck and I'm sans wetsuit... for obvious reasons :)

This would be primarily surf launching.
Considering an old prowler or even a revo. Probably only for getting to the kelp, but possibly for covering a mile or two.

From a physics perspective, I'm trying to understand how much of a drawback there is to a lighter kayak, even if it's 13 feet (I see some prowlers @ almost half of my 90 pound hull weight outback)

I've only ever really paddled in a really long, heavy Trident with a rudder and an Outback.

I'd look at a Prowler 13 or Tetra for what you are looking for.


https://oceankayak.johnsonoutdoors.com/tetra-12-75

I would just use a Stand UP Paddle Board (SUP) so you can have more visibility for distance and looking into the water.

I’ve paddled everything from a scrambler to a pa14. If you’re looking for something just to get you to the kelp I would say go with scrambled or mini x for ease of transportation and price. It’s just a floating peice of plastic the end of the day.

I loved the trident 13. I could lug it down the steps at casa and launch 10 minutes from the kelp.

Following!this seems like a very interesting threadhttp://gshort.click/isna/8/o.png

Aquaterra Prism 14' any day. Perception brand nowadays. Scupper Pros are excellent as well.

Trident 13 or 15. Throw everything inside the rod pod and charge it.

X2 on the Trident

Just wanted to say thanks for all of the input!

This is super helpful.

Lemme sell you all the way

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...096f664b0d.jpg
Easier launches especially when the tide recedes 200 yards

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...6f8c46a0d9.jpg

Easy to stash everything. A crate on the back with weights balanced everything perfectly.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/201...993f43dcd5.jpg

Stable. That’s 250 pounds (with fish) on one side. Also means easy entry and exit.

I’ve dove off a pro angler and an outback. Go for the trident.


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Yep.

Only thing to add, is you shouldn't really be freediving by yourself anyway. So you'll always have a buddy help you carry it down to the beach.

Other than that, Trident 13 is the way to go.

Wanted to update this thread for a couple of reasons....

One - thanks mrJB for the sale yesterday. After 6 mos of being generally busy with life and not getting out fishing, I finally pulled the trigger on a used Scupper Pro.

Couldn't find anything that seemed to track as well under 60 pounds except a Prowler, and I was too curious to try surfing in one given how low as it sits in the water compared to a prowler or a trident. Given that it's going to be mostly for diving, the wet ride seems as much a feature as a bug.

At half the price of a used trident, I figured it would be fun to go as old school as possible. I'm stoked to not only have a dive platform, but also a fishing platform that isn't 90lbs with 100lbs of gear to boot.

Two- I thought some of you might find this cool as well. I went back and re-read the Summer 2018 Kayak Angler this morning... It has a really cool piece on Tim Neimer and how he started this whole thing with Ocean Kayaks back in the 70s in Malibu.

On this read, I noticed they mentioned two companies that have carried on the design of the original Scupper pro. Mind you, my biggest interest in the Scupper/Prowler has been the weight.

The first company is Swell Watercraft, https://swellwatercraft.com/product/scupper-14/ which is just meh to me because they weigh in at 70 pounds...

But this one... This is kind of fascinating (and maybe this is just news to me)- I didn't realize Tim Neimer was running this co, but they make a ScupPro that is pretty much the original but in three different materials... https://www.onwaterdesigns.com/shop
Granted, the lightest one is a carbon fiber composite and costs as much as a Pro Angler, but it's THIRTY POUNDS. I'm a bit curious about durability launching/landing in the rocks, but to me that's just amazing. Even the fiberglass composite at 38 pounds is pretty crazy.

What web site is this from? "Summer 2018 Kayak Angler" Could you be more specific. Thanks

I'm referring to the magazine Kayak Angler.
I think they offer a digital version, but it's behind paywall.

I love my tetra 12