help out the new guy

[backwaterboy]

hi everyone i need a couple pointers on what brands are a good starter yak for a college kid with a limited budget and what kind of tips anyone has on how to get it tournament ready i would love a hobie but im not made of money and i was looking for something around 500 dollars

[Branch_Office]

First off welcome to the site. You will find fellow yakers here will be more than helpful with questions that you may have.

By watching the site you will find a good deal on some lightly used yaks that have some mojo and rigging already done. I would encourage you before you buy anything to attend some demo days that you find and also a lot of our members will be more than glad to let you try out their yak or fish with them to see what might work for you. Your decision will also come from what fits your size, weight etc.

If you find something that needs rigging out, then there again this is the place! We have members that love to help you drill holes in your yak. Lots of good ideas that have been tried and proved.

So that is the best advice you can get at this time. Sometimes I know decisions are made strictly on a financial decision but that you usually be short lived and you will be looking to move on after a short period and end up spending more money than looking for the right one to start with. Don't get in a hurry. Try out as many as you can.

Good luck!

[brkayaker]

I'm going to be a sophomore at LSU and am also on a limited budget. If you want a good kayak in that price range, you need to buy a used kayak. Keep checking this site and craigslist for deals. I've bought a Cobra Fish n Dive and a Hobie Quest for 500 and 600 dollars each from craigslist with paddles, seats, and other accessories. I've seen much better deals than those, but kayaks sell fast at these prices so check often. Some of the more recognizable brands off the top of my head are Hobie, Ocean Kayak, Wilderness Systems, Native, Heritage, Malibu, and Cobra. There are some cheap kayaks that can be bought new at ****'s Sporting Goods and the Pelican Castaway can be purchased for relatively cheap from Academy if you really want something new or do not want to wait. You don't need much to get it tournament ready. You should have rod holders, something to keep the fish in (ice chest, stringer, fish bag) an anchor trolly, a decent paddle, and a comfortable seat. If the kayak you buy does not come with rod holders, you can attach some pvc to a milk crate easily enough. You can make your own stake out pole for cheap out of pvc or an old broom handle. I've lost a bunch of anchors so now I use 5 lb weights from an old weight set and havealso used bricks in areas with many rocks and snags. You also need to think about how you are going to transport the kayak. You might need to buy a bed extender if you have a truck or some special racks if you have a car or suv. These can be costly as well. Anyway, welcome to the club and good luck on the kayak search.

[revredfish]

Nothing beats a Perception Kingfish for starter price - $350 at Sierra Trading Post gets you a seat, and a very functional 45Lb boat. It was available on Ebay but I can never find it All_In might be able to help.
I fished from one of these for 3 years. I still miss it at times - nothing beats it for throwing up on a car or truck and getting in the water quickly.

I never fell out of it, nobody I put in it did, you will not find a better yak for under $400 unless it is significanty used.

I know several are still out there on this site maybe they are ready to upgrade?

[Hobie1Kenobie]

Speck_head is selling an old town dirigo 106 angler I do believe. Seems like a good price.

[Sandman]

Don't get a Pelican Castaway! The price lured me in at first - and it gets the job done - but it's not fun. I took an unexpected swim from mine today and lost a good rod and reel. More on that in the fishing report I post soon.

[RedFinn]

rod floats are real cheap for peace of mind,sorry you lost your gear

[Hobie1Kenobie]

rod floats are real cheap for peace of mind,sorry you lost your gear

+1

[Sandman]

rod floats are real cheap for peace of mind,sorry you lost your gear

Yeah ... I'll put that one in the "lessons learned the hard way" file. I will definitely be getting some floats.

[backwaterboy]

thanks for all the help guys ill be cruising around for one...though me and by girlfriend went out to fontainbleau state park today and i saw a few guys in yaks fishing the marsh line and i got a little jealous but another question im 6'2 215 pound guy are there any kayaks that would be to small? or any perficular size? brand? that fit big guys like me? and does anybody know of shops in new orleans or the northshore that sell kayaks?

[barhopper]

Go see Blake at Massey's on N Carrollton

[ClutchDog]

The Old town dirigo that Speck_head is selling is a great boat. I was really ready to go for it until my transmission decided to "act up" to the tune of 2200. He will probably let you take it for a test paddle too! Good luck!

[backwaterboy]

Nothing beats a Perception Kingfish for starter price - $350 at Sierra Trading Post gets you a seat, and a very functional 45Lb boat. It was available on Ebay but I can never find it All_In might be able to help.
I fished from one of these for 3 years. I still miss it at times - nothing beats it for throwing up on a car or truck and getting in the water quickly.

I never fell out of it, nobody I put in it did, you will not find a better yak for under $400 unless it is significanty used.

I know several are still out there on this site maybe they are ready to upgrade?


i was researching the kingfish is is a well built yak i mean 400 bones is a hit in the pocket for a student like me i just want to make sure im getting a quality boat?

[Pontgros]

Nothing beats a Perception Kingfish for starter price - $350 at Sierra Trading Post gets you a seat, and a very functional 45Lb boat. It was available on Ebay but I can never find it All_In might be able to help.
I fished from one of these for 3 years. I still miss it at times - nothing beats it for throwing up on a car or truck and getting in the water quickly.

I never fell out of it, nobody I put in it did, you will not find a better yak for under $400 unless it is significanty used.

I know several are still out there on this site maybe they are ready to upgrade?

I'm not having much luck locating a Kingfish, do they still make these?

[revredfish]

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/2247,1901U_Perception-Kingfish-Recreational-Kayak-Sit-on-Top-12.html

Fished from one for 3 years (was used) - never rolled me, never sank, great little yak - easy to load -easy to fish. Resold for around $275 (I know others have gone for more)

[revredfish]

$400 bones is a hit in the pocket for a pastor like me too. But do the math ( I used to drink 15 years ago and the prices were different then)

12 pak of cheap bear $5 x2 a weekend = $500 bucks++ a year. What do you have to show for it? A headache, a few hours of entertainment (if you call it that), some embarrising pictures, and an unusual rash.

1 yak + all the gear to fish from it, + some poweraide = memories, pictures, and food to feed you in college. Something you can resell when you get a real job and get that faster sleeker (heavier) model that will make your proud at the tourneys.

Worth every penny will entertain you for years.

[Branch_Office]

As usual, the Rev is spreading the good word! Listen to his advice and you will be on the right path...(what were we talking about). Better to spend a couple of more dollars now and be happy with your purchase than "settling" and your find yourself unhappy or already looking for a replacement. I don't know if anyone in the club has one but I looked at an Ocean Caper on Monday at Backpacker for $436 and was impressed for it and with the great price. You might can even get a further discount with the club 10% as well. They even offer a lay away plan that you can ask about as well. Take that beer money as the Rev said and put it on your yak on law away and you will be paddling in no time in a decent yak.

My two cents....

[papawd]

Weight should be no problem, I am 237 lbs. and have no problems. Please try and avoid the cheaper Yaks at Academy and such You will get a wet ride and not enjoy the experience as much....Do try and demo as many Yaks as possible...Pack n Paddle in Laffayette will do demo rides as well as sell demoed yaks these are usually in really good shape and cheaper....aalso try some of the before mentioned sponsors and keep looking there is always someone here upgrading so to speak and selling some good used yaks......Good luck I hope to seeYA in the Water/ Oil

[Mung]

But do the math ( I used to drink 15 years ago and the prices were different then)

12 pak of cheap bear $5 x2 a weekend = $500 bucks++ a year. What do you have to show for it? A headache, a few hours of entertainment (if you call it that), some embarrising pictures, and an unusual rash.


Boy you can tell it's been awhile since the Rev. drank. $5 for a 12 pack? Not lately. However, I can still remember walking from Kirby Smith dorm to Death Valley Shell on the corner of Highland and State St. to buy a 6 pack of Shaeffer Light for $1.29. Now that was a quality beverage.

I'm also curious about the "unusual rash". More detail please. ;-)

Back to the subject at hand, I'd look around for a deal on a quality used boat, as opposed to paying retail for a less fish worthy craft. I found a Manta Ray 14' on craigslist for $550 around Houston the other day. I bought the same boat on e-bay a few years ago and absolutely love it. It's fast, stable and easy to use for fishing.

[Glwlsu]

Not sure about the sharfer light stuff but the drug store just off of campus by McDonalds had PBR case for $5. It was totally loaded also !!!! Good times in BR. That was in 1977-1979 !!!!

[Mung]

Pooh, you're old Gairi. I was there from 1985-1992. Pabst Blue Ribbon couldn't be any worse than Shaeffer, for sure.

Here's the Manta Ray: http://houston.craigslist.org/spo/1811076857.html

[revredfish]

Milwaukee's Best was my point of reference in 1990. And that was lower alcohol content VA beer so I needed the whole 12 pack.

"the rash" was purely "illustrative" you could sub in broken nose, or any number of other worthy rememberables.

[Choupique]

Matherns by kennilworth still stocks shaefer light, and cvs on lee has pbr!

[Cobia 1]

Ok Gairi and Mung (youngsters), I still remember .05 beer nights and .25 pitchers!!!! And that was after prohibition!!!

[Glwlsu]

May I thought I was old. Bruce has us hands down.

[buddhaman]

You haven't wished you were dead until you drank Lucky Beer. It had a twist off cap with a puzzle to figure out underneath the cap. Used to drink the stuff back in the 70's in CA. Better than pot!!!

http://www.luckydrinkco.com/

You gotta click on the little bottle to the left of webpage and check out the stuff. You're gonna laugh ...

[Yak-a-Lou]

Ahhhh... the PBR days (or was it "daze?") Seems like only yesterday... 1979 and I was off to college but too broke to pay attention. PBR was my poison of choice. This choice was dictated by Mr. Wallet and Mr. Wallet was even more skinny than I was.

Luckily it didn't take me long to start tending bar at Rosko's, Thibodaux's smokiest hot spot. (Don't ask me what kind of smoke was prevalent there. It seems that I'm suffering an acute case of Regan-i-tice and, ahem... "I don't recall".) Once I landed that job, booze was FREE!!!

[Psycho Joe]

Ya'll don't know beer unless you have been to Germany. Each little town had their own brewhaus. I drank a beer from the town of Parmesans, Germany. They called it a Perminator, it came in a half liter bottle and was listed at 12%; unlike American beer which I think only gets 4% - 6%!

[Branch_Office]

Man, y'all were too rich for my blood...it was Boones Farm or whatever was free! I could steal enough coke bottles for a night of gas in the car and wine for my date and I. :biggrin:

[Glwlsu]

Psycho isn't the beer in Germamy (Europe) served hot ? I had some friends that went and they loved "drinking liter's" at the corner pub. They got pretty mangled.

[teknickcull]

+1 for German Bier! I was in Berlin 2 years ago and I've been hooked on heffeweissen ever since. it is not served "hot", but not nearly as cold as we like it here.

[Psycho Joe]

Not served HOT but not always ice cold either. Most places kept their beer in the basement. Average high temp in Germany is in the 80's during the summer.

[Psycho Joe]

I think we hijacked the thread!!!

[buddhaman]

How 'bout drinkin for free. For my 18th birthday (1971) my best friend from Houma brought me to Pat O'Brien's and when the tourists would finish their Hurricanes, get up and leave the table to go somewhere else, Dale & I would swoop down on the table and grab all the hurricane glasses and go to the bar and cash them in to get the deposits back. The tourists didn't realize that when they bought the drink, they also paid a deposit on the glass. We had to be quick cause the waiters would get pissed at us, yell at us and try and run us out of the place. Man, that was fun!!!

[theoldcaster]

Ok, want to talk about bad beer, I grew up with Justin Wilson son, and Justin owned part of Pearl beer company, so want did we drink, Pearl beer! It had to be the worst ever made, but it was free and always plenty of it around.

[RedFinn]

The drinking age in Michigan was 19 in 1977, but the Wisconsin was 18. Short drive 70 miles from my home town in upper Michigan was a town called Huerly WI .The old 67 chevelle ss could drive that road by its self for cases of Strohs :)

[MDR]

I went the same route as Y-A-L and started working in the bars my freshman year at LSU. Great way to drink free, meet women, and help pay for school.

As far as beer goes virtually all of the local beers were considered by locals as nasty while folks in other places tended to love them. Don't ask me why. In the late 70's early 80's Coors was still 3.2% alcohol. That was one of the reasons we called it Rocky Mountain fish piss. Who can honestly say they thought Dixie or Lone Star were quality beers. Y'all were high dolar for the PBRs. My cousin had turned me onto Red, White, and Blue-it was the PBR knockoff. BTW-anyone remember generic beer or even the first version of near beer? Yuck. I still remember my pop telling my mom, "By God I make enough money to buy real beer."

I loved the German blonde beers (as opposed to dark beers) when I was there. My buddy keeps his in the fridge or simply in the basement in the cooler months. Boy I wish I could get a regular supply of it.

[Cobia 1]

ok ok enough is enogh are we drinking beer or going fishig?

[Pontgros]

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/p/2247,1901U_Perception-Kingfish-Recreational-Kayak-Sit-on-Top-12.html

Fished from one for 3 years (was used) - never rolled me, never sank, great little yak - easy to load -easy to fish. Resold for around $275 (I know others have gone for more)


Its sold out :(

[ijuswannafish]

I looked at this one in the store the other day and I thought it was a great starter yak. It costs a little more but has a nice set up to it.

http://www.****ssportinggoods.com/product/index.jsp?productId=4018041&cp=2367438.2367826.2672651.2674153