Jackson Coosa Review

I wrote this in another tread but I thought I would put it in its own thread for those who are interested.

After 6 trips out in the Coosa I think I'm ready to give an opinion. First impressions, The boat is STOUT. Its apparent that they are a white water company. Everything about this boat feels stout strong and built for abuse. The deck layout is a lot different than any sit on top I have even been in. The cockpit is wide open with nothing to get snagged on. Also the high seat position is EPIC. It feels very comfortable to be up this high and paddling. The boat is still stable and easy to paddle, even for my friend who is in the 300lb range. I seldom paddled with the seat in the low position except when I was playing in some river currents. I used a AB Manta Ray Paddle 240 and it seemed to do the job for both the high and low position. I really like the ability to store my boxes under the seat and have easy access without having to reach around the to my crate. I also really like the rod stages and clips that allow your rods to lay flat on the deck or in the cockpit. Next to the ability to stand this is my favorite feature. Its a wonder more kayak companies don't do this. I would like the rod stages on the hatch to be larger because the rod does seem to slide around on the little grooves. I saw they had a short video on the Jackson Kayak page to do a upgrade on this. I did do the dog leash and drift chain anchor setup that Drew suggested in the video. It has worked well for most my paddling. I used it mostly in shallow lakes like Lodi Lake, Rancho Seco, and a little bit on the Delta. It worked really well on lakes with a medium breeze but I would like my larger anchor for the delta. The lawn chair style seat is super comfy, and I like the ability to take it off and use it as a seat. By far my favorite thing about the kayak is the ability to stand from the high seat position. I spend my my time fishing standing up. Its absolutely amazing how easy it is stand and fish from this kayak. After a few minutes you don't even think about it. It offers awesome viability and a ton of flexibility while casting. (I have mainly been using it for large mouth bass) I can't wait to get it in some bigger white water in the next month or so and see how it does. It opens up the opportunity to fish so many rivers here in valley that otherwise would be tough to access.
Now about the performance OTW. The kayak is very stable in all conditions I had it in, even in the high seat position. It turns in its own length, and it tracks really well for a yak of this size. The down side is the speed. Its not a fast kayak by any means. It's designed as a river boat, and for a river boat it does all things well, but if your mainly paddling flat water or in the salt you will want something longer. I did paddle it 11 miles on the Delta in a group and I had no problem keeping up, however I was working harder than some. If your not in a hurry it moves along fine. I have high hopes for a 13 or 14 Coosa, because I think this will be the ultimate fishing platform for the paddling crowd. It reminds me of a mini Pro Angler.
With that said I would encourage you to come by and test one and develop your own opinion. I have a couple demos in the store and I would be happy to take you out fishing on the Mokelumne if your in the Lodi area.

Props to Drew Gregory and the Jackson guys for thinking outside the box on this little yak. I have my pick of a bunch of boats and I always seem to have this one on top of my car.

Nice review. Looks like a real comfortable boat.

I just looked at photos etc. on the boat. Looks good for bass, crappie, catfish and weedy backwater/slough fishing. Good on float trips too. Would probably be a great platform on the high sierra lakes for trout casting and fly rod use.