New to Your Board in Fairfield

So....

Another new guy here. In Green Valley area of Fairfield.

I'm not new to fishing by any means, but I'm looking at jumping into the kayak side with both feet. I grew up on the Gulf coast wade fishing for redfish and speckled trout, and moved to CA in 1999 and learned bass fishing in a  float tube and later a pontoon kickboat. Prior to my move to Fairfield, I fished a lot of local bass tournaments on several NorCal lakes, but gave up my bass boat when I moved for family reasons. I'm not missing the bass fishing too much, and have switched most of my fishing over to saltwater. I'm looking to branch out away from party boats all the time and want to get into a yak and play in the big water.

So I guess  with that, I'll post my first question to the experienced kayakers here.....
I'm considering two different boats. A Jackson Kraken, and the Wilderness Thresher 155. Mostly I'll be looking to chase lings and rockfish. Salmon and butts if they're available. I like the seat on the Jackson, and that it is pretty much rigged out from the factory. I like that the Thresher will eventually have a pedal drive released to fit it. I guess the thing keeping the Thresher in the running is the eventual possibility of a drive. I'm not sure on a boat like that how useful one really is. Kayaks have been around for a damned long time without them. Are they really all that they're cracked up to be? Would anyone feel under-equipped without one if they had used one before?

Anyhow, I'm looking forward to picking up some knowledge here, and look forward to maybe running into some of you guys on the water.

Welcome to the board, Revrat. I too recently moved to fairfield, but still residing in SF area for the meantime. I cannot comment on those 2 kayaks since I've never owned neither one, but I'm sure people will from this board. A drive system kayak is a plus if your'e doing a lot of trolling like for salmon and a big plus when the wind kicks in.

Herb

Welcome!!

Best advice anyone can give you is to demo, demo, demo to find out which kayak YOU like better.

I have been paddling Krakens since late 2014 and have been super impressed, and the seat is a huge plus for guys like me that have lower back problems.

The Thresher looks awesome as well, and I'm sure guys who have been paddling it can chime in with their impressions...

Here is a little vid of some of the fun I have had with my Kraken 15.5 so far this year...



And I recently took the Kraken 13.5 out through some surf and some decent sized offshore swells and thought it handled nicely as well...not as nice as the 15.5 but still really well,  and it is lighter than the 15.5 which is a big bonus for trickier launches...



Anyway, best of luck with whatever yak you decide to get and if you have any specific questions about the Krakens just let me know.

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Welcome to NCKA, like Jim said the best way to know is to sit in one and demo. I am in Fairfield too, but I don't get to go out to often (family first).

Welcome to NCKA, revrat.

I've been paddling Malibu X-Factors since '06 and love them.  For a while I tried to find another boat that could rival the stability, roominess and ease of paddling of my X-Factors, and I tried both the Kraken and the Thresher.  I found that neither of them matched the qualities of my X-Factors.  I dive off of them, paddle LOTS of miles trolling for salmon offshore, have landed thresher sharks on them, stand on them for surveying salmon in the river...etc.  My daughter handles the X-Factor with no problem for crabbing and other outings, and I just had my son paddling and XUPing today.  Even paddling into a stiff breeze was no prob for a 90 pound dude.

Demoing lots of boats is great advice, and I'd add the X-Factor to your list if I were you.

As for the pedal drive, I like your point about kayaks being around for a LONG time w/o pedals...

Best of luck.  If you'll be in Humboldt I'll get you on a free demo on one of my X-Factors.   

I've got a Hobie, and pedaling is great, especially if you like to troll. Of course, I don't catch fish like Jim or Eric, so maybe you should listen to them...

Welcome to the madness Revrat 

Welcome aboard.  I am also a hobie guy but mostly because of upper body injuries that keep me from paddling long distances.  I would love some middle storage that non pedal kayaks have but have learned to do without it.