We took the plunge!

Well, after paddling many different kinds of kayaks, my wife and I each took the plunge and bought our first kayaks. My new ride is a sunrise colored Prowler 15 and hers is a yellow Tarpon 140. 

In our search over the past couple months we each paddled the kayaks we bought plus a Cobra Marauder, Cobra Tourer, Tarpon 160, Malibu X-Factor, Prowler 13 and the Malibu eXtreme. There were things that we liked and disliked about every boat we paddled, but for me the Prowler seemed to be the best fit and also seemed to be the best balance of all the features I was looking for: reasonable speed, easily fishable, and decent storage for camping, even if it means using dry bags. My wife paddled all of these boats too, but instantly fell in love with the Tarpon 140. For her, that boat was the best balance of her needs, especially being only 5' tall! 

Now let the pimping begin! 

We will pick up our kayaks from Outback Adventures later this week, and I may pick up a scotty mount or some flush mounts, but I think I want to paddle the boat a bit and get a better feel for exactly where I want things before I start cutting holes.

Hopefully I'll get it out fishing soon! I'll also be on the lookout in the Hookups section for anybody willing to take a noob paddler out with them!

You got some great yaks there, hope to see you guys out on the water soon!

Congrats on the purchase.  Sounds like you did some thorough test driving so I'm sure  you'll be more than happy with your decision.

If you don't mind, could you post some a sentence or 2 about your impressions of each and every kayak you tried?

-Allen

Thanks guys! I'll try to describe each of the kayaks in a couple sentences...

Cobra Marauder: Easy to paddle, but a little wide for me and way to wide for my wife. This yak had great storage, but the footwells were a little uncomfortable for me. Also, as a noob paddler I felt like this boat took a lot of work to get it going at a decent speed.

Cobra Tourer: Great speed, and great storage. My wife really liked this boat, and I was pleased with it too. My only downside for this one was that it looked like it may be difficult to add rod holders and electronics.

Prowler 13: This was an all around good boat, but a little shorter than I wanted. The footwells were fine for me, but my wife found them to be uncomfortable.

Malibu X-Factor: This thing is a tank! My wife and I both felt like this was way more boat than we needed. But, it had great storage, was super stable, and would make a killer fishing machine. Also, it was really hard for my wife to control this boat in the wind.

Malibu eXtreme: This boat was an easy paddler, and I found it to be very comfortable. For my wife, her short legs found the center hatch uncomfortable. I also had concerns about the shape of the bow. The bow doesn't really sweep upward, and even in light chop it was noisy.

Tarpon 160: This boat is fast! My wife and I were both very comfortable in this boat and found it very easy to paddle. This was a contender for me as a possible purchase, but I had a hard time turning it and thought that would be a drawback when fishing in the Delta.

Tarpon 140: I found this boat uncomfortable, but my wife loved it. It's easy to paddle and easy to turn and has good storage. You get a wet butt in this boat and in the 160 because there are no drains in the seat, but that didn't really bother my wife or me.

Prowler 15: I found this boat to be the best all around. There were no features that really stood out as the "best" on the Prower, but the boat just seemed to balance all of the things I was looking for without any serious drawbacks. The only real drawbacks I saw were that water gathers in the footwells and also in the seat sometimes. Otherwise, I found this boat to be stable, reasonably quick, easy to maneuver, and it has decent storage.

Also, for some perspective of what my wife and I were thinking about when test paddling: I wanted something to fish out of, mainly in the SF Bay and in the delta. What my wife was looking for was a comfortable yak that she can use for light touring and camping. We live in Vallejo, so the Delta and the SF Bay are equally accessible to us. Also, we are both completely new to paddling, so you should take our opinions as those of inexperienced paddlers! 

Hope this helps!

Welcome aboard, HJ!

Another PFIC convert...lol.

Is that why the peir guys yell at me every time I fish Oyster Point? 

Hi FishinJay,

I too am a newbie and I too chose the Prowler 15 (Angler edition). I have found that I do wish the large hatch was a little closer for accessing.

I have noticed some water in the large hatch area pooling up after just a short time in the water --- if anyone has any information on what can be done to stop this - please let me know. It wasn't "alot" but enough to make me take notice.

Other than that - its good! 

Kim

As long as the water is not inside your boat, that is nothing to worry about. There is a small channel in one side of the hatch that does not work that well but again, if it is not getting in the boat there is nothing to worry about. The hatch is designed to have some water up there.

Right on Jay, I'm glad you finally got a yak.  The prowler 15 is a great all around yak also, once you get used to turning and maneuverin your kayak, you'll be able to step up to the wonderful world of WS tarpon 160. 

Thanks John, I was definitely tempted by the Tarpon 160, but I just don't think my skills are at the level to handle that boat yet. 

Nice review Jay. Looking into my first kayak as well. If you don't mind what are you and your wife's stats?  Both my GF and I will be purchasing soon (we hope  ), I am looking at the tarpon 160/140. I am 6'2" at 190, she is 5'4" at 130. Thoughts?
                                                            Thanks very much!
                                                                             Erik

Hi Erik,

I'm 5'11" and 185 lbs, my wife is 5' even and would kill me if I posted her weight! But, she's close to your GF's weight.

I'm probably a poor person to recommend a boat since I'm pretty new at this myself, but I will say that my wife disliked the molded in footwells on the OK's and she liked being able to get a perfect fit with the adjustable foot rests on the Tarpon. I found the Tarpon a bit uncomfortable in the seat area. I can't put mu finger on it, but it just didn't feel good to me.

As a tall guy though, I think you'll really like the T160. 75% of my fishing is freshwater, but I wanted saltwater capability. If I were going to be fishing the salt more, I probably would have gotten the T160.

Thanks Jay.  We will be heading up to Marin to do some testing at Outback Adventures next week. Was interested in the 160 also for a combination of touring/fishing/surfing. We will see what the demo reveals! (assuming they have all we want to try.. )

We tested and bought our kayaks from Outback Adventures. They were great to work with. They had a T160, T140, and Prowler 15, as well as many other boats. My wife and I plan on doing some touring too, but mainly inland touring on lakes or rivers. Good luck with your test drives!