Long distance fishing Kayak?

I seem to remember coming across people looking for longer faster boats. I just ran across this website for Heritage Kayaks. It sound like they're from the east coast. They have a Fisherman Pro 17 that is 17'4" with a 26" beam. 74lbs. seems a little heavy. I don't know maybe it's just a touring kayak in a different color with a couple rod holders but I bet it would get you out there quick. Here's a link:

http://www.heritagekayaks.com/fishermanpro17.html

The Cobra expedition is the one that has always interested me, although the redfish is popular in some markets.  The new Hobie seems like it could also cover a ton of grond, especially with the sail.

74 lbs. but only has the capacity to carry 300? Seems like the weight to capacity ratio is lacking, plus the hatches look way too small for my liking.

lets get bluekayak on an expedition and see what he thinks!

Personally, I think you would adjust.  Maybe I'm projecting.

When you get stop, you'd need to hang your feet over the side for balance, but that seems pretty do-able.

I'm pretty interested in that boat myself, but as long as I'm mainly
rockfishing and halibut drifting, any old tub seems to work so I can't justify it. I might change my tune next summer when I try salmon fishing.

That 17' boat from heritage looks interesting, have you tried that one?

http://www.heritagekayaks.com/fishermanpro17.html

Paul, check out EagleEye's review of the Cobra Expedition as a fishing kayak:
http://www.plasticnavy.com/kayakreview/expedition.htm

Yeah, I noticed the lightness in the spec too. if you aren't filling it up with heavy batteries for electronics, that's a real plus.

it's long and fast. it's light. it's durable.  big fish have been caught off it.

looks like the long-range salmon catcher. just have to solve the stability thing.

out of curiosity, when is the stability the issue? While paddling? while fighting the fish? while drifting?

it seems while you are paddling, you are probably going to be able to keep it up right.  I guess the height of your rod-tip might have an effect there?

putting your feet over the side while fighting the fish seems something you might want to do anyways.

if it's while stopped, and you don't want to hang the feets, maybe some kind of simple outrigger would work, just a pole with floats at the ends and two clamps to hold it on deck. or just hang your feet over the side.

anyway, just thinking out loud because I'd love to follow in your long-range cowabunga footsteps, but I don't think it's going to happen for me in the next couple years.

a swarm of gw's feeding

.....THAT'S -  JUST - WONDERFUL Sometimes...some things are just better left unsaid  

anyway, just thinking out loud because I'd love to follow in your long-range cowabunga footsteps, but I don't think it's going to happen for me in the next couple years.

I'm hitting the rowing machine at the gym this winter so I can run circles around Blue Kayak  

sh*t Mooch you could do that now

I doubt that! With my daily intake of spam and eggs over fried rice for breakfast (prepared by the maggot wagon that drops by my work place in the mornings)....I'll need a new heart this time next year.


oohhh by the way...I'll also need to grow some cojones if I'm going to try to keep up with at Dux  

I think hanging the feet over won't entice or disuade the noahs but once something is in your head, it's not easy to get it out.

on the 17'4 74lb boat, it has nice high bow and stern (greenland style?)
seems like it would be good for rougher seas. less of a so-cal wimpy-seas spear than the explorer.

definitely need the cart for that 17'4", and maybe a winch to get it on the racks, unless you want to risk back injury or are the size of some of the close-to-300lbers on this board (trophy size for the gws!).

sometimes the specs aren't as stated either. the explorer could be heavier (as in without hatches) and thus closer to the weight of the heritage.

The hatches are an issue as you stated. maybe a hatch for rods could be cut into the column between the foot rests. then the back hatch is for the fish. the front hatch is for more rarely used stuff?

they list this place as a dealer, so maybe you could test paddle one?

Bodega Bay Surf Shack
1400 Hwy One
Bodega Bay, CA 94923
(707) 875-3944
www.bodegabaysurf.com

good luck with the lung. my grandad had a hunk removed in his fifties and was still chasing the women on his block well into his eighties.

Randy and I did a party boat trip out of San Diego this summer and were astounded at the sea lion attention given to the boat.........as in not one single yellowtail was successfully landed.........

So, I wonder if this is learned behavior as in the animal learns to dog the heels of a powerboat for the easy pickings more than just a random observation and opportunity on the animal's part?..........

I am assuming that the landlord is able to figure these things out too.....

Pat

By the way what's a noah?

Australian for white shark  

I tried the Expedition a couple of months ago. I didn't find it a lot faster than the Tourer, but that was my very unscientific run out to the Pillar Point harbor mouth and back. It is tippy, and I'm used to that, but that's not necessarily something to strive for. In my Nomad (fibreglass, 14' X 23"), I'm often tipped and have to catch my balance while paddling. I've managed to master moving around on the boat (including rigging a 100 cu. ft. scuba tank with BC and regulator) while it's sitting "still", but the problem comes in long paddles, especially trolling. I don't fall off or get flipped too much on the open ocean (once this year I think), but just being thrown  off-balance frequently is at the least annoying and can cause you to lose stuff ( I dropped an unleashed rod catching my  balance once), and IMO, is possibly fatiguing. I do get flipped a lot when I'm landing; it's sort of my trademark . When I get a fish on, it's feet over the side, no question.
I also think that if you paddle a very unstable boat through big water, whatever you gain in speed you lose in time spent correcting course and such. There might be a fair amount of energy spent on keeping a straight line. This is the impression I got last weekend when I did my little time trial at the harbor between my Nomad and a scupper pro. It was windy and crappy inside the harbor, and although the Nomad may be as fast as the SP on flat calm water, the SP definitely was faster and better coming in against the big head wind.
Getting back to the Expedition, it seemed like it would be good for flat water or going perpendicular to the swells, but IMO it isn't very maneuverable. I like to get into tight places (who doesn't) and get back out unscathed, and it didn't seem good for that. The HMB kayak guy said he thought this was partly 'cause of the keel design which he thought Cobra may be changing. I did fit all my fishing (7' 2 piece rod) and free dive gear (small gun) inside the hatch. For me it would be a great boat for going to Dux or other long range on calm days, but not an all-around boat, which is what I'm looking for.
I hope to at least look at and maybe try the Hobie this week. I'm worried about the pedals getting in the way of access to the front hatch and donning dive gear, etc. We'll see. Possibly the precluding thing will be the pedaling itself; I have bad knees.

noah is australian slang, but it is derived from cockney rhyming slang.

noahs ark rhymes with shark. but then they drop the part that rhymes
leaving you with just noah.

A yank is a seppo because of yank rhyming with septic tank, and them always "oh"ing everthing.

noah -> noah's ark -> shark

seppo -> septic -> septic tank -> yank -> american.

If the use it a lot, it's fairly inpenetratable which I guess was the point of the original cockney slang.

disclaimer: I have nothing to do with australia, never been there, etc. Have run into a lot of australians while surfing in baja california tho.

A yank is a seppo because of yank rhyming with septic tank, and them always "oh"ing everthing.

 Sounds like they are jealous.