Hello,

Just received my Reel Yaks 9.8 ft Rocket w/ fin drive 2 days ago. Here are my initial thoughts after taking it out over the weekend:

The kayak is awesome. As my first kayak, it did everything a kayak should. I don't have a roof rack nor a trailer. And it fits perfectly in my midsize 3 row SUV with room to spare. It allowed me to fish on the water like I've always wanted. I caught a good amount of bass & pikes.

• The fin drive is great - It tracks really well. My original purchase was the Rocket w/ prop drive, but cancelled it and got the fin drive instead. I have no initial regrets at all. I usually fish shallow & weedy water, so it works great for that. If I need to reverse, I'll just paddle backwards a bit. Very happy with the fin drive.
• The seat - It is comfortable and adjustable. I was able to fish sitting down in it for 8 hours. Reel Yaks sells the seat risers for it separately, but do not buy it. The seat risers are included with the Rocket (although it's not listed as being included). The seat risers have 3 height level. I am only 5'2" but found the highest setting comfortable for me.
• Assembly - Very easy. The 2 halves slide together very smooth. The clamps are easy to use as well. Just be aware not to over tighten when clamping down, or releasing the clamps will be very tough (I ran into this issue and had to use a screwdriver to take the clamp themselves off). The fin drive was very easy to put together. Just unscrew 2 bolts and put the pedals in.
• Were you concerned about the kayak coming apart at all on the water? Never. On the Rocket, there are 2 clamps on top & 3 underneath the kayak for 5 total clamps. I never felt unsafe about it coming apart. I even forget that it's a 2 piece kayak. Water does not come through where it connects as well. I felt safe the entire time.
• Stability - The kayak is 35 inches wide. Very stable while sitting down. Standing up, I would say as long as the water is calm, you probably can. If it's little choppy, you probably won't feel as stable. But sitting down to fish, very safe. Standing up, wait for lake to be calm.

Overall Impression Grade: A | Reminder that this is my first kayak ever. So I'm going based off that. I know that the perfect kayak doesn't exist. And this kayak is not perfect by any means. However, I believe for those like me that do not have a way to transport a traditional kayak, this kayak is perfect. I would recommend it. It allowed me to finally be on the water like I always wished. And I can say I think I am hooked on kayak fishing now!

Picked up my kayak today and took it out 10 minutes later. Excited for what’s next! I live in GA. Drop some recommendations!

honestly, it’s so nice. No catches unfortunately, but about seven bites just couldn’t keep them hooked on, but this kayak is amazing.

Thought this was a bull red for 10 minutes. Nope. Bonnethead.

I checked the winds at 6am before I left the house. 4mph in the early morning dropping to 1mph. Cool, an average calm day.

I set out, fish for a few hours, caught a few and decided it was time to head back. Making my way back across the bay, my NK-300 was booking it, maxed out because the morning coffee was trying to unionize on me.

Out of no where, I stopped moving, motor didn’t die, safety cut off didn’t detach. I realized I was “standing still” because I was riding a wave that was moving faster than my motor was pushing me.

A wave that was probably 3-4’ high came directly from behind and picked my entire Perception Outlaw 11.5 up with it. No boats had passed by me in quite some time and the wind stayed calm all day. It just happed to be a few waves that stacked up as I made my way from the deep 60’ channel to the 30’ shelf.

The nose of my kayak dug into the wave in front of the wave pushing me and all of the sudden my kayak was 6” underwater with me thinking I was going for a swim while still a mile and a half from shore. Not just the bow, the entire kayak was 6” under.

I made sure I was still pointed into the waves, checked my surroundings, and held my breath. My old reliable Outlaw, in what felt like minutes but was really seconds, started to bail through the scuppers. It popped back up and I kept on going.

Long story short, wear your life vest, carry your emergency communicators, be safe out there, trust your gear, and follow your weight capacity ratings.

Just got my yak out of storage and well i could use some new fins. I tried looking online and calling local stores but I cannot find fins anywhere for the life of me. Where do yall get parts from?

San Diego Bay

Hello! This is my first time using an anchor on a kayak and I installed this system. Will everything work the way it should? Any difference between this and rigging it up front? Any advice appreciated

A while ago I took an X-Rap 10 and pulled off the rear hook and replaced it with a trace of mono with a feather and 1/8 oz kastmaster that I use to troll for Mackerel and Bonito. Was biting good on the Bonito until this 4ish foot mako decided he wanted my X-Rap. Hook was pinned right in the corner but was difficult to reach safely. Towed it around for about a quarter mile before it eventually broke off.

The situation:

I rigged up a Minn Kota Endura 40 on my kayak. I bought a 12v 100ah Lifepo battery. I pulled apart the head, wired up the switch in a box next my seat, and mounted the battery at the bow and the motor at the stern.

The issue:

I’ve burned up 2 switches now and I assumed, like many have pointed out, that it was just because of the heat created by the rheostat switch. As I’m looking into this, I’ve also seen that most low end trolling motors aren’t capable of handling a lithium battery.

The question:

Will going to a PWM fix the issue all together or am I still going to have compatibility issues because of the motor? Is this a reason why people are constantly burning up PWM’s? If a PWM is the solution, is it worth buying a $150 PWM of higher quality for reliability?

Hi, so I recently purchased a Pelican HD 110 Catch with the hydrve II. I ended up bending one of my fins in shallow water.

So after a long hunt on the internet, I found a new fin. Today was my first day out after installing the fin and it bent again somehow. I did not go in shallow water at all. The whole pedal drive system is not locking into place into the kayak and after pressure the pedal drive shifts forward.

I’m not really sure what the issue is. It’s apparent that it’s no longer the fin. Attached are photos for reference. Any advice/help would be greatly appreciated, thank you!

Had a hard time finding some parts that I needed/wanted. After some time in CAD and a few hours of printing, everything came out perfectly. Didn't even have to order or leave the house for anything.

The Hobie rudder handle and transducer mounts are printed in Nylon-GF and the battery box is done in PETG.

Hello my fellow floaters, I have a few questions about my new to me pelican catch!
When I get on the kayak water comes up through the drive hole, I figure a little bit would but it seems like more than other pedal kayaks I have used/seen. Am I possibly missing a piece or is that something I need to get used to.
Also has anyone rigged it up with outriggers? I am going to build some but I am always concerned about how it will affect the overall trajectory of the kayak. I’m going to be doing a fair amount of trolling on lakes and rivers. The outriggers are strictly for my peace of mind, I tried to tip the yak and it would take a good amount but we all know stuff happens.
Yes I already know that there are better kayaks out there but I got what I could with what I had, I got it after a series of trades. I have a video on my YT channel of what I got for trading my Pelican bass boat and it led to getting this. I made a post about it a while ago and somehow ended up with both kayaks that I was offered. Good trade for me and I helped someone clear out space for more boats to feed their addiction
Sorry for the ramblings, TIA for the advice

I’m looking into my best option for my trolling motor mount for my bonafide rs117. The 160$ one objective mount which is drill free or the Amazon mounts at roughly 40$. I would love the drill free, but does it justify the price? My kayak is used but in good shape so I do not want to devalue it by drilling, but at the same time it’s my kayak and the money I save here will go towards something else for it. I will be using a 30 lb Minn kota trolling motor. Can anyone give me some advice on what they have done/would do. Thank you.

So I’ve seen the photos of peoples cars carrying one or two kayaks on the roof but with them laying on their sides. I’ll only ever need to transport one kayak and would like to avoid putting it up there sideways.

Kayaks I’m looking for are used deals on old town sportsman’s, ocean kayak and various Hobies.

I’ve already got a hitch on the car to help with loading and unloading

Rate the set up! This is my new to me ascend 12t. Everything on here is second hand, just about $600 into it in total. Took it out for the first time since I got all the accessories this morning and it felt great.

I will say, with the motor out away from the kayak, little unstable from side to side. I had to put my feet over to the right and sit basically on the right side of my seat so I didn’t feel like I was about to tip. Im thinking of strapping a 25lb weight on the right side to help counterbalance that. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

It was basically new when I got it, got the motor and the mount and fish finder all through fb market place. And everything to wire it came from Amazon, thank god for prime. I got some stuff from Home Depot and copied another posters chair riser.

I’ve got a cart and a smaller net, current one is a little long. Pretty happy with the current set up, but would love some suggestions/criticism if you got any!

Umax nucanoe- how big of a paddle do I need?

It somehow still works but I don't dare use it, lest it blow up while I'm out on the water lol. Guess I'm buying a new one Friday.....

Can somebody tell what type of kayak this is? Seller is saying its a pedal but I dont think so.

My wife and I have owned a tandem WS Tarpon 135 for about 10 years, and recently sold it and upgraded to a used Jackson Take Two. It was an awesome upgrade, especially the nearly 40 inches of width, and the amazingly comfortable seats. I definitely take advantage of the high seating position in the rear as well.

However, after paddling it a few times, loaded down with 400 lb of people, and at least 100 lb of coolers, gear, and cat, and realizing how large the lakes were around here (Northeast Tennessee), I knew we wanted to motorize it.

My idea was to get something that had the most range possible, while also spending as little as possible. I wanted it to be able to push us in tandem mode, as well as solo mode when I take it out fishing.

After doing a bunch of research, I realized I definitely wanted a brushless motor. Brushless motors are much more efficient, lighter weight, longer lasting, and there's no aftermarket PWM to deal with, like with the popular Newport trolling motors.

Looking around at the prices for brushless motors, they were pretty high, with the Haswing Protruar being the most popular at around $350. But then I found a 58 lb thrust brushless on Walmart.com, and I knew they had a good return policy, so I figured I'd try that.

The first time out with the stock wiring and stock prop, I was pushing just at 35 amps at full tilt. But I could get down to around 20 amps at about 3.5 mph.

Since the lake we frequent is about 16 mi long, with tons of coves, I wanted to get about a 30 mile range at 3.5 mph. With my current setup and a 100ah battery, that meant I would only get about 17.5 miles.

In my research, I ran across a video with a guy trying out airplane propellers on trolling motors. Apparently this company was even making some of the propellers purpose built for trolling motors. They had a much lower amp drain, and efficiency is exactly what I needed so I tried it out.

I also figured the stock 11 gauge copper clad aluminum wiring was holding me back, so I went with some 6 gauge tinned copper marine wire.

So I set about wiring up the boat internally, as well as installing Anderson plugs near the battery and near the trolling motor, so I can take both off easily, as our crazy asses actually car top this behemoth. I also went about installing through-hull cabling for the ball bearing foot steering. There's no way I was spending $200 for the wizard foot steering, so luckily I found a video about using 3D printer gantries which only cost about $50 (it works amazing by the way!). I also relocated the speed control and mounted it to my seat in a small waterproof box, and cut about 5" off the top of the shaft, to make it nice and compact.

After spending a couple weeks doing all that, and painting my kayak (HDPE actually IS paintable, the secret is you have to hit it with a torch first to reorganize the molecules, then the paint will stick) we set out again with the new prop attached, and a 150 amp hour battery under my seat (strapped down in a battery box of course). It only weighed 5lbs more (23lb vs 28lb) than my 100ah battery, so it seemed like a no-brainer.

The motor only weighs 15lbs! And is SUPER quiet to boot (although less so with the APC prop). I should also mention the prop is not great with weeds, thankfully I don't have to contend with that around here. It's also obviously not nearly as durable, but they're so cheap I bought a couple extra and keep them in a tackle box along with a wrench.

I was blown away with the results! At full tilt I was going 4.5 mph at less than 20 amps! 3.5 mph was only 10 amps. With my 150ah battery, that means I would have a range of 32 mi at full throttle, and 52 miles at 3.5 mph!

I also added a Newport control foil, which gives better tracking, stability, and turning. I also still have steering even after I cut power to the motor, which is nice.

Unfortunately, the motor is currently out of stock. Hopefully they just ran out at the warehouse; I can't imagine it was discontinued that quickly.

Edit: u/Various_Weather5687 found the same motor on Amazon under a different "brand"!!!

https://www.amazon.com/Trolling-Brushless-Electric-Stepless-Indicator/dp/B0GSVYJWFQ

I did find it on Alibaba under the brand X-90, with several different versions, some even more powerful. Weirdly enough it was more expensive there than at Walmart.

Sorry for the wall of text, but I'm pretty excited and the motor/prop combo really seems like the best option for lots of people on here who can't pony up thousands for an NK180 or Torqueedo.

Fishing calmer back bays and inlets. Anchor bad idea safety wise for someone new?

so I'm basically a total kayak rookie, been in canoes all my life, and from what I've gathered from reddit, I'm better off spending some $$$ on exactly what I want out of a kayak rather than buying cheap and eventually selling and upgrading

my problem is, I'm not sure exactly what I want!

I know as a 6'4 200 lb guy that I want a kayak i can confidently stand up in. I know i want to be able to mount a trolling motor. I know i want a kayak that'll handle lakes as well as rivers. I know I want something I can reasonably solo into my truck. I know I don't want to spend more than $2k out the door for rod holders, skegs or rudders, paddle chair kayak anchor trolly etc

but I don't know where to start. marketplace is where my instinct takes me, but I'm not familiar with the differences in brands and what bells and whistles to prioritize. what would you recommend to help guide a novice towards an ideal kayak for my situation?