Review of the NuCanoe written by Adam Hayes for yakangler.com

After featuring an article about their fishing kayak, I was contacted by NuCanoe's Director of Business Development Blake Young.  He asked us if we wanted to put their kayak through it's paces, and of course I said yes. It was shipped to a shipping hub here in Louisville, KY and actually the first time I looked at this kayak-it was HUGE!

I’ve had this kayak on the water over a dozen times and I have to be very honest when I say that this kayak has become my favorite kayak to fish from.   It allows me to stand almost non-stop and to move around the boat.  Even when seated, the seat is elevated and is on a swivel so it’s extremely comfortable and easy to spin around and grab tackle or rods from the back of the boat.


Pros:
Most of the Pro’s to this boat have to do with its size and hull design.  With a 42” beam and hard chines, this boat is ridiculously stable.  It’s not uncommon to find me standing in the hull, on the deck, or in a Captain Morgan style stance with one foot on the hull and the other on the deck.  

The seating position in this boat is very similar to that of a canoe.  So you are raised off of the hull, sitting in a very regular seated position.  This position makes it very easy to stand from.  And with the angler package, it makes this one of the most comfortable seats on the market.

This boat really surprised me with its ability to maneuver in skinny water.  I really thought that with its width it would feel and act cumbersome.  I have not found that to be the case at all.  It does not have a keel, so that obviously makes it better for this type of fishing.

It has a TON of space to store gear.

One of the coolest aspects of this boat is that you can do a deep-water re-entry.   That’s due to the low profile and wide beam of this boat.


Cons:
Obviously with a boat this size weight is going to be an issue.  This boat weighs in at 77lbs for the 12’ model.   It is still light enough that I can pick it up and load it on top of my jeep.  And they do make a cart that assist you in loading it on your vehicle.

The 42" beam is a bit too large to load on top of some vehicles that have a tapered roof.

There are no built in cup holders or storage compartments.

It does not have scupper plugs so it is not self bailing.


Interesting points:
They recommend using a 270cm Paddle



My ratings:
Performance:  8
Stability:  10
Fish-ability:  10

Maneuverability:  8

A few pictures from recent trips.

Four pound bass

Hawg hunting at its best!

Seven pound Hawg

Three pound Shearon Harris bass

Citation 28' bowfin

19' chain pickerel

Chain pickerel release

22' chain pickerel, my best yet

A little bit about me

I grew up in Colorado trout fishing with my grandpa in high mountain lakes.  Fishing with him are still some of the best memories of my childhood.  When I was ten or eleven we moved back to Texas and I didn't get to do as much.  I went in to the Marine Corps out of high school.  I spent five years in the Corps working on the CH-53 heavy lift helicopter.  During my time in I didn't do very much fishing except for some catfishing and one offshore trip.

I have a unique job now for which I do allot of traveling.    Allot of the guys I work with live on the west coast and always asked me how the bass fishing is in NC.  I would have to tell them I didn't know.  So they finally talked me in to giving it a go.  That was three years ago and I haven't looked back!

All though I primarily fish for bass I still love to target crappie and catfish, and love catching bowfin and chain pickerel.  I got interested in kayak fishing and wanted to try it out so I posted it on NCangler.com a fishing forum that I frequent.  Right away one of the guys said he had an extra kayak and would take me out, awesome!  So we met up and he showed me the ins and outs for a few minutes and then we hit the water.  I was doing some fishing, but mainly trying to keep up with him.  I didn't know it at the time though but he was trolling, I thought we were headed somewhere to fish not knowing he had a line in the water the whole time.  We ended up paddling about five or six miles that day and I was hurtin!  I vowed that I would never fish from a kayak again.

Fast forward a year and I find myself looking at kayaks, lol.  I look and look and look some more.  I researched them for three months.  Then I found the NuCanoe.  It had everything I wanted and didn't know I wanted.  So I picked one up.  I love this kayak.  I have had it six months now and still haven't seen anything else that compares to it.  I like it so much I asked the good folks at NuCanoe if I could be on their "team" (pro staff) and they obliged. 

The "Bassmobile"

Time to stop procrasitinating

Well I have been thinking about blogging for quite some time now and sitting in a hotel room in Greece staring at the walls I have started.  My intent is to share my experiences whether they be good or bad.  Not a very exciting first post but it is late and I have to be up pretty early for work, so more to follow.