I have had my ascend for about five years now and I did the seat mod the only trouble is if you fix it permanently you won’t be able to take the seat out for when you’re transporting with other kayaks and being loose. It moves around too much, but oh, and all that is a good mod shortly after using the ascend for fishing, I upgraded to a old town 120 PDL which I ultimately love. It’s a whole new ballgame when you can be hands-free fishing.
I purchased a 12T about three weeks ago. Do you have issues with the water coming up through scupper holes? Only out once on a windy day with waves, and boat traffic, and had enough come in that I had good amount of water under the seat from upwelling through scuppers. Going to do that seat mod for sure, since you say it is still stable. Oh, FYI. I had to unscrew all the bungee tie downs , and silicone the screw holes., and reattached them. The drilled holes were not cleaned up, and let water that had come over the bow and sit to seep into the hull. Not too bad over a couple hours, but not good for a half day trip. In fact, almost every screw on kayak needed to be tightened. AND, what did you find best to attach the side handles you added. I do like the kayak. Good fishing to ya!
Hey Terry, I usually start with my scupper holes plugged but eventually I have to pull them to let the water out. I try to stay dry but the inlets and cutoffs can get pretty rough and the scuppers do their hob well. My screws were loose as well. I attached everything using marine rivets with added silicone just to be safe. Thanks for watching and have fun on that lake 👍
It's not you and an anchor trolley will not help with that aluminum pole. That's what I used for my first one and it bent the same way. They have a fiberglass garden stake that works better. However, I did eventually purchase a manufactured stake.
