I found out (almost the hard way) that any OT PDL kayak owner had better have a spare PDL lock-down knob and appropriately sized Allen wrench with them anywhere where the kayak is likely to go over stumps, submerged logs, rocks etc. I was peddling along last week a mile from the launch and the PDL took a direct hit on the nose. As it is designed to do, it popped up and broke off the rear hold-down knob. Thankfully, there was a tiny sliver of plastic left on the knob that held the PDL in place and allowed me to slowly and carefully peddle back the the launch. Needless to say, I've got TWO on order now!
She's beautiful. I went with the 120 Powered by Minn-kota. Love it..It'll be my 1st and last kayak. I see no reason to ever upgrade. I'm 5ft 7- 1/2" 151 lbs. I just ordered the J2 BIXPY Rudder motor kit. Not to run both at once. But, depending on what lake I use, I may run the bixpy, or my Minn-kota. You're right, there's no perfect kayak. Especially a over priced hobie, I'd never buy. But now, with these amazing vessels and technology you can change anything you want the way you want. Actually thinking of a 360 seat on mine someday. But they do sell seat risers, seat rear pouches, and everything you can imagine. Definitely large bucket mouth, hoping he don't shake off, lol..But beautiful vessel there..🙏🎣🤟
I'd say Smallies, I love catching them. I don't catch them very often unless I'm on a trip. The 2 main lakes close to me that I fish only have spots. 🙄
Best thing Ive done for my topwater is adding the 2" rear seat risers from Navarre. Gives a much more low back friendly pedaling angle with thus far no stability issues
I figured out a good way to make a kayak mount on my chain link fence in my yard. 2 large Kayak Strap Hangars, and 4 Muffler clamps. You take the muffler clamps, open them up and push them around the chain link, then you insert the hangar and then the clamp end and tighten. It should work.
Ok, mine is ember! Lol. Enjoyed your video and respect your opinions. However, the only “negative” you mention that I TOTALLY agree with is OT’s doing away with the molded-in front handles in favor of that strap handle. I frankly don’t trust the darn thing! The weight of this boat ( which is a bit of a negative to me) makes it hard for an old guy like me to load in the back of my truck. I’d like to build a PVC rail and put a wench in the front of the truck bed and wench the boat into the bed, but I’m not sure that handle could take that much force. A strap through the Big Water’s root-molded front handle could definitely take it.
That handle is an issue. And to be honest, in my last event, where there wasn’t any current, it seemed like the speed was fine. I’m gonna give it a season and do another video. The other things aren’t necessarily negatives, just different and I have to adjust after being in a Predator for 4 seasons.
I’m so glad you do these RU-vid videos!!! I watch them over and over because it’s the closest thing to fishing (I don’t get to go very often mostly just the tournament day) you do an amazing job filming your fishing. So, it’s the next best thing to being there. And, small mouth are amazing animals and Ferocious. That’s got to be my fav 😎
Thanks for a helpful video. I also have the Sportsman 120 PDL and am thinking about adding a stern mounted trolling motor to help me get to my fishing area and then use my pedal drive to actually fish the area. Looking at Torqeedo 403ac and Newport Vessels NK-180s. Are you thinking about doing anything like this?
I actually am. Thinking about seeing if I can get some body to make me a plate to mount on the power pole mounting area. I don’t think the motor being offset will hurt anything but I have no idea if that’s right.
@@kylelongfishing That would be great if you can share that info when you get it. That is what is holding me up right now. The Torqeedo 1103 (3hp) would be faster but weighs 20lbs. The Torqeedo 403ac (1hp) weighs 11lbs and the Newport Vessels NK-180s (1.8hp) weighs 14lbs. I want to be able to use the existing rudder so I am picturing installing the motor on the power pole mount and fixing it in the straight forward position rather than connecting steering cables to it. I am tempted to screw it directly to the power pole screw holes but I don't know how much weight they can hold. I like your idea of finding a mounting plate. Let's stay in touch on this issue.
@@jimwoodmansee sounds good. To be honest I’m quite a ways from making this purchase. But for sure if I can swing it I hope to have something before next spring. I think the power pole mount is pretty stout. But probably a good place to start investigating.
@@kylelongfishing Thanks Kyle. I'm also interested in how you installed your Boonedox landing gear. What backing plates, if any, did you use? How did you make the pattern for the backing plates? Any other installation issues?
I actually used some aluminum flat bar. 1/8" by 2" and just cut it down to about 8" long. I used one plate on the underneath side and one on the top of each mounting plate. You can get that stuff at Lowe's.
I have the same kayak (same color even). My biggest con is the under seat bumps like you mentioned. Horrible design idea, and they just get in the way. I used the Navarre seat risers (front and rear) and it really improved the comfort for me and my hip position/angle. Smallmouth gets me WAAAY more excited! It's part of why I go over to Pumpback so much.
Even though I'm way late on this, but Small Mouth All day long fire 🔥 me up !!!! I love LMB, but a 2- 4lb Small Mouth is just a better fighter and a much more fun fish 🐟 too catch. I just wanted too respond regardless that this is a little bit of a older video. P.S. You made a great choice on the Old Town 120. Great Yak !!! I personally own a Native Slayer Max, but Old Towns are Sweet and you cannot beat the price and Warranty for sure 😎👍
Yep, OldTown does not seem to be big on storage. I can only afford and also only have room for 1 kayak and it's the OldTown 120 AutoPilot. I've got breathing issues so the trolling motor insures I can get home. I love it.
I’d say the cruising speed is negligible. The one place I’ll say it’s slower is when you are really trying to climb on it. Top end is probably .5 mph slower but I can’t maintain that level pedaling for long anyway. If you do a lot of shotgun starts it would be noticeable...but I don’t so I haven’t noticed much difference.
Do you know if the big helix 9 mega si plus transducers will fit on the bottom of either of these kayaks? I'm trying to make up my mind on which to get. How come you have the transducer mounted on the side instead of the bottom?
I honestly don't know if it fits. But I think it does. My buddy Jeff Malott who also has a channel has his mounted underneath. i like mine mounted over the side because I have a little john boat that I use sometimes with my dad and I like to be able to remove everything easily without undoing the wires running thru the hull.
Hey Kyle, thanks for the review man! Im considering the sportsman pdl. I mainly troll for striper and walleye but occasionally go crappie fishing. Is it easy to maintain speeds of 1-2.5MPH?
I put the numbers in a random number generator as they show up on my page and from the bottom, you were the 8th comment which was the first number drawn. I'll have you a bag of worms next time I see you!
Negligible. It’s more stable but it’s hard to quantify. I thought the Bigwater was plenty stable. It’s plenty stable for me I guess is what I’m trying to say and more stable in my opinion than the Bigwater.
@@kylelongfishing that's where I'm really struggling with deciding between the 120 and the predator/big water. Stability and speed. How much slower is the 120?
@@dustinnorman2658 top end is noticeable. Normal cruising speed I’d bet maybe .1 or .2 mph at most. Normal cruising I get 3.5-3.7 in the 120. With the Bigwater I’d get 3.6-3.9. I can’t pedal full out for more than a minute. 120 is 4.5ish...Bigwater was 5.0. But like I said...that’s with max effort which I can’t sustain for long anyway.
I put the numbers in a random number generator as they show up on my page and from the bottom, you were the 14th comment which was the second number drawn. I'll have you a bag of worms next time I see you!
