I am not sure there is a kayak fisherman large enough to push the capacity of this craft; it has tons of freeboard and legroom. The kayak has two forward scupper holes that drain very well but there is no scupper in the seat area. Should you take a wave you have to deal with water all day – not a good thing – but if you don’t take on any water in you will be dry and not have to deal with water leaking up through a scupper leaking, so for calmer waters this is a plus. I suggest keeping a boat sponge handy as it’ll solve the potential problem. The rear tank well is roomy but a bit further back then I like it due to the round hatch space. Mounting accessories will be a breeze as there are areas on both the lower deck and gunnels for Scotty and Ram-Mount accessories.

Stability: As mentioned earlier, this kayak is all about the stability and comfort, a fishing kayak SUV. I easily stood up and looked around from a vertical position. The deck is flat and has a nice area for your feet. I was able to sit comfortably sidesaddle and really able to lean over. The kayak has both good primary and secondary stability.

Paddling Performance: The kayak tracks well and maneuvers well; even without the optional rudder. I got it up to about 5.3 mph on my GPS, which is not bad for a kayak that’s only 13’6” and has the volume and capacity it does. I cruised comfortably at around 3.5 mph. As you can see the kayak has a slightly upturned bow and stern and it did very well handling some large chop made from boat wakes - It cut right through without any splash coming over. The Key Largo hull does exhibit some hull slap and I felt it even it in some small chop. This could be an issue in fishing areas where you are looking for stealth and staying quiet.

As we have expressed many times, there isn’t a perfect fishing kayak and there are always going to be compromises. The trick is to figure out what features are really important to you and work from there in choosing a fishing kayak.

For more info visit RTM Kayaks: www.rtmkayaks.com