Four Tips to Find a Great Deal on a Kayak

Labor Day marks the end of summer for most folks. It's back to school time for the kids. Businesses are starting a new fiscal year soon and the holidays are within sight. What Labor Day also marks is the beginning of sale season for kayaks.

Kayaks, both used and new are at the end of their cycle for the year. Dealers are reducing old inventory for the winter months, increasing new year models, doing some trade-ins, selling off the rental fleet and clearancing out. They know the pattern. It's their business. Craigslist will be flooded with people needing to sell a kayak for this or that. There are nomadic, seasonal kayakers who often sell a boat just to make a lease payment for deer season. Then there is dad, who thought he could convince the family to kayak with him, who instead is needing to sell a tandem to get a solo kayak. It takes all kinds. Often it works out for both parties. Everybody gets what they want and the cycle continues into next year.

Commonly thought of as a summer time hobby or sport, kayaking enjoys a bolus of participants between May and September. The crowds on local lakes start to thin more and more as the weather becomes more tolerable. Hunting season has started and for some that means dove hunting and then deer hunting. For me it's always DEAL hunting. 

Over the last several years I have used fall and winter as a time to upgrade. Often, there are folks looking for a boat I have, rigged and ready to fish and are willing to pay a fair amount for it as is. I'd then turn that money into a better deal for me by finding great deals. Here are a few tips to help you find a great deal:

1. Look at Buy/Sell/Trade Sections on Your Local Forums

Chances are you belong to a local forum or six. Kayaks can often show up here for not a lot of money. Make sure you do your research though. A few unrealistic (or opportunistic) folks will try to get you to pay retail prices for a used kayak. Don't want to risk getting swindled? Check out the next tip.

2. Call a Kayak Dealer or Two

Dealers can't advertise their best prices. The kayak market for the most part has fixed pricing. If you can go in store it is even better but sometimes a phone call works if you are far away. This time of year it is very important to move inventory from the previous year. Brand new kayaks needing new homes can be had at better than used pricing very often. Don't believe me? Call HOOK 1 at (866) 486-8412 and ask if they have any deals. Tell them Chris sent you. 

3. Don't Forget Craigslist

Depending on where you live, CL can be filled with kayaks. In Texas, especially Dallas, Austin and San Antonio options abound. Just please, reread #1 and do some homework. Some sellers will try to take advantage or just really have no clue that a kayak depreciates. Take a buddy, meet at a place where you can demo the kayak. Speaking of demos.

4. Demo, Demo, Demo

Don't be a knucklehead like me and buy a kayak you've never paddled. It's exciting and sometimes the deals are great but what if you drop $500 or $1,000 on something that you hate. Good luck reselling for the same price. Demo at least the model if at all possible. It doesn't have to be the exact kayak but at least a very similar one. 

I Want A Kayak! But Which One?

It's that time of year. It's cold outside and people have a chance to sit inside and dream of the spring. This is also the season when people start thinking of boats and kayaks. Every winter the kayak fishing forums light up with requests about which boats to look at, which one is for me and myriad other questions.

So which boat should you get? It's not that simple.

You may as well ask which one main dish your town would like to eat every day for the next year. It just isn't that simple.

People have different expectations for everything. We are all unique individuals with very specific things we are looking for. Kayak fishing is no different.

So what do you do? No one will give you the answer. So what now?

Here are a few steps to help make the right-for-you decision.

#1 Make a List

You need to make a list of all the things you are going to do in the kayak and how it will be used.
Are you fishing in big lakes, the ocean, rivers, bays or all of the above?
Are you wanting to troll, drift, sit, stand, paddle, pedal or use an electric motor of some sort?
Are you fishing for bass, crappie, cats, specks, reds, flounder, anything you can catch or all of the above?
Who will be using the kayak? Will it be just you or will others be sharing it?
How will you transport it? Do you have a truck, trailer, car, van? Do you have a roof rack? Do you have cross bars on the roof rack?
How much storage do you want the kayak to have?
Do you fish in the cold much?
Do you fish in the wind much?
Where will this kayak be stored? How much room is in that place (size limits)?
Do you have any health issues that will play into your decision (bad back, bad heart, arthritis, etc)?
How much weight can you lift above your head? How much weight can you raise to your waist?
How much does the heaviest person weigh that will be using the kayak?
How tall is the tallest person that will use the kayak?
What weight capacity, gear and people, will the kayak need to have?

This is by no means the full exhaustive list but it will get you in the right frame of mind to discover what you need.

#2 Budget

This one is tough. Most people decide they want to get into kayak fishing with a max cap of $500. Some have a smaller budget than that. The problem with that number is that will usually only get you a kayak. Let's say you go to Academy and by the Perception Sport Pescador 12 ft kayak (the old Tarpon 120 body). It'll cost you $500. After tax you are already over budget. Now you need a paddle, lifejacket (PFD), and whistle just to be legal and able to go to the lake. This adds another $60 if you get the absolute cheapest stuff that's made. Throw in tax and your $500 budget is now at $670. This is when most people start to look at used boats and settle on a boat in their price range. Usually the kayak doesn't fit that list of things you wanted and more often than not, your $450 you spent on a used kayak turns into a loss because now you are selling the used kayak and stuff for $350 on Craigslist because kayak fishing just isn't for you.

Don't blame the kayak. If you take a date out to McDonald's and tell her to order off of the Dollar Menu only do you think you'll get a second date? Rarely. When you buy a used boat on the cheap that you've done little research on and doesn't meet your needs, your time in kayak fishing is usually, not always, but usually short lived.

Make a realistic budget for what you can do and stick to that but make sure it meets your list. If it doesn't meet your list, save up more money to expand your budget or keep waiting. Trust me here. A boat that meets all of your needs rather than just the desire to get on the water will make you much happier in the long run.

#3 Demo, Demo, Demo

Before you make a purchase, demo lots of kayaks. Technically speaking, there are demo days almost every day of the year. Lots of dealers will meet you at the lake with a few boats you want to try. Meet up with folks who have the kayak already and give it a try. Please don't buy a boat without trying it first. It usually ends in heartbreak. Take your list and check off how many of your desires each boat has. If it is out of your budget, look for a used one or save some more money and get the one you really want.


#4 Research

Talk to people who have the kayak you have narrowed it down to. Do some web research. Look at the manufacturers website. What would they change? How did they rig their kayak for fishing? Would they buy that kayak again? Make an informed decision.



Even if you follow all of these steps, it doesn't guarantee a perfect kayak for you. Chances are, you'll change boats a few times in your life and that is good too. As your preferences change, possible so will the type of kayak you need. But, the chances of you buying the right kayak the first time without any of the above steps is not a very likely scenario. To try to make it easier, I have made a sheet for you to take to the stores, dealers, boat shows, etc. Try it out and see how you like it! If you hand this to the knowledgeable folks at a kayak dealer in Texas like Mariner Sails, APT, Mountain Sports or others, they'll be able to help you find that kayak that is the right fit for you. If you are a little further east than Texas, HOOK1 in Hendersonville, TN or YakCity in Lake Wylie, SC are the best of the best and will have you paddling the right boat in no time at all.

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Scotty Offset Gears and Slip Discs Review

If you could buy two items that could make your fishing simpler, more dialed in and easier would you? What if I told you that together both items would cost less than $10? It sounds too good to be true but it's not. I have the magic items and I can tell you, they are worth twice what they are asking if not three times.

Scotty No. 414 Offset Gears

So what are these modern marvels? Let me introduce you to the Scotty No. 414 Offset Gears and the Scotty No. 415 Slip Discs.

The Offset Gear is placed between the two existing gears on a Scotty mount to double the number of adjustments you can make. Finding a better angle but still maintaining that rigid hold is not only possible but extremely inexpensive. I used the Offset Gears in my Scotty Gear Head Mount Extender (No. 429) to get a better angle for my GoPro which is attached to a PanFish Camera Mount from YakAttack. I just couldn't get the angle I wanted with the standard gears. I popped in an Offset Gear and voila!I had what I wanted. I also tried it out in a Scotty rod holder which worked well but I still needed more fine tuning capability. That is where the No. 415 Slip Discs came in.

The Scotty No. 415 Slip Discs will tune as finely as you can dial it in.

Scotty No. 415 Slip Discs

A typical Scotty gear has teeth on both sides. The Slip Discs have teeth only on one side. What this allows you to do is make micrometer like adjustments up and down to find the perfect angle on that rod holder. These can be used with all the other Scotty mounts that have gears in them as well. The only thing you are really giving up is that iron clad security of teeth on both sides. With enough force the Slip Discs will do exactly that, slip. That's what they are made for. With a hand tightened nut on a rod holder or extension, in almost all applications, the 415 will be good to go.

Scotty No. 429 Gear Head Mt Ext.

I started kayak fishing with Scotty rod holders almost a decade ago. I fished them more because of the price point difference than because of functionality. There were other rod holders that had better adjustability but they were twice the cost. I knew the Scotty rod holders and extenders were clunky. The angles never seemed what I really wanted and so I eventually stopped using them. With the release of the Offset Gears and the Slip Discs, Scotty is going to get another shot on my kayak. The price point on Scotty products is already hard to beat and with these newest additions, affordability and functionality are both part of the new equation. If you are looking for a way to fine tune your Scotty products and your fishing, this is it,

If you would like to order some of these products you can go to the links below. These folks at HOOK1 are top notch and have the best prices around.


No. 414 Scotty Offset Gears (Listed at $4.49)

No. 415 Scotty Slip Discs (Listed at $4.49)

Since I mentioned it, if you needed to check out a Gear Head Mount Extender, here is a link as well:

Scotty No. 429 Gear Head Mount Extender (Listed at $24.99)

Thanks for reading. More reviews are on the way this week as we will look at some additional Scotty and YakAttack products.

Black Friday Deals on Kayak Fishing Gear

If you need some new kayak gear, check out Hook 1.You can find them at www.kayakfishinggear.com. Sales are on now. Enter BLACKFRIDAY in the promo code box at checkout and watch the savings pile up!