Well I got the new boat yesterday afternoon, a Perception Pescador. Best part about the whole deal, at least to me anyway, is I got the boat and everything needed to rig it for under $550. Everything brand new! Got her home last night and rigged it this morning with the normal stuff. Mounted up a rod holder on the bow, anchor trolly and cleat. It came with one flush mount rod holder behind the seat so I went ahead and added one more.
Got to take her out a little while ago, only for about 2 hours but it was long enough for me figure out I really like the boat. It made a lot better speed that I thought it would. Had an effortless trolling cruise. Tracks pretty darn good. I thought the seat was nice as well. I tried standing up just to see how it would do, she was a little shakey but Im not to concerned about standing anyway.
One thing I want to come up with is some sort of a bag or net type of bag that I can drop into both of the small hatches. That way I can put smaller items in there with out them getting lost in the hull. Anybody got any ideas on that one?
I also have a little used Cuda depth finder that I might put on it. Just not sure if I want to bother with that one or not. How many of you guys run a little depth/fish finder on the kayak and how usefull is it really? I do troll grubs everywhere I go, that is about the onlything that I can think of where it would be a neat thing to have.
Over all, I am very please with the boat. Thanks for the tips and advice guys.
Just found these looking on line. http://www.austinkayak.com/products/469/Wilderness-Systems-Tarpon-Kayak-Cat-Hatch-Bag.html
I assume these would drop right into the my smaller hatches. I would almost like to have bigger bags that I can stuff into the holes so that if I want to, I can pack a lot of small tiems in them. But if these would just drop in, that sure would be easy.
Measure what size your hatches are,(looks like 6") I have a bunch of mesh hatch bags kicking around in garage still I’m sure that you’re more then welcome to.
Russ B. Formerly known here as “Top2Bottom1” www.joinrfa.org
God is great, Beer is good, People are crazy
They are 6" . If you have a couple extra in the garage that you dont need, I will take them off of your hands. I was just about to order a set off that web site.
Just a little bit came up through the scuppers. Mostly only when boat wakes were comming my way. I also really like that it has scuppers under the seat too. I was really not liking the idea of sitting in a water puddle if I were to take on a good bit of water for what ever reason. I think you would have to load the boat down pretty good for it to hold water in the cockpit. But Im only about 165 pounds had a small cooler on the back, tackle bag, anchor and a few other little things. I am shooting for getting back out in it this weekend and really spend some time in it. Then I can give you a better review of the boat. But I do have to say that my first impression of it is very good. I was expecting a lot less from it.
The boat looks nice. I didn’t realize they came with a seat. Doesn’t the seat keep you out of the cockpit water? My prowler has scuppers in the seat and I made soft foam plugs for them that I can pull out easily if desired.
The Prowler doesn’t have foot pegs but instead it has multiple footwells. They always fill with water but i find that useful. I’ll drop my hooked mud minnow in one when traveling from one spot to another. Sometimes throw a couple of extra MM’s in there for quick access. I’ll also drop a rigged gulp in one if it’s just going to sit for a while so it won’t dry out.
I’m still figuring out all the rigging options on my boat too. Which West marine do you work at? West Ash?
I dont work at West Marine, I work at Hanckel. They let us get stuff from them at the normal discounts so it saves a little here and there.
Right now I dont see a need for scupper plugs. But I guess if I load the boat down with a lot more gear, then I may want some. I never really take all that much with me when I go, but now I may start fishing some live bait since it will be easier to take it with me.
I want to fish it a few times so that I can figure out what else I want to bring or do to the boat itself. Right now I am pretty happy with the boat.
Now if I could just catch some fish when I go fishing. That would be cool.
I only find my fish finder useful when i’m looking for shrimp in the middle of the day. Most of the time I go out I just leave it in the truck. I like having the option though.
Well got to take her out again yesterday for just a couple of hours. I do have to say that I am impressed with the speed that you can get out of this boat. It might be almost as fast if not as fast as the 14’ Dagger Charleston that I have. (the Charleston is still for sale by the way.) And it tracks very well too. So far, I am still very pleased with the boat itself. I think this one will have a home for a good while.
I tried to do a little live bait fishing with it. I thought I would be fine using a trolling style bait bucket but after messing around with it for a while, I think it was more of a pain than what it was worth. Picking it up and getting it back into the back of the yak was a pain and dragging it in the water was also a pain. Plus in the wind, it always ended up beating on the side of the yak making noise the whole time.
I was thinking of making a bait tube but Im not sure if that would really be any better. I guess the only really good option would be to make a real baitwell for the back of the boat. What are you guys doing with your live bait? Or I guess the better question is, what is the most trouble free system? I can make anything, that is not a problem, just looking for a simple, hassle free bait keeping system. If I could come up with a bait tank that could sit in the back of the yack and circulate water with out the need for pumps and batteries, that would be the ticket! Guess I just need to figure out how to get water to flow up hill.
Use the flowtrol bait bucket with a few feet of paracord tied to the handle. I let mine lay in the water when I’m staked out and set it between my knees when I’m paddling.
I do about the same with the flowtrol bucket only there’s a spot just behind my seat that I can slip it into. I leave enough line and set it out on the “downstream” side of the boat so I rarely have it knocking against the boat.
I do the same as Too Busy. Having it between your knees allows you to flush it with fresh water every 5-10 minutes, whick keeps the bait alive and lively for a longer period of time. I use the paracord and a small carabiner so I can let it float when I’m anchored/staked out.
If you’re lucky enough to be fishing, you’re lucky enough.
I will just have to play with the bait bucket more I guess till I find a method that works for me.
I might make a bait tube just to try and see how that works. Im sure I can find enough scrap pvc to make one.
I dont think I want to bother with making a real working baitwell for the boat but I will probly run across enough parts to make one with out really having to spend any money at all. If that ends up being the case, then I can throw one together just to try and if I like it, then put some effort into making one that really fits the boat and works well.
I had to look up the term “bait tube” as I’d never heard of that. Interesting looking idea but what do you do with it when you’re paddling a distance to a different spot? Does it just drag along side or behind the boat? (This sounds like a dumb question as I ask it…)
