I bought my Hobie from Mariner during a boat show sales event and saved some money that way. You might ask if they still run that promotion.

I would talk to the guys at Mountain Sports. I got nothing from Mariner sails except attitude and judgement. If you have a Jackson they don't like you...you're not cool enough.

That said I have a paddler obviously, but I'm very interested in getting a peddler. I will be in the market in the next 6 months or so. My buddy has a Hobie and the advantages did he has over me when we fish together are pretty obvious.

My buddy got the same treatment from mariner when he bought his tarpon tandem. He only bought from them because I recommended them after many great dealings with Mike. I keep giving them the benefit of the doubt but seems like things have gotten worse since he retired.
I posted about my buddy's bad experience here on the forum and crickets.

Its like the dudes are doing YOU a favor in selling you a yak. Just arrogant as all get out.

Between Mountain Sports and the interwebs I am fine to never step foot on their lot again and I dont hesitate to tell my friends in the yakking community about my experiences with the "Great" Mariner Sails.

Now if this was just once, I could chalk it up to the guy had a bad day, but I have been in there 4 times and to my astonishment its the same vibe every time.

PS I go there now just to look at part numbers etc. Its a block from my office. Then I go order them off the web or call Mountain Sports and see if they have it. AND I am not surprised you got crickets on your post. Its not popular to share negative things about that place. Like they are Teflon and can treat folks poorly with immunity. F that.

AFTER my buddy spent $1000+ on a Tarpon tandem and paddles they tried to sell him a Yakima rack for his highlander. He already had cross bars and just put pool noodles on them. Told the guy that and he hatefully smarted off that they wouldn't last one trip. A year later and they are still going strong.

Man very similiar experince.

I told the guy I had just bought a Jackson and wanted to look at through the scupper mounts. "Nah we dont carry those. Those are junk. It will break in a month..."

And further more "I dont like Jacksons. I don't like the yaks. I don't like how they do business" and on and on bashing what I was so excited to have just bought.

It goes on. But you get the idea. Very similar to what your friend experienced...same attitude.

PS the through the scupper mount did break. After 18 months of very hard use. I was able to jerry rig a fix and its still going. So take your $200 little Ram-X arm mount junk and shove it Mariner.

I will tell you this, OKCKAYAK.COM, knows what customer service is all about! I checked and they do carry the brand you are looking for, but I didn't see the Tarpon listed.
I just ordered a boat there. I was able to find a new, 2016 model, slightly ($100) more than what I was seeing used boats going for. I bought, over the phone, and because they don't have a store in Texas saved sales tax. Flat rate shipping was $69. I don't typically buy online (or sight unseen), because my luck has always been "if it CAN happen, it WILL"!
The freight company, R&L, delivered the boat about 3:00 Friday afternoon. I noticed the bubble wrap was torn in a couple of places so took pics before I even unwrapped. After unwrapping, the longest "cut" in the wrap had a pretty nasty scratch below. I was sorely disappointed, but was going to chalk it up to "my luck" & "buying sight unseen". That wasn't the end, nor the worst of the damage.
Further inspection revealed one good sized crack (puncture) and another smaller one, in the bottom of the boat. I called the Tulsa store, where the boat actually shipped from, and followed the call with an email (including pics of damage). In under two hours, the owner was contacting me, making arrangements to deliver a 2017 boat, to my door, for the same cost. Before noon an Saturday, I had the new ride, at my house. Less than 24hours from delivery of the original, damaged boat!
In today's times of non-existent customer service, I will take every opportunity to let everyone, I can, know about OKCKAYAK.COM
Good luck on finding your boat! I'm looking forward to getting mine on the water asap!

Ha! I'm stealing that.

I've bought two yaks from Mariner sails, including a Wildy ATAK this spring. Their customer service was good and the price was same as other local dealers.

To address your other question about fishing from a paddle kayak versus a pedal kayak: The actual fishing part depends more on the individual yak than on paddle vs. pedal. I really like fishing from my ATAK, the seat is comfortable and has hi-low positions, and I can easily stand up. To me the real advantage for the pedal drive is getting from point A to B. That's where the pedal drive really shines.