Any suggestions for a stable kayak under $1000? I am 6�4 300lbs. Thanks in advance.

ACK has Ride 115's and 135's on sale for under a grand right now, with the low seat. I'm about 6'4" and 265#, and I have a Ride 115 that I use for rivers and small ponds, and it is very stable. It's not very fast, but on the river it's more about maneuverability.

You definitely need a kayak with a capacity of 500# or more.

A guy on here had made a spread sheet of kayaks with break downs in price and sizes so I hope he will see this and share. My opinion for your size and price range is the Wilderness Systems Ride 135. Weight capacity is important also and not many kayaks at $1000 have a carrying capacity more than 450#. With you and gear you'll be close to the limit and kayaks will not respond as good when maxed. Ride 135 has a 550# capacity.

Stability while standing in the Ride is good but it's not the best. While sitting I would rank it as one of the top performers. I made a mistake once of letting a friend learn to kayak in my Ride. He got a well know store brand kayak of the same style and turtled (flipped it) 20 feet from the shore his first time out. He said he reached back for his rod and it just went over. That don't happen in a Ride.

In your budget you'll need to account for a paddle and life jacket (PFD) also. That will get you out of the water safe and legal. There are a lot of cool accessories you can get after you've had some time on the water.

I like the Ride but it may not be for you. The best advise I could give you is get a few ideas then demo them if possible. You'll know which kayak is for you when you've had time behind the paddle.

I have the Ascend 128t... May be bass pro brand but Iv been very impressed. I stand up to fish all the time in it!

Look at the Nucanoe Frontier. I found mine used for under your budget. It came with the paddle, blackpak, two seats, and a ton of other accessories. I ended up with a $35 paddle life vest from Academy (not the most comfortable, but works until I can find something better).

The Frontier is super stable. It isn't going to win any speed contests, but it's comfortable to paddle and I can spin around in the 360 seat and grab my rods and tackle out of the blackpak.

Demo as many as you can! I know people keep saying that over and over, but it's true! I would hate to spend money on something that I hated!

Good value below. I'll bet you could get it even cheaper as it doesn't look like its being used much lately. Could always resell if you don't like it for about the same next year. Money left over from budget to get paddle, pfd, rack. With a little elbow grease, soap and water, will look almost new. Someone will snatch that quick.

https://dallas.craigslist.org/ndf/boa/d/wilderness-systems-ride-135/6363569494.html

That is a good deal but it is a 2012 model. They came out in July of 2011 but 2011 and below are different. The 2012 and up have the removable seat and can be upgraded to the AirPro Max Seat.

Find a used Jackson big rig. Or a Diablo. I like the Jackson myself. im a big guy and carry lots of gear, and i am not light on my feet or very good at balancing. You can find some right at 1,000 or just slightly over, they are well worth the money.

Take a trip down to T G canoe and kayak in san marcos and they will put you on one to test ride in the river. best thing i ever did.

What kayak has a capacity of 1000#? Nothing I've ever seen or heard of. My old 15' bassboat only had a capacity of 1200 lbs.

Bass Art, he means price not capacity, that you could find a used one in that price range.

While we are on the topic, my Meyers Sportspal S-15 has a capacity of 705 lbs. I have had it out with a friend who is almost as large/heavy as I am and we circumnavigated Wheeler Branch in it with ease. I'd say we had 470 pounds of "us" and a battery, so another 50, and a 55 thrust trolling motor, what 20 I guess, and gear another 10. That'd be about 550 lbs. I think. I stood a lot because I am familiar with my canoe. Scott stood some, too, but we never did it at the same time. VERY stable. Brad

$350 for the airpro max seat? I'd rather have the two seats in the second picture that come with the used yak and the kayak for $400.

A friend of mine got an Old Town Discovery for river trips. It has a capacity rating of 1100#. That's more carrying capacity than my truck!

Todd, I've seen a few of those but didn't realize they had that much carrying capacity. Pretty cool! And, I saw some large Old Town canoes used on that recent 3 or 4 Part video of the 7 day canoe trip several guys made. They struggled a bit portaging those big heavy plastic canoes, sometimes distances of around a mile, but they sure could hold endless gear for a long trip.

I'd still put my Sportspal S-15 up against any other canoe or kayak for standing ability and paddling while standing.

So, in a "proposed" contest, I'd line up 100 yards from the edge of the water with my Sportspal, my opponent would do the same in a Titan 13.5 or PA 14. No wheels or carts allowed. On your mark, get set, go!

I'd be on the water, launched and fishing before one of those giant kayaks would have been dragged 20 yards. By the time a guy did manage to get a huge and, sure, very stable kayak on the water, he'd be too weak to stand anyway. Ha!

Brad

I don't disagree but they didn't look very good so I was simply stating the fact that the 2012 could be upgraded. I never thought I would see a $3800 kayak with a $4000+ fish finder on it and $2000-$3000 in fishing rod sitting in it. You see that all the time these days. Some things I've seen I think are crazy but it's not up to me what people spend or don't spend for their enjoyment.

I saw the video too. I forgot and wasn't thinking if it can carry that much you have to drag that much . He might want to rethink about being able to take so much with him on trips. I like keeping it simple in a kayak like doing a backpack trip. small and light weight gear.