Kayaks in Austin

Where is a good place to hang out and look/talk about all things kayaks/kayak fishing in the Austin area?

http://austinkayakfishing.com/forum/index.php?sid=a1804bf1a723dad65c93513b9331741e

I meant that I'm in Austin and wanting a place to go look at kayaks

ACK

Alright, thank you both for the suggestion, I'll give it a look! My wife suggested rei....I've never even heard of the place but she claims they may have kayaks?..

Ohhh..Got cha'. Yea, down in Austin I would say AUSTIN KAYAK They continue to impress me with their customer service!

ACK, great guys, great customer service

Yes REI has kayaks but in the Austin area your best bet is Austin Kayak

no joke, their shipping is INSANE multiple times ive odered at like 2pm online and its at my house the NEXT day with free ground shipping. thoes guys are on the ball big time.

That's good to know, thanks guys for all the help. I went in there Saturday morning and they were very helpful...they were a lot less eager to help me whenever I told them I was just looking right then, but overall I was very impressed with them. I think I have it narrowed down to a propel, hobie mirage sport, and a wilderness ride 115. Any thoughts both good and bad would be appreciated. I like the wilderness because of the seat, I like the hobie for the mirage drive and it's versatility, and the propel feels good when I set in it.

ACK is going to have their fall demo days Sept 13th and 14th if you are willing to wait that long will be a good time to try lots of different kayaks

Every kayak is different and fits certain needs for that individual. I demoed the outback and slayer propel. And out of the two I chose the slayer propel bc it fits my fishing needs a lot better, bc having reverse is really awesome. Just make sure you demo the kayaks you want all on the same day bc it will help you judge the pros and cons of each boat.

How does the demo work? I live in San Angelo and (to my knowledge) there are only 2 dealers here, one being academy. Again, to my knowledge, I don't think academy demos and I'm thinking the same is true for Happy Trails. I'm not even sure anybody rents kayaks around here, any suggestions other than driving to Austin or Dallas?

I would love to hit a demo days somewhere but I have an itch for getting my own kayak and getting with the fishing! But in the same breath I don't want to buy a kayak because it felt good setting on the floor and hate it when I get it the water...is there a way of going about demoing from a local store or am I pretty much sank in hoping for that?

You might have to invest in a road trip to Austin or Dallas to do a demo of different kayaks. By doing that you will narrow down exactly what you like and don't like. It would be worth the trip. Bc if you buy something you never paddled or peddled before and buy it and don't like it, it's gonna be sittin in your garage or on the forum classifieds. Things to consider as we'll, the weight and how are you gonna be transporting the kayak. Good luck!