You're thoughts on Diablo kayaks

I'm thinking about purchasing a Diablo adios. I paddled one this weekend and liked it. This would be my first kayak so I don't have anything to compare it to. I'm about 320 soaking wet so I like the 500 capacity and stable platform in the Diablo. Anyone on here tried any of diablos kayaks?

Session

I just picked up one of the amigos. I've only had it out on the water once but I can't say enough good things about it. The only draw back is it is not going to win any speed races but it makes up for it in stability. I would check the amigo out from them it has a 600lb capacity.

I said adios but I meant amigo. Thanks for the reply. What color did you go with?

I'm not an owner yet.. but me and wife are going with 2 Amigo's pretty soon.
Would like a Adios but the cost is not in the budget.

On the colors she wants the Sand and I sort like the Lubbock Camo but not sure
what it actually looks like in person I've only seen pictures, or perhaps Red or
Sand for a matching set

I have owned one for 2 years now and I love it. super stable, comfortable, and plenty of open space. It is really slow and can suck when its windy. fortunately I have another kayak for those bad weather days, but my go to is the Diablo. Ensure that you get the skeg to go with it, the boat is so flat that when you stop paddling to pick your reel up to cast, you already turning and out of position. the skeg will fix that issue.

I went with the sand color. I second the skeg it will be my next addition.

Expensive, wide and heavy.

Expensive (Nope, the Amigo is below or near comparable products)
wide (Yep, can stand and fly fish etc with ease...)
heavy (Nope, name a fishing Kayak in the size range that is significantly lighter? The Amigo is 75lbs )

There are several kayaks in the 50 lb range that are around 500 bucks. Half the money and 2/3rds the weight.

You've got a point on the hull weight but the Amigo is rated at 600 pound capacity. But I didn't know a hundred bucks mattered that much :-)

For a first kayak I would recommend trying as many as possible there are many differences between them and everyone likes different things. DFW is pretty far for you but it mite be worth the drive to head up here this Saturday Mariner Sails is having a demo day on lake lewisville there will be LOTS of kayaks there to paddle. Just an option before you shell out some cash.

TexasRig,

Where do you plan on fishing the most? Lakes? Rivers? Coast?

The reason I ask this is that, even though I have not paddled the Amigo, it does not have much rocker. Meaning it's a kayak that is better suited for protected waters and rivers. More open waters like lakes and bays can get very choppy with wind where owning a kayak with more rocker that aides in slicing through that chop is more beneficial.

I'm not going to agree or disagree with what others have said (especially those with first hand experience), but to better answer your question we need to a little more about your fishing habits.

ACK has the Diablo Amigo listed at $999.00. And a 100 bucks had better buy a lot of features or it indeed matters a lot. But the 37.5" width would be a deal killer for me.

It's interesting to me that Diablo makes the Amigo with a 600# weight capacity, and then puts a seat on it with a 250# weight capacity.

I put a Larry Chair in my Commander with a good solid base to support it, and it wouldn't handle my 265#. The chair bent on me twice when I turned to get something from my crate.

There is definitely a market out there for Diablo's products, and they seem to be well made, but they haven't thought through the seat very well. If you're in the market for one, and you weigh much over 250#, know that the seat is going to be the weak link in the equation.

It's a Hybrid Fishing Kayak and Paddle board.
It's neither a "pure" sot kayak or paddle board. It's made in central Texas and ideal for the hill country rivers and small lakes as well as the coast I plan on using it for. It's also used and we'll like in many other places.

I don't think it's market is folks wanting to fish 5 miles off shore, people wanting to fish lake Michigan or folks that want to troll for strippers.

I was a bit concerned myself, but there are 2 Larry Chair designs the older aluminum one and the newer steel with support bar across the back. They are both 250 rated but I heard and will test the new steel design that's said to hold up better. I'll report back when I get one and see how it goes

LOL, are you putting up the money for TexasRig to purchase the kayak? It's obvious TexasRig is putting a higher value on stability than you would, and that's OK.

Totally agree with this. The Diablo isn't for everyone. I personally have been researching these a ton lately and have a demo setup this weekend. For my fishing style, I prefer to fly fish pretty much most of the time. Being able to stand and cast is a plus for me. Most fly fishers in the Austin area use this boat, for what its worth. I've tried and bought numerous kayaks and cannot stand in most of them, at least not comfortably. Sitting and flinging a fly around is ok but not ideal for me.

Another point that has me interested in the Diablo is that after sitting down for hours in my yak, my back starts to tighten up and get really sore. I want a yak that will allow me to stand up, stretch, move around and not be so immobile. I know from speaking with several Diablo yakkers that the skeg is a must.

The Diablo is not made for larger lakes. I mean you can but it does sit high. More suited for stillwater/rivers/small lakes...which works for me. I get exhausted covering these large lakes.

Mariner Sails is now a dealer and will have one of the Live Watersports L2 SUPs for you to try at our big Saturday Demo Day at Lake Lewisville. Luther Cifers of Yak-Attack assisted with the development and outfitting of this unique catamaran style fishing SUP. We will also have other fishing SUPs from Bote and others.

Here's a link to see the L2:

http://www.livewatersports.com/L2Fish-LIVE-Watersports-Stand-Up-Paddle-Board-p/sup-092013-l2fish.htm

Follow this link for details and directions: http://www.mariner-sails.com/graphics/Little%20Elm%20-%20Poster2.pdf?NID=201

Small lakes like Bastrop (Under 1000 acres) or even smaller?

Just curious what everyone is considering a small lake since I'm considering an Amigo. My primary fishing is smaller lakes, the Colorado (near Bastrop) and Brazos River (below Whitney), and maybe a little coastal inshore fishing.

I got my amigo 2 weeks ago. I'm a big guy and the capacity for the price was a huge part of why I chose the amigo. Add to that the weight and it's really the only option. Everything else I looked at with big capacity weighs too much to handle on your own and costs $500-1000 more. With the amigo I can load it onto the top of my 4Runner without assistance. No way to do that with other high weight capacity rigs. Weather around Fort Worth has been sketchy but I've been out twice. I haven't got the skeg yet but can see the need. At 330 pounds I am able to sit, stand, fly fish, turn around, walk fore and aft, and help my dog onto the deck from the water without going over. Stability is great. I don't have a Larry Chair but when I did my demo I tried one. I didn't have any issues in the half hour test and I'm well over the 250 "limit." I plan on using mine as often as possible (partly cause my wife said if I don't she'll keep the kayak and trade me in) and will post when the topic pops up again. So far no complaints at all.

Diablo Paddlesports has a lot of wins and AOY titles when you consider not that many people tournament fish in them. Some of those wins in very windy conditions. That ought to speak volumes about the fishability of a Diablo. No boat can do it all perfectly. But when it comes to what the amigo is designed to do, (Stability,DRAFT, weight to total size ratio, Stability to price ratio, fly fishing design) It cannot be compared to anything else on the market. People sometimes forget the a 4 point seat is also an option for the amigo. A 4 point seat matched proper paddling technique can work wonders in rough conditions.


P.S. The new Larry chairs make a world of difference.

Thanks for all the feedback. I tried an amigo at ACK demo day last weekend and liked it. I ended up purchasing one yesterday. Headed to lake georgetown for the weekend to get it in the water. Also picked up a tarpon for my son.

Id own one if I mainly fished rivers. I see them excelling in rivers personally.
Low profile means they dont get pushed around near as much by the wind.
Nuemie is spot on concerning their lake of rocker though.
Just remember they all can work well on the water in "ideal conditions"
I like the width and weight capacity on 1 of the diablo models.
Theyre well constructed IMO. I dnt know anything about their warranty.
But, I havent heard of any issues Either.
If Mariner is carrying them, there is a reason and Mariner has helped myself and others I know when we had issues with our yaks. So if your looking to pick one up in DFW Mariner is definately the place to look. Demo, Demo, Demo!