The personal water craft (PWC) is less stable than a jon boat or a kayak port to starboard. First of all the design, while boat like, has a much higher center of gravity than a boat or a kayak. The hull design is based on speed and not balance. You are much more likely to roll a PWC than the jon boat or kayak, and eventually you will.

The issue is not whether the PWC will cross a lake, it will. The issue is lake fishing versus ocean fishing. In lakes we anchor and use a trolling motor to catch white bass and cats and crappie. In ocean fishing you NEVER anchor. The PWC is tough to anchor as an anchor equals weight, which is why I included the Cooper anchor website. The Cooper anchor will allow you to anchor the craft in 2-3' of water while you go wade fishing.

Ocean fishing is about drifting and trolling under speed. The PWC is great for drifting and great for trolling a dive bait as the low speed impeller allows the PWC to move slowly and not worry about catching a line around a prop. As ocean waves are a given at 2' as a minimum opposed to lake waves which are typically less than 1'. The PWC handles oceans waves better as it is a CLOSED craft meaning it doesn't really take on water, water washes over it where a jon boat or unsealed kayak can get filled and risk sinking. The jon boat and kayak puts the operators head typically less than 36" above the waterline. This presents a visibility issue especially on the ocean and therefore a PWC allows the operator to see farther above waves as well as be seen farther.

The PWC is much tougher to steer in a straight line at low speed as water movement may exceed the craft's movement and therefore it will fishtail more at low speed. The jon boat will steer better at low speed when compared.

I owned a 3-person Sea Doo GTI 130. Great little craft and had the Intelligent Brake and Reverse and was top notch. It fished well in coastal bays and larger bodies of water to drift fish. It was horrible to fish from in lakes unless you intend to drift fish it. I sold mine to a guy on the coast that only drift fishes.

The PWC requires 36" of water under it to operate. A kayak or jon will operate in less than 12' of water as it doesn't require sufficient water to suck through the impeller. A kayak and jon boat and even my 21' Nautic Star work better in less water than the PWC.

A new PWC like the GTI 130 with trailer will run 8,500.00 plus then if you set it up for fishing with a larger battery and fishfinder/GPS will cost 900.00 and then a simple gear rack or a custom rack that holds a cooler and rod holder and such will cost 2000.00. Said and done, you are at 11,400.00 and fishing. For that, you could have a really nice little boat you will like more.

I understand you want to fish off a PWC, and you will probably love it, but understand going in that it is not a lake fishing craft. It is an ocean bay fishing craft.

You won't be heading out to a spot parking and fishing a hump. You won't have many friends by pulling into a group and fishing with the motor running while everyone else is on trolling motor. Be sure and wear long pants and long sleeve shirt and a buff with your hat, you'll fry as there is no way to get cover and you are in the same position the entire time. Sunscreen causes controls to become slippery. Spend the 150.00 on a micro PFD and attach all your fishing tools to the vest with bungee coils otherwise they go overboard in the first 5 minutes.