Doesnt the Mini x have a v bottom? I have their xfactor which Is nice for open water but terrible in these shallow
Rivers. when I drag it over shallow rocks it leans hard to one side the mini will be similar. The mini is light weight and does hold a lot of weight for size though.

Yup... The mini X does have a V bottom... Nice little boats. Wish I still had mine. Really easy to haul around

Wish I could find a used one! People who have one just don't let them go, and when they do they don't last long.

They are great for those quick trips and you can stuff them into just about any SUV.

Since you are in Ft. Worth, I would recommend Mountain Sports in Arlington, much closer drive, a great group of people and they price match, at least they did when I purchased my kayak.

As one of the few kayakers here that use a Sit in kayak(SINK) I think that it is very hard to deny that like everything else they have both their good points and bad (not so good) points. Lower weight, dryer ride and speed for me were the deciding factors, since I am more of a paddler than I am a fisherman. And even though by necessity I carry both a sponge and a bilge pump, I have never had to use either, even after making both expected and unexpected wet exits. So, that should not be a concern.

All said, do I regret my decision? Not at all, but if I had it to do I would give the Tarpon 160 a closer look, but not for the reasons that most here would think. I like that it has a rudder option, which my SINK does not have and with its diminsions, it just may be fast enough to keep up with my paddling buddies, which many SOTs cannot do.

But then again, I think that I would come to regret the added weight and would certainly dislike the open cockpit, since I especially like covering that a SINK offers, especially when you add a skirt.

Either way, anthing that gets you out on the water, safely is not a bad thing. Good luck in your search.

I bought a "SINK" traditional kayak at Mariner Sales last fall and I've had the SOT in storage ever since. It's a Heritage Featherlite 9.5. I use it on rivers and creeks extensively and it works great. It may not be perfect for scraping over shallows, but it's easy enough to hop out and pull it along as needed. One of my favorite things about the Featherlite is that it is small enough that I can fold down the seats of my Ford Focus and stuff it in the trunk secured with just 2 bungees. No car topping needed. If you plan to carry a lot of tackle it would be a poor choice though as would any small traditional kayak IMO.

My only regret is that it was canary yellow which ended up being a fish repellent. I painted the bottom with red primer that adheres to plastic and now the crappie think it's just another friendly log to hide under versus a giant bird beak LOL. It also helps theft proof the boat LOL.

Mariner had a lot of other tempting smaller boats at good prices as I recall.

One trick to get over shallows it to take the paddle apart and "walk" over rocks or stumps using each paddle as a "leg". This works well with a short "stubby" boat at least.