Are there any places to view and/or buy Pelican kayaks in the Dallas/Ft.Worth metroplex?

Jeff

Academy sports and outdoors sells pelican kayaks

Thank you. I have been eyeing more name brand kayaks over the past couple of years. However, I am thinking I may purchase a Pelican as a starter model so to speak. I'd rather be fishing than simply dreaming of buying a yak - some day!

If you aren't in a rush go to the store a couple times every week. They have really good flash sales on kayaks every now and then.

I will. I have a particular model in mind so I need to check to see if it's even stocked by Academy.

Pelicans get ragged on quite a bit, but I've had mine for six years now and love it.

More than a few held together fine and were worth what folks paid for them. But only If not compared to a ride, cuda, lure, big game, outback, raptor, etc, etc, ... i know some folk do like theirs. But, the original pelicans used to seperate where the shells were joined together. Not exaggerating when I say, I saw a lot of them outside apartment dumpsters & on the curbs a few yrs back. IMO they helped kill folks especially in the winter time back in the day. I'm surprised there wasnt a class action on them. That's why I dont like them. I do like some of their dry boxes & pond hoppers. Just DO NOT care for their yaks for reasons mentioned above. I think the old ones turned a lotta folks away from kayaks & kayak fishin in general because of their low weight capacity, how much water would get in, they'd drag thru the water & how poorly they tracked :-/

Castaways were notoiously bad about coming apart, leaking and not tracking well at all. I advise u stay away from them. Do more homework, save up for a new name brand or buy a GENTLY used or shop demo yak for fishing.

Zombie is correct about the early Pelicans and I can say for a fact that I have a family member who was turned off completely and so bad on kayak fishing that he gave away his first and only Pelican, and won't even listen to me when I tried to convince him to try another real kayak.
I've seen the reports though and it seems that the newer kayaks are a lot more seaworthy, but all I can say is buyer beware and test paddle is the way to go before you lay down the cash.

Got my Icon 100x a year ago last Father's day. My only issue with it is the fat boy inside it getting fatter. In the middle scuppers the water level is pretty close to flush with the inside deck. Well, that and the front hatch doesn't seal real well. Water over the bow will get inside, in minute quantities.

Kirk B.

Here's a video review of the Pelican Catch 120 that I did, very impressive boat at $750: http://www.scout.com/outdoors/kayak-fishing/story/1647107-review-pelican-catch-120-fishing-kayak

If you're looking at that one, you MIGHT want to hold off. They just unveiled the Catch 120 NXT at ICAST, which has a ton of additional features and upgrades for $849 ($100 more). I'll be doing a video walkthru of it in 2 weeks at Outdoor Retailer.

Pelicans have gotten a bad name, there may be something to it, maybe not. That being said, you can go get a brand new KIA for 25K, or a nice used F150.
Id buy a quality used yak off craigslist, thats just me though