has anyone used or owned one of the smaller kayak's like the one's at academy. I was curious how good they are.

I have a Heritage 9.5 that was my first yak. I love it. It is my "I think I'll go fishing at the last minute" yak. I can just throw it in the truck and go. Very stable, dry, and easy to paddle.

great for fishing
hard to have an expedition in one

theres a few thats not quite as big as the heritage 9.5, do you think those are stable enough for fishing?

can you give an example? id stay away from the pelican sit ins. the one i had could not go in a strait line and felt like it was about to tip at all times

oh yea, thats what I was looking at actually. probably the best
bang for the buck is that heritage huh?

Like Jerry said, small Kayaks are great for throwing in back of the truck and going fishing... Fisherdude is right also they are harder to paddle straight and they are slower...

For me 12' is a small boat ( I like lower, longer, narrower boats) but I know guys that love their tiny little boats and they catch fish from them... I think Jerry has pulled a lot of crappie into his 9.5

Moral of the story: get the one you like, you'll use it more...

Big White

I don't know how big you are but the little blue Pelican can get pretty fishy. This guy goes with us allot.



I am 6' 200 plus lbs and prefer a 12 footer.

BTW picked up a featherlite 9.5 w/paddle for under $200 a couple weeks ago. I need to paddle it before I say anything.

We try to keep the fish/$ ratio down so I can buy diesel for my big white dually (no bull).

Yea thats exactly my size 6' 200lbs, So kinda like you I need a
little wiggle room. Does your little pelican there stay pretty stable & stay fairly stright while paddleing. Thanks lam, & thats a awesome smallie.

I'm 5'-10" and 270 and the Heritage works great for me. Yes, I have caught LOTS of fish from her on lakes, ponds, rivers, etc. Very stable and roomy, not real fast, but does paddle real easy and straight for me.

The wife and I both have OK Scrambler (12') that is a real sweet SOT.

I have paddled his pelican a few times and it is a little tippy. It can be paddled straight and turns on a dime.

Here is my regular boat 12' Mainstream Patriot




My wife also has a scrambler.

i had that blue pelican in green with rod holders. very tippy IMO. the bottoms not even flat. its two angled sides. but maybe bein 200 pounds makes it a little better. im only 155

I bought the pelican from Academy for my first one. It did me a lot of good for a while until I could afford to upgrade. Great if only going short distances. I bought the model that was before the blue one pictured. At a little under 9', it was great to throw in the pickup and be able to close the bedcover and not worry about any of my gear disappearing while at work. I kept it in there for a couple of months when I was fishing after work alot. But it could get snug at times. I'm 6-1 and had to hold my legs in certain positions to get my feet to fit.

I think i made my mind up, I'll just settle for the heritage angler 9.5' at academy. It seems to be a good one, its only 400 too. Now I just have to save up for it.argh

the heritage is avery stable yak they say you can us it as a fly fishing platform havent tried that yet but as far as easy to load and paddel around its very easy had my for over a year and love it lots of room and comfort