I am planning on getting a kayak to fish in. I will be mainly fishing large body lakes. Been doing lot of research on them but what kind of weight capacity should I be looking into? I am 5'11 205# and eventually I will be adding accessories and rigging it up. Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Mickey

At 5'11" 205 you should be ok with just about anything. Fishing big lakes you will want at least a 12ft boat, also since fishing a lake you might want to look into a Hobie or Native propel drive. Makes navigating lakes much much easier although you can paddle if you want just be prepared for a major workout.

Id say anything with a weight rating of over 300lbs and you should be good to go!

I like having room to grow and not be at pushing the limits.

Ride 135-550#
Malibu Stealth 14-550#
Big Tuna-500#
Cuda 14-400#

Thanks Nathan, would love to get a propel drive kayak but that is just out of my price range.

Todd i like the idea of having room to grow. Never really looked into the Stealth but after doing some research on it I like the molded in seat on the gator hatch. Pretty cool feature, I can take my son out w/ me.

You need to go out and demo as many as you can. I know that Mariner Sails will meet you at White Rock Lake and let you try a few of them before you buy.

I can say I love my PA14 when the wind is blowing everyone around

i'm 6.5 275 pounds and i tried a bunch of different ones at demos and the cuda 14 was the best one for me,it handles my weight with no problem,no water came up through the scupper holes,and it just seemed to glide across the water,the stability was great to.

There is an often quoted 'rule' that say to use 2/3rds of the manufacturer capacity as the practical capacity. I am 250 and my Ride 115 is rated for 500 lbs. Rich

yep at least 12' in length
500 + lbs. capacity if you want to get better performance out of your yak & for added safety.

was on Lake Tawakoni not long ago and the wind kicked up on me.
was a long was from the ramp and the wind wasnt going
to let up. i made it back safe and sound but had mistakenly
left one of my center hatches unlatched. took on 5+ gallons
of water before i had realized it! a lower weight capacity yak
would not have = the same results. i also put floatation inside
my yaks and recommend everyone do the same