Selling the center console and moving to a kayak. This is my second time to do this. I have one major requirement of a kayak. Since I am a fisherman, and keep my fish, the boat must accomodate a cooler. Anyone have knowledge of a yak that can do that?

My last yak was an Ocean Kayak Sidekick, some years ago. It was great in that I could put an igloo 34 qt. on the bow, and my complete tacklebox on the stern. A handmade rod holder carried 4 rods. It made a great wadefish platform for bay fishing, and was OK at the lake. However, it was heavy. So, since a few years have passed, I thought yak features may have improve.

Thanks

When in the solo position on my big tuna, u can carry my milk crate behind me, and a cooler up front where the other seat would normally sit. My big tuna is also heavy! It has livewell capabilities, and can be stood up in whole fishing. Hit me up if you want to paddle it. I'm in Palestine.

The hybrid Canoe/Kays like the Wilderness Systems Commander140, Nucanoe Frontier, or Native Watercraft Ultimate 14.5 would suit the bill nicely. Also the Wilderness Systems Ride 135, Native Watercraft Slayer, Jackson BigRig or Big Tuna, maybe the Santa Cruz Raptor.

Also, depending on how much you want the spend the Native Watercraft Slayer or Hobie Pro Angler are pedal kayaks that could also work.

The choices above are good. If I were you, I would take a day and head to Dallas and hit up the major yak retailers there. Mariner sails, mountain sports, pro angler tackle, sun n fun to just name a few. Take your cooler with you so you can firsthand see how it fits / and of course there many other considerations to be made other than cooler fit. Likewise you may want to be flexible on other size coolers or even fish bags if you find a yak that really floats your boat but not a good cooler fit. And if you've followed "selecting a kayak" posts here always try to demo either with the dealer or members here before plopping down the cash.

The Jackson Cuda has a cooler insert for the middle compartment.

Nucanoe can do that easily.

http://www.snookfoundation.org/news/partner/616-the-xfish-microskiff.html


http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=flat...electedIndex=13

Well if you want to go that route:
Pelican Flats Ambush
Creek Boats

Checkmate

http://kayakfari.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/a-yacht-kayakfari-surfski-kayak.jpg?w=366

You sure?

This 30" fish went in that cooler in my signature pic...

Wow, there have been a lot of changes since I last shopped. I like the built-in or insert coolers. I probably forgot to mention that I'll be restricting lenght to 12 (maybe 14) feet just so it can be loaded into a PU bed and redflagged (not trailer or rack). Thanks everyone!