5 Fishing Kayaks Under $500 : Part 2 of 2: ON WATER REVIEW

what's up guys it's dan from the headwaters kayak shop and I'm coming to you from the banks of the Mokelumne River here in Lodi California and I'm finally getting around to doing my top five kayaks under $500 video again these were five kayaks that I picked up in my local department stores boats that I thought we're a good value or boats that some of you guys have recommended in the YouTube comments so I bought five kayaks and I'm gonna get them on the water today and let you guys know my feedback if you haven't done so already check out the video where I walk them through in the shop I'll have that linked up at the end of this video but for now let's get into it so the five contenders that we're gonna be reviewing today is the Pelican kicker 120 X angler I got this kayak at Costco for 399 next in line is I've got the Eagle run by fielding stream I bought this one at Dick's Sporting Goods because I've heard really good things about it I also know a few people around our area that paddle it it had been very satisfied with it so I decided to pick this one up next up here's a perception that I bought over at Sportsman's Warehouse in Stockton this one was a little bit over our budget at 550 it didn't come with the paddle but I felt like he was such a huge upgrade in quality and features that I had to add it to the list just in case somebody was at that $500 threshold but willing to spend a little more you getting a lot more bang for your buck on this one here the next one in our lineup it's a perception swiftie 9.5 I really like the quality of the perception they use a high density roto molded construction it has plenty room in the cockpit it looks like it's going to powder really nice so 350 bucks I felt like it was a good value definitely one I wanted to have in the lineup and the last one in my lineup and probably the most loved kayak from beginner kayakers the most recommended by you guys as well as when I hear people coming through the shop that have started out in this boat they're very satisfied with it that is the lifetime Tamarack angler it's the cheapest kayak in the bunch I got it for about 279 with the paddle and a rod holder from Walmart or local Walmart here in town so I'm gonna go ahead and hop in them and kind of talk to you about what do you get for 279 bucks all the way up to 550 bucks let's we're spending money on what maybe isn't worth spending money on so at the end of this hopefully you'll be able to make a informed educated decision on what kind of work best for your budget another quick thing I wanted to touch it in all fairness was paddles some of these kayaks came with paddles some of them did not come with paddles so what I have here is I've got a couple of boats that came with paddles the Pelican came with this aluminum two-piece paddle very heavy but at least it's the correct size for the boat the lifetime the cheapest kayak in the bunch came with this paddle right here which literally feels like I could bend it with my hands I could totally just snap the blade there's gonna be no grip no powerless path it's not even suitable for kayaking in any condition because chances are it's gonna break and leave you stranded so let's just dispose of that one another paddle I got here this is the field in streams shoot I got this one at Dick's Sporting Goods just because they didn't have a whole lot of options but I did want to just kind of show what what's available this paddles okay it's two-piece what I didn't love about it is the blade shape and the amount of flex it had and it was still 59 bucks so it wasn't really that inexpensive so not a terrible paddle but I tell you what for five more dollars sixty four dollars the Binney branches Whisperer is a huge upgrade a lot stiffer it's got a composite ferrule so it's not going to be clunking around or coming loose on you and I'd say maybe a third less weight so a significant upgrade for five bucks more so if you're buying your kayak at a big box store do yourself a favor and just order one of these guys off line Austin canoe and kayaks would happen anywhere would have this many branches whisper this pallet can be bought online all banned for about 65 bucks lastly I bought a paddle for my shop we do sell the whisper but we also sell the feel free day tour paddles this is an aluminum shaft 2-piece take apart very nice quality so what we're using our rental facility I really like the blade shape of these the lack of flex you get in the blade and the index so this one's about 69 so again don't just buy whatever the shop selling look around get a date or get a um Binney branches whisper you'll be a lot happy with your investment and as I always say in all my videos the paddle makes as much of a difference if not more of a difference in your paddling than the kayak will so splurge get the right paddle granite sit inside look for around a 220 to 230 if you're sitting on top 230 240 those are kind of rough and dirty numbers there's a link to a paddle video I did with out west with Chris where I go into way more detail if you want more details about paddling check that video out in the description okay without further ado guys let's paddle some boats well paddles really smooth I gotta say my only gripe is the comfort there's just no support like you lean back you just keep going there's no really gonna stay kind of flexed and upright the whole time do you like the open space that gives me in front I'd also like the access to the rear you know you can put a nice tackle bag up here you can definitely have some space to work land to fish you didn't measure a fish I like a lot of things about this boat but I just can't get over the quality of the build the quality of the the pieces and parts on the boat and how uncomfortable the seat is if I was just strictly going off paddling performance this is my favorite one of the bunch I think so as much as I've been enjoying the Pelican for its speed its tracking its glide its overall performance on the water it's really good but I just can't get over the fact that the the Flex of the deck and the whole the feel of the the pieces and parts and and the handles it all just feels very chintzy to me and and some of that I can maybe get over if it had like a really good seat or something but the cockpit the feel of this boat it feels like you to lean back you just you keep going back through there's really no support so if you're a bigger guy absolutely not if you're a little older stiff I'd say no way I know if you're a young guy and you want to get your spot fast and you know then yeah I'd say go ahead this is actually a pretty sweet paddling boat I've really out of all the boats upstairs probably my favorite one to paddle but I just can't get over some of those other things the build quality and the comfort of the seat the other things you notice I'm not using a pallet came with it the power came with it is really heavy really really hard to use so I'm using the whisper and that would definitely affect my review of it if I had to use that paddle that came stock with it that was pretty bad now one thing I'll say in regards to the seat is there is actually pad eyes all around so if you wanted to upgrade to a nicer clip and seat or if you have already got the Pelican you can get a better seat for you know around 59 69 bucks yeah Keir has some decent seats feel free make some decent clipping seats so look around a little bit online and if you have this boat you'll love it way more with a better seat I'll tell you that right now all right let's jump in the next one here so I got this thing in a rod holder just the weight of this camera is completely flexing the whole of this thing and maybe this is hot day here in Lodi but look at the Flex of this deck it's just absolutely crazy how much flex this thing has even on the floor it's like a drum it's just pushing up and down so the overall quality of this Eagle rod is it is roto-molded but it must be some pretty inexpensive plastic that they're using because it is collect see I got to give it to the outfitting Department though the I'll figure this boat feels really comfortable the thigh pads the backrest the foot pedals it all feels spot-on oh man this thing just glides on the water so easy you know I stopped paddling the kayak just keeps gliding and keeps going straight out of all the kayaks in the bunch this is the most efficient I still like the Pelican a little bit more for all-around fishing vessel but this one flies on the water the other thing I'll say after swapping back and forth on a bunch of different paddles the day tour is my favorite it's still cheap it's like 69 bucks I think this is a lumen 'im one they also come in fiberglass but the overall feel this paddle in the water is the way it maneuvers from power phase so I think if you could overlook the the flex in the hole and the flexibility of the plastic of this kayak it actually paddles really good actually picking about twice now because I wanted to make sure I was given my best information and it's significantly faster than any of the other kayaks out there it glides across the water so if you're like a recreational paddler that likes the idea of fishing once in a while but you want to actually cruise and get somewhere this is not a bad kayak to do it in you know the price is a little higher than some of the others but I don't know of any you know inexpensive rack kayaks that paddle quite as good as this Eagle Talon so it definitely gets my vote of approval from a paddlers perspective she's got a high secondary stability a high capacity but it cuts through the water so kudos to to Field & Stream on that one as far as fishing out of it you know I've got a little bit of room gun in the cockpit holders here it does have a little dash board up in the front but you know it's not very big it's not not even enough for like you know maybe a car keys or something but uh yeah there you go you can kind of see it there nice big open cockpit bungee in the front so a lot of bells and whistles but where it counts is the outfitting the the thigh pads the foot paddles the backrest all feel really good in this kayak so if you're a paddler you'll definitely like this boat you know it's got this little dry box in the rear so I guess I could get to it I don't know how crazy I am about that it's uh it's it's added features but you can easily just throw in a dry bag and probably have a lot safer ride your stuff having a much safer drier ride so it comes with it what the hell I would say if you care about your stuff being dry still put them in a dry bag even if you're putting it in that rear hat you guys got a laughing my camera set up I'm always doing something super ghetto this is like a painters pull with the X script cell phone mount on the end some high-dollar YouTube entertainment going so right now I'm in the perception Pescador ten this was a kayak I was kind of most excited about because I feel like it's a really good quality a lot of nice features that I'd expect on a higher-end kayak but in that five hundred dollar price point actually about 550 a few of you said in the comments of the last video that these can be had for cheaper if you shop around a little bit online so heads up there you know maybe be patient but I would say if you're local kayak shop sells uh perception buy it from them because you're going to get the support from them long after the fact long after you buy your pad the overall fit and finish of this perceptions phenomenal it just feels really high quality really stiff no flex nice high back on it the seat pan is pretty flat I might add a little bit of padding there but foxy bad not as fast as the other boats I just got out of both the Eagle run and the pelican both had better speed but this one is a little bit shorter it's only ten foot they make this in a twelve foot and if you're wanting that extra speed shoot for the twelve as you guys know it longer boats are just faster so that's why that's under to have a little bit better but this one doesn't feel bad and if I were to be floating river something like that I would actually prefer the little shorter boat the overall couldn't finish hatches everything definitely a step up from everything else this is a little bit bigger guy next one a jumping that perceptions 59.5 same manufacturer as this one but a lot less money it's only 350 bucks it's there a little sit inside I kind of wanted to test and see how the quality stacks up all right here we go so now I'm hanging out in the perception swiftie 9.5 and although it's only supposedly six inches shorter and the pescadores in it feels a lot small I feel like my feet are at the end of this kayak still decently stable you know me at 200 pounds doesn't feel unstable it does feel like I'm sitting real low in the water like I'm kind of heavy for it I know the overall capacity is well over my weight of 220 but those capacitors are all sort of relative you know they don't really mean a whole lot to me there's kind of an ideal weight range the kayak tap and I think I'm probably on the upper scale look at the bowels my clacker get going we call it feels like I'm pushing it also feels like the sternum akai it kind of breaks loose so you know I'm not that big of a guy but I would say that I would recommend this kayak for somebody under 200 pounds me at 200 pounds I really fill this thing out and it feels very small and it doesn't it feels like it loses a lot of its performance with my weight and so do you like the little dashboard it has you know have lots of areas to store stuff I think if I was fishing out of this maybe I'd throw a little foam pad right here that I could stick my hooks and stuff but I wanted to have access to throughout the day jam that right in there oh it's got a little paddle clip on here the overall fit and quality of the perceptions is really good so for 350 bucks I feel like it's a good value but you know I would say that I would also be looking at that big fish GT 10.5 that I reviewed a couple weeks ago I think for 399 you're getting a little bit better bang for your buck you're getting that rear bulkhead so the kayak doesn't sink all a little bit better product for your money but if you're somewhere it doesn't have the G team you got these locally it's not a bad boat you definitely get a good quality act it's also close to shore yet the thing over and you do get water in the cockpit you know you got a boat full of water to deal with you're not you're not flipping this back over and get it back in you're definitely swimming it to shore all right last but not least we have the lifetime Tamarack angler these guys are actually made right in Salt Lake City Utah which is kind of interesting they started off as like a tables chairs basketball hoots toy manufacturer that got into the kayak business and to be honest most of their cards that I've ever seen are pretty terrible if they don't they don't really work that good they don't track like they're supposed to there they're inexpensive low quality but I've heard nothing but positive things about this Tamarack angler so I'm really keen to test it out paddle it and give you guys my feedback out of all the comments and they book and Instagram post this was the most recommended boat for the video so I spent two hundred seventy nine bucks on it I think at Walmart and uh let's give ya feels real stable this one's ten foot long 31 inches wide I'm being honest it doesn't feel too dissimilar to that perception Pescador ten foot take the bow pushes a little more water I can tell you this much I put this in every rod holder every every boat the person this cameraman I've got here I put it in all the raw holders of all the boats and the first two boats the Eagle run and the Pelican flex the boats so bad I thought it was gonna rip the rod holder right out I put it in the rod holder of this boat and it was actually the status of the whole bunch I tried to put it in the perception but they just have those tubes that that aren't really water holders and don't really work so out of the boats this one have the stoutest feel and even though the plastics blow molded which is fairly cheap way to make a kayak it feels pretty darn stiff it doesn't have a terrible amount of flex to it again everything's relative we're talking at a $279 boat here that's that is definitely to lack prices but this is a kayak that you could definitely be capable of floatin rivers or catching bass at your local waters you know you're not gonna go far you're not gonna go fast but it's stable it feels good has really nice logical deck layout you know you've got a little hatch hatch access here so if you want to have stuff underneath the hole you can have it there it's got the bungee up there so you could add a dry bag or a tackle bag up there plenty of room to access behind you I could see why you guys love this so much and I also know that there's some really good mods for this kayak I watched the mob and outdoors YouTube page and I've been following his stuff for a long time and he's which one of these out so if you haven't already go subscribe to his channel and check out some of his Tamarack Engler builds one thing that's important to mention is we don't ship cards a lot of you have been messaging me and asking how much for a kayak how much to ship it to you we don't ship we are just a local kayak shop here located in Lodi California and we just serve our local market we do these videos for you guys just to be a community place kind of like a forum to talk about things and to learn from one another wow I'm really surprised like paddle utterly cheap boats over the years you know trying to always get that entry-level price point for our shop and I don't think I'll paddle anything anywhere close to this price that feels near is good it tracks straight it maneuvers easy honestly POW really similar to that and Pescador you know it's all right there you you can do a lot of upgrades to this kayak even if you wanted to drill holes and add tracks for a beginner kayak all the ones I check out this could be my favorite for entry-level hey I'm just getting started in the sport I want to see if I like it I've got 300 bucks to spend this is money well spent right here I really do feel like that if you wanted to turn around and sell it after your gym and you decide to love it then you're you could sell it for hundred fifty bucks and beyond a hundred bucks that's a weekend rental I mean think about that you could literally own this boat for two years for the price of a weekend rental and most kayak shops it's pretty tough argument to beat and I'm saying that to my own hurt all right guys so now that I've had a chance to send them all paddle them all I want to just kind of give you guys my rough and dirty initial thoughts and who I think these boats might work out good for the right boats not the right boat for everyone so they each have different features and there might be one that works good for your needs there might be one you just kind of want to avoid so I'll try to give some rough information and from there hopefully you guys can deduce which ones gonna work best for your needs okay so the first one in the line at the kicker 120 acts my thoughts on this one was it actually was really pleasant to paddle it cuts through the water nice tracks well it's smooth but the overall fit and finish of this boat was so poor quality the flex of it the the handles the latches it just all feels so incredibly cheap the fact that the rod holder broke before I ever even got it to the water I just don't know that it's the best investment if you're looking for a fairly inexpensive option or if you're wanting to you know if you could find this boat on a deal you know for maybe a hundred bucks off or something like that it'd be worth buying cuz it does paddle really well it's just the longevity of the kayak is fairly questionable to me the other thing that I really didn't enjoy was the seat on this one out of all the kayaks in the bunch this one has the worst seat the pelican seat just hit me wrong it didn't have a lot of support and it just kind of flexed with my body I would say if you are a recreational paddler that's gonna be paddling with other people and fast kayaks now this one cuts through the water pretty well I wouldn't say don't buy it but just know the features in the quality of it not on par with some of the other boats that we tested today the next step up the field in-stream Eagle run this boat was Pleasant this boat cuts through the water really nice it has a large open cockpit really generous stability was actually more stable than the Pelican next to it the seat getting out of this seat and jumping into this was incredible the overall contact points the thigh pads here the high back the cup holder the foot pedals inside all felt really well made in quality the boat itself had quite a bit of flex to it you know there wasn't a whole lot of a stiffness in the combing you know so you can see the density the plastic isn't as good as the perceptions next to it so my overall opinion on it is it paddles really nice but the quality of the plastic is a little thin you need to be aware of how you store it how you transport it but on the water it cuts through the water really good and if you're a recreational paddler that was looking for some efficiency and the ability to fish I would definitely recommend it the next one I demoed was the perception Pescador 10 and this one I got a sportsman's warehouse again it's got the molded in handles the overall density of the plastic felt incredible there was no flex in the deck it felt really really good all the hatches the tracks the foot pedals all the quality of the whole boat was on point which you would expect for a kayak around 550 bucks the seat the back was good but the pan was pretty flat didn't have a whole lot of support well it wasn't terrible I also really liked the fact that you have those tracks on there so if you want to add a difference to it you know this is a yak attack rod holder that really easy to just add on some legitimate stuff as opposed to be really cheap rod holders that come with the the Pelican or the Tamra angler so the next guy in the lineup was the perception swiftie 9.5 now I bought this kayak because I've had swifty in the past and I really enjoyed the swifty and maybe it's because some of the other kayaks paddled so much better but this one pushed a ton of water I really I got it going and maybe I'm a little heavy for it maybe it would be better with a smaller person but at 220 pounds it pushed a lot of water so whoo recommend this for him mmm somebody that's looking for a fairly light well-built kayak somebody that's under maybe 180 pounds but for a bigger person I would steer something a little different if you're looking to do more open water look for something with a bulkhead again since I bottle these kayaks three waters headaches came out with a guy called the GT that I reviewed and I was really impressed with that little kayak the price of it was only 50 bucks more than the Swift II and it had the rear bulkhead the seat in it was better just all just a little bit better product better bang for your buck so as much as I wanted to like the perception swifty I wasn't a huge fan of it next up was the lifetime Tamarack this is the cheapest one in the bunch and the one I got from Walmart again this one came with a paddle but the paddle was absolute absolute trash like it's an embarrassment that they even call it a paddle this boat was impressive to me it was stable it paddled decent for its size the overall feel of the kayak you know where I would put stuff where I would want to like have my tackle bag or maybe I would want to have some something under the bungee here it just felt good like it's cheap and it works and it doesn't suck the stiffness of the plastic actually felt better than both the pelican and the Eagle run I mean it's blow molded plastic so it's not the best manufacturing process but it does say on the tag that they're using high-density plastic to mold it so it's a cheaper process but a better quality of material that they're easy so I think if you're on a tight budget this would be a great way to go it'll get you in the sport it's something that you can literally use for a year too and sell it for hundred fifty bucks and not lose that much money you know you're gonna be coming out ahead and no matter how you slice it so if there's my 500 bucks what would I spin it on we got to think it's not just a kayak you're buying you got to buy a whole bunch of other stuff especially if you're getting into kayak fishing so if it was my 500 bucks what I would do about a Tamarack angler I'd buy a decent paddle and I would trick it out with some really cool gear and that's just what I plan on doing I'm planning on doing a $500 build of the Tamarack angler I'm gonna do some custom DIY outfitting on I'm gonna do an anchor trolley system I'm gonna do a custom crate I'm gonna do a seat I'm going to do rod holders and be expecting some videos on that real soon so if you like the Tamara King or you have a tan reckoning you're gonna love these videos to come all right guys thank you so much for watching to all my new subscribers welcome to channel we hope to be your community kayak shop on the internet if you have any questions don't hesitate to leave in the comment section and either myself or somebody else in the channel we'll get back to you I think that's it until next time you guys this is Dan wishing you happy paddling we'll see you on the next one

Channel: Headwaters Kayak

Views: 609,986

Keywords: kayak, fishing, $500, lifetime tamarack angler, tamarack angler, pelican kayaks, costco kayaks, pescador kayak, perception kayak, yakked off, kayak fishing, field and stream kayak, on water review, eagle talon kayak, eagle run kayak, old town vapor kayak, perception swifty, kayaking, review, under $500 kayak

Id: 7ESqznshez0

Length: 26min 50sec (1610 seconds)

Published: Tue Jul 17 2018