Advice for buying a kayak

[RAT900]

I dare you to go shark or tuna fishing in that thing    (the kayak not the family wagon, I have FHE that most cars do not float well)

[herm]

Looking for a sit-on-top kayak and checking into several brands.  I've only been a handful of times. 

The main use..on town lake near downtown Austin (no boats allowed).  I would also use it in the larger Lake Travis (there are boats and jetskis).  It may also get some river use.  Quite possibly get to use it in FL and on Lake Michigan.

I was checking into SUP's but I can do that on a few of the more pricey kayak models I'm looking at.

Any kayakers want to chime in with their favorites and/or fill me in on the brands I'm looking at?

Thanks

1. Jackson Kayak "Cuda" 14' (Black widow, Urban Camo or yellow jacket) $1100 - most expensive

http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/kayak-fishing/cuda/

http://jacksonkayak.com/jk-kayaks/kayak-fishing/cuda/colors/


2. Wilderness "Tarpon"  100 or the 130T-12' or 14' $699-$849 (plus, REI coupon if I wait until the next 20% sale)

http://www.rei.com/product/785482/wilderness-systems-tarpon-100-sit-on-top-kayak

3. Perception two-up kayak..checking into this because I like the option of taking a passenger but it also allows for just one person to maneuver it.


 

make sure it comes with a bilge plug...

[Ducatamount]

Maiden voyage this PM with the Frenchie

Great pics with the dog.
By "floaters" do you mean dead bodies? That's what we used to call them when I was helping build the Charles River Dam in Charlestown Ma.

[derby]

By "floaters" do you mean dead bodies? That's what we used to call them when I was helping build the Charles River Dam in Charlestown Ma.

no dead bodies... yet.  

[IZ]

I dare you to go shark or tuna fishing in that thing   

Not me but there are a few youtube clips. 

[RAT900]

Not me but there are a few youtube clips. 

avoid purchasing a kayak that has its hull painted like the underside of a sea-turtle

[triangleforge]

avoid purchasing a kayak that has its hull painted like the underside of a sea-turtle

Or a surfer.

[derby]

Or a surfer.

sharks attack surfers cause they look like sea lions or turtles from below.

[triangleforge]

Yup. One of the more terrifying bits of film I've ever seen was in a PBS documentary that focused on Great Whites preying on sea lions off California - a shark researcher mounted a camera pointing straight down through a hole in a surfboard, hooked it to a hefty offshore fishing rod and dragged it back and forth across a strait where lots of sea lions had become lunch. The image of a mouth full of teeth emerging fast out of black depths still gives me the willies, even to the point where I found myself getting freaked-out goosebumps whenever I was out in a kayak on deep water ... on Lake Tahoe!   

[IZ]

I hear you on that triangle!! 

By the way..YouTube clip with seal jumping on guys kayak for a ride. If that ever happens and I'm on the ocean, I'll be freaking out!!

[RAT900]

Yup. One of the more terrifying bits of film I've ever seen was in a PBS documentary that focused on Great Whites preying on sea lions off California - a shark researcher mounted a camera pointing straight down through a hole in a surfboard, hooked it to a hefty offshore fishing rod and dragged it back and forth across a strait where lots of sea lions had become lunch. The image of a mouth full of teeth emerging fast out of black depths still gives me the willies, even to the point where I found myself getting freaked-out goosebumps whenever I was out in a kayak on deep water ... on Lake Tahoe!   

just think about there being a big-ass predatory catfish that'll suck your leg off at the hip   

[lethe]

just think about there being a big-ass predatory catfish that'll suck your leg off at the hip   

hmmm, is it wrong to eat an animal that ate a part of you first before you killed it?

[MikeZ]

hmmm, is it wrong to eat an animal that ate a part of you first before you killed it?

Don't they call that Karma?

[rgramjet]

I ate an animal that jumped out on front of my truck and make the beast with two backsed up the front light.......does that count?

[rgramjet]

just think about there being a big-ass predatory catfish that'll suck your leg off at the hip   

Catfish shmatfish.  Theres gators in them there waters!!