Hey guys,

Long time bank fisherman who is tired of the walking and being limited to certain spots. I’m in the market for a new kayak! Never owned one nor do I have any experience with them. I’ll be using this kayak on lakes, small lakes around 700 acres as well as very large lakes almost 3,000 acres for fishing. This kayak will be transported by my Toyota Corolla on the roof top and loaded and unloaded by myself.

I think I like the sit on top kayak’s better…they seem more “free” when it comes to moving in your seat and accessing the rest of the kayak. Being able to stand and fish out of it is also important to me. I really wanted a pedal kayak but those are quite expensive but preferred. In terms of length I have no clue what to get…I’d imagine a shorter 10ft kayak would be better for roof top transport and loading and unloading by myself.

I’ve mainly been looking at Ascend brand kayaks as that’s the majority of what Bass Pro/Cabelas sells. Are these any good? What other kayaks would you recommend? My budget is $1,300 but I’ll only pay that much if it is a pedal kayak. Non pedal kayaks I’d like to spend no more then $900.