jcoss15

Looking at getting the Pelican castaway from Academy. Looks ready to fish, good price, light weight. Do any of you guys own or know anything about this yak?

oxbeast1210

Jcross15 if you do a quick search on the forum you will find many posts of people being unhappy with it. it was my first kayak then passed down to my wife we never had issues. but if I was you I would save just a little more and get the pescador 12ft . it is more stable tracks better and just is a better overall design. I read somewhere that they may be replacing the pescador with another model or may have already but its replacement is just as good.

jcoss15

i read that it doesn't track well... not exactly sure what that means, but I just want one for skinny water river fishing and maybe the bay every now and then. I have a regular fishing boat just wnt a little yak to play with.

oxbeast1210

Tracking is how straight a kayak goes when you paddle . The pelican likes to zigzag alot instead of going straight you constantly have to try to keep it straight.
Alot of people had issues with leaks .
I'm fairly certain that once you catch a couple fish you will be hooked and want a better one. if you are buying new there isn't much of a price differance between the two anyhow .
Alot of us kayak owners also own boats with gas being high and all the regulations offshore its easier to just toss the yak in the water and go.
No oil. Battery's and just minimal maintenace

Bonsaifishrman

My first yak 4 years ago was pelican castaway. Took it out in shallow water, paddled it and immediately gave it to my wife. It was too unstable for my size. I shortly thereafter got a used kingfisher that did the trick for me for the next year and a half. Thereafter, I went for the xfactor 14 footer.

I agree with the other posters, go for the pescador, because it is much more useful and stable for getting into kayak fishing. After using it for a season, you will be able to sell it quicker in an upgrade situation. You will be wiser then also as to what next kayak you might want to purchase, if at all.

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Seatmech86

Let me see if I can lend a hand. I have a Pescador 12 that I actually won as a door prize and a Pelican Castaway 116 that I bought off a friend for $250. A lot depends on what you are you looking at, the 100(10.0') or the 116(11.6). Both or equal in the bottom construction with a 1.5' difference in the length. The shorter the lenght and flater the bottom the more you loose in tracking. What you expend in correcting your tracking you loose in forward momentum. The tracking on the 116 was enough for me to live with but it doesn't track near as well as the Pescador. Now the Pescador 12 was last years Wilderness System Tarpon 12 mold that was sold to Perception Sport. The grade of plastic used by PS is slighlty lower quality hence the price difference between the Tarpon and the Pescador. The leaks on the Pelican can be corrected if you glue a foam rubber gasket to the entire lid of the forward deck hatch, relatively cheap fix. The Pescador has a leaky rod holder on the starboard side because it is open on the bottom and comes with a plug that doesn't work so well. I am going to replace it with one that is sealed at the bottom. I would rather deal with a few oz. of water in the rod holder that have a few gallons in the hull. The Pelican comes with 3 rod holders while the Pescadore only has one. This is easily corrected if you check out the mods "sticky" posted on the Kayak forum.

60hertz

The pelicans are fine if you're on a budget. I had one for a year or so and never had any problems with it. I sold it to upgrade to a Hobie, but life got in the way...I wish i still had the pelican castaway 116, it was a fine kayak.

YaknFish

Pelican pursuit 100 from academy is what I have. My wife has the 80 just because it was pink. We were just getting into kayaking and didn't know a whole lot about them, but for being on a budget and as a starter kayak I love mine. No it doesn't track very well, didn't have any paddle holders or rod holders and the 80 doesn't have foot pegs, but all that can be fixed for relatively cheap. I have a Scotty adjustable rod holder in front of me and two flush mounts behind me. I also made paddle holders for both kayaks and added a flush mount to my wife's behind her. This summer for the tracking I'm making a cable driven rudder system to help the zig zag of the kayak. I paid $215 for mine and have $25 in accessories. I mostly inshore fish the intercoastal or perdido bay. Going to try out the gulf this year, tried it last year during some moderate seas and got pounded on the shore coming back in.

DTFuqua

I just bought mine from Academy and I chose the prescador after all the opinions I found searching this and every other site about kayaks I could find. Just my opinion since I haven't even gotten my boat wet yet.

Seatmech86

The Pursuit and the Castaway have one major difference, sit in vs. sit on top. The SOT is self bailing which came in handy this past weekend when launching into the bay across from the pass. I took a nice one over the back as I was launching. If you take a sit in out there I highly recommend a good spray skirt. Another Yak I have in the stable is a surf yak, the Necky Switch that I bought used with a nice Harmony spray skirt. Also, while were on the subject Pensacola Kayak and Sail has those nice compact hand op sump pump.