JEM Watercraft

Kayak Jack wrote:I'd be a bit prudent riding "side saddle" (with feet overboard??!!) with sharks swimming about. Helluva way to trim ones toenails, ehh?

I don't think I would be dangling my feet over the sides with little Black Tip Sharks in the area. Nope , Not Me. I like purchasing a pair of shoes at a time , not just one.

Chuck.

Now Chuck you having Texaen back ground you should have this fIgured out ,now Jack up in that cold country has an excuse. You figure hot hot it is here in Texas and them boys been wearing the coWboy boots for a few days, when they hang them feet of in the water aint a shark around can get closer thaN TWENTY YARDS.
rON

tx river rat wrote:Now Chuck you having Texaen back ground you should have this fIgured out ,now Jack up in that cold country has an excuse. You figure hot hot it is here in Texas and them boys been wearing the coWboy boots for a few days, when they hang them feet of in the water aint a shark around can get closer thaN TWENTY YARDS.
rON

Ya saying Shark Repellent ? They did not have any socks on .... "O" I see the non diluted repellent , the full strength stuff and they still caught fish. I thought it was outlawed to use orders of mass destruction when fishing. Ya know , like you can't use hand grenades anymore to fish with. Silly me.

Chuckles............
Never underestimate a Texan when they have a mind to do something , it will get done , EVERYTIME.

G'day Ron,

Great fish!!

Mate, The point I was trying to make is that these two boats are at best, only just adequate in the surf. They are obviously fine fishing platforms, but so is just about any SOT on the market.

Have a look at this one.

http://www.vikingkayak.com.au/fishing_kayaks_tempo.htm

It is a superior fishing platform in every respect, paddles at least as well as either the FnD or X factor, (I fave seen them paddled in calm water side by side) and is purpose designed for safe surf work.

This one is even better,

http://www.vikingkayak.com.au/predator_kayak.htm

and this is their latest in the lineup.

http://www.vikingkayak.com.au/profish_kayaks.htm

I don't know if they are available in the US but there are some very good ideas in their design that Matt might like to consider. The Tempo was their first attempt at a serious fishing kayak. While no speed machine, it is supremely stable, handles predictably and safely in solid surf and has immense load capacity.

Another plastic boat making a pretty big impact here in the surf zone in the hobie quest.

These boats are so different than what I use for paddling and camping on inland lakes & rivers that they seem foreign to me. Use dictates design.

Mick
Those are good looking boats , I think again the location dictates the design, your normal surf whould be a whooper over on the gulf coast, I dont have a need are use for a SOT ,but there is a big market for them here in Texas, I bet it is 10 to 1 on sales of Sots over Sinks.
I cant really pass a judgment on them , but on another forum they were asking about building wooden Sot and what they needed so I was trying to hook them up with Matt.

Brazos Queen , Laker Cuda
and soon the North wind
Should just about do me

Oh and the Wol;f is still lurking in the background
Ron

Mate, IMHO,

Sabalo or Cape Fear will outperform the FnD or Malady X factor anywhere. for that matter, so would our lovely little lakers.

Ya only need to get one of em hooked on something like a Cape fear and all his mates will want one. No doubt about it.

I see these blokes load for bear big rods, heavy tackle and lots of it. This is in part why I think the Cape Fear 16 is just what they are looking for.

I have the plans for this boat and have been meaning to build it for a couple of years now, but I just don't play in the surf much anymore. If I were fishing those conditions for solid fish like those guys were getting, be sure, one would be in my shed right now.

Even better, IMHO, would be a SOT based on matt's Sasquatch 16.5 hull bottom panels. Huge load capacity, superb stability and a very good paddler. She would handle that surf with aplomb. Heck, on a good day, i would even take my Sas canoe as she is now out in that.

Hey Ron,

Ask your crew if they could take a measurement for me:

Find a scupper that is at midship, or close to it, and measure the distance from the bottom of the hull to the top of the scupper.

I'm really curious about the Cobra Fish and Dive and the Malibu X-factor. If those hulls were sold locally I'd measure myself.

Matt I sent a couple PMS ,might be a day are two but they will get back to me.
Ron

Mick
These guys are serious fisherman they land everything from sharks tarpon redfish (big uglies) black drum and a lot of them , Mike is bad about landing 2 at a time. Also not too far from where they are fishing is a bull shark nursery area and they land one of them once in a while, plus in the marshes and rivers gators are everywhere, they talk about smacking them on the nose with a paddle to make them leave.
Ron

I hear u guy's talking about us crazy TEXAS yaker's, and Matt ,Ron's right the Texas market is totaly differant I grew up on the outer banks,and gulf fishing here is a whole new deal SOT are the THING if ur not on one they will look at u like u lost ur MIND