Wilderness Systems Ride 115X - I'm proud of this one!

[Jeff Little]

I've been a prostaffer for Wilderness Systems for many years. I got out on the Susquehanna with two fellow pro staffers yesterday to try out, video, photograph, market the new boat. I gotta boast about it some because the company has done well on this one by listening to many of us about what we didn't like about old designs, what we did to modify boats as soon as we got them, what we broke often and so on. They did surveys and teleconferences to tease out many of the design upgrades that you can see in the video below. They got it right! One design feature really stands out though. It's a depth finder console that means that you don't have to drill a single hole in your kayak. You can install it in 15 minutes or less. You can take the entire set up (battery, transducer, wires and all) off your kayak in 5 seconds. The big thing for me is that there's no cavitation from a transducer arm in the water along the side of the kayak. I plan on owning one at some point, but wanted to share this. The Ride 115 is not the best kayak for the bay (it's great for rivers, tidal flows and ponds), but I can't imagine that they wont take these features to boats that are good for big open water like the Ride 135 and Tarpon 160. Enjoy the video.

[volboy23]

Thanks for the review and information. That is a slick looking boat and the new features are great.

[CAGE RATTLER]

Thanks for the video Jeff. Keep'em coming

That setup is pretty cool!!
With the way the sport of kayak fishing is growing, I'm sure more and more kayak manufacturers will also be making design changes to make the yaks more fish friendly.

I just bought a lowrance 4X DSI and trying to figure the best way of mounting the transducer on my Outback. A setup like that console would sure make it easy.

[NukeMD]

Thanks Jeff for the video. Was looking to give up my Tarpon 120 and get the Diablo Adios or the Old Town Predator 13, but I really like the WS quality as I feel it is better than most out there. Finally, a yak I would finally feel comfortable with installing a FF. However, I need more info about the seat and the stand-ability as those are extremely important to me. Thanks again.

[MetroMan]

Nice. That console idea is definitely a great one. I notice a lot of newer model kayaks going with the high seat. How has this impacted primary stability? I ask because whenever "the internet" sees an elevated seat, the first thing people spew out is "OMG that thing looks unstable sitting so high". But with it being done by more than one manufacturer, I have to ask...well...how is it in comparison to a lower seat? I'm sure the guaranteed dry butt is nice as well.

[Jeff Little]

I use both high and low seats. Bass fishing high seat. Bay fishing in rough windy conditions low seat.