12' or 14' Yak

[jsnyd86]

I've decided it's time to move on from the Stealth 12 mainly due to it's lack of speed. It's been great, but it's strongest attribute is also it's weakest. Its a tank! I want to upgrade a little and the Jk Cuda is the boat for me. I just can't decide between the 12 and 14. I want the 14, but for convenience of weight, price and room in the garage, I'm leaning towards the 12. I'm just afraid of it being too similar to the Stealth 12 in terms of speed. I've weighed the pros and cons and it's pretty much neck and neck. It's mainly down to preference and IDK if I'd rather have maneuverability or speed. I've talked to a few friends so I figured I'd ask here as well. Most of what I fish is Leesylvania, Pohick, Occoquan Reservoir, Mattawoman, but I want to get into more river fishing. Shenandoah trips, Point of Rocks.. stuff like that. With the possibility of overnight trips. What do you guys think and what were your reasons for deciding on your length?

[kevinfry]

Definitely, there are some faster boats than the 'cuda for the same price or less if speed is all you want (Tarpon and Mantaray wold be a lot faster). If the 'cuda is the boat for you, I am sure you'll find a BIG difference in speed in those 2 additional feet. About the same as the difference between stealth 12 and 14....LOL. The 'cuda is a real quality boat, either way.

[monocacykayak]

If you want to get a cuda loaner to try for a few days ,valley mill boats will let you do so . Rich from valley mill boats fishing team, contact me and I get get you set up .

[jsnyd86]

Speed isn't really important, but the stealth is so slow it makes even short paddles a pain. I love the Stealth for its stability, maneuverability, storage with the gator hatch is great, standing is easy, layout is pretty well thought out. I would like to transfer those same qualities into something faster. Trading some stability with speed is welcome. The Cuda 14 gives me all that but is the 14's speed and storage worth the extra weight, money and risk in a river compared to the 12? That's the question I keep asking myself.

Definitely, there are some faster boats than the 'cuda for the same price or less if speed is all you want (Tarpon and Mantaray wold be a lot faster). If the 'cuda is the boat for you, I am sure you'll find a BIG difference in speed in those 2 additional feet. About the same as the difference between stealth 12 and 14....LOL. The 'cuda is a real quality boat, either way.

[ronaultmtd]

Ain't no human powered fishing kayak faster on the water than a Hobie mirage drive- especially for a distance hike of 4 or more miles...your legs are a lot stronger than your arms...but Hobies aren't for everyone- and they aren't cheap...but I like mine and wouldn't hesitate to buy another if and when I need to replace mine-

[J.A. Veil]

Well Ron, that is a strong statement -- I do not necessarily agree with you. I have not attempted to go head-to-head with a Hobie when pedaling my new Slayer Propel, but I was able to move fast when I used the new kayak this week. I don't know which boat or propulsion system offers greater top end speed when pedaled by operators of comparable strength and age and under comparable conditions. Besides, I'm not sure that absolute top speed is critical for the type of fishing most of us do.

While Hobies were more or less the only pedal kayak around until recently, there is now another serious player in the foot-powered kayak sector.

Ain't no human powered fishing kayak faster on the water than a Hobie mirage drive- especially for a distance hike of 4 or more miles...your legs are a lot stronger than your arms...but Hobies aren't for everyone- and they aren't cheap...but I like mine and wouldn't hesitate to buy another if and when I need to replace mine-

[kevinfry]

The Cuda 14 gives me all that but is the 14's speed and storage worth the extra weight, money and risk in a river compared to the 12? That's the question I keep asking myself.

By river, you mean like upper potomac? If so you should PM MOnocacykayak (see above) or other guys here that drift that stretch of the river ..I personally had no problem drifting around point of rocks with a 12ft yak, but if other guys used 14 ft boats it might be good to get their input.

[ronaultmtd]

you may be right John- we haven't had a propel drive before, but I know for a fact that at all our meet and greets- Hobies are always first to the fishing grounds from the launches and when we all leave headed back in at the end of the day fishing, the Hobie drivers are all loaded up sitting by their vehicles waiting on the paddle yaks to get in-

When we fished the Point Lookout M&G I fished from the point all the way to the Virginia side of the shipping channel and back up to Cornfield Harbor- more than 12 miles of travel...and my Outback is no where near as fast as Chexone's 11 foot Revolution, which I think is the fastest of the Hobie fishing kayaks

[jsnyd86]

By river, you mean like upper potomac? If so you should PM MOnocacykayak (see above) or other guys here that drift that stretch of the river ..I personally had no problem drifting around point of rocks with a 12ft yak, but if other guys used 14 ft boats it might be good to get their input.

For the most part, yes. I know 12's are good in the river. My stealth is a 12 and I had a blast there and also on the southern fork of Shenandoah. I don't plan to get into anything over a class II rapid. Maybe a short class III if the water is high. I just don't want to put myself in a bad situation if I need to turn for a snag or anything like that. I wonder how fast the Cuda 12 is compared to the stealth 12. I'd rather have a 12 but know a 14 is better for most of my tributary fishing.

[Yak Fish]

John, you got a propel? I just took a look at a video of it. It looks pretty legit and in my opinion has improved quite a few things over the Hobie. I do love my Hobie, but there's room for improvement. Let us know how that drive mechanism works out especially in shallow water and in weeds, and how well it holds up over time.

[Mark]

My marine radio has GPS functionality and gives me my speed.

For what it's worth I can cruise at a steady non-exhaustive pace in my Revo 13 at 3 mph with regular fins. I do not have turbo fins.

I can get up to 5 mph for short bursts. I cannot sustain that speed for more than 15 or 20 seconds. I'll be 60 years old in July. I'm sure younger pedalers can go faster for a longer period.


My kayak paddling friends (many around my age) often cruise at 3 mph also. I know that because we often travel side by side. If we had a sprint race I would be hard pressed to beat them. I've seen them dig in and move out quickly.

I think my advantage over the paddlers is not speed but distance. I think I can pedal at a longer and steadier clip than they can paddle. So I'm not sure speed is the real advantage to pedaling and I don't see where speed offers much advantage in kayak fishing anyway. We're not fishing bass tournaments where we need to make haste from one promising spot to the next. Most of us troll from point A to point B. We don't rush when trolling.

Increased range, on the other hand, may be helpful in catching fish. If a 14 foot kayak is easier to paddle than a 12 footer and therefore allows you to cover more water with the same or less exertion it may prove advantageous to your fishing. Likewise I believe pedaling as opposed to paddling offers more range to kayakers of similar ability. Speed is of secondary importance.

[Runnin]

I think you have to weigh the need for speed with that of stability. A highly stable boat built for max stability (so you can stand) will not be fast. As far as rivers go, I would say depands what rivers and stretches you fish. A 14' yak on most section of Potomac would be fine. Popular floats like Brunswick to Point of Rocks would be fine.

If you are fishing more Rock Garden type areas like Seneca Breaks, Swains, or Harpers Ferry, I would not want a yak that long. Nor ,would I want that long a boat for smaller flows like ,The Shenandoah, Goose Creek Va. or Antietam Creek.

I recently bought a longer boat and ended up with a Hurricane Skimmer 128. It's just shy of 13' and is quite a fast boat. Not stable enough to stand in though.

My second choice was the Eddyline Carribean 14. This is a very lightweight boat and I believe stable enough to stand.

I've never tried a Hobie with the fins. I've only used paddled yaks. I'm looking forward to a M and G to test my meddle against these peddle pushers. The weight of the Hobies, and Natives, and even a lot of WS is a hassle for me. I car top and hoisting these up to my roof on my own is not easy. The Thermoform boats like Hurricane and Eddlyline are very light . Mine is only 53 lbs.

[Mark]

I car-top my Revo at 62 pounds. The tradeoff to obtain that manageable weight is a narrower boat than other Hobies with less seating area and less stability.

I can't stand up of course but I've never felt compelled to do so even though I often fly fish from the Revo. I learned to fly cast years ago while seated in a canoe. Given the low profile to the water while seated, it's actually not much different than casting while wading in waist-deep water. You just have to keep your back-cast slightly higher than normal to avoid slapping the water behind.

[jsnyd86]

Thanks for the replies so far guys. Some good points are brought up. My buddy reminded me about usually needing a partner to team up with on most floats. That brought me back down to earth a bit because maybe I wont be on as many floats as I'd like. I wish I could have a few kayaks. Maybe someday.

I do actually fish some tournaments. Mainly for fun, but events like the Mid-Atlantic Kayak Bass Fishing Series are a blast and I look forward fishing it again this year. The speed would help, but I dont need a racecar. Afterall Im still getting a SOT for fishing. I paddle at a constant 3mph in the Stealth 12, but it's a hard paddle. Im in great shape and only 27. It tops out at 4mph in an all out sprint. I went out to the 301 bridge with a friend towards the end of summer and he was basically laughing at me as we raced to the bridge. Granted he has a Prowler 140 but he wasn't even trying. In a scale from 1-10, the speed of the Stealth is a 2. If the Cuda 12 is a 5 I'd be happy. I think I like having a shorter kayak since I usually fish on my own. Toss a rudder in with it and the open water wont be so bad.

[ronaultmtd]

My marine radio has GPS functionality and gives me my speed.

For what it's worth I can cruise at a steady non-exhaustive pace in my Revo 13 at 3 mph with regular fins. I do not have turbo fins.

I can get up to 5 mph for short bursts. I cannot sustain that speed for more than 15 or 20 seconds. I'll be 60 years old in July. I'm sure younger pedalers can go faster for a longer period.


My kayak paddling friends (many around my age) often cruise at 3 mph also. I know that because we often travel side by side. If we had a sprint race I would be hard pressed to beat them. I've seen them dig in and move out quickly.

I think my advantage over the paddlers is not speed but distance. I think I can pedal at a longer and steadier clip than they can paddle. So I'm not sure speed is the real advantage to pedaling and I don't see where speed offers much advantage in kayak fishing anyway. We're not fishing bass tournaments where we need to make haste from one promising spot to the next. Most of us troll from point A to point B. We don't rush when trolling.

Increased range, on the other hand, may be helpful in catching fish. If a 14 foot kayak is easier to paddle than a 12 footer and therefore allows you to cover more water with the same or less exertion it may prove advantageous to your fishing. Likewise I believe pedaling as opposed to paddling offers more range to kayakers of similar ability. Speed is of secondary importance.

You young guys break me up- but age is a function of the mind over matter- I'll be 68 in a couple of months- The simple answer to what is the best kayak for me is a question each of us must decide for ourselves depending on our needs (wants as well) and the majority of fishing we do- I fish mostly big salt water- so the big wide and stable Outback is my choice- it fits my wants and needs- I also have an Ocean Prowler Angler 13 for creeks and rocky rivers and it is plenty fast for a paddle yak- 28 inches wide it is also fairly stable- I think I have the equipment side of the kayak fishing scene pretty well covered- but I digress- there is no one boat that does it all well- there are boats you can do it all from, but they have major drawbacks as a jack of all trades; master of none- I fished the Florida flats with a guide who provided me a Native Ultimate paddle yak- and the coast of South Carolina with another guide in a Jackson Coosa...I have yet to fish with a guide in a Hobie- I am sure there are some out there, I just haven't found them yet-

The one huge fishing advantage of the Mirage Drive (as well as the Propel) is having both hands free to fish or to land a fish in current while maintaining your position.