Seeking advice on trident 13

[dham340]

Hello. Been lurking in the forum for a while but was wondering about getting a new kayak. Current situation is this. Mostly fish on Bohemia/sass/Chester rivers in upper bay. Reason is current kayak is old town twin heron rec boat that we got so the better half and I could toil around the rivers. Have never gone to flats or bridges mostly because I don't think this boat could handle it (and I am quite sure I couldn't in this boat. When I fish I fish from it solo). Most of my fishing is small stuff (perch/bass/small strippers every now and then).

Due to some fortunate luck, I have coming 2 ocean kayak capers. These are not the angler version (as far as I can tell only difference is rod holders behind seat). Plan was to add the rod holders to these boats and some other minimal rigging (fish finder and a small cooler) since I think these boats will let me fish some places the twin heron can't or shouldn't go. So, my first question to anyone who knows is this a good assumption?

The issue is a bit more complicated because I now have opportunity to acquire at significant discount (50%) a 2017 trident. It's very tempting since the know the trident will let me fish just about anywhere.

So my question - would you do it? Is it worth it to now have 4 kayaks (I do have a 5 person family. Up until now only 2 at a time could kayak). Or, do you think it's better to just put the $ I would spend on trident into rigging out the capers (buying car rack, fish finder, some new rods etc). In other words, besides the addition rigging on the trident, exactly how much better is it going to be on the actual bay? I've been going back and forth on this for 2 weeks and my opportunity is going to expire in a few days.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

[Mark]

I will likely be in the minority on this issue but I think in general kayak anglers spend too much time and money complicating the simplicity of kayak fishing. They do that mostly with their rigging choices, buying many more gadgets to affix to their boats than they actually need. That includes in my opinion…gasp…a fish finder. I’ve been there myself. I had to go through the evolution of buying a lot of kayak “stuff” before I realized I didn’t need it to catch fish. Now much of it sits in a pile in my garage when I take either of my two boats out.

However, like many on this forum I have more than one boat. That’s because like rods, not one boat will suffice for all kayak fishing situations, especially here in MD where our waters are so varied. The boat itself is the key ingredient in kayak fishing. After market additions to it will only minimally add to its utility, especially a boat like the Trident that is already designed for fishing.

So, assuming you’ll need the basics for transporting your boat(s), you mentioned a rack, I would likely look not very far beyond that and add the Trident to my fleet since you can get it for half price – if it’s the 13-foot version. You’ll appreciate the extra length when using it on the Bay. At the worst, you can sell it here if it doesn’t meet your needs. But my guess is that it will. You can use the 11 foot Capers wth your family on smaller waters where your rigging needs are minimal anyway. (I do not use a fish finder on smaller waters and that is likely where you will use the Capers.)

Bottom line: You have a chance to get a very good boat, the Trident, at an excellent price. Spending money for that would be my choice as opposed to buying more items for rigging for the Capers.

Good luck.

[croaker d]

First off let me say this, if you can get 50% off a 2017 Trident 13 brand new do it. Don't think about it to much just do it it's a no brainer. If you want to fish the bay and do it with confidence leave the capers alone. Im not knocking the capers witch I have never owned or paddled one but I am very familiar with the OK line as I have owned the the Trident 11, Trident 13, And now the owner of a brand new Big Game 2 as of last week. IMHO you just cant go wrong with that deal if kayak fishing the bay is what you want to do! You will be glad you got the trident and the extra length and stability when it gets a little ruff out there...

[dham340]

Thanks for the advice. Going to pull the trigger on the trident.

[smithmal]

BTW, there's a nice deal on a used Trident Ultra 4.3 on CL at the moment....



smithmal

[Woody]

I bought a clearance Trident 13 four years ago. Love it. Very stable although heavy. I find it handles wind and fast water like Kent Narrows well. Because of the weight I found it better to trailer than rack. I found a free jet ski trailer and extended the bunk boards to accommodate the length. I then bought a pick up ladder rack, inverted the riser bars and bolted it to the trailer. Another trip to Amazon and I bought two pairs of kayak J holder mounts. So for about $150 I have a trailer to haul my three yaks.