I had been considering purchasing a fishing kayak for about five years. So many choices out there! I've had my PDL 132 for about a month, logged a fair amount of time in it and caught a lot of fish to include a few pretty big ones. Fishing and fighting fish from the seat is very comfortable and fun. Organizing all the gear I need is easy. My cast net fits behind my seat. I removed the carrying handle from a mid sized cooler and replaced it with a triple rod holder using SS screws and 5200. This fits in the generous bed behind the seat and is secured by the bungee cord system that comes with the kayak. One loop over the handle facing forward and the other over the rod holder, securing the cooler to the kayak but allowing me to easily open the lid of the cooler to put fish in. I put two rods and a landing net in those rod holders and a third rod goes in one of the other two aft facing integrated rod holders. I found the rails located forward of the seat to be unhelpful so I removed them and laced a bungee cord back and forth between the screws using SS fender washers to pin the cord down. Now, a tackle box the size of the one that comes with the kayak will easily stow on each side. I fish with one in the port side, two under the seat and use the starboard stowage for pliers, fish grabber and other items I need to get to often. A boat bag easily slips under the seat that holds other misc gear. The universal transducer mount is not universal :-), but it was easy to drill the holes in the removable plate needed to mount my Lowrance transducer. Running the wires was incredibly easy and required no hole drilling that resulted in a professional looking install that only took a few minutes. I mounted my chartplotter/FF to the removable plate located to the right of the pedals and stowed the excess data cable neatly in the space underneath. The power cable is routed under the forward hatch cover not requiring any drilling. Note: when selecting your electronics, avoid a unit with a transducer mounting system that will put the transducer below the plane of the hull or risk damaging it when you drag the craft over anything. The battery stowage bag is sized to fit a small 12V battery. I purchased a 10ah battery which fits very neatly in there, but found I needed more run time and upgraded to a larger battery placed in a stowage box which I am still problem solving for a better solution to prevent it from sliding around the forward hatch. The integrated bow carrying handle is great. I run a tie down strap through it when securing my kayak inside my truck and another strap across the middle, through the side carrying handles to finish the aft secure. This approach is incredibly fast and easy and leaves no doubt that the kayak is not going to slide out of the truck. The aft integrated handles are in the right place and make it easy to get a good purchase on the stern when carrying with another person. While on the water, I use the opening of the forward carry to hold a small anchor. I route the line through the carrying handle, under the round bar of the pedal unit and tie it off to the carrying handle on the same side. The anchor line goes in an anchor line bag stowed in the forward hatch. That anchor is used on every trip whether to dig into the beach preventing the kayak from floating away on a rising tide while I'm walking the shore throwing the cast net for bait or holding position near a school of fish. A factory integrated anchor mounting system on the bow would be a huge plus. I can really scoot with the pedal system even against a strong current and troll for hours effortlessly, which I must say I did not expect. The rudder friction knob feels a little "economical" and I think there is a better system to be had. The stainless screw is slowly cutting the groove it rests in and I find that I need to remove the chips it cuts to keep the rudder control moving freely. Perhaps more of a cam type brake would be an improvement? After looking at so many other fishing kayaks over the past few years, when I saw the PDL 132, I knew why I hadn't purchased a fishing kayak until now. After several trips, the differences are even more clear. I am extremely happy with my new Old Town and glad I waited for the right one to take to the dance.
Read More