kayak selection? feel free lure 11.5 - FishingTN.com Tennessee's Fishing and Boating Community

nealec · #1 06-25-2015, 08:24 PM

looking at a lure 11.5 kayak. i like it, but was wondering if anybody could tell me what they liked/disliked. going to use it for skinny water. thanks

jad2t · #2 06-25-2015, 11:43 PM

I fish out of a Ride 115 and enjoy it a lot but if I had it to do over again, I'd absolutely by the Lure 11.5 over it. The seat in the Lure is far superior to that of what comes in the Ride 115. Also, one thing I thought was cool at first was that the entire hull of the Ride is one massive dry well. It was cool until I realized that this means the stuff you want to keep dry like your phone, keys, cellphone, etc will slide around as you drag your kayak up and down gradients to get in and out of water and you'll sometimes have trouble reaching them. I'd prefer to have a couple large, but isolated, dry compartments like the Lure has.

Twice I've had a fish fall into the center opening (I opened it to get my phone out to take a pic and left it open) and flopped around all over the place in there getting out of reach and I had quite the time getting them out.

TNtroller · #3 06-26-2015, 04:45 AM

Never been on Lure yak, but I have a Ride 115 and like it. I think the seat is very comfy on the Ride which is the reason I bought it. The Ride has some short cords/loops inside the hatches to attach things (small dry bags, etc.) so they don't go sliding all over the place.

XxthejuicexX · #4 06-26-2015, 08:11 AM

I have a lure 11.5 and love it! The seat and the reinforced/padded standing platform are what sold me on it. It's 36" wide so it's really stable, not as fast as a ride 115, Jimmy can leave me in the dust if he wants to. My complaint is that it tends to spin left or right when you stop paddling, not sure if a rudder would stop this. Storage is just fine. I can load a milk crate along with 7+ rods on the back of it with no problem. I use the center storage pod to keep all my pliers, scents and things like that. I have my battery in the large hatch being held in place by Velcro straps. The rear wheel helps when moving across flat ground but if it gets rough it tends to make the yak tilt left or right.

Travis C. · #5 06-26-2015, 08:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxthejuicexX

My complaint is that it tends to spin left or right when you stop paddling, not sure if a rudder would stop this.

Yes.

Other than the speed (which it's not intended to be a fast boat...that's the Moken line) depending on your body's build or strength car topping it can be no fun especially after a long day of fishing. Its heavy and wide BUT that is what gives its stability and capacity. The boat is 76 lbs.

There is a Feelfree team member on here but his work schedule has been hectic this summer so he is not on much. He has both Lure sizes and Moken 14's with far more in depth of the nuances.

Could try pm screen name: txnative

XxthejuicexX · #6 06-26-2015, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Travis C.

Yes.

Other than the speed (which it's not intended to be a fast boat...that's the Moken line) depending on your body's build or strength car topping it can be no fun especially after a long day of fishing. Its heavy and wide BUT that is what gives its stability and capacity. The boat is 76 lbs.

There is a Feelfree team member on here but his work schedule has been hectic this summer so he is not on much. He has both Lure sizes and Moken 14's with far more in depth of the nuances.

Could try pm screen name: txnative

Travis you are correct, it's not intended to be fast. I would not want to try and load it on top of an SUV at the end of a long day. My dad fished out of it last weekend and loved it. He said it was better than fishing out of the John boat we have.

bfish · #7 06-26-2015, 08:54 AM

It might not matter to some, but FeelFree is not a domestic product. Jackson kayaks are made here in TN. Wilderness System I believe are from SC and Natives are made in NC.

Alphahawk · #8 06-26-2015, 08:56 AM

I owned a Ride 115 for a year. I loved it but hated the seat....which has since had a new seat option made for it....the new seat is very comfortable. The Ride was a joy to paddle and tracked well. Out of the 5 kayaks I owned to me it paddled the best. I have fished out of the Lure 11.5. It is tougher to paddle than a Ride 115...a Coosa.....and a Big Game Prowler II. It is a wide boat and yes it is very stable. It does not track as well as the BG Prowler II or the Ride 115. It does track far better than the Coosa. I think the wheel in the keel messes with the tracking of the Lure. I liked the seats in the Coosa...BG Prowler II.....Native Slayer Propel 10 much better than the Lure. I recommend not to get hung up on one brand. I also highly recommend you demo anything you might want to purchase...and I don't mean a 20 minute paddle......take it out for several hours. Some on here have much more experience in fishing kayaks than I do and hope they chime in. A lot of people get into kayak fishing only to put their boat up for sale a couple of weeks later. Reasons for that could be kayak fishing is not for them...but many times the reason is they bought the wrong boat and are extremely uncomfortable in it. I no longer have a kayak but I loved it for the few years I did it. Really missing not having one now as I am bank bound until my boat gets here.

Regards

XxthejuicexX · #9 06-26-2015, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bfish

It might not matter to some, but FeelFree is not a domestic product. Jackson kayaks are made here in TN. Wilderness System I believe are from SC and Natives are made in NC.

I am all for buying local/american but I also want the best product I can get, Felt that the feelFree was that. Mike's Jackson rig is pretty sweet too. That was my second choice but I got a great deal on the FeelFree from Hook1.

XxthejuicexX · #10 06-26-2015, 08:59 AM

Good write up Alpha. I am always willing to let someone test my yak out.

SAMBOLIE · #11 06-26-2015, 09:13 AM

THIS LOOKS APPEALING

http://www.seethroughcanoe.com/clear-canoes.html

Travis C. · #12 06-26-2015, 10:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XxthejuicexX

My dad fished out of it last weekend and loved it. He said it was better than fishing out of the John boat we have.

The 13.5 would be a good replacement for that. I have helped car top it on a SUV and.......lots of grunts. It is an awesome boat though.

I SUV top the Moken 14 now on my SUV and 76 lbs spread out over 14'8" is no cake.

Travis C. · #13 06-26-2015, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alphahawk

I have fished out of the Lure 11.5. It is tougher to paddle than a Ride 115...a Coosa.....and a Big Game Prowler II.

Regards

Chris found out that going longer on the paddle than normal helps a lot with the Lure. He also paddles the whole time in the high position so that may be a factor as well.

MNfisher · #14 06-26-2015, 11:03 AM

I have a Jackson big tuna and a cuda 14. The big tuna is very stable, and can be tandem or single use. I bought the cuda 14 this year, because the more I fish out of a yak, the more I want speed. The cuda is not near as stable as the tuna, but I still comfortably stand and fish out of it. It paddles almost 2 mph faster than the tuna. I used to be all about stability, the more experienced I get, I'm happy to trade stability for speed.

Mike

Travis C. · #15 06-26-2015, 11:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MNfisher

I used to be all about stability, the more experienced I get, I'm happy to trade stability for speed.

Mike

I can definitely see that. I was out on Fathers day at OH and it was windy with lots of boat traffic. The Moken 14 (which is more of a ocean big water platform) had no trouble even with my 7 year old sitting in the back cargo area. We moved at a real good clip against waves and wind. But then again the boat was doing what it was designed to do.