Kayaks

2024 was my big Gun Buying Binge and Gun Room Liquidation that replaced a lot of my guns with Henry Rifles and Shotguns.

2025 was selling the farm in IL. and buying NewHome in Missouri and BUILDING, Upgrading and Improvements.

2026 has been Kayaks, Camping and my landscape and Garden Projects but the Big Expense and a lot of time has been devoted to Kayaks.

I have always had 2-3 Kayaks in the barn like any tool having the right one for the job at hand. My Job at hand prior to the Missouri Ozarks move was fishing IL. Ponds, Lakes and Rivers and to a lesser degree hunting and getting to out of the way places to hunt that were really only accessible by water. So I had two older Pelican Catch PWR100s with Minnkota 35lb thrust heavily cut up and modified trolling motors pushing them. And the 3rd was my throw and go Pelican Catch that I took on the road to Missouri and TN. Rivers as a paddler. I gave those 3 to my Brother before I moved because I knew if I brought them with me the temptation and call of the Ozarks Rivers would not be conducive to me building and upgrading everything I wanted and needed to get done on the NewHome Homesteady kind of place.


So here is what the Final Fleet of Kayaks I bought over 2026 looks like I will go through them and give my opinion on each. And I will cover the ones I bought and got Rid of real fast Also I have a fair number of friends that let me borrow their Kayaks to see what I thought about them and whether I wanted to spend the money on those particular models. I primarily do small to medium rivers and a couple of lakes like Wappapelo and Clearwater Lakes. The main Four Rivers I get on are the Castor River, St. Francis River, The Black River and The Current River. I primarily fish for Smallmouth, Largemouth and Goggle Eye Bass, Channel and Flathead Catfish, Buffalo, Rainbow Trout, Bluegill and Crappie. On a personal note I Release all of the Smallmouths I catch and most of the Largemouth. The Goggle Eyes it depends on the river and how over populated they are What I love for the table are the 1-3 pound Channel Cat, the 5-10 pound Flatheads, and Big Buffalo and who doesn't love a plate full of crappie or bluegill fillets In fishing the buffalo I catch a fair amount of big common Carp and keep them as well and call them Fertilizer or Pressure Can them and use them just like canned Salmon for Fried Fish Cakes. Just like with canned salmon the pressure canning the Carp crystalizes all those little bones in carp and makes them edible LOL.


So here are the Kayaks I actually bought in 2026 and why.

The Two in the Back are Pelican Catch PWR100s, they are Powered by Newport Vessels 24" Shaft, 55lb thrust Electric Motors with 24V 85AH Lithium Batteries. The Kayaks $1200-$1300 Retail each, $300 for each motor, $800 per battery and each is rigged with around $250 in accessories. So around $2600 into each of those. They are HORRIBLE Paddlers. Where they shine is being Crazy Stable, Only 9' 9" in Length and are pretty graceful under the power of a motor. They are great for getting into rivers and lakes with a lot of obstacles and the way the stern is designed the motor props are only 2-3 inches below the Hull letting you cruise around in 4-5 inches of water. They have a 450 pound weight capacity and are rated for a 3hp motor. They are also the best Kayak Pelican International Makes and are billed as the top of the Pelican Premium Series Kayaks. TBH Pelican only makes two Kayak Models that are good quality and worth buying The Catch PWR100 and the Catch Mode 110. Pretty much everything else they make is cheap junk or incredibly uncomfortable

And Speaking to the Pelican Catch Mode110 that is the one on the Left. They cost $750-$850 and can have a Transom or a Skeg. As a Paddler the Skeg is critical for ease of paddling and tracking. As a Motorized they are decent performers under power. Mine is a Paddler when me and Kristi started dating it did not take long for her to claim the Mode110 as hers. She is a fit 115 pounder and the Mode110 is a 55 pounder with a 325 pound max weight capacity. I don't have much into it other than a Life Jacket, a paddle, a Magellan Dry Box and small Cooler. It is very Stable and reasonably comfortable. I would recommend the Mode110 for anyone that wants a solid fishing/recreational Kayak that doesn't want to put $2500+ into their set up that still wants a Good Quality river ride.

Going from the Left the next in line is a Field and Stream Nessmuk sold by TSC and Manufactured by Sun Dolphin. It Had a $700 Price Tag and Like the Mode 110 it is a straight paddle for us and really has no good option on the stern for a motor anyway. I generally won't buy anything with a Sun Dolphin, Ascend, Lifetime or any other Junk Bargain Bin Brand attached to it. I made an exception here with the Nessmuk because I needed a cheap Kayak with a high max weight capacity for a lets just call it what it is a FAT friend that is pushing 375 pounds to use. I am actually impressed with this piece of junk LOL. After the friend used it once and decided that Kayaking was way too much effort......... I kind of started using it myself on the St. Francis River. It is amazing level stable, has a high seat position that is actually comfortable and tracks and manuevers very well. And at this time Kristi and her Daughter were spending more and more time on the Rivers and Camping with me and it made a 3rd Paddler in the fleet for us. Since then it has became the Daughters River Ride. I did take a lot of the flimsy brittle junk out of it and replaced it with Aluminum and quality plastic rails and track and stuffed under the deck with foam yoga blocks to take the flex out of the deck. So in replacing the cheap brittle plastic and reinforcing the deck I ended up putting around another $400 into it. It is still a winner IMO because of the 500 pound max weight capacity, it does float, paddle and track great and is incredibly stable. If you buy one just plan on dropping an additional $350-$400 replacing all the cheap brittle plastic parts in it with Another Brands Metal Track and rails or even more buying Yakattack Rails and track. At the end of the Day it is still a Sun Dolphin LOL.

Dead Center is the Brooklyn Kayak Company 13.0 Pro Tandem. It is the ONLY BKC Kayak that I have any use for. They are designed in the USA and Manufactured in China and overall despite being pretty pricey are just generally zero quality control junk. The 13.0 Tandem is the one model that seems to have quality control involved and is a solid roto molded and thick hull. It weighs right at 100 pounds and has a 800 pound Max Weight Capacity. It Does Maneuver Great and can be a Solo, Tandem or Triple seater. We like to go 3-4 miles down river and find a gravel bar to set up a day camp and spend the day grilling, swimming and fishing from said gravel bars. The 13.0 Tandem has ample deck space when set up as a solo to easily hold out Pop up tent, chairs, table, grill, and big cooler......... The Girls also like to collect biggish rocks to bring home and they tend to end up in the 13.0........ a rough guess is that it has had 900 pounds of me, gear and rocks in it and it still sits high and handles well. I will say that it is nowhere near as stable as BKC advertises. If it were even 6" wider it would be amazing stable as it is it is reasonably OK stable. It has became my primary paddler over the summer since Kristi Claimed the Mode 110 and Darci and her Dog Doofus took over the Nessmuck

The Two on the right I just bought last weeks and probably spent way too much money on them and getting them motorized and rigged up LOL. With the Motors and accessories on them there is just short of $12,000 in Kayaks sitting on the right side.

A Bonafide RVR119 and a NuCanoe Unlimited, They both have Newport Vessels NK300 HD Electric Outboards on them with 36V 100AH Lithium Batteries, Top Shelf Bending Branches Paddles for each, Power Poles and Drop Shot Anchor systems and one foot steering rigs and I splurged on a lot of Yakattack rail accessories and Dry Boxes. TG I am not into all of the livescopes, Graphs and electronics LOL. or they would be $12,000 each Yaks instead of $6000ish each yaks. I do not recommend anyone that is not going to spend A LOT of time on the water buying the High End Yaks and set ups. These would be just pissing money away for most people and a solid investment for a few that will be on the water 3-5 days per week. Not going to say much about these as there are volumes of Youtube videos and reviews of them. The RVR is arguably the best River fishing Kayak out there as a motorized or a paddler or at least tied with the Crescent Shoalie for that title. It is also a high performance paddler so it is great for swinging in either jungle Paddle or Motorized.

The Last one on the right side is Mine and Mine alone LOL. It is a NuCanoe Unlimited. I went into my friends shop intending to buy the RVR119 and a NuCanoe Unlimited MAX but the Labor Day End of Summer Sale he was having at the time for everything he had in stock made buying the Unlimited on the show room floor too good of a deal to pass up vs ordering a $2500 Unlimited MAX. Hey I had a Strict $15,000 budget for that Kayak Shopping trip and With the Sale I saved $800 off retail on the Unlimited and $500 off the RVR119 and got a nice 15% discount on the pair Newport NK300 Motors and Batteries The Motors Retail for $1599 and the Big Lithium Batteries $1099 each. So I spent $3000 less than I had walked in intending to spend.

The Unlimited is a great high end Kayak and will suit me very well. I am a bigger guy at 6'3" and weighing in at around 250lbs. So Weight Capacity and Stability with a high and comfortable seat that swivels 360 degrees are the most important things for me when selecting a Kayak. NuCanoe pretty much has the Market Cornered on stability in Kayaks. There are a few exceptions to that rule like the Bonafide XTR130 and XTR140 But the NuCanoe Unlimited, U10 and U-Max are the overall winners with the long open deck, high seating and 41/42 inch width and lengths from 10' 11.5' and 13' and the structural integrity to handle the NK300 motors. They are just a big guys overall dream Kayak for versatility and stability.

I am DONE buying Kayaks for the rest of 2026 LOL. I went into this year with a rather large Kayak and accessory budget in the Save or blow checking account and I amazing did not spend it all! And bought 7 New Kayaks over the course of the year, and 4 Newport Motors and Lithium Batteries and a couple of Bending Branches $500+ paddles......... Yeah I know spending over $500 on a Kayak paddle sounds insane but there is a world of difference in a High end Paddle and a Average Paddle when you spend 6-14 hours per day paddling regularly

Kristi and Her Daughter Darci moved the 11 miles from their place to my place about a Month ago. Yeah Kristi is a fair amount of years younger than me and I broke my rule of NOT dating women more than 5 years younger than me. I could not find anyone my own age that could keep up with me in any arena. Old Hags that just want to sit around fabricating drama and problems while complain non stop about everything. So when I met Kristi and we started Kayaking and Camping together........ And I found a woman possibly more addicted to Kayaks and Rivers than I am and can do a 14-15 mile river trip with ease and doesn't think making the beast with two backs at least once per day is unreasonable and has yet to create problems that just are not there and despises Drama as much as I do........ Yeah I can break my 5 year rule We are going to get officially Married later this fall. What I did not plan on was ever having a teenager in my home or life again LOL in particular a teenage Girl. There are some issues there as her father died 3.5 years ago and her Mom had not even dated anyone since her Husbands Death. Overall me and Darci get along very well and she loves the outdoors, homesteady stuff and rivers as much as me and her Mother do, so we have a lot of common bonding ground there to build on. She does sometimes really struggle with her Mom being with someone other than her Father and we have had a few authority stand offs here and there. The to be expected "You are not my Dad and can't tell me what to do!" Kind of things. I asked Kristi to not get involved in those disputes as they are for me and Darci to work out and come to terms with. Very frustrating for Darci that I won't get mad and won't yell. I just calmly take the posistion of Nope I am not your Father but I am playing the role of your father by providing a very good life for you, protecting you, taking care of you and your mother. You may not like every decision I make in regards to you but you will respect and comply with them. If you think I am wrong come to me and present your case logically and show me where I am in error and we can talk about it. Come to me screaming or whining and I am just going to turn your volume off in my head and ignore you Really not even a lot of that she is a good kids that just doesn't get in any trouble. And she does always respect me even is she doesn't always like me LOL. I just never planned or honestly really wanted a for all practical purposes Daughter when I am 58 years old and heading towards 60 I gotta say I find it very impressive that she has mastered the RBF at only 15!

So I am going to buy three more Kayaks in 2027 and then no more for the rest of my life. I want a Crescent Crew, another big tandem that can convert to a solo. I am still going to get a NuCanoe Unlimited MAX and a Newport NK300 motor for it and I am going to take Darci to the Kayak Shop and pick out whatever she wants for her own Kayak instead of just using which ever paddler is available. LOL She wants purple or Pink and Comfortable, I am confident that my friend that owns the shop can make that happen For whatever reason the Purple and Pink colors are hard to come by and have to be special ordered in most cases if it is even a color option to start with.

Right now I just bought the Lumber to build a two tier 48" wide 50' long Kayak Rack the Length of the Brown Barns South Windowless wall that will hold 10 Kayaks. Which after I buy the 3 next year will be exactly how many Kayaks we will have LOL.. It may sound like a crazy number of Kayaks but there are 3 of us now and there are 3 straight paddler Yaks, 3 full time motorized and the RVR119 that can swing in either Jungle. The Next 3 will be for specific purposes the One to make Darci Happy LOL. The Crescent Crew to be a Barge and Expedition Yak in Consort with the BKC 13.0 We are Planning a 5 week trip for next summer and need another heavy hauler for gear and supplies. And the U-Max will be my Lake and Bigger River Fisher.

From a practical Survival and Prepper type Perspective Kayaks are great hunting and fishing platforms.... Give a Electric, Gas or Paddle Powered mode of mobility and travel with the Paddle and Electric powered moving you along in near complete silence........ A 2.5-4hp gas outboard not so much LOL. They are highly functional on Creeks, Rivers, Ponds, Lakes and even Coastal Waters.

My Buddy James Owner of Midwest Kayak Company and Outdoors in Cape, rigging up the NUCanoe Unlimited with the NK300 Motor and Single Foot Steering system.


The NK300HD Motor on the Unlimited.


James and Jarrod Setting the Two new yaks up to take a picture of me with them in front of the Shop. First time someone took a picture of them setting it up to take a picture of the Customer LOL.


And what it is really all about getting out on the water and having fun.















Those grey and green Junk ass Ascend 10T Kayaks had to go1


Set up at our favorite Campsite at Sam A. Baker on the St Francis River.


The Kargo Kamper was a early 2026 Project to turn that New Homesteader trailer that I traded the Big Homesteader trailer that I used to move into our Custom Kamper Inside is a Table, a wall of Cabinets and Counter, AC that vents and drains through the floor, A small wall Mount Blue Flame Propane Heater, A Fridge/Freezer and a Queen Size Bed. I also built it so the two lighter Kayaks Could Ride in it resting on the bed, the Counters and the Table


The Castor River is my Favorite to Fish and do day trips since it is only 10-30 minutes from the Cabin to all of the public access points. The St Francis and Sam A. Baker is our Favorite to Camp at we will stay there between 3 and 14 days at a time using it as the Base Camp to do different sections of the St Francis, Lake Wappapello or the 30 minute drive over the clearwater lake and the Black River. Sam Baker is Only 40 Minutes from Home and the Cabin so not a big deal to run back home and feed and water the critters every 2-3 days. The Neighbors across the Valley keep a eye on the place and feed and water when we are away but I still like to come back and put eyes on things myself

My Younger Retirement has been exactly what I wanted FINALLY in 2026. I intend on keeping it that way going forward to Death