Brisbane River Paddle and a few firsts

[Canoedle]

Nice one Shane, the FnD is a monster yak, more like a small ship really Great to hear you are enjoying the freedom of yaking.

[Chaz]

The river in that area has so much potential. The snags are a blessing and a curse. I got hit big time last weekend and could not pull the fish out of the snag. In fact, the fish ended up catching me because the yak got dragged into the bushes and I could not paddle and fight the fish at the same time. I have gone up to 14lb braid and 17lb Vanish as a leader because I was getting busted off too often. How big are your guns?

Brenden

[Canoedle]

G'day Brendan, I fish pretty light mate, 6lb braid and 6lb fluro leader. I'd be keen to hook up for a fish some time, PM me if you're interested. I live in Esk and self employed, so any time of the day and week is good, work permitting.

[Floyd2006]

well done on the river bass mate, all the ones Ive caught so far have been on the small side. Do you know how big they can get in the river?

Floyd

[Canoedle]

that was the first bass I've heard of being caught first hand above the Mt Crosby wier, but there is bound to be bigger ones, hope to find out soon.

[The_Walrus]

Canoelle,

Can you give some details on your new yak?

PM me if you'd rather.

Luc

[Canoedle]

Yeah mate, it's an OK Scupper Pro.

Speed
I don't know if you could say the over all top speed of this kayak is miles beyond the Espri, but it is certainly easy to gain a good speed and effortless to maintain the speed once underway, and the boat seemed to glide forever in comparison to the Espri.


Stability
I could not fault the Espri in this department, extremely stable in all conditions I tested it under and even when trying to tip the boat I rarely felt it was going to tip over due to the immense secondary stablity. I haven't had opportunity to test the stability of the scupper as yet, but first impressions tell me that she is very stable, a little tippy in the primary stability, but again I haven't felt that I was in danger of going for a swim, the very low seating position has you sitting below water level adding huge stability IMHO.

Layout/Comfort
The scupper console is very long and wide, a feature that doesnt exist on the Espri, provisions are in place for a centre hatch and plenty of flat surfaces for rod holders etc. The huge hatches on these yaks allow for a lot of gear to be stowed below decks if tempted to do overnighters I think you would have no problem at all storing everything you needed. I'm looking forward to testing the capacity in the department soon. d

Customising
The console is a huge bonus for me moving up from the Espri, plenty of room for options here. Good posi for flush mounts behind seat and either side of the yak. Unlike the dive version of the scupper pro, the hatches allows access to below decks allowing for nut and bolt fasteners on all add ons, particularly with the addition of the center hatch.

Manouverability
I really don't see much difference in this department going from the Espri to the Scupper, even though it is a full metre longer. turning on the spot is no real problem and making adjustments on the move can be made with one hand while holding a rod, no problem.

Fishability
This will only be tested fully once I have completed the fit out and have rod holders in place etc. Can't wait

Specs are as follows :-

Length 4.54m

Width 66.5cm

Capacity 159kg

Material Durable Linear Polyethylene

Height 34cm

Weight 27kg

[The_Walrus]

Tanks Karl.

Have sent you a PM.

Luc