Big Yak

Most stable yak ive ever paddled on. Smooth quick and quiet. Great in shallows. Or in the ocean. Very very safe and dependable

I just bought my 2nd big yak. Love this boat. We paddle these boats on lakes and mild rivers. With it's high weight capacity you can carry plenty of gear. We use these boats as our own 3'x10' water front property. I'm 50 years old and look for deeper water with my 12 year old son to swim and snorkel in away from the restricted shore lines. This boat is very easy to re-board. Swimming in open water we never let loose of our bow line. Wind will quickly separate you and your boat! living in the Carolina's I expect to use this boat 10 months of the year. At under 10' we can store in our enclosed 10 foot trailer. and take along on long distance trips. HAPPY PADDLING!

I bought the Big Yak to have a warm weather SOT that would be suitable for beginners paddling Class I-II rocky Texas Rivers. It works well for my intended purposes.

It provides a very wide, stable platform that gives novices a feeling of security. Because of its short length, its width, and its rather blunt bow, it is a very slow boat. Any trip longer than a few miles will tire out all but the strongest paddlers; however, for an afternoon jaunt of three to five miles, it's great. As with all sit-on-tops, the paddler is going to get wet. Since I personally hate being wet and cold, I regard everything in this genre as being suitable for summertime use only.

Previous reviewers have mentioned the need for using a long paddle--amen to that. They have also mentioned problems with leaks and they are right about that also. Remember to open the drain plug and get the water out after every usage or you'll end up with quite a bit of extra "ballast." Because of the leaks, I would definitely not recommend taking this boat out on open water for hours on end!

I talked to a livery operator recently who said that the big drain holes in the foot wells and under the seat are major wear points when the Big Yak is used in rocky streams. He said that these drain hole areas wear out very quickly, rendering the boat useless after one season of hard usage. I guess I have not hit enough rocks to cause that much damage, because I haven't noticed any significant wear around the drain holes on my boat yet.

Despite its shortcomings, I would buy this boat again so I can take first-timers out in warm conditions to introduce them to paddling moving water.

I have used an OC Prowler 13 for about a year now to fish the protected bays near the Gulf in Southwestern Louisiana. I love the Prowler 13, but the ride is not entirely dry and it is not nimble enough to chase redfish or specks when they are feeding. I purchased a Big Yak in hopes of a drier ride, increased stability, and something easier to turn when I needed to do so. The Big Yak has proved just dandy thank you. Despite what you read in some reviews, the Big Yak is not slow, it turns on a proverbial dime, paddles fairly straight on flatwater if you have any paddling sense at all, and it does very well in rough water. In fact, it is faster than my Prowler 13 in that the Big Yak rides over the waves and does not lose much speed while the Prowler 13 comes to a near stop every time the bow plows into a good sized wave.

A little imagination and some bungi cord work, and the Big Yak is a very easy to load in a standard truck bed, extremely stable, inexpensive, and great fun. I strongly recommend the Crazy Creek Kayak III air inflatable seat from Cabelas. It is a third of the price of other high end yak seats, most comfortable for all day fishing; your butt does not get numb. The Big Yak has a high seat and thus, drier ride. The air seat elevates your butt another inch or more and makes for an even drier ride. Get a 230 cm paddle. The Big Yak is wide> I love it. No yak scores a 10 yet…

I enjoyed reading TB's review so much that I bought a Big Yak Package from L.L. Bean. I got a kayak, paddle, and seat rest for $435 delivered from Washington to Southern California. I enjoyed the Yak and put it in the back of my pick up truck.

I soon realized that I had a leak. I contacted Ocean Kayak website. I think their customer service is terrible. The leak was coming from the scupper hole. Several times my replies were not answered. Apparently not returning customer complaints about specific problems is common since I heard another guy say his complaint of the drifter taking on water was never answered. I was taking on a gallon of water an hour. I am new to kayaking and ignorantly thought all the water draining out was no big deal, until I asked another kayaker I met at Dana Point.

L.L. Bean is a fantastic company and is will to return and replace the kayak immediately. I was hoping that Ocean Kayak could refer me to a dealer closer to where I live, rather than wait on another delivery from Washington.

Ocean Kayak finally agreed, but never returned my last E-mail, the one giving them the closest dealer's address to my house, which was in Long Beach. There was absolutely no follow through at all, so I reluctantly wrapped up my Big Yak with shipping wrap and am waiting on the truck from L.L. Bean.

It grieves me to know that another family could be out there without knowing their kayak is slowly sinking. They never even apologized for a leaky boat. I guess it is too common at Ocean Kayak these days. They diagnosed the leak, got the serial number and were gone, despite stating that they would switch my Yak at the nearest dealer.

I plan to E-mail L.L. Bean and let them know that one of their brands is represented by a company that takes leaky boats too casually and a customer service that does not follow through.

Now I have to wait for L.L. Bean to pick it up. In the meanwhile, I went over to Malibu Kayaks and was treated like a king. I got to try their kayaks for free and their kayaks are guaranteed for life. I really very impressed with the Malibu Extreme. Maybe there was a reason for all of this mess. The Big Yak was too small for open ocean fishing, but is very stable and easy to paddle in the bay. I also liked the fact it fit in my mini truck's bed. However, if you are willing to overlook a leak that could have easily sunk the boat, and casual customer service that view a leaky boat as a minor inconvenience, this might be the Yak for you!

This is a wonderful boat to fish from. Because it is nearly 3 feet wide and has a shallow seat you can sit comfortably on it in a variety of positions, including dangling your legs over the side, reclining etc. The shallow seat also keeps your backside dry. It tracks OK once you get used to it and it has loads of storage space for fishing gear and a cooler. It's not suitable for a five mile tour perhaps, but it reaches my favorite bay fishing spots that are about a mile or so from where I launch. It's marketed as a surf kayak (I haven't surfed with it yet), but it's been everything I expected it to be as a bay fishing yak. As for transporting, I just load it into my little pickup bed, tie it down, and go.