This past week I bought the white and blue Kingfish at West Marine. My friend and kayaking partner JM, bought the sand colored one at Boater' World. I own a Twist and he owns a Jazz. We have gone out to Biscayne Bay every weekend for the past two years. Those boats are indestructible. We were looking for something bigger, more comfortable and suited for fishing. To my surprise I found that Mainstream makes the kayak that I was looking for and at a price that undercuts the competition by over $130 dollars. It is wide, tall. The keel is similar to a Boston Whaler. Has a big hatch in front. What can I stow in there? Well enough to spend a weekend camping in a solitary island or key. The seat looked pretty horrendous. I thought that was the first thing I was going to do. Change it. Wrong. I sat in that KingFish six hours today. The seat may not look great but it is extremely comfortable, well padded and has plenty of room. There are two rod holders which work very well and space for a milk crate, 5 gallon bucket, a bungee net for a cooler or whatever. The wind in Miami today was 15-20 knots with 30 knot gusts. Seas of 3-5'. We went to Card Sound Bay which is protected (we thought). It was a wild ride!!! What a Baptism for those boats! The KingFish handled the waves with ease and the ride was drier than what I would have expected. I have read complains about "poor tracking". No way. It goes were you aim it, period. Unfortunately, the paddlers, RT and JM are not as strong as those waves so after having gun for a few minutes we decided to seek shelter in more calm waters. Back in the truck. Did I mention that despite its size the KingFish is very light. I know, it is not as "sturdy", the plastic "bends" or "gives" when you push... Non sense. In the water is as tough and rigid as any other. And those 15 pounds that you save make a big difference when you are lifting it. Second stop at JewFish Creek was perfect. The wind was blowing, the current was strong, the waves were 2-3'. We had a blast. The KingFish is fast, stable, tracks very well and comfortable. It is everything I wanted and more. JM caught five mangrove snapper. Me, I had tuna fish salad for dinner. But that's OK. I will catch some fish next weekend and probably another 520 weekends after that. It is so good I am going to wait for our next hurricane sitting on my Kingfish. Enjoy!
