Nucanoe Vs. Jackson Big Rig

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I presently have a Wilderness tarpon 10' that is set up for fishing and that I have had for about five years. I am looking to get into something that is a little more comfortable and stable, with a higher seat. I have a Ranger truck that I put my kayak in and transport it in the bed of the truck. I am considering the Jackson Big Rig or the NuCanoe Frontier in the models that are about 12 or 13 feet.

Any pros and cons to these options that you can tell me about would be appreciated. Also, should I consider something else.

Thanks

[Jim Mac]

I have the Frontier 12' and I really like it. It takes at least a few times out to get used to the tippyness though. It's due to the higher center of gravity. The top of my seat is 12" above the floor. I had to sell my previous SOT because sitting "on the floor" was too hard on my back. I had the Mini X and it was much more stable. Definitely try it out before buying.

I could use a lower seat, but that would defeat the purpose of me buying it.

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Jim

Thanks for the information. There are some dealers here in the Rochester area that carry these and I will be checking the various models out over the next few weeks. My Tarpon is not totally uncomfortable, but it could be more comfortable. What peaked my interest in getting a more comfortable SOT kayak was an article in the Syracuse newspaper outdoors section a few weeks ago. The guide was in a Jackson and he looked really comfortable, almost as if he was sitting in a nice lawn chair while fishing.

[B@ssCrzy]

I have a Jackson Cuda and love the seat.  Very comfortable and have not had one issue with it.  Great to have both the low and high seat position when getting into some waves.  In order to answer your questions would depend on what you are going to do with it.  Are you mainly going to be floating a river or are you also going to be out on a big lake. To me the nucanoe just looks like a big barge that would be good for river fishing, but not good for paddling around a lake.  I really like Jackson products so I would lean toward the big rig, but have you checked out the new Old Towne Predator XI.  Looks pretty sweet as well. 

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I will mostly be on lakes. I fish the smaller finger lakes close to Rochester and if the conditions are right (very little wind) I can make it out on Lake Ontario. Also spend about 3 weeks in the Adirondacks on lakes up there. I don't do much river fishing.

I am looking for stability and comfort. I guess you can flip anything, however, the Tarpon is not as stable as I would like. I dumped it once when I put a small pillow on top of the seat for more comfort and I got caught from the side by a boat wake.

I am trying to keep in the 12 foot length size as my truck bed is six foot and with the gate down, I have seven feet to work with in transport area.

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I just looked at the Old Town Predator specs and reviews. It is sweet. If i decide to go that direction, I will probably go with the 12' MX Predator. Definitely a lot more options now than when I got my Tarpon several years ago. Looks like many manufacturers have made advancements in the stability and comfort areas and are making better SOTs for fishing.

[B@ssCrzy]

I think either one will be an upgrade for sure as far as stability is concerned.  But to me the nucanoe is kind of behind when it comes to innovation.  Pretty plane.  May be a great kayak, but I like the added features of the big rig, predator, etc.  If you are fishing lakes almost exclusively then speed would be an important factor for you to consider and I would think that the big rig, predator, etc are better in that department.

[Jim Mac]

I looked at the Predator 12' also, and it is a nice kayak. In the high seat position, it was 8" above the floor. That was still too low for my back, so I went with the Frontier 12'. The Lure 11.5' was my second choice, but I decided against it because I could not demo it. GREAT seat on it. It adjusts in 1" increments.

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Thanks for the additional ideas. I put together an excel spread sheet of the various options that I am looking at now. The spreadsheet did not paste in the proper format, however, the basic info for each mfg. & model are below.

MFG - Model

Retail $

Length

Width

Weight

Capacity

FeelFree - Lure

1,099

11' 6"

36"

74

425

OK - Prowler Big Game Angler

1,249

12' 9"

34"

70

600

NuCanoe - Frontier

1,159

12' 0"

41"

76

650

OT - Predator MX

1,199

12' 0"

34"

82

400

Jackson - Big Rig

1,499

13' 2"

37"

98

450

WS - Ride

1,099

11' 6"

33"

81

500

[Jim Mac]

In case you don't know this about the Frontier, it does not come with a seat. So you will need to add the cost of a seat and seat swivel to that price. The nice thing is that you can use ANY seat you want.

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Jim

Thanks

This forum group has been great. I never would have considered the FeelFree Lure until it was mentioned here. I have done a ton of research on that one today and it really interests me now more than the others.

Rich

[Jim Mac]

Jim

Thanks

This forum group has been great. I never would have considered the FeelFree Lure until it was mentioned here. I have done a ton of research on that one today and it really interests me now more than the others.

Rich

You're welcome. It's a shame that the closest dealer to me was about 5 hours away. I would have liked to try it out.