I am intruding this thread with a PA14 vs. Outback comparison. I live in NJ and I am located within a mile of the NY/Raritan Bay, and just a few more miles to the ocean by Sandy Hook, Seabrite and Monmouth Beach. I own both yaks and love both, and I will discuss my druthers: First the PA 14, Is a very big yak, which has many many advantages over smaller yaks. There is no comparison to any yak that I know for stability. The bay sometimes is rougher then the ocean by far, so the PA is great, even with all the jealous boaters getting as close as they can to scare you. Standing which most of us don’t have to do where we fish, unless you want to advertise you’re a freshwater fishermen (little local joke). I find it more comfortable to fight big fish sitting down, since you are sitting forward enough in the PA so if you use a 7’ rod, you have no problem with your line menacing you around the bow. Landing big fish is very easy, where you don’t feel a freaked out 18lb Bluefish isn’t going to destroy all your tackle and knock you overboard, like almost happen in my Outback. You have way too much room for storage, but it is there if you need it on a long striper day of fishing. Plus, you can modify the front storage for fish, as long as if there not too big. Some of the fish are 40” and weigh in the upper thirties. And, some of the yaks have caught much bigger than me. For bottom fish it works just fine, but I us a stringer for the most. We do a lot of trolling (Bigger Fish) and is a dream with the PA, which you have a lot of room to negotiate the fight, and to retire the second rod. The PA requires less steering corrections then my Outback. Preparing bait, gear maintenance, tackle changing is much easier in the PA. Minimum issues with heavy winds compared to the Outback, which you just all-around feel more comfortable. I tried the PA 12, and the PA 14 is a much easier yak to use for fishing, which is the only reason I Yak. But, if you use it for any other reasons except a tug boat the PA 12 is fine. Hunting the PA 14 is the only PA to use, especially if you have dogs. And carrying all the equipment for hunting on the water, and shooting from the PA 14 is much better. Now the Outback; I have stated all the good things about the nice to have functionality of the PA 14, which are true, but those are nice to have, for over a grand more for the PA, but it is still limited. Where the Outback is not, I can go farther in the outback, I can launch for the surf, which as for me, the PA can’t do it, and definitely at 66 I struggle on re-entry. And also on unloading and loading kills me with the PA, so I don’t use the PA for the ocean, only the bay. Just about everything I can do on the PA I can do with the Outback, so if I had to choose I would have to go with the Outback for my only yak, mostly because of the surf/ocean fishing. My thoughts, but everyone is different.
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