New kayak: Native Slayer 14.5 Review

So for awhile I've been shopping around trying to figure out which kayak I was finally going to buy myself so I would stop having to ask my friends when I randomly decided to go. I narrowed it down to the 14.5 Slayer, 14 Ultimate, and the Jackson Cuda 14. I paddled them all before buying and decided on the Slayer just because I'll get more use out of the open bow/stern storage than the closed storage in the Cuda, and the Slayer was noticeably more stable and comfortable standing than the ultimate. If I decide down the line that I want to cover one of them for "dry" storage, then I have the option. Open storage is just much easier to deal with to me.

So here's my relatively unbiased review as to how the Slayer has handled thus far. I haven't taken it in the marsh yet though. I'm gonna try to cover the main things I looked for in buying a kayak.

First, weight: It's like 75lbs or something around there, which seems like a lot, but it's not too bad. The stiff handles on the bow/stern really make it feel like the weight is evenly distributed. Also, the wheel on the stern is super clutch. I have no problem wheeling it around with one hand, and no problem loading it into the bed of my truck by myself.

Stability: I'm 5'10", 160lbs and have zero problems standing and fishing. The first time I took it out I shook it pretty hard standing up, and not once did I feel like I was close to tipping over. The open cockpit area is pretty nice too, and you can move around a good bit while standing. Native also puts foam nonskid in the footwells stock, but I'm gonna replace that with Seadek in the next few weeks. I don't think anybody should have an issue standing up and fishing out of this kayak. 14.5 is a lot of boat.

Rigging: Native's track system that comes stock with the kayak made rigging it really easy. I got two Ram 2007s and mounted them both on the left and right of the cockpit, far enough ahead to be out of the way of me paddling. Native includes cam paddle holders with the kayak too, and I took these off of the cockpit track and put them on the rear track. I got a 6ft stick anchor and mounted it on the rear left of the boat. I also put an anchor trolley and a knotless cleat from ACK on the stern. I made my crate with a prefab rod holder from ACK, and had an old Ram Tube rod holder from my boat that I angled sideways in the crate for trolling. I'm gonna put some bungee on the rod holders next week to hook around the handles on my reels to hold them in the holders.

Paddling/tracking: The Slayer is a little bit slower than the Ultimate. I couldn't tell the difference between the Cuda and the Slayer though. It seems that both of those, due to the rounder nose, push more water than the Ultimate does. It's a little bit more streamlined. The difference is really negligible though, and unless you're really out of shape and trying to paddle 15 miles a day, you really shouldn't know the difference.

Fishability: I didn't buy this thing to go leisurely paddle and enjoy getting sunburnt in the marsh (though kayaking through the swamp is pretty sweet). I bought it to fish. The Jackson and the Native were pretty close in this category to me, but I like the Slayer a little bit better just because the cockpit is open and I feel like standing I can really move around. I also like the open storage so I can get to stuff quickly and easily.

Other: This gets beaten to death in these reviews, but the seat on the Slayer is awesome. I fished Henderson the other day from 12-7 and not once did I feel uncomfortable sitting in it. You could easily fish from sunup to sun down. It's adjustable from the low position for paddling, to the high position for sitting and fishing. I don't fish live bait very often, but I may put some flush mount rod holders angling out behind the seat later on down the road for dropping live bait and trolling.

The dry box right behind the seat is convenient and pretty easy to get to without turning around. It's big enough to hold a couple phones and wallets. The tackle storage on either side of the seat is cool too. I happened to have the size already, but two of the blue Plano dry boxes fit in them perfectly. Also, drink holder right in front of the seat is money. I added a Ram GPS mount on the cockpit console track. You can take the console out and put a battery pack in the hull, then mount a fish finder on it. I haven't decided if I'm gonna do this yet. Probably will once I run out of things to spend money on for it later on.

To sum it up, it's a pretty awesome kayak and I'm happy I chose the Slayer. If there's one thing to nitpick it's that the nonskid that comes with the kayak doesn't cover the entire cockpit, but like I said I'm ordering Seadek for it anyways. I was worried about it being "too" big, but I haven't felt like that yet and I put it in some pretty tight spots in Henderson. The real test will come when I have time after school to slam it back in some duck ponds in Hopedale.