My dad isfifty four years old -sorry my number keys are broken- and weighs about two fifty at five foot eight inches in height. He is fairly active given his size/weight and he has no problems putting in a few hours in his Wilderness Systems Tarpon Onetwenty.

I'm not going to get into specific brands or anything like that but when shopping for a kayak you need to consider what is more important to you, stability vs speed. A shorter and wider kayak is going to be more stable then a longer narrow kayak. The longer and narrow kayak is going to be much faster and track easier.

Do you plan on paddling several miles straight to get to your fishing spot or trolling all day? Or will you mostly paddle short distances, fish, paddle a little more, fish, etc?

Around here, Hobies are the most popular, that is mainly because we cover lots of distance, carry lots of gear and lets face it, being able to move around hands free while tangling with large salt water game just has its advantages. Hobie offers many different boats from the narrow and swift Revolutions to the big and wide Pro Anglers. I fish out of an Outback which is kind of in between the Revos and the ProAngler in size and agility.

The best thing to do is find a dealer and call them up and ask if they have any demo days so that you can try out as many as you can. If not, look for a local group of guys around you that have different kayaks for you to try out. If youre ever down this way I have several you could try.