It's been long awaited and today I finally got the chance to try out one of Ocean Kayak's newest and most sought after fishing kayaks, the Ultra 4.7. Thanks once again to Jory Pearson from Florida Paddle Sports in Cape Coral, FL, I was able to get my hands on one of these hard to find boats and enjoy a great day of fishing out in Pine Island.

When I got out to the launch site I unloaded all of my rods and landing net and was happy to see that there are 4 flush mount rod holders within easy reach of the cockpit. Directly behind the seat there is a live well, complete with a pump to keep the water fresh and your bait alive. It’s a big kayak, but even being over 15ft in length it still weighs less than my Tarpon 120.

There was so much storage for all of my gear that I found myself rummaging through my car trying to find any bit of fishing tackle that I had so that I could try out all of the kayaks features and try and fill up the storage areas. That was a fail, I couldn’t find enough tackle to even come close to filling up all of the storage.

Once I was loaded up I put the rudder down and headed out into Pine Island Sound. As always it was windy and the current was rough but the boat tracked like a champ and the rudder’s foot controls kept me positioned exactly where I wanted to be so that I could fish all of the pot holes on my way to Black Key to catch some Reds. On my 3rd cast over a small pot hole I hooked up on a 21” Sea Trout. Once landed and in the boat he started to flop around, but unlike most other SOT models he was unable to flop out. The slightly raised sides and the raised center console made it easy to pin him down so that I could remove the hook and take and accurate measurement, big plus in the tournament world.

While fishing I started to notice all sorts of things on the boat. The raised center console that I spoke of has two sides, one side holds a drink and other tools and the other side is pre drilled for all sorts of electronics and another rod holder. The console is hinged at the front and can easily be flipped over to display your electronics or to seal them in the water tight compartment below when the water gets rough and things start to get wet. The console is kept closed by 4 heavy duty rubber straps.

In the afternoon the sun started to disappear and the potholes that I had been fishing in the morning started to become harder to see. I decided now was as good a time as any to test the stability of the boat. I fully braced myself for the good chance that I was going to tip over and go for a swim, but when I stood up….nothing. I was able to stand in the Ultra 4.7 just as easily as I could stand in the Native Ultimate 12. What a plus, now I was anxious to get over to Black Key so that I could stand and sight cast for Reds.

Once at Black Key I was able to stand and pole my way around the edge, casting at the reds that were hunkered up under the mangroves. I threw a few DOA shrimp at them with no luck and then I remembered that I had a live well full of fresh shrimp. I hooked one on to one of my rods and tossed it up onto a ledge under some mangroves and hooked up on a nice 22” inch Redfish. While I poled around the back of Black Key I hooked up on some other smaller Reds but nothing too noteworthy.

Around 3 o’clock some storm clouds started to roll in so I packed up my rods and decided to head back across the sound to where I had parked. Going against the wind and the current was not even a challenge. It The boat tracked extremely well and the rudder made steering a breeze.
All in all this is one of the best kayaks that I have fished out of. The people at Ocean Kayak’s really released a winner with this one and I cannot wait to start fishing tournaments out of it. Thanks once again to Jory from Florida Paddle Sports for letting me have some fun in this one. If you get the chance try one out, it won’t disappoint.