I used my new predator twice before adding any rod holders ect

YakAttack GearTrac, Humminbird 587ci HD DI.

yakattak rails, Scotty gear heads, Anchor Trolley, Humminbird 571i HD DI, Scotty Rod Holders

Old Town Predator 13, in a word…Awesome Recently Old Town Canoes & Kayaks joined the Kayak Fishing ClassicS’ family of sponsors and we have been spending quite a bit of time in our Predator 13. In a word it’s…Awesome! We don’t normally get to spend as much time on the water as we would like however I have made exception to that and quietly sneak out of the office which is on the Gulf, slip the Predator 13 into the water and paddle away for an hour or two. This makes for some late nights in the office to catch up but believe me it is well worth it. In two previous articles I mentioned how impressed I am with how smooth and easy this boat is to paddle and nothing has changed there. The glide rate is incredible and maneuvering 13 feet of kayak without a rudder is a snap. The tracking is straight and true which is very important in any boat. Many times I will paddle 3 or 4 miles one way to a specific location. This doesn’t take long at all but if a boat won’t stay on course it adds journey time that I want to spend fishing. The Predator 13 tracks so well that I really don’t have to pay that much attention to my compass and I am not constantly making corrections. You do have a compass on your kayak don’t you? The quality of the Predator 13 is also very impressive. I received mine in the Urban Camo scheme which I think is a fantastic look that blends into the sky very well, as a fish would see it. Upon receipt I ran my hand over every inch of the hull and could not feel a dip, bump or blemish which is no surprise coming from a company like Old Town Canoes. I next did a spotlight test on the hull. An old captain showed me this trick to spot inconsistency in the hull surface and detect potential problems early on. The short of it is that the 13’2” 33.5” hull is perfect through over. The bow entry cuts the water smoothly and quietly forcing the water across the hull and exiting the stern with no tell-tail swirls or discharge gurgles…silence is golden. The Predator 13 feels like she sits on the water, not in the water if that gives you a better idea of how her attitude is in the water…smooth like butter. On a recent trip with a friend we got into conditions with winds gusting at 25 knots and 3’ rollers. We were exposed to the harsh conditions as we were fishing directly on the flats and not in the backcountry. This came up suddenly from nowhere and I figured it to be a good time to test out how my new baby likes to play rough. I told my friend that we should head back before it gets bad. He had a fearful look about him and said ‘this isn’t bad? We had a good laugh and stowed our gear. I began to make way against the quartering 3 footers and actually had to head out to sea in order to tack the waves. When I was even with the launch area I brought her half about and paddled in. The Predator handled beautifully and I was dry. There was of course ocean spray blowing about as the waves crested but there were no shots over the bow or sides, so to speak. The freeboard on the Predator is perfect. I had the seat in low position so as I got close to the launch I raised the seat to the higher position which is for fishing. I wanted to see how she would handle this weather with the seat higher and she did quite fine. I put the boat broadside to the waves and rode the roller coaster for a few waves…no problem there but it is much more comfortable with the seat in the low position in such conditions. She didn’t flip or rollover and that was what I wanted to see. I could feel the secondary tip or catch point grab the waves and stand her back up. That really put the hull design to the test and she passed with flying colors. The Tri-Hull design yields superior stability and tracking even in these harsh conditions. The seat in the Predator 13 has 2 positions as I mentioned and it is very, very comfortable. Just undo the quick release deck clip and flip the seat back out of the way for even greater standing room for sight fishing or scouting. There is a ton a storage on the boat, in fact much more than I would use unless I was bringing camping gear as well as provisions for a week and no worries with 425 lbs of capacity. The bow storage has a great locking hatch that has built in gasket to keep everything dry, which it does very well. In the bow dry hold there is a zip bag to store the scupper plugs when not in use. This is very handy and I put my keys in there as well. The scuppers are in keeping of Old Town quality and innovation. They let water out, such as in a heavy rain but do not let water in. There is also a scupper located just behind the bow made for your Hummingbird transducer for offshore fishing or locating holes in the shallows. It has always made me cringe to drill a hole into a boat and I think the designers at Old Town must feel the same way about that. They came up with a great system for attaching rod holders and such. There are 6 removable mounting plates strategically placed on the Predator to affix your slide tracks, GPS, and more. The slip resistant EXO-Ridge proprietary textured deck ensures you and your gear stay dry and with 8 scuppers holes to drain away water, you really don’t have to think about it. The rod tip holders on the bow are very handy and I secured my rods quickly in the side mounted retainers flanking the seat. This is another real handy feature that allowed me to stow the rods quickly when the wind storm came up. There are also dual tackle holders flanking the seat where you can stash your pliers, camera, sandwich or whatever you like. Just joking about the sandwich but the holders or pockets are very useful. There is a large storage access on the deck between your feet. The molded strap down lid has a handy cup holder and numerous hex shape holes that will accommodate most manufacturers Rod or GPS holders like Scotty for example. This is where I place a rod holder for a quick hold while landing a fish. In front of this station is a stand-up assist strap. I could go on and on about the Predator 13, all of her features and how well mannered she is. This is one tough, high quality, well healed, quick reacting, smooth kayak that I would highly recommend for any angler under any conditions. Visit the Predator at www.PredatorKayak.com or on our website; Kayak Fishing ClassicS. Thanks for reading and now I’m going to try to sneak out and go fishing…