TexasKayakFisherman.com

Hey guys,
I think I have my first kayak purchase down to two Old Town choices. The first, the Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL and the Salty 120 PDL. Very similar yaks. The sportsman has a lower profile bow. The Salty has a high bow to handle larger waves. The Salty is $300 cheaper, which means something as I’ll be buying two. I’ll fish fresh water way more than saltwater. Any ideas as to the better option? I’m leaning Salty.


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I don’t own a peddle drive so my opinion is limited on the matter . But my pick would be the sportsman, good luck with the purchase and post them pics when you get it fishy!

I guess it depends on how much you value having that front hatch. Although, you could probably add one to the Salty. The Sportsman will be more stable due to it having an additional 1.5" in beam. The Sportsman also has about 50 lbs more weight capacity (about 400 vs 350).

I'm not a pedal guy, but I'd go with the Sportsman.

I am also looking at purchasing either a Sportsman 120 PDL or Bigwater 120 PDL. There is a $300 price difference and BW weighs more. I am leaning towards Sportsman and wondering if it is slow for marshes and jetties. I don't plan on going deep water. Most of the reviews i read leans towards Sportsman 120 PDL.

David0408 wrote:Hey guys,
I think I have my first kayak purchase down to two Old Town choices. The first, the Old Town Sportsman 120 PDL and the Salty 120 PDL. Very similar yaks. The sportsman has a lower profile bow. The Salty has a high bow to handle larger waves. The Salty is $300 cheaper, which means something as I’ll be buying two. I’ll fish fresh water way more than saltwater. Any ideas as to the better option? I’m leaning Salty.


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I have the sportsman and absolutely love it, I think for freshwater the sportsman definitely outshines the salty. That is if you put a high priority on stability. I fish mine standing and drifting quite often in winds up to 15 mph with no issue. There’s no way you’re doing that in a salty. The advantages the salty has is it’s extremely nimble and quick, so if those are high on your priority list go with the salty. I had the same dilemma when deciding on my kayak, but I know I made the right choice for my style of fishing now. I use it in the marsh and it performs decent, a Hobie definitely has the edge here as it can go shallower with more ease, but it’s also much more expensive. The sportsman can peddle in 1ft of water no problem. I will say the turning radius and responsiveness is not great on the sportsman but gets the job done. Hope this helps


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So I bought two Predator PDL’s! I appreciate all of the input.


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How are you liking the Predators so far? I just bought a Bigwater 132 PDL for me and a Salty 120 PDL for my girlfriend. Looking forward to getting them in soon and gearing them up.