First Yak help!

[Nebe]

No ones talking so I will.

The honest answer from me is this - buy a hobie. I have been kayak fishing since the mid 90's when I built a Chesapeake light craft, then I bought a redfish 14 and finally a hobie revolution.
The hobie can quadrupole your range, you can constantly fish because you don't have to hold a paddle.. the reasons go on and on. Look for a used one and you might get lucky and find one for less than a new standard kayak costs.
Posted from my iPhone/Mobile device

[Got Stripers]

I'd second the Hobie recommendation, I love mine and my son just bought a used but mint 2012 Hobie Revolution for $1200 including rod holders, depth finder and chart plotter. I do a lot of casting while moving and the other obvious advantage if you do a lot of trolling, is you can have a rod in your hand while you are covering water.

I have a bad lower back, so I purposely went wide enough to be able to stand up safely and fish, which I do 50% of the time in my PA14. Its so nice to stand and fish for a while to get the blood moving and take some pressure off my back for a while. The other advantage I have with that larger kayak, is the forward locker with drop in watertight tub with some frozen water bottles and bag of ice, will keep my limit of sea bass, fluke or tog cold until I get them home.

I wish the new reversible drive was available last year when I bought mine, it would be so nice to be able to drive the kayak in reverse with a flip of a switch instead of physically pulling the drive and turning 180 degrees and placing it back in the yak. I might give some serious thought to upgrading to one as that IMHO is a great feature.