Malibu Stealth 14
Posted: April 18th, 2011, 3:38 pm
I picked up my new Stone Stealth 14 last week. What an awesome yak! From the moment I laid eyes on this kayak, I knew it was designed by fisherman. The storage is great. I loaded it up with my gear Friday night and I can already tell, I need to buy more gear! Until now, I always felt like my gear was crammed into my kayaks but not anymore. I fished out of it twice this weekend and what a pleasure it was. Saturday evening I took my three year old son with me and for the first time, he didn't hit me in the face with his rod. He loved Gator Hatch seat and he looked very comfortable with plenty of legroom. We caught a few bass and bream and he wanted to put the bream in the livewell that is built into the Stealth 14. I filled it up and didn't even notice the added weight. It also has a quick screw off cap if you are fishing with live bait and don't want to open the hatch lid. One thing that has always appealed to me about kayaks is the simplicity. I have an old school milk crate strapped on the back with 2 extra rod holders and I put my tackle bag in it. I have an anchor trolly installed for when I am fishing in the current. I installed a fishfinder/GPS on my Mini-X but I don't think I will put one on the Stealth. It all goes back to that simple fishing. I can see everything I need to see with a pair of polarized sunglassed. I also went to the Flint River and gave it a test run in the shoals................WOW! The stability is unreal. I paddled to a small eddy pool and stood up on my yak to watch the water under the shoals where the bass stack up. I didn't feel a bit shaky standing up and I am 6'1" 225 lbs. I paddled about 2 miles on flat water and didn't even think about the fact that I haven't installed a rudder. The yak tracks straight and paddles with ease. I am looking forward to spending some time on this kayak.