The Big Game II

I had seen some pre-productions pics of the BGII so I had an idea of what it looked like but I've got to admit it looks a lot cooler in person. I hate to sound like the total "homer" but this thing has some really cool lines that I couldn't see in the pics of the pre-production model. The two main visual cues I'm talking about are the towers the seat rails are in and the cutaways towards the rear of the hull. The original Big Game has the cutaways but add the other details like the seat towers and the rigging boards and it's a pretty cool boat to look at.

 My very first impression on the water was "WOW this thing is BIG" and it is. It is 12' 9" long and 34" wide. Coming from a kayak that is 12' long and 29" wide it took a few minutes to adjust but once I got settled in she started getting a very "familiar feeling". I think it's because I have recently fished from the Old Town Predator and the O.K. Trident 11. In case you didn't know Old Town and Ocean Kayak are owned by the same company Johnson Outdoors.  Back on the water….

 I would say the speed is ok for a kayak this wide but what I like the most is it's stability and the solid feeling this thing has. I'm telling you this kayak is a tank. In fact I was joking about naming it Abrams after the tank. I was standing and fishing within minutes of being on the water and it "poles" nicely. So sight fish is going to be a pleasure. 

                                         

 The hatches are standard O.K. hardware but I'm good with that although it would have been nice to have the hatch from the Ultra as an option. The way it is now it is what it is. With that being said what was most important to me was having a place to store my rods to and from the water and the center hatch that it has does the job just fine so I'm happy with it.

Standard Ocean Kayak hatches.

 With a 500-600lb load rating I don't think I'll be maxing it out anytime soon. In fact I was thinking that I needed scupper plugs but I was clearly mistaken. I got on the water with my normal tackle load and I don't think water even came through the scuppers. 

 So all in all I like the Big Game II and the more I'm on it the more it's growing on me. When I first started looking for a new kayak I had three main requirements.

1. A comfortable seat.

2. The ability to stand and fish.

3. Vertical rod storage.

Item three has changed to good in hull storage and the BGII has all three in spades. The vertical rod storage has been figured out too so it's just a matter of a little rigging and that will be handled too.

 So far I'm digging it.