UnCivE

I've had it since last march (a year and a few months), and I fish a couple times a week out of it, mostly on the Gasconade. It tracks real well, but I have decided I want a rudder for fishing in current. It paddles easy, it's just not the fastest kayak out there... I have no trouble paddling upstream in heavy current. I'd say if you aren't expecting it to fly like a 14' touring kayak, there isn't much that you won't like about the way it paddles. Compared to the other ascend kayaks, (which I have paddled all of them), it's by far the best tracking. The 10 ft round bottom A10 is like paddling a innertube almost, thing wants to spin around all the time. The D10 (tri-hull bottom) is a lot better, but still nowhere near as rock solid as the D12. Shoot, half the time I sit side saddle to fish out of it. Dunno, I bought it primarily because it was cheap, and looked easy to fish out of, and I haven't been disappointed.

I like my Stohlquist fisherman. I store my pliers and scissors in em, and it gives me a spot for my license and phone. Good for visibility (in mango orange) and peace of mind.

I'm paddling a FS12, or the "angler" version of the D12. I've been real impressed with this yak, and here's why... First of all, the seat rocks. It's super comfy and for exceeds any other kayak seat I've sat in, bar none. Stability on the kayak is good enough to stand with a little practice, but I don't stand and fish. I'm just not looking to take a swim while fishing. Storage is pretty darn good, and I love having the premolded crate/5gallon bucket space behind the seat. I use a crate with rod holders screwed on to store my gear. I really dig the seat, the pre-molded paddle notches and the adjustable footrests are back savers. Somebody at Bass Pro really put some thought into this thing. There are a few things to keep in mind.... If I had it to do over again, I'd buy the D12 instead of the FS12. I ended up buying scotty rod holders and throwing away the factory rod holders, because they weren't very good. Also, the anchor trolley got replaced because it was cheap plastic stuff. I kept some of the bungees, but for the most part, the only thing I kept from the "angler package" was the paint job. Save yourself the 100 bucks and rig it how you want it. Some minuses.... kayak is HEAVY. I'm a big guy, but a 12 ft long kayak that weighs 80+ lbs fully loaded is hard for me to carry. I'd buy or build a kayak cart if you plan to unload/load this thing on your own. I don't use one, but I sure wish I did sometimes. Also, like I said.. the ascend fishing pole holders and anchor trolley are pretty much garbage. Get quality stuff. I think I spent 30bucks on rod holders and 10 bucks on parts for my trolley. Also, this kayak doesn't have a compatible rudder system. If you want one, you'll have to kludge something together. Fine for me, that's what I do anyway. I really like the D12.

Good fishing on the river today for me.

To make this point more clear. . . don't buy the sit on top Bass Pro kayak. It's got flawed drainage design. I really really like the sit in kayak (the one I've got), but the sit on top is probably not worth the dough (in my opinion).

I fish out of a 12ft Ascend Sit-in kayak from bass pro and I love it. I'd advise you to decide on your size first, I'm a big guy 6-2 , 215lbs so I fish out of a 12ft. Also, save the cash and get the base model instead of the "angler" model. You can outfit the boat the way you want for less than the difference between the two. I like the bass pro boats for the seats alone. Go in the warehouse at Springfield Bass Pro and you can easily get 10 percent off a scratched kayak. (they had a whole line of em last time I was there).