Pictures and Perception Pescador Pro Review written by Gary Elliott
Facilitator of www.GarysOutdoorNewsandReviews.net
Finally, after a long warm up here in Michigan I was able to get out on the water and check out a newly revamped kayak from the pioneers of plastic kayaks. With today’s popularity in kayak fishing and sit on tops it seems fitting to take an already popular kayak and update it to be quite an impressive angler kayak for under $1,000.00. The Pescador Pro 120 by Perception does just that.
The Pescador Pro comes in two sizes, 10 ft. and 12 ft. The 10 ft. is more for river fishing and the 12 ft. gets you out on inland lakes to fish and yet still can get on some of those bigger rivers as well. It is a one-piece Roto molded kayak and after several outings have yet to see water in the hull. The floor did not sag while being walked on or while sitting did not feel the deck give way. The Roto molded kayak is very strong. There are two marine-grade rubber and nylon handles screwed to the kayak at each end.
The 12’ weighs in at only 64 lbs. It was easy to load myself up on to my kayak rack on my truck and to pull to lake access. Maximum on-board weight is an impressive 375 lbs. so room to spare for gear on this 32.5” wide stable platform. The back has bungee lashing holding your tackle bag or dry bags for a river trip and the front has a mesh cover to keep items covered from the sun and from following out.
Not a ton of storage, but for the size it is maximized. Hull access is another story, if you are one who likes to have access to the inside of the hull for running wire or holding rods then you have one opening in the stern storage area. There is a spot under the front of the seat that seems to have the ability to be turned into an access point by putting your own round hatch in. This would give you some mid hull access.
One of the impressive items on this kayak is the console area for mounting a fish finder. By mounting on the lid of the console, which also has an access hole for your wire to run down to the battery storage area. Then going out the front to a scupper hole where you would mount your transducer keeping your fish finder gear hidden and organized. Unlike some of the higher priced yaks allowing you to take the whole unit with you for security and convenience, this one you will need to detach your fish finder and take everything out and with you.
The mesh stadium style seat is another great feature of this kayak. Adjustable from upright to recline, but not forward or back it is held in place by three bungees. Which worked just fine and at no time did I feel it moving around. The seat was very comfortable and the mesh kept me from sweating on some recent long hot days.
A small recessed spot just in front of the seat allows you to use a mid-size plastic storage container to keep lures, keys or other valuables secure and dry depending on the container you purchase. Otherwise, you can also utilize the console area that was really designed to keep your fish finder battery in to keep items secure and this is not a water tight area.
The molded side handles are great for carrying and did not fatigue my hands or cut into them. This made it very nice to handle the kayak. Also in front of you is a molded cup holder for keeping your beverage accessible. Then behind you are two molded rod holders and surprisingly enough they put nylon pad eyes to attach your leashes for your rods, a nice little touch there.
They are molded in therefore they are not the best rod holders and you could upgrade with third-party accessories. Another item worth mentioning are the YakAttack 12” gear tracks, enough track to mount a couple items on each side. I received the Moss Camo color accented with orange bungees and gear track, which I thought, looked pretty cool. Other colors available are Red Tiger Camo, Sea Spray and Sunset.
How about paddling and tracking? The kayak has a 14.5” deck height and it paddled very effortlessly on calm days and light windy days. There was one day the wind was whipping up on the lake it still was manageable even without a rudder, but you still got moved around some.
Tracking was very impressive for the Pescador Pro. It stayed straight and did not require a lot of compensating. Turning using the paddle was easy and turned quite well for a 12 ft. kayak. Not being a kayak stander I did have a couple people try it out and they were very surprised by the stability of it and one of the guys actually did a little site casting from it. The one thing it could use is a stand up leash to assist you, but again, that can be purchased separately.
Pescador Pro Areas for Improvement
1. More track for accessories. Longer on the cock pit sides and more track in the stern.
2. Better rod holders. Set up to aim out away from the kayak and not just hold them up straight.
3. More hull access for those that run wiring and lights.
4. Bow storage with water seal hatch instead of just a mesh covered area
5. Seat if fine for up/down movement, but would like to see some adjustment forward to back movement.
Final Thoughts on the Pescador Pro
Overall, the Pescador Pro was more than I had anticipated for the price and found little things that surprised me while using it, but as I went through it there also were things like better hull access, better rod holders or maybe a hatch for the front all of that adds cost to the kayak. So, looking at the cost of the kayak compared to some others around the same price I felt it competed with those kayaks and in some ways was in a class of its own. For a kayak under $1,000 and being prepared to go fishing in your kayak this does the trick without a doubt and in time giving you some opportunity to do some minimum upgrades yourself.