Zoffinger Reviews the Wilderness Recon 120 HD
Vložit
- čas přidán 8. 05. 2023
- This is a large kayak. Maybe too large for Marty? Or it could be the perfect platform for one of Elon's 500 thousand pound thrust Raptor engines. I don't know. Perhaps it's just a perfect fishing kayak for someone looking to bring a lot of gear on the water. Or a furry friend. I found myself very skeptical at first that this was a kayak for me at only 5' 5" and 145lbs. But it surprised me once I got to know it. This video is presented for you too, to get to know the Wilderness Systems RECON 120 with the Helix Drive. Let me know if you think the Recon is the right choice when the mission is fishing!
--
You can find more Wilderness kayaks and stuff
by clicking this link-
www.wildernesssystems.com/us/...
Interested in offshore trips, digging big fish off reefs?
Check out Todd's channel which is full of useful info!
/ channel
You can message Marty on Facebook by clicking this link-
/ lovekayak.fishing - Sport
Your creativity over the years has been so inspiring
Totally agree
I humbly want to thank you Marty, you got me off my miserable behind and back onto the water, which has helped me immensely.👍🇨🇦
Like the 👍🇨🇦 just wondering where in Canada you are? I'm down east ns.
@@michaelskalin5126 Woodstock Ontario Canada, my wife is from Newfoundland, have a great day.🇨🇦👍
Such an enjoyable and relaxing video, always love watching you fish too!
I like watching you do the mods to kayaks !
We've got 3 Recons HDs - awesome boat that can handle inshore and offshore. We even use them for hunting. Thanks for the video!
can not wait to see you do your stuff on this huge kayak! Marty keep up the good work!
Love it, especially the camera on you and the action.
Missed ya, took me ages to get a min to watch. Thanks for sharing
Nice kayak and very well done video Marty! Your works are very impressive and inspiring. There are lots of options out there now, for fishing, kayaking, and enjoying the outdoors. Thank you
Nice looking yak! Thank you for sharing.
Only just realised I wasn't subscribed, I must have watched so many of your videos that they just automatically turn up in my feed... But alas, I am now subscribed.
You sure have came a long way great job brother keep it going
Hey brother, man I do miss Florida, the water, is most of what I miss, so it is so cool to watch you and makes me happy, thanks. We love ya. That Recon is S w eeet SAaaweet, I like it.
By far you’re reviews are the best on the internet, a real guy using the boat and modifying it in a reasonable fashion. Been watching your videos as long as you’ve been posting them. Refreshing to see something beside a pelican. I have been using a wilderness for 11 years now.
Great review!
Nice video, and review Marty 👍
Awesome video. I can't wait to try mine out! 😊
Been here since the old red kayak and that's what got me into it kayak fishing
I’ve got a bonified 10ft. Barge, but the comfort is worth it, whatever you do to make it yours. I’ll wait for the results, always enjoy listening, & very much enjoyed meeting you years back, keep being you.
Great video Marty 👍
Ive been fishing out the 120HD for a year now and with the added lumbar support its one of the most comfortable "all day" boats I've tried so far!!!
Great boat...great video.
great review bud!!!!! nice yak
That footage of you reviving that snook with the pedals was pretty cool
Great video and yes it’s always hard to make up my mind. Nice Yak by the way
Very good assessment and review of this kayak! I have one - added the motor bracket in the back and use my torqeedo OR Newport … imo one of the best fishing platforms on the water.. as you described you can configure it anyway you like… it IS a big kayak … but so are the Hobies and Old Towns … that being said I feel SAFE out in the big bays and ocean…have caught everything from porgies to striped bass…
❤ it!
As I said in your previous video, I have a Wilderness ATAK 140 That I've modified with multiple items including a 45# thrust Minkota trolling motor. After owning this kayak for 9 yrs I can't imagine selling it unless it's to buy an old town auto pilot 120. I love my big, heavy, pain in the butt kayak. But I also think having a second, much lighter kayak definitely has its place. If you fish smaller bodies of water or know you're only fishing a small area in a location similar to the river where Marty fishes or a back bay area, a lighter kayak is sometimes, a nice option.
Great vid however you might have forgotten to mention one of the best features of this boat that I appreciate: you can stand up while fishing. You're right, it's very stable and for that reason it makes standing & fishing fun.
love the bumper sticker
keep doing what you love , us viewers and you know that is fishing and creating ...us old timers know a Wizard when we see one. Ducky from Vancouver and many thanks for helping me with my boat.....and yes viewers , to me anything with a hull is a boat
Thanks for the kind words, Ducky
you will stop spinning in circles and feel more grounded soon!
Thank you Marty, video quality was awesome; the multiple camera views are great. Now to that monster kayak, nice boat looks like to me. Definitely some good thinking put together on its design. One thing I see, is it's pretty stable and looks like it could take rougher water than average kayak, so if a bigger person was using and got caught in a storm, it would give far more flotation than a smaller craft. Might add a bilge pump just for that purpose. Down side I'm sure it's a bit heavy and would be a good candidate for a trailer, like a modified jet ski trailer of some sort. Great video as always Marty. 73 and GOD bless, Earnest K5EWM.
good to have help
My thought I would share w you, is to find one nice kayak and be happy with it until it is really time to step to next. That way you can also be economical which is fantastic. This kayak looks fantastic! The helix drive is very nice and seems very efficient, so much so that it let the kayak navigating after you stop cranking it.
Love your videos man
Also what do you use to edit videos?
Great kayak Marty…..a little too big for your style I think but a great base for modifications the “Marty” way. Thank you for the run through of the yak. 👍👍🐟🐟
Nice boat!
Hope there’s a Catch & Cook in the near future. The few that you have were great.
YES! Marty’s catch and cooks are my favorite videos of his easy!
Would love to see ya back at the rental building doing more builds. Also, live in Apollo Beach so not too far away.
I am 6'2" and 235#. I just switched from a Seastream Openwater 12' to a Pelican Catch 100 Classic. I love it. Paddling sucks, but I am too cheap to shell out pedal kayak money. If I get a pedal, I probably will get a FeelFree. They have a wheel-in-skeg, tri-hull design, the seat height is adjustable, and their standing platform has a plexiglass foundation.
That thing is really nice.
Good to see you, Marty! It's been a while since you posted. How are the pups? Are you back in Tampa? Did you get your business going again?
Marty is the kayak GOAT
I'm a little over 200lb on a bad day and I have a Moken 12.5V2. For me it's the perfect size, just big enough for me to stand and paddle but small enough to be maneuverable. I might look into a peddle drive for my next one but for now the paddle serves me well.
Nice boat, appreciate you. Take a look at the 'Whale Shark' from Hammerhead Kayaks... it's a beast, has peddle drive and for the price is a great choice imho. Great accessories, storage, stability etc.
I like your reviews all of them even the ones that are just like helpful like the thermacell one to save money. I really like my sit in kayak a hybrid perception sound 10.5 I’m debating getting a catch mode 110 or a pdl drive. I like the hands free aspect of the pedal drive for landing fish but the. You gain boat weight and loose deck space . I really like the Argo seat in the catch mode to switch from paddling to a higher pov for fishing
Looks like My next boat . Currntly have a Youkon 116
like the design of lifting the paddels out but would be cool to had some kind of hard hinge on them so that they arent in the way when sticking straight up but i do LOVE the custom pedal thing you did :)
Now you’re back to the Marty I’ve know for 14 or so years. GREAT VID! Now take us fishing.
Thanks for being there all these years!
Nice boat. Trying to decide between that and Old Town 120 HD
Well I have two kayaks , a first gen Hobie Outback which is my favorite but kind small in the cockpit area to todays standards and I have a Pelican Catch 100 which I only used one time about four yrs ago. got the Pelican as a grab and go kayak and so my dog had a place between my legs but Im not very grace full and its just not stable enough for me but I love the seat in the Pelican . However I have not been out in over two years due to vertigo and dizziness everytime Im on the water which sucks because I always loved the water . Your living the dream my friend Im really digging your little place ya got there.
I'll keep sharing so you can come along for the ride.
I like pedal drive much more than paddle. My hobie is great with the 180 drive to really focus on a shore line. Or staying place at a specific place to fish. I have way more control than standard pedal kayak where I drift around in circles.
Foot power is next level, for sure.
Thank you so much for the review. I’m looking into getting my first fishing kayak. I’m stuck between this Recon 120, the Vibe Shearwater, or the Old Town Sportsman 120.
Mmm them Old Towns are a thing of beauty
VERY NICE .
Wish there was a seat for a toddler or small child. It would be cool to see kayaks for small kids, or dual seaters for parent and child until child is big enough to paddle/handle one on their own (with adult close by obviously, and in still waters ) Families with 2 kids could go exploring in a couple 2-seaters, or the kids could paddle their own small boat.
I like the high seat with all the storage right under you and easy to reach. Some thing that my (which I love) 12 1/2 ft perception pescador pilot pro lacks in. I love the bigger Kayaks and haul mine in the back of my truck with the assist of a bed extender. The older I get though, the more I'm thinking of trailering it.
I hear ya. A trailer adds so much extra that can go wrong though. It's always my last resort.
Missed you buddy , i just looked you up again , last time you had a rental thing there
Been a fan for a long time, thank you for the inspiration over the years. Re: the Recon...too fancy and too many bells and whistles for me. I'm still rock'n a Jackson Kilroy. I'd like a yak built for big guy standing/pedaling, buy as soon as I nestle into my seat, with nothing but a giant cockpit, I say naaah just buy more lures!
Loved it! The video I meant 😆 Kayak is awesome too. Yeah maybe adding a troller motor would be interesting, but then that would be all kinds of other problems I suppose.
had me rolling on the, "it's only 12, all three tons of it". I enjoy non-hobie peddle kayaks, but I reverted back to a bigger water fishing paddle kayak. Pros and cons though.
edit: I really think it is situational but trying to find a couple of do all kayaks to meet your needs is difficult. I currently run a Stealth Fusion 480 for everything. It is wonderful for getting to places fast or going through surf. It is not the best for fishing the flats because it sits so low in the water. I need a wider/not so long kayak to fish the flats where speed or covering miles upon miles isn't necessary. Maybe an L2Fish would suit my needs for flats fishing but a paddle board isn't great for control when fishing docks or structure. I just need to get all 3.
Like vehicles, I guess. A sportscar for fun. A minivan for hauling the family. And a pickup truck for hauling kayaks. I mean, you could put a Recon on top of a Porsche 911, but you're gonna get some odd looks.
Marty, going back to the Pelican Catch Mode 110, with the trolling motor on the transom using their mount, can you reach it to tilt it up and down? I'm your size so need to know before investing. Thanks man. Always love whatever you post.
Nice boat, Dude!
My lifetime is only adequate.
I'd like ta have one of those.
Nice rig.
what kind of speed do you get out of it? Turn radius is also important to me. Does it turn on a dime or is it a slouch?
I'm a big guy but I love smaller kayaks. And it is we sir that tend to hang on your opinions of the plasticrafts.
hey there mrty bring back the poor mans kayak an do some fishing in it we would love to see that please ...... all so keep up the awsome videos ..... do u still have some merch i would love to buy some please let me know thanks an tight lines
Great review of a very good Kayak Marty. I've been subscribed to you for quite a few years, along with a few other Ambassadors of USA Kayak Brands on CZcams. I'm looking for a Pedal Yak due to Arm health issues. Sadly, the Recon 120 doesn't appear to be available here in the UK, and when there have been some good USA Pedal Kayaks available here, they seems to be twice the price of the USA websites. Stay safe & well! 👍👍
Shame it isn't available in the UK. I'll ask the company guys why that is.
If only I had the money 💰
I really like the pedal control.😊
Hey Martty, love your videos. Was wondering if there was a motor attachment as my shoulder are shot and I have lung issues as well so the pedal drive I wouldn't be able to do long. In wind I would be in trouble. Any response would be awesome.
Dream boat
The changes or modifications are sure to follow! It will be a project boat for you???
great summary. so bottom line fin with reverse (Hobie) or pedal drive?
I would like to see you a a pontoon stabilizer to the kayak .
Try the sea foam decking on the foot paddles you're gonna find it still has traction and when wet and won't tear off the bottom of your feet or get too hot
I LOVE MY WILDERNESS RADAR 135
I believe having a variety of boats is good! But I’d wish they would make two things. An extremely lightweight and short pedal driven kayak, and a short 8-10ft canoe that’s affordable.
That's a nice boat, I hesitate to call it a kayak. Sacrilege! Looks like you may be a convert but I have a feeling that you have not given up on your paddling in the smaller vessel. Hard to be mobile with bigger gear. I am trying to figure that into my nomadic plans. Thanks for the review! I'll be out on Northern Michigan's Tahquamenon River soon. Film at 11.
This would certainly be a burden to a tiny living traveler.
That’s a cool looking kayak, I fish stealth FISHA and soon a PROFISHA. Want to get a yak for bass fishing, creek stuff though I do use stealths now? lol but they are more distance big water, swells. Recon looks like a fit but not sure about the seat being so high? Had a hobie at on point an couldn’t get use to pedals deal though think that style might work better.
I really want to like this kayak but not having a height adjustable seat seems silly to me. Honest question with the fixed seat height could you take this out on a windy day. Most days I'm out in 1 to 1.5 ft Whitecaps
Big, fancy, all the bells and whistles. Trolling motor that can last all day and take you against killer currents... swivel seat is a must. A whole day's worth of tackle... entertainment is optional but I don't see why a kayak cant have a sound system and/or a tv mounted somewhere (who doesn't like watching the football while they're catching fish). I Dunno about everyone else, but I'm looking for that fully-immersive me me me type of kayak. Make it so Mr Zoffinger. Make it so.
Pimp-My-Yak™
🤘
I would love to see your ideas on turning a sit in kayak into a paddle drive I have some ideas but I’m just looking for more ideas
If you can get a nucanoe drive, it’s doable
@@TismFishing thank but I’m wanting to turn a sit in kayak into a pedal drive not buy a new kayak
@@robertdellinger6471 no I mean the drive that nucanoe makes. It’s cable driven, so you could retrofit it to a sit inside.
@@TismFishing thanks I’ll have to check it out
Hello Marty. Thank you for your videos, they are instructive and entertaining at the same time. So, after some more months with this Recon 120 HD, do you like it? I want to buy my first fishing kayak, but they are so expensive up here in Canada (the home of the Pelican!). Not as many choices either as in the USA. And after much thinking, I think I want a pedal drive, not a fin drive (they require a lot of care, and no reverse, among other reasons). I hesitate between a no-name version of the Hammerhead Baby Shard (VK-32 MARIUS) and this Wilderness Recon 120 HD with its fancy drive and its stability thanks to its generous size (I'm 250 lbs.). I don't expect you to choose for me, but did the Recon grew on you after all? Thank you for your attention.
I want this so bad
My first time Kayaking and this Kayak held strong. czcams.com/users/postUgkx4k5UrhC3v_Y4hIEaXLGvHcN5a5aBmZNB The water got pretty rough as a speed boat zipped by me, and the Kayak withstood it (I expected to be capsized). The Ores are very easy to put together, the pump worked beautifully. the seats are a bit hard to sit in after a while (I recommend sitting on the floor). after reading the reviews I was very scared it'd get a hole in it, the material is very strong and durable. The Air valve may need a small Phillips head screwdriver to adjust, other than that, it's well worth the money!(update)I've gone Kayaking in 3 Lakes and 2 rivers totaling about 40 miles. the kayak had two holes and they patched easily and no other problems can't wait for kayaking season this year!
I just picked up a Catch Mode 110. My first ever kayak. I'm 32 5'9" and 170lb so perfect for me but I'm like you... I want a bigger rig so I can do some bay fishing. I'm up in Ocean City, Maryland also so I can go out in the ocean on some calm days but I don't think I'd take the Catch. Even with the trolling motor. Been looking at Hobie tandem not for another person but for more gear space dog space and just extra weight capacity in general but they are insanely priced. What do you think? Go tandem for extra space? Has anyone done that.
Basic tandem kayaks are usually cheaper and hold a lot of weight. I've suggested that to many people in the past. I've seen plenty folks doing it. I bet there's still a lot available for a reasonable price via online marketplaces. I would refrain from purchasing any high dollar models before first doing a test on a cheap, used tandem. All big kayaks are going to be tougher to propel and you need to be sure you'll be ok with that extra effort before dropping a lot of coin on a new fancy one.
I'd say a bigger kayak for bigger journeys/events, and a smaller kayak for shorter journeys, also getting into those more difficult locations 😉
Best of both worlds...
wonder if I should trade my strip sea kayak for one.
Is it fast? Any cavitation ?
I really like this boat. Might be cool to outfit it with a removable electric motor that could run the prop like the pedals. Removable, in that you could still use the pedals if you're out and the battery takes a dump 😢 Might be a neat future project (hint) 😉
You planted an interesting seed in my brain garden.
@@zoffinger My work here is done 🦸😁
@@zoffingerthat is what I need.... if you do a video I will sure have a look. Being limited by health issues sucks. Getting into the kayak game can be very expensive if you need a motor drive.
How do you steer that kayak ?
👍🏼👍🏼
👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
Hey Marty: With your imagination and skills, you could be the first one ever to MERGE an oscillating motor literally onto a fin-drive featuring fins that lift up flush when the motor stops. And still be able to use the fins with your feet somehow.
Kontiki style!
Hello. I had to come back and get on my tablet to comment and smash the like button. I am 5 9 and 200 pounds. I don't think that is much bigger than you are but I could be wrong? I have been looking at every pedal fishing kayak I can and I have really been looking at this model. The thing is I would be fishing river systems mostly and the reason I'm looking at this particular model is that it looks a bit less barge like than other companies models and the hull seems like it would fare better in moving water and the occasional chute thru mild rapids. Do you have any input? Much appreciated.
Hmmm maybe time to trade in the 130HD??
👋😎👍
You should do the loop in a Kayak
I've thought about it. The dogs aren't as excited about the idea.
To edit my videos I use iMovie on a Macbook for the speed ups and cutting down the large, raw files to a reasonable length. Then I render it into one file and move it to Pinnacle Studio on a PC to add music, text and voiceovers.
Pretty boat. I don't even need one, but I want one. I have five bikes, why not three boats?
puuhhnoodle? lmao been watching for like 9 years never heard you say that lol
HOW MUCH THE PRICE OF THE KAYAK