By now, kayaks that you can pedal are nothing new on the market, so what is left to do but improve…improve…improve! Native Watercraft started with their ProPel series with the 12.5 Mariner with reverse and still today is a great pedal-powered fishing kayak. But what happens when a group of world renowned kayak designers get a little bored and want to make something better? Well, this is what happens.
Last year, Native Watercraft hit the market with the Slayer 12 and 14.5, a sit-on-top fishing kayak that you can stand in. In addition to this, they added a high and low seat position, built off their platform of the First Class breathable seat that has won numerous awards for its comfort. The Slayer had a huge coming out party last Christmas and kayak fisherman loved the Slayer series. So, now we have two well-loved fishing kayaks, the Mariner and the Slayer. So, Native Watercraft saw that idle hands are the friends of the devil, and the kayak designers got to work.
With the success of the ProPel pedal design that they created for the Mariner and seeing the demand for the Slayer series they had put on the market just a year before, got a lot of them thinking about putting the Propel drive in the Slayer. So, here is the Slayer 13 Propel. After extensive talks with designers in the bike industry to improve efficiency in the Propel drive, the outcome was to shorten the cranks and put the angler’s hips above them. In the original Propel drive of the Mariner, you are in a more recumbent position when you are pedaling, which is very comfortable and led to the design of that kayak.
But in the Slayer 13 Propel, with your hips above the cranks, you can add more power to your stroke…and with the kayak being 6 inches longer than the Mariner, it is also faster on the water. The seat adjustments on the Slayer 13 are done on their rail system; you can slide the seat into position so you are comfortable and then lock it down with hand-screw knobs. The rudder on the Slayer was made bigger than on the Mariner, so you gain a tighter turning radius and more response from the rudder while navigating tighter fishing areas. Also, the Slayer 13 has a slight tunnel hull so you can stand while fishing, giving you a better vantage point on the water.
Reverse is still the hallmark of this kayak’s design. So far in the industry, the Mariner and the Slayer 13 are the only pedal-powered kayaks that have this feature…which clearly sets them above the rest. Adding the reverse feature came from the need to be able to totally fish hands-free, no matter what you get into. With forward and reverse, you can hold position and fish without picking up a paddle.
I had the opportunity to use the Slayer 13 for a few days and I fell in love with it. This will definitely be the next kayak in my fishing fleet. The Slayer 13 has rails mounted in all the right places for adding rod holders with Scotty Gear head rail adapters, so you can put whatever rod you are using in the right place without permanently mounting it to the kayak. On the right side, they added a flush trolling tube facing forward so you have a place to put your rod while you are trying to net a fish or just to change out a rig…a very handy feature that comes standard on the Slayer 13’s. I added two more flush trolling tubes behind the seat, an anchor trolley system and one Scotty gear head adaptor in front of me for my fly rod and I was ready to hit the water.
With the new Slayer ProPel 13 you get an incredible fishing machine…one that is powered by your legs, fast and also designed for stand-up use, so you can go from trolling offshore to sight-casting the flats or even prowling your local lakes for bass. The new Slayer ProPel is a great well thought-out fishing kayak that is going to turn heads on the water for years to come.
