128T Yak-Power Sit-On Kayak
Specifications:
- Length: 12′ 8″
- Width: 33 inches.
- Max. weight capacity: 350 lbs.
- Average weight w/seat: 96 lbs.
- 3 power plugs
- Removable rod tip protector
- 4 flush-mounted rod holders
- 10.91” x 14.84” (27.71 cm x 37.69 cm) midship
- 13.70” x 23.36” (34.80 cm x 59.33 cm) stern hatches
- 8 scupper drains
All right, readers, today I am going to do a quick little review on the Ascend FS12T. I just picked this up earlier this year in February.
I’ve been very surprised with it. Very pleased. For a starter kayak, it definitely does everything I need and more. We’ll start off with the major areas of concern for a lot of people buying this kayak, because chances are, that’s why you’re watching this video.
First things first, the seat brackets. These pins down in here, you can see right there? For some people they bend a little bit, for some people they don’t. I’m a big dude. I’m about 6’2″, 255, 260 and they haven’t really bent that much for me. One quick fix that a lot of people do is this back bar, it runs under the seat. They put a pool noodle on there. It just gives you a little extra, like I don’t want to say cushion but that’s exactly what it does. It takes a little bit of pressure off of those pins.
Another one’s the rod holder. I really don’t mind it. With a lot of use and a little bit of elbow grease, I finally got mine to where I can angle it out in pretty much any direction now. Trolling is okay with it. A lot of it depends on how long of a paddle you have. If you have a long paddle, it’s not really gonna get in your way. If you have a short, stubby paddle then it might get in your way.
Another area of concern was the scupper holes, the seals. Some people say it doesn’t make a good seal and it just lets water in. I personally have not experienced that, to my knowledge. There has been water in my hull, very, very, very little but it also could come from the screws up front there in like the bungee cord areas, water likes to collect in those as well as the handle right there. Those aren’t sealed. I haven’t taken them out and sealed them yet. I’ve thought about it but honestly not that much water gets in the hull.
Standing on this thing, again I’m a big dude. I can stand on it. I can stand, use the bathroom, stand and fish a little bit. Have yet to hook into a fish standing up, so I can’t really speak on the stability side once you set the hook, but it’s not impossible. It is possible, but again it all comes down to the kayaker’s agility and balance.
A little bit of modifications I did, I just had this little piece of rope going up to the front handle. I use that to help me stand up and I also use it to pull it. Haven’t had time or really the motivation to go get a stand up assist strap yet, but I probably will.
As you can see, I have the Ascend Paddle Tournament Special. It’s okay. It’s a little shorter than I’d like, but it’s not bad. The two little notches right here on each paddle, they’re lure retrievers and they have saved me already a few times. That’s a nice touch.
I got my crate back here. I have a standard board and milk crate with two of the triple rod holders from Academy Sports + Outdoors. Don’t get the build a crate rod holders because you’re going to pay $25.00 for a triple one, when you can buy these at Academy and they’re already made into triples. It’s a lot less work and it’s like five or six dollars cheaper. So, do yourself a favor and just don’t do the build a crate.
Behind my seat I have a little lunch box. Use that obviously for from water, snacks throughout the day. Protein bars has been my main snack. I put my snuff in it just to keep that cold, sorry. But, yeah. That’s pretty good.
Also, I installed some handles here on either side just to help me when I’m loading it on top of my car and also to give me a little extra balance. I found the center point to be around here, so I put one up top and one down below here out of the cutout. They’ve been a nice touch. They’ve helped a lot loading it and just sitting down when you need something to grab on to every now and then when the waves get you. They’re not bad.
This hatch, when I first got the kayak I took it off and resealed it with silicone. Haven’t had any problems with that at all. I keep it really tight, but when you stand up on it, if you step on that, it’s going to be a pain in the butt to get off. A lot of times I got to use my pliers and take the handle of the pliers and put it down in there just to get more leverage to get it out.
So, just a heads up on that. I didn’t seal the main hatch simply for the fact that it’s about an inch above where the water will collect in here. I didn’t see that as necessarily important. If I got water filling up there, I’ve got bigger problems than to worry about my stuff getting inside.
Scupper plugs are nice. They’re a good touch on the really wavy days you get water in there. I normally pull the ones under the seats ’cause I can reach them really easy and that’s also a lower point for me. So when you pull those, water drains out pretty quick.
My fish finder, I just have a Lowrance Elite-4X. It’s not an HDI or chirp or anything. I got my battery in there, my transducer. I did the hull mount. It’s been okay so far. I do lose the capability of water temperature, but I’m such a rookie fisherman that I don’t really know what to do with it anyway.
Let’s see. Let’s go on to the back. Oh, I guess I lost my drain plug. That’s no good. I gotta get another one of those. I just realized that. I have the Yak Gear Deluxe Anchor Trolley system on here. It’s treated me pretty nice. When you put an anchor trolley on your kayak do yourself a favor, take it from me, don’t think like, “Oh six inches from the back. That’ll be plenty.”
No, go all the way and same thing on the front. I’ll take you up here on the front. You know, right there see where it’s at? Go all the way to the front. Just do yourself a favor now.
I did not use the little O ring that came with the kit. I went to Walmart and got this for ninety-eight cents. Just screws out and I can put my anchor line in there or I use a carabiner most of the time. I can clip it on, clip it off real quick. It’s been a good little touch. A lot better than that plastic O ring you get.
The flush male rod holders aren’t bad. Not for trolling. I don’t use them, but they’re not bad just to store your rod but I got a crate now. But, yeah. So far it’s been a solid kayak. I’ve really liked it. For the money too, it’s been great. Don’t really know what else to say.
The deck stability, yeah it does warp a little bit but it’s not the most expensive kayak out there so, you know, you win some you lose some. You got to compromise somewhere. Tracking, it tracks really well, I think. Again, a lot of that goes into the paddler’s ability. Haven’t had any problems with it. It doesn’t cause me a pain. Mine doesn’t veer to one side or the other.
Loading it and unloading it, it’s not too bad. The kayak emptied weighs 74 pounds. It’s pretty easy for me to lift up on top of my car. I use the Yakima Roof Rack Mounting System from Academy. Treats me well as long as you use all the straps fore and aft.
Trying to think of any other topics that you might be wanting to know. It’s not bad, guys. All I do is lake fish. Today I’m at the beautiful Lake Arlington here in Fort Worth, Texas. All I do is fish out of lakes, so I do not deal with salt water so I cannot comment on that, but I can imagine it does okay.
Again, for a $550 kayak, I don’t think you can beat it. It’s really solid. This is my entry level. I know that eventually I’m going to upgrade to a Slayer Propel 13. I have a buddy who has one. I love it. I used it a few times. But it’s been a great ride. It gets me on the water. It gets me on some fish and it gives me a good time. It gives me time out away from the house and the office.
I hope you like the video guys. Give me a like, subscribe. I’m going to have more videos to come, hopefully, as soon as I get a Go Pro. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. I’ll reply to them as soon as I can. If you have any more ideas for videos for me to do, again comment that and hopefully I’ll get that squared away for you. Appreciate it guys. Thanks for reading.
