OK’s Torque making tracks
INSET: The plug-in motor pod PHOTO: PAUL LEBOWITZ // INSET: COURTESY OCEAN KAYAK
where the battery compartment hides under an elongated hatch near the boat’s center point. Drop in the battery (not included), affix the positive and negative terminals, and snap the kill switch into place near the unobtrusive rotary throttle knob. That’s it. It couldn’t be easier. The result is impressively low-profile.
The deck is absolutely clean and un- cluttered. Fishing crates and bait tanks mount in the tankwell as usual. Rods even fit inside the hull along the sides via the bow hatch. The seamless integration of hull and motor is clever and supernat- urally quiet. That’s synergy for you; Ocean Kayak and trolling motor manufacturer Minn Kota are both under the Johnson Outdoors umbrella. How did the surf launch go? Just fine
OCEAN KAYAK TORQUE: SPIRITED AND SEAWORTHY
$1,999
www.oceankayak.com
THE OCEAN KAYAK TORQUE looks every inch the capable craft. No wonder. Out- wardly it’s the near twin of the company’s Trident 13, a boat that boasts an easy-go- ing west coast surf and suds sensibility. With that pedigree, we just had to take
it to the beach before we put this floating trolling motor to the natural test. Only after getting it sandy did we go bass fishing at San Diego’s Barrett Lake, a nationally known catch and release trophy factory.
MORE MOTOR OPTIONS
SLO-MO KAYAKS ELECTRIC MOTOR KIT $425 and up /
www.slomoboats.com
Bass boats put the trolling motor up front. Why not kayaks? Slo-Mo’s bow-mounting motor kits are the only ones that take this forward-think- ing approach, which allows for improved han- dling and laughs off wind-cock. Wherever the motor goes, the kayak follows. Options include EM power management and foot control.
36… KAYAK ANGLER FALL/WINTER 2010
With the water brimming due to a wet winter, we’d see how this baby handles in thick brush. Would it mow the weeds? Wait a bit for the answer. First, we set this ride up on the sands of La Jolla Shores. With the stern elevated on a ubiquitous milk crate, the assembly didn’t take a minute. The motor pod drops into a slot molded into the tankwell. Cinch down a strap, plug in the beefy pre-wired cable, then move onto the cockpit. That’s
in the moderate conditions we faced. The only oddity was the need to walk the boat out stern first. The mounted drive lacks a kick-up feature, requiring some 10 inches of water to float freely. Shore pound? Forget it, but on La Jolla’s beach break we were home free. Our first test pilot didn’t even bother dropping the oversized foot-controlled rudder before blasting out at full throttle. As expected, the boat was perfectly at
home on the ocean. The heavy battery is balanced and low in the hull. Track- ing is arrow-straight, so much so we mixed paddling and power to stretch the Torque’s range. It wasn’t necessary—this thing can go the distance, although a volt meter would be reassuring. We never managed to use more than 60 per cent of our group 24 deep cycle AGM marine battery’s capacity despite a heavy hand on the throttle. Throwing a wake was too much fun. While fishing deep inside the offshore
kelp was a no-go—there’s no way to clear the prop short of swimming—weeds and other green stuff weren’t much of an ob- stacle once we hit the sweet water. That’s where the Torque proved a bass catching machine; easily maneuverable, immune to the stinging afternoon wind, and an all-around pleasure. We weren’t the only ones to notice. Barrett’s unique fishery is popular with kayak anglers. For the first time in memory, more than a third sported electric motors. —John Pawlak and Paul Lebowitz
PHOTO: COURTESY SLO-MO KAYAKS
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