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Review of the Native Watercraft Ultimate 12

 

The Native Watercraft Ultimate 12 is perhaps the finest kayak on the market for fishermen. Generating buzz initially in the southern United States, the Ultimate 12 has established itself as the industry standard due to its incredible stability and innovative design.

 

For anglers, a chief challenge of fishing from kayaks is adjusting their casts to the low-sitting position they occupy in traditional kayaks.  While one quickly adapts to fishing from sit-in kayaks,  being restricted to a seated position does mitigate visibility and limit where one can cast at times. Sit-on-top kayaks, extremely popular among anglers, position you slightly higher on the water than traditional sit-in kayaks. They also give the added benefit of easy access to almost anything on the deck of your boat. The Native Ultimate 12 takes the best aspects of sit-in kayaks, sit-on top kayaks and canoes and rolls them all into one phenomenal fishing watercraft.

 

Often referred to by staff at Sun & Snow Sports of Ann Arbor Michigan jokingly as "canoeaks," these native kayaks look similar to small canoes, but paddles like kayaks. With oversized adjustable foot pegs and a seat that rivals the Wilderness Systems Pungo Phase 3 kayak seat in comfort, this boat may be the closest thing to an easy chair you will ever paddle. 

 

The feature that sets the Native Ultimate 12 apart from any other kayaks on the market is it's pontoon shaped bottom, or tunnel hull. The bow and stern of the boat are shaped with a keel, as kayaks traditionally are. The keel tapers quickly into two wide half-circles that run about 3/4 the length of the boat. The result of this innovative design is a kayak you can actually stand in with relative ease.   For those who fish by site, this boat cannot be beat.  Aside from the Native Ultimate 12 making it possible for anlgers to stand, this design also yields noticeable stability when seated or leaning over to land a fish or disentangle a line from a snag.

 

Though one might expect the pontoon design to make these kayaks handle like barges, it is surprisingly nimble. When I hopped out of my 12' sit-in kayak and into the native ultimate 12, I was shocked by how well it handled relative to a traditionally designed boat. The ultimate 12 turns easily and tracks well, especially with its drop-down skeg. For those who still prefer to fish sit-on-top kayaks but want all the creature comforts of the ultimate 12, Native Watercraft also offers the Native Magic 12 - which is similar in all characteristics but for stability. With a traditional keel, it does move through the water a little quicker than the Ultimate 12 or ultimate 14.5. 

 

All-in-all, I don't know that there is a better kayak for anglers on the market today in terms of comfort and stability. For those fishing rivers and moderate sized lakes, these native kayaks can hardly be beat.

 

The Native Ultimate 12 kayaks we put to the test were the rotomold plastic models. At 55 lbs, these native kayaks are a little heavier than traditional kayaks. Native kayaks also offer a lighter composite material option that weighs in at 49 lbs (the native ultimate elite) as well as their native ultimate tegris kayaks which weigh only 36 lbs but maintains much of the toughness of the rotomold version of the boat.