Aquaglide Blackfoot 130 DS Angler Kayak
Summary
Price At Time Of Writing | £1299
Our Overall Rating | 89 out of 100
Pros - High quality, stable, well equipped
Cons - Heavy, bulky, expensive
Overall - Perfect for fishing
Technical Specifications
Open Size - 396x96cm
Weight - 18.5kg
Load Capacity - 295kg
Packed Size - 99x45x33cm
Our Analysis & Ratings
Aquaglide’s Blackfoot 130 DS Angler is the perfect option if you’re looking for a kayak to fish from. There’s not much that Aquaglide hasn’t considered in the make of this model, from a stable drop-stitch floor with added grip pads, a rigid, beach-chair style seat, and a huge number of mounting plates to add rod holders, cameras and even motors. This is a top-of-the-range kayak with a price tag to match.
Performance - In terms of fishing kayaks, speed is not the only performance metric worth measuring. Stability is hugely important, and the Blackfoot excels in that area. The rigidity of the drop-stitch floor makes it possible to stand and cast, and the width of the cockpit with wide side tubes minimises rocking. Keep in mind though that with a kayak of this width, it will naturally be slower in the water, and though it has a hard nose-cone, has slightly less cut-through and paddling efficiency than a narrower kayak. It’s also quite long for a one-person kayak (with the purchase of an additional seat, it is convertible), and that makes it more difficult to manoeuvre combined with its width.
Construction - Aquaglide has matched quality with price here, and there’s no doubt the Blackfoot is a high-quality construction. The drop-stitch floor is essential for a fishing kayak, and the Duratex PVC side tubes are a suitably tough material to withstand low-level abrasion from fishing hooks. We were most impressed by the attachments of all the various components, including the mounts, hook and loop systems, cargo bungees and tie-down loops: on the model we tested, there was not a spot of glue or frayed edge visible. The only thing we questioned was a slight sag in the PVC on the ends of the side tubes and on the front splash guard - this is usually indicative of a slight mismatch in the engineering of the tubes.
Setup/Pack down - The Blackfoot checks most of our boxes pretty nicely - only three inflation points, quick-drying PVC. Having said that, as you would expect, there are a lot of components to be fitted depending on your exact setup - the rigid seat (which can also be used separately onshore), footrest, included cool box, and fin, as well as whatever other accessories you’re bringing. The Blackfoot uses the ‘universal’ US Fin Box System typical of Aquaglide (and NOT universal in the UK), which does involve screwing and unscrewing rather than simply sliding the fin in, so a slightly longer step there.
Portability - Being quite a large one-person kayak, this is a fairly heavy hull at 18.5kg, and quite bulky. Aquaglide has mitigated this somewhat by designing a comfortable zip backpack with additional straps to hold on seat, paddle etc - but just beware that once you add seat, paddle and fishing accessories, you could be carrying about 20-25kg to the water.
Comfort - Plenty of room in the cockpit and a firm seat that raises and lowers makes the Blackfoot a very comfortable kayak. The adjustable seat back and height is very appealing, just keep in mind that it’s of course harder to adjust on the water, but paddling in ideal fishing position is also less comfortable. It took us some practice to figure out the best process.
Overall - An extremely high-quality, well-considered fishing kayak with a price tag to match.
