The Vapor 12 Angler is one of the best fishing kayaks on the market and we cannot praise it enough.

At 12 feet, this kayak offers a very smooth ride without losing out on comfort or stability. The large cockpit gives anglers lots of room to store your equipment.

What to Consider when Buying a Fishing Kayak

Whatever kayak you choose to buy you will be spending a significant amount of money on it, so you want to make sure that you make the right decision. There are many factors that you need to keep in mind when considering which kayak to buy, including these main areas:

Old Town Vapor 12 Kayak Review

This kayak is honestly one of the best kayaks that we have ever paddled in. This is a big claim as we have used many kayaks in our time, but just look above in the cons section and you will see that we have struggled to find a bad word to say about it.

If you are contemplating buying this kayak we would say just go out and buy it, but if you are still unsure then read this review to see exactly why we love it so much.

Specifications

Pros

Cons

Size and Weight

The Old Town Vapour kayak has an overall capacity of 375 pounds so should be suitable for the average sized angler with the average load of equipment.

The designers have been really clever in developing a longer length kayak that comes in at 12 feet, but does not lose anything in the way of stability. The balance between stability and maneuverability is very good although it may be suited to experienced kayakers rather than those just starting out.

Coming in at 56 pounds it is relatively light compared to some other fishing kayaks, but those who are strong should not struggle to manage the kayak easily. We would say that you may need help moving the kayak any significant distance or when tying to your roof, but generally, you should be ok.

Design

The Old Town Vapour Fishing Kayak features a sit-inside hull design that keeps anglers dry and clean bad weather hits, which is quite often if you are a long-standing angler! Without a doubt, the highlight of this kayak is the fantastic seating system that has been creatively designed.

The seating is very durable and is made mostly out of aluminum. You can adjust the seat to suit your fishing needs and can change it back to the standard seating position when paddling. This is one of the comfiest seats that we have ever tried and the great back support means that you can paddle for hours without becoming uncomfortable.

The fact that you can adjust the poor braces is also a massive tick in the box for larger anglers who become frustrated by standard braces and seats.

The cockpit is VERY large compared to standard kayaks and has foot pegs that can be customized to suit your needs. The foot pegs have used padding to increase comfort levels and you should not feel any pressure even after long periods of gliding through the water.

The clever rudders are a good design feature that enables anglers to move them from the cockpit whilst still maintaining power. You can also get into tight spaces with this kayak, despite its size.

The Old Town Vapour 12.5 is almost the perfect fishing kayak as it offers up many great features and looks great on the water. The long length looks as good as it feels when riding at fast speeds through the water and is a huge appeal to experienced anglers who like the thrill of kayaking.

The speed means that you can reach far distances a lot quicker than in shorter, wider kayaks and you will still be able to get into the nooks and crannies of ponds, creeks and estuaries that are often a little tricky to navigate in longer length kayaks. This kayak really does have it all.

If you need to travel a long way to fish, this kayak is very fast and will get you there in no time. It is great for getting through breakers and is very good in rough waters. That said, the pace of the kayak can be very daunting for new paddlers and we would only advise that experienced kayakers take it to its limits.

Due to the speed, we would recommend that experience kayakers buy this model and we do to think that it is wholly suitable for novices. Yes, you will learn to adapt to speed in time, but you need to walk before you can run and your first priority will be adjusting to fishing in a kayak rather than a standard boat, not being the fastest on the river.

Ah, we are sure that if you are keen to get started in kayaking then as long as you take it easy at first, the stability of this kayak will be effective enough for you.

The kayak is designed to be flatter than standard kayaks, so to allow for plenty of room to stand up. The flat bottomed kayak is free of obstructions which is a major highlight of this kayak. The only other issue that some people may have with the design is the weight of the kayak.

At 56 pounds it is not the heaviest kayak we have tried out, but it is not the lightest either. Getting the kayak not the top of your car may need a little help, but other than that you should be fine launching the kayak into waters.

Features

Kayaks are not all about aesthetics, the design features need to work for anglers. The clever seat adjustments and foot braces are just some of the small things that make a difference to some people.

These features may seem trivial but when you think of the varying sizes of anglers, you can think about how a few inches of extra room can be beneficial. There is also an anchor trolly, much to our delight as they are severely lacking in kayaks these days.

It is worth noting that there is not much dry storage space in this kayak, which will be a problem for some, particularly if you use fishing finders, which most anglers do these days. That said, you could easily solve this problem with a few minor adjustments and at the cost-effective price of this kayak, you will not mind splashing out a few more dollars to rectify this problem.

We are big fans of the layout of this kayak. Anglers will have the ability to fish easily with the rods positioned in two different places, one under each leg and the other on the mountable pod.

Again, this may seem a little thing, but us anglers can be very picky when it comes to the layout of our kayaks. The small things can make big differences and anything that helps improve the chances of a good catch are very much welcome.

Summary

If the only negative that we can say about this is that it has no dry storage space then we are on to a winner. We absolutely adore this kayak and we sure you will too.

If you do prefer sit-on-top kayaks then, of course, this is not the kayak for you, but if you like the protection that sit inside kayaks give you then look no further than this fantastic mode. We have said, that due to the speed, that new kayaker may not suit this kayak, but on thinking about it the kayak is relatively stable so there shouldn’t be an issue if you are confident.

Overall, we love the blend of good movement and stability and even though this kayak may not be as fast as some people would like, we think that it hits reasonably good speeds. If you want a super comfortable kayak with plenty of space to move about then the Old Town Vapor 12.5 is an excellent choice for you.

Remember that a lack of dry storage space means that fish finders will not be as secure as you may like, although it can be stored in the pre-installed rod rails. If you choose to go for this kayak we wish you well on your many fishing expeditions to come. If you haven’t already ordered one of these kayaks, why not?