First Look at the Old Town Sportsman PDL 120 Pro

I like to kayak fish because I don’t have to worry about engine trouble, a maintenance schedule, or pulling a trailer. When I want to fish, I throw my yak into the bed of my truck and go. The kayak always floats and my Old Town PDL drive always starts. I can also access water boats can’t reach, and if you factor in gas, insurance, and maintenance costs, a kayak is way cheaper than even the best Facebook boat deal. 

I think most people got into kayak fishing for similar reasons. But, over the last few years kayaks began resembling small skiffs. What they gained in capability they lost in affordability, portability, and ease of use. 

This January, I spent a few days on the water with the Sportsman PDL Pro, which I think is the best compromise between a micro skiff and a true kayak. What makes this new Old Town so special is that if you want to rig it with a trolling motor, multiple fish finders, and a shallow water anchor, you can easily do that. If you want to keep it a sleek and functional fishing kayak, it’s ready for that task out of the box. 

Old Town Sportsman PDL 120 Pro Specs

See It

• Length: 12 feet
• Width: 36 inches
• Weight Capacity: 420 pounds
• Boat Weight: 131 pounds 
• Four 36-inch long tracks
• Price: $3,499
• Also available with ePDL+ drive (Price: $5,999 and Weight: 153 pounds)

New Features

I’ve fished out of an Old Town Bigwater PDL for four years, and while I love it, there have always been a few things I wished were different: The cockpit isn’t very spacious, the stern tankwell is skinny and you can’t fit a full-size kayak crate in it, and there isn’t a good way to store rods horizontally. Those quibbles are completely fixed with the new PDL Pro. The engineers thinned out the gunnels, which increased the cockpit and tankwell space. That also created room for four horizontal rod tubes. Old Town’s engineers could have stopped with those improvements and I would have been happy, but they were just getting started. 

Wiring, Motor Mounts, and Battery Storage 

If you hate drilling holes in your kayak, you’ll be happy to learn that there are a ton of pre-installed, thru-hull wiring points. You’ll find them throughout the kayak around the bow hatch, cockpit, and rear tankwell. 

There’s a universal trolling motor mount on the bow and two shallow water anchor mounts next to the rudder. So if you want to run a Spot-Lock trolling motor on the bow or a small motor on the stern, installation will be a breeze. 

The front hatch was redesigned to better fit large batteries and Old Town added a battery tie-down point to the rear hatch. 

Tracks

There are four 36-inch long aluminum tracks on the PDL Pro and one small piece on the bow that doubles as a grab handle. That should be plenty of track to add any number of accessories in the exact positions you want them. 

Read Next: Best Kayak Fishing Accessories

Seat

On my old PDL seat the rear portion sits pretty low. The new Pro raised the rear contact point so you’re sitting in a more natural position that’s easier to stand up from. Old Town also improved the seat adjustment system, and you can now move the seat forward and back without a fuss, even when on the water. 

Fishing on the Old Town Sportsman PDL 120 Pro

Even though I was fishing one of the premiere bass destinations, Bienville Plantation, a cold front timed its arrival perfectly with mine. It’s not often that you’re fishing in Florida and having to break ice off your kayak in the morning. So I was at a bit of a loss on what was going to get bit. I packed the PDL Pro with the kitchen sink, which included eight rods and a BlackPak full of tackle. That amount of gear didn’t cramp the kayak, and I had plenty of space in the cockpit. 

The PDL Pro’s hull is the same as the kayak I’ve been using for the last four years. So it was very familiar in terms of stability and speed. I’ve taken my Bigwater PDL in all types of conditions and through some seriously rough water. It’s been very stable and behaves well in current and non-ideal conditions. When it’s calm, even my giant self (6-feet, 6-inches and 220 pounds) can stand up. The rudder system is very responsive and you can also ratchet up the tension to keep yourself on a heading. The one knock on the Bigwater hull is that it’s not the fastest boat in the fleet, and a slimmer profile would give it a little more gas. 

The PDL drive is practically indestructible, and I’ve put mine through hell over the years. Rarely have I washed it down after a saltwater trip, not to mention the oyster bars it has crashed into. While the PDL drive is reliable and can instantly go in reverse, it will also get bogged down by grass. Despite the cold weather, Bienville had a fair amount of hydrilla, which predictably clogged up the pedal drive when I ran into it. Paddling for deeper water and working my drive forward and back usually clears the prop. But, sometimes, I had to pull up the drive and remove the weeds with my hand. 

What It Does Best

I appreciate that Old Town kept the PDL 120 Pro a true kayak rather than morphing it into a roto molded micro skiff. The PDL Pro can still fit in the bed of my truck and is easy for me to launch and load myself. 

This is a great kayak for someone who wants to rig a fish finder, trolling motor, or both and do it without any hassle. The thru-hull wiring system, mounts, track system, and battery storage locations are smartly laid out and well executed. Add those features to a reliable and stable fishing platform and you have one of the best kayaks for fishing on the market.

Where It Can Improve

I’d love to see the PDL 120 Pro become lighter. At 131 pounds it’s a hefty kayak if you need to drag it across sand or get it on top of a car. I don’t do beach launches often, but I do them often enough that I dread even the short ones. Any help I can get to make those cardio workout easier would be appreciated.

I can live with the price of the standard PDL Pro, but the ePDL+ Pro is an extra $2,500. Even though the ePDL+ is incredible technology, its price makes it hard to justify. The added expense is the same price as a really good trolling motor. Although, the benefit the ePDL+ has over a trolling motor is that it doesn’t weigh that much more than a standard pedal drive. 

Final Thoughts

I rarely run a fish finder these days since my interest is mainly shallow water fishing. What I do care about is having a kayak that is quiet, is easy to position, holds enough rods, can get me home if the weather turns, and has a pedal drive that doesn’t break at the first whiff of sand. I get all those things in the Old Town Sportsman PDL Pro. The new improvements are so good that I’m considering trading in my current Bigwater PDL for the new Pro version.

If you want a kayak that you can rig with electronics, but doesn’t require a trailer, the new Sportsman PDL Pro is a great option to consider. It even has me interested in adding a trolling motor and fish finder, just because they’re so easy to install.