LoneWolf wrote:
Thanks for the response. I’m going to do a demo soon but your comments confirm my thoughts so far. I mainly fish small lakes and back bay areas. I don’t go out front usually. I really don’t use many of the PA features so other than the seat I don’t think I will be missing much. I usually carry one fly rod and 3 other rods. All my tackle is confined to one bag. That’s pretty much it. I load my PA12 on my truck so it’s not too difficult but weight is weight. I really don’t even stand that much but that’s because the seat is so comfortable. So it sounds like the seat is going to be the big issue for me. I’m hoping they come out with a camo version too!
I normally carry 4 rods and they are all on 4 rod holders on my Blackpak behind the seat. The Blackpak has a small Magellan cooler with 4-5 bottles of water. I also keep a couple of hand towels, bug spray, snacks and 1 plastic tackle box with all my hard lures in it. The rectangular hatch in the floor has my bags of soft plastics, jigheads, hooks, spools of leader, scissors, etc.. So not a lot of tackle carried. The only items I don't have in the Compass when I slide it out of the truck for unloading with the HD cart are the rods, MD180 and the Blackpak. I just roll it down to the launch area, unhook the retainer on the cart and lift the stern up and swing it around to clear the cart. Then I load the Blackpak, add the rods and clip the MD180 to the lanyard...I am good.
Spent 10 hours in the Compass and never got sore. It's a little lower in the water, so angled waves might splash you a little more than the PA, but it does well even in white caps. I cured my seat comfort by taking one of those square marine throw cushions with the straps on them. I remove one of the 2 layers of foam cushion and it's now more like a comfy stadium cushion. Works perfectly!