Old Town Kayaks at ICAST

Old Town had a sweet booth set up at ICAST 2019 in Orlando, Fla. There they featured their hottest kayaks including the Topwater series and a newly updated Old Town Predator.

Old Town’s famous PDL drive system was on display for enthusiasts to view up close, operate and experience.

The main display demonstrates how the unit fits into position with an easy movement.

Locked in.

New to the PDL Drive is a water-tight and now features a better-engineered storage compartment.

A simple flip of the switch and access is granted. One can’t have too much storage in a kayak.

The Old Town Topwater PDL was on of the boats on display.

It’s offers a smaller profile nose to tail, but with the same powerful drive system.

And all the conveniences you’d expect.

The rudder easily stows and deploys with the flip of a lever, and it turns the Topwater on a dime. Here Old Town pro Tim Moore demonstrates.

Flambeau makes a kayak tackle storage box that fits perfectly in the back of the Old Town kayaks.

Rod holders are built-in on the Flambeau box, and those compliment the rod holders that come standard with the kayak.

Also new this year is an adapted drive module, the fully rotable knob makes turning a snap, plus you can adjust the tension on the knob to suit your preferred feel.

The boats are ready for electronics that can be rigged on either side.

Tim holds up the new paddles, which feature a measuring ruler that always comes in handy.

The paddle works very well for Topwater 106, which is a paddle driven kayak with all the same amenities that come standard in the Topwater line.

Tim is reattaching the paddle where it is stowed when not in use, and it’s completely out of the way.

Old Town also introduced a very lightweight, one-man canoe called the Discovery 119. It only weighs 56 pounds and features lots of cool angler-friendly components.

Including a very comfortable seat.

Not to mention room for a small cooler behind the seat.

Ocean Kayak’s Malibu PDL was also on display. The boat runs on the same drive system as several of the other boats, but the hull design is very fast and maneuverable.

And it’s very sharp.

The manikins and Tim really like it too.

Here’s a look at the PDL drive system.

Here is the deploy/stow lever that puts the rudder in the water when in use.

The new Topwater 12 PDL was on display and fully rigged.

The 120 has lots of rod holders and storage space for tackle boxes and whatever else you might need.

A newly redesigned front hatch makes access easy and convenient.

The rudder has also been redesigned now featuring a handle for better maneuverability.

Here’s another look at how electronics can be mounted on the 120.

Old Town also recently introduced life jackets meant to comfortably fit around the seat.

These paddles have a cool little notch meant to help retrieve snagged lures.

And more colorful paddles to nicely compliment any of the color patterns offered by Old Town.

Next door in the Malone booth — a company known for building cool kayak accessories like carts, trailers and other cool toys — the newly redesigned Old Town Predator PDL was on display on one of Malone’s kayak trailers.

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One of the updates include the new rudder design that features a built-in handle.

Also an adjustable steering cable was added; an improvement to overall drive system.

The Predator is also shallow-water-anchor ready. On this square you can mount a Power-Pole to secure a location while casting.

The accessory plates now feature a built-in slot that will hold a number of accessory adapters. There’s no longer a need to install additional gear tracks. They are positioned on either side in both the front and rear of the kayak.

The rudder control features the same rotating knob system as the Topwater boats.

Added to this model is a forward-facing rod holder that makes it easy to put the rod up and unhook a fish.

And the same awesome PDL drive system comes standard in the Predator.

On the bottom side of the hull is a universal transducer mount that keeps the transducer safely positioned to provide accurate readouts.

Old Town had quite the presence at ICAST this year, and they are bringing a lot of innovative conveniences to their fishing rigs.