A Bit About Old Town
Old Town Kayaks and Canoes are located in Old Town, Maine and are the largest and best-known canoe manufacturer in the United States. They started out with canvas covered wooden canoes before moving into more modern materials and then eventually branching out into kayaks.
They are considered a premium maker of watercraft and their products are designed and manufactured at the Maine factory. This brief video takes you on a tour of that factory with the brand and product manager, Ryan Lilly.
While Old Town have released a large number of new boats in their product line-up, this review focuses on the big daddy, the King-of-Kayaks, the first stock kayak to come fitted with a GPS enabled Minn Kota electric motor, the Sportsman Autopilot 136!
Given that Old Town is owned by Johnson Outdoors as is Minn Kota, the marriage of these two products should come as no surprise.
When I entered kayak fishing, I bought the first kayak I came across. It ended up not being suited for purpose, being too short, not wide enough, and not having a very good weight rating. This was my first kayak-related experience with “the poor man pays twice”. Having said that, I did manage to move that one along without losing too much money and bought another one more suitable. I knew it wasn’t my forever kayak though and figured it would give me time to see if I enjoyed it and to find a kayak that would last me a long time.
After spending about 150 hours doing research into a kayak that was made to last (I’m not kidding either) I decided on an Old Town Topwater 106 PDL.I wanted a top quality, super stable, pedal kayak where I didn’t have to pay more for reverse.
The plan for my birthday was to get fish and chips on the beach, but the weather put a stop to that, and my wife asked what I would like to do instead. Having already looked at the kayak a couple of times, I said I would like to go to Freak Sports at Coopers Plains to take a look at the Topwater. We drove up, me hoping as it was my birthday that the pathway to coming home with the boat would be all downhill.
After a couple of hours, we did indeed drive home with the Topwater loaded. That was April 2019.I have loved that kayak for every minute of every trip and my personal belief is still that Old Town makes the best damned yaks on the market.
Fast forward to early 2020, and Old Town announced their new product lineup including the Sportsman PDL models, which were to take over from the Topwater series. These boasted a new seat and a few more changes. Others include the Sportsman Salty PDL 120, Sportsman Bigwater 132, Sportsman 120, Sportsman 106, Sportsman 106 MK, and the top-of-the-line AutoPilots.
The AutoPilots are available in two sizes, a 120 and a 136, and won Best of Show at iCast in 2020.While the 106 MK is powered, it is foot steered and does not come with the GPS Spot Lock enabled motor of the AP models.
From the moment the launch video dropped, I knew I had to have an AutoPilot. Thanks to age, more than a little misuse and abuse of my body over the years, various parts of me often object to long sessions on the water pedalling or confined to a 10ft 6in kayak. Don’t get me wrong, the Topwater is still a comfortable kayak. The kayak isn’t the problem, my body is!
So a bigger kayak with a built in motor seemed to be a better option, and not having the room for a boat or wanting the ongoing expense of one, the AP made perfect sense.
Thanks to the many interruptions that COVID gave us (locking down the factory for deep cleaning, transport and shipping delays, production backlogs etc) I ordered my yak knowing I would have to wait. And after many months, she finally landed at Freak Sports and it was worth the wait! I originally ordered the 120 but the weight difference between that and the 136 was not worth worrying about (it’s only 3kg) but the extra deck and rear well space was worth the extra money, which was also negligible.
I’ve since done over 100 hours on my AP136 and can safely say that it was not only worth the wait, but it was also well worth the money! I cannot speak highly enough of this rock-solid fishing machine. Read on for the specifications and review.
Specifications
- Minn Kota 45lb thrust, saltwater ready, GPS enabled electric motor. Being a GPS model, this kayak can Spot Lock holding you in position in wind and the current. The motor can take both AGM/SLA and lithium batteries.
Foot steering comes standard with length adjustable foot pedals attached to an XL retrievable rudder. - Two position (low and high) seat made from breathable Textilene with an added layer for padding.
- Four 18” gear tracks for mounts, sounders etc.
EVA padded foam deck for traction and comfort.
Four flush mounted rod holders (two forward and two rear facing) within easy reach of the seat. - Carrying handles are moulded into the rear with the left side having mounts and hardware for a shallow water anchor.
- Colours: Two colour options are available.Photic Camo is a blue-green/grey, and Ember Camo is an orange-red/grey.
- Length: As the name implies the 136 is 13ft 6in long and the 120 is 12ft.
Width: Both the 120 and 136 are 94cm. - Weight Capacity:The 120 can carry 184kg while the 136 can carry 227kg, which is a considerable difference.
- Motor Control:The Minn Kota can be controlled via the supplied remote control or by connecting your phone via Bluetooth to the motor.This is also how the firmware for the remote and motor are updated.
- Weight:The 120 comes in at 69kg with the motor fitted.Interestingly, despite the extra length, the 136 weighs only 3kg more.
Deck Layout
Starting at the front of the boat is a carrying handle that is now oriented North-South rather than East-West as it was on the previous Old Town models. It is said that this is a better ergonomic fit for carriage. Just behind the handle is a hatch, which gives you access to the transducer wiring hole and mounts and provides a place for you to store your sounder battery. The hatch is relatively small and wouldn’t take a large battery, but it fits the 17.5ah FPV-Power perfectly.
The deck then slopes at approximately 45 degrees to the main deck floor where the stainless motor mount is located, and to the right of this is the covered plug for the motor. Old Town provides a blanking plate to put over the drive well should you wish to paddle or travel with the motor up. This can be stored in the rear well behind the seat when not in use or left at home entirely. Storing it here while in transit would not be a wise option from what I can see so far as it would likely be pulled from its home by wind.
The drive well sits in the middle of the front deck and has a red device which is magnetic and completes the electrical circuit when the motor. When the motor is deployed via the cable on the left-hand side, it engages with this device and emits a trill telling you it is ready for use. The motor’s default position is up with the help of a gas strut. To deploy it once fitted to the mount, you pull the handle next to the seat, which pulls the motor downward to dock, then you place the cord in the supplied cam and voila! The motor is deployed and ready to use.
The adjustable pedal tracks span each side from the seat to about level with the motor well. The foot pedals are large but do not get in the way at all. On each side of the kayak there are cup holders and a few storage spots which are within easy reach. On the left is a large recess located behind the pedal track, with another three located on the right-hand side of the kayak. The left easily took a large bottle of sunscreen and some other gear, while those on the right easily held several packets of plastics, a small tackle box, lip grips, pliers, and scissors putting all your gear within easy reach.
Immediately to the left of the seat is the rudder retrieve handle. In the previous models like the Topwater and Predator, these were mounted horizontally on the gunwale. On the AP models, the handle is much longer and is mounted vertically on the side of the kayak. One could assume the handle length is related to the increased size and therefore weight of the rudder. Immediately to the right of the seat is without a doubt one of the killer features of this kayak. Old Town have taken the same dry storage box built into their PDL drives and mounted it on the gunwale. This gives the angler immediate and easy access to things like cameras, wallets, keys, mobile phones and other valuables. While awesome, I noticed the strap on the seat can often catch the box during opening. This is only a minor annoyance and if you push the extra strap loop up this is out of the way and the lid no longer catches.
The deck space on the 136 is considerable. At one point I got off the seat and sat just in front of it stretching my legs out (I’m 6ft 2in tall) and barely reached the motor well. There are eight – yes eight – scupper holes in the front deck alone with just four in the rear. Even with the motor going at full speed I found no water whatsoever came up through any of the deck scuppers though I did notice a very small amount of water in the rear well when arriving back at the ramp. Many questions have been asked about scuppers in the US owner’s group with all replies indicating scuppers weren’t needed. Despite this I bought some, just in case, but did not need or use them. The deck stayed dry the whole time even when I stood up to stretch out or sight cast.
The seat is comfortable with the extra padding they have provided and the seat back position is adjustable via the two straps. The seat can be attached to the kayak in two positions – high or low. I have only tried the high position as this was most suitable to me and can see the difference in height would only be 15 – 20mm.When locked into the mounts, the seat can be swung forward to access the battery recess where the motor battery sits beneath the angler.
Old Town provides a battery box with a lid, pre-installed wiring, and an in-line circuit breaker. The battery box is huge and fits my 110ah FPV-Power LiFePo4 with ease. To the right of the battery box is the same connector up front for the motor connection, with both of these receptacles having a spring-mounted cover to protect the internals from the weather and water.
The rear well on the 136 is also considerable and has approximately 10cm more room than the 120.I can easily fit both the 7000 and 9000 Meiho Bucket Mouth tackle boxes in here along with my cart (a Wilderness Systems HD which is amazing), and a few other items. On my first two trips out I took a spare 45ah battery just in case, but found I didn’t need it. More about that in a moment.
The Motor
My first comment about the motor is this: WOW! From the first trip out, I have been impressed with the performance of this unit, not just in its speed or handling, but also in the battery life.
The supplied i-Pilot remote comes with a variety of features but most of these will be discussed below. For speed and direction control you have a + and – button with a < and > for steering. The speed control goes up and down in increments of 0.5 and goes from 0 – 10 providing 20 increments. While not as precise as a PWM, this essentially makes one redundant. The power draw from the battery obviously increases the higher you go and the chart below gives a rough indication of usage at each speed level. This information was provided by a user in the USA and the speed has been calculated from MPH so some rounding up or down was needed.
We also do not know the conditions under which the speed test was done, though my own use on the water would tell me that the following is generally accurate.
| Speed Setting | Amp Draw (A) | Speed (kph) |
| 0 | 0.4 | 0.6 |
| 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.8 |
| 1 | 1.2 | 0.95 |
| 1.5 | 1.6 | 1.3 |
| 2 | 2.1 | 1.6 |
| 2.5 | 2.7 | 2.1 |
| 3 | 3.6 | 2.5 |
| 3.5 | 4.7 | 3 |
| 4 | 5.9 | 3.5 |
| 4.5 | 7.2 | 4 |
| 5 | 8.6 | 4.2 |
| 5.5 | 10.5 | 4.5 |
| 6 | 12.2 | 4.7 |
| 6.5 | 14.3 | 5.1 |
| 7 | 16.3 | 5.3 |
| 7.5 | 18.5 | 5.5 |
| 8 | 21 | 5.8 |
| 8.5 | 23.1 | 5.9 |
| 9 | 25.9 | 6.1 |
| 9.5 | 28.8 | 6.4 |
| 10 | 33 | 6.7 |
On one trip I saw a long finger shaped bay knowing there was some standing timber up there and I really wanted to try navigating some obstacles with the motor. Pulling into the middle of a grey forest of timbers I steered the motor with the remote and found it was so easy to do, even without much experience. No collisions, not so much as a nudge. With just a few minutes of playing around you can steer this thing like a pro. It turns on the spot and while it doesn’t have reverse it takes a second or so to spin the motor around to get you out of trouble, so reverse is really not needed. I also found a way to side slip with ease, allowing you to pull nearly sideways into an area. Using the foot steering you can turn the rudder hard one way, then turn the motor facing the same way and this will push you sideways at a bit more than a 45-degree angle. It’s just kind of cool to be able to do it.
While you have two ways to steer, using the motor or the foot pedals, I have found that the motor is better for precise control when trying to navigate obstacles such as pontoons or standing timbers. The foot pedals are better for travel from point-to-point or making minor adjustments to direction. The best way to steer is really dictated by what you are trying to do and the environment you are in.
After about 3 hours on the water, I decided to head back to the ramp and pack up. I had tried out my new yak and put in a few hours playing around with settings and checking the set-up which seemed to work the way I had it. This was a water test for my first day of actual fishing on the coming weekend.
When I got home, I took the battery out and put it on charge. I noted the time was dead on 4pm and kept a close eye on the charging time. At precisely 6pm the light turned green indicating the battery was fully charged. What? The rating on the charger was 20ah, and it charged for exactly 2 hours, so the battery only needed 40ah to top it back up fully. While I was on the water for 3 1/2 hours all told, I had thrashed the motor at full speed there and back, played around with spot lock, and practised navigating in tight timber. I was surprised to find I had only used 40ah and figured I had made a mistake somewhere but thought I would figure it out in future trips.
My first real fishing day on the water was the following Saturday and I would give the yak and battery a true test. After mixed running (various speeds including flat out, using spot lock, and the heading feature) I got back to the ramp not needing to change to my backup battery. I got home putting the battery on charge and again kept an eye on the time. This time the charge time was 75 minutes. Again, what? Surely I could not have made a second mistake? This was telling me I had only used 25 amps or so.
A few days later I had the opportunity to test out my AP on the salt and put in another 8-hour day. This time I added the variable of tide, something the fresh could not throw at me. I got home and the battery took 90 minutes to charge: 30 amps used. So, 40 hours the first time out but hammering the motor, 25 amps the second trip, and 30 amps the third trip. Since then, I have done another three 8-hour days using 30 amps each trip. Using the 110ah I don’t even bother taking a spare battery anymore.
What this means is that my 110ah battery should be good for about 3 full days on the water. There is a battery monitor built into the motor head, but this will not be accurate with lithium because the discharge profile is different to an AGM/SLA which starts losing voltage as soon as draw is applied to the battery. A lithium will maintain voltage over time until a sudden drop at the end of the battery capacity.
As a final word on steerage, I have definitely found that even when steering with the motor having the rudder deployed gives you significantly better tracking.
Short story, I am seriously impressed with this motor and battery usage.
The Seat
The seat is definitely an all-day seat. Old Town has added extra padding called Textilene. Not only does this make the seat more comfortable, it is breathable for those hot summer days. The backrest can be moved forward and back with the side straps to get you in the right position, and while the seat itself cannot be moved forward and backwards, there are two positions, high and low (one slightly in front of the other). The difference between the two isn’t huge though.
If there is one gripe I have with the seat is that the top back slowly curves towards the rear of the kayak. So leaning right back into the seat provides no support up high. It’s definitely a weird feeling when you go for that long stretch and find yourself leaning into empty space.
Is it a deal breaker? Absolutely not.
The Remote
The remote comes pre-paired to the motor so it is a simple matter of deploying the motor and turning the remote on and you are ready to roll. As a backup, the motor can be controlled with the Minn Kota app from your smartphone, but this requires you to press the pairing button and then pair as normal for a bluetooth device. It’s simple and it’s quick. The first time I paired my phone it did a firmware update on both the motor and remote so this is probably worthwhile doing to give you the best and most stable functionality of both units.
The layout is intuitive and after just a few uses you can find buttons without even looking down at the remote. I have found the best way to use the most common functions is to locate the larger propeller engage button in the middle, then to move your thumb up and to the left for -, to the right for +, and down and to the left for turn left, and to the right for turn right. The spot lock button is located at the six o’clock position and so is also easy to find. The N button to the bottom left gives you the heading feature, which uses GPS compass to keep you on your current course in a straight line. This is unbelievably useful if you are working a tree line, a sandbank, or pontoons, or want to retain your heading in the wind or current without having to make constant course corrections with the remote while trying to fish.
One super cool feature (that I admit I am yet to try!) is the tracking feature. Pressing a button on the remote will use the GPS to record your course, including all those little stops at the fishy looking bays. At the end of your trip, you simply press the button telling it to take you home, and the motor will take you back along the exact same route you came up on. I have watched videos of the guys in the USA using this feature and they have all said the same thing. It’s killer!
The display provides useful information such as prop speed (again, in increments of 0.5), and the specific mode the motor is in. If you are in spot lock you can easily see this, and if you are in the heading function your current heading in degrees will be displayed. There are a variety of menu options including looking for updates and others but the remote/motor comes pretty much ready to use without having to do or change anything.
While not supplied with the kayak, Minn Kota have yet another cool device to allow you to spend more time fishing and less time fine tuning your location. Let’s say for example you are fishing a piece of structure. It could be a reef, a rock pile, or some lay down timber. If you add the Minn Kota Heading Sensor (Bluetooth enabled) to your motor, you can use the Go To button on the remote and you can basically tell your motor how far you want to move, called “jogging”. If you want to fish the whole length of a fallen tree that is 100 foot long, you can tell the motor to move you in 5 foot increments. Each time you hit the right button on the remote the spot lock will move you five feet to the right. Hit the button twice and it will move you ten feet. This would be a deadly addition if you fish a lot of fresh with standing timber forests lining the bank. You could fish a whole tree line just by touching one button and letting the motor do the rest.
Handling on Dry Land
I owned a C-Tug for my previous kayak and so started using that with my AP. I had installed two 90mm PVC tubes on the bed to better locate the cart under the hull. This wasn’t a foolproof system though and I would often find myself going off at angles. After a few uses, I found myself getting frustrated and with the extra length and weight of the AP over my Top Water, a better solution was needed (sorry Railblaza!)
After some homework (i.e. watching many YouTube videos) I found a better fit for my new yak. The Wilderness Systems HD. This cart also has a high and low setting depending on where you put the brace, thought they recommend the high setting for larger yaks, so that is what I use.
When unloading my kayak off the rails on my trailer, I position the HD cart off to one side at about a 45-degree angle to the kayak. Sliding the kayak off, I put the rear skid pad on the ground, then lift the nose over, lifting the kayak over the cart then allowing it to rest about halfway down the hull. Doing it like this allows the cart to take 100% of the weight which means all you really have to do is steer the kayak down to the water. I then just let the nose float while I pull the cart backwards and out from under the hull. I then pull the wheels off and put the cart frame and wheels in the sizeable rear well. I only take the wheels off because the gunwales in the rear are quite high and the cart won’t sit flat if I just upend it.
Loading back on from the water is the same process: put the cart at an angle and lift the stern up and over. If you are coming over rocky ground or if the boat ramp is rutted or uneven the wheels can slip out so use of at least one of the two supplied cam straps is advised. I can even retrieve the kayak fully loaded this way without having to strip it first.
For loading back onto the trailer, if I have the cart located mid hull I cannot get the nose far enough onto the trailer rails to load. Prior to getting to this stage, I stand at the rear of the yak, pull the cam strap I used to hold the cart on tight, and pull the cart right to the rear. This gives me enough clearance to get the nose up and from there I can just pull the rest of the kayak up and over the rails. It’s super simple and a one-handed operation for the most part.
The Final Verdict
I will always be an Old Town fan boy. I believe they are one of the best watercraft on the market. The design, engineering, and R & D that goes into them is first rate.
Not only are they one of the most stable hulls on the market, they are super comfortable for an all-day fish, can carry a ton of gear, and hey, they can spot lock! While most people will know what this is and what it does, actually being able to experience it on a kayak is next level.
While they are at the top end of the kayak price range, you have to remember how much kayak you are getting for your money, which I would argue, is about the best and most around.
There is a very good reason they won iCast in 2020.
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