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The
Freedom Hawk
Sight-casting
is probably one of the more exciting ways to catch fish here in Florida,
we have a seemingly endless supply of flats frequented by Redfish,
Tarpon, Bonefish, Permit, Snook and all these species are prime
sight-casting game. Of course standing in a kayak is not everyone’s
idea of a good time, if it’s not a particularly wide boat it may not
even be possible, at least comfortably that is. Generally speaking you
should have a good amount of balance and a fairly wide boat if you wish
to stand and fish from a kayak, some boats fit the bill nicely and
others are simply “ok”…but there is one boat specifically designed
for this purpose alone.
The
Freedom Hawk is a pure fishing kayak, very few boats are made this way
as manufacturers prefer designing boats with various uses but the
Freedom Hawk is a fishing kayak and a fishing kayak alone. What first
catches your eye are the two “outriggers” on the aft end of the
boat: These are the stabilizing “wings” that retract and deploy via
two handles on either side of the seat. What this does is spreads out
the surface area and gives you rock-solid stability: perfect for
standing and casting.
There
are two hatches built into the stabilizing wings for storage otherwise
one makes use of the large open well deck with lots of space. At first I
thought this would be a problem but I ended up storing everything in
front of me and this actually made it quite easy to access gear as I
didn’t have to reach behind my seat for anything. I will note that
this may not be optimal for those who bring a ton of gear, weighing down
the front of the kayak will affect performance, in ANY kayak, so keep
the 100qt cooler and 10lb anchor at home.
For
an offshore test I picked Convoy Point in
Biscayne Bay
National Park
because Bonefish and Permit are the main quarry there and traditionally
these fish are caught by sight-casting anglers, what better place to
test out the kayak?
 We arrived to rain and wind in
Biscayne Bay
but decided to fish anyway, the bonefish were long gone but we had to
try our luck and make sure. Launching the boat I immediately noticed not
much water came in, at 175lbs I didn’t put the boat down enough for it
to take on water through the wee secured scupper holes. This confirms
our idea of this boat being well designed for the larger paddler, and
for those of you who think it would be impossible to stand in this
boat…even with the stabilizing wings: There is a draw-rope to help you
stand and a casting brace that further adds to the kayaks’ overall
stability.
I
came up on the first flat, deployed the wings and assembled the built-in
two-piece push-pole. You used the built in pole holders on the wings to
hold the pole when not in use though I would recommend using the Florida
Back Country Pole-Mate to hold your push pole while casting.
 Poling the Freedom Hawk is easy enough. Compared
to the lightest skiff this boat is an ultra-light and thus moving
through the water requires little effort. When the stabilizing wings are
deployed the aft section of the kayak is wide open and free of
obstructions making it quite easy to pole from any standing position in
the Freedom Hawk.
We
took our time working over deserted flats until we ended up near a deep
channel that always produces something, not anything big but better than
getting skunked. We started casting around the edges of the channel and
produced a few miniscule snapper…better getting skunked!
 The Freedom hawk weighs 79lbs but if you take off the stabilizing wings
that brings it down to 65lbs and 10’6’’ instead of 13’10’’,
which, is manageable but there are no handles on the center of the kayak
so they must be installed if you plan to move the Freedom Hawk around
“sans wings”.
There
are a few notable accessories that come standard with the Freedom Hawk
sold at Kayak Jeff’s, most noteworthy are the push-pole and the anchor
boom, which, allows for deployment of the anchor from the seated
position. Other standard accessories are two flush-mount rod-holders,
the casting brace, grab rope (to aide in standing), tethered scupper
plugs, high-back seat, and adjustable foot braces. The Freedom Hawk is
well laid out for further accessories and the area surrounding the
cockpit will readily accept Scotty or ram-mount systems.
In summation the Freedom Hawk is the ultimate sight-fishing platform
made for the dedicated skinny water angler, someone who stalks
Biscayne Bay
for Bonefish or Pine Island Sound for Redfish. Ergonomically it is well
laid-out with an open cockpit (great for fly fisherman), wide and
comfortable seat, and a slip-free standing platform. So if you dream of
watching a bonefish rip into your reels backing as you pole around
crystalline flats then I would recommend this boat to you as I am
unaware of more stable sight-fishing kayak.
Tight
Lines.
Freedom
Hawk 14
Overall
Length: 13’ 10”
Length
Hull
: 10’ 6”
Length
Outriggers: 4’
Width:
30”
Weight:
79 lbs
Weight
with outriggers removed: 63 lbs
Max
Capacity: 400 lbs
Price:
$1695.00
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