Following ICAST, I headed up the road to visit my friend Bart in St. Augustine. We've fished together for about 10 years now, usually after ICAST. I'm not sure if we first met at the old kayak fishing Boondoggles or the Jackson Kayak Dealer Summit, but Bart is easy to get along with on the water. We both like to get after it, and can redline our energy for a long time when fishing. 
Over the years we've had some good days. 

Bart runs a guide service - Action Kayak Adventures in St. Augustine area, so he knows the fisheries. If you are ever in the area make sure and look him up for a fun adventure. 

On this day I took out a Native Watercraft Slayer Propel LTE to test out. The LTE is lightweight, responsive, and pedal‑powered. 
Specs: 10′ long, 34.5″ beam, 11.5″ depth, only 65 lb hull (85 lb fully rigged), with a 425 lb capacity. Pedal forward/reverse, Springblade rudder, integrated transducer pocket, motor and foot‑steering ready. This grab‑and‑go beast packs serious punch in a compact package.

As I've gotten older (almost 50) the lighter kayaks have become more appealing. The LTE fits the bill.

The LTE proved a capable craft for fishing the inshore waters of Florida. I suspect the only place I'd have some hesitancy taking it would be offshore. But the kayak moved efficiently through the water, turned reasonably well and provided ample space for the style of fishing I do. 

The new turn knobs for securing the drive and hatch are a big improvement over the old tab style. I was glad to see these utilized on the new Hammer as well. The First Class seat and the 701 drive are still excellent and help make this possibly the best 10ft pedal drive kayak on the market. I didn't have any problem keeping up with Bart in his slightly longer Jackson Cruise FD kayak. 

I will say, that whether it was my style of pedaling or the narrower deck space, occasionally my heel would catch on the hooks that the pedal hatch was bungeed to in the LTE. Now I have size 11 - 11.5 feet, so that plays a part, and once I shifted into pedaling without shading my heel to the inside, I avoided the issue. 

We found some speckled trout but never found the school of redfish on this day. And I did get one good speck to eat on the way back in at the end of the day. 

Ultimately the LTE was much like my friendship with Bart, easy like a Florida sunset. Good friends and good fish will always make for a good day. I'm grateful that this sport/ activity / passion whatever you want to call it, I'm grateful it's gifted me some good friendships. Bart is one of those good dudes. Action Kayak Adventures - go see him. I'm already thinking about another trip down that way in September. See ya on the water.