Old Town Sportsman BigWater PDL 132 Review

The PDL Drive is the centerpiece of the BigWater 132 and it earns the attention. It uses a forward/reverse propeller system that is efficient, responsive, and noticeably quieter than paddle entry-and-exit strokes — a real advantage when you are trying not to spook fish in shallow water or along weed lines. The drive is removable for easy transport and car-topping, and snaps back into the hull quickly without tools.

The rudder is foot-controlled via the pedal system, so steering and propulsion happen in the same motion. This lets you keep both hands on a rod, a net, or a cup of coffee while you hold position or creep along a bank. The system handles light current and wind well enough for most fishing scenarios, though it is not designed for hard whitewater runs. Old Town covers the entire drive with a 5-year warranty — the first of its kind in the category — which is a meaningful signal about build quality and company confidence.

At roughly 21 lbs, the removable pedal console is a chunk of the overall weight, but that weight is a fair trade for a propulsion system this capable. Anglers who have paddled both manual SOTs and pedal-drive kayaks consistently report the hands-free advantage is one of the biggest single upgrades in their fishing experience.

The BigWater 132 is built wide — 36 inches — with a flat-bottom hull and hard chine rails that deliver primary stability well above what most kayaks in this class offer. You can stand up and cast without a second thought in calm to moderate conditions. This standing platform is not incidental: Old Town specifically engineered the hull geometry around the expectation that anglers will be on their feet regularly, whether sighting fish in clear shallows or getting leverage on a fighting fish.

The wide beam does create some drag and makes the kayak slower to paddle manually compared to a narrower touring hull, but for fishing applications — where slow, controlled movement and stable positioning matter far more than top speed — the trade-off is entirely sensible. In choppy bay water or a wind-chop reservoir, the BigWater 132 stays composed in a way that narrower fishing kayaks do not.

The hull is injection-molded high-density polyethylene, which is UV-resistant, impact-resistant, and proven over decades of kayak production. It is not the lightest material, which is part of why the kayak tips the scales at 122 lbs with drive, but it will take a beating and keep fishing.

Old Town gave the BigWater 132 a thorough fishing-feature package. The bow features a large, well-organized hatch for dry gear and tackle. The center console area includes two removable containers sized for standard tackle boxes or bait, plus a cup holder and accessory tracks for mounting electronics, fish finders, or camera arms. The seat itself includes an integrated insulated cooler — a thoughtful touch that keeps drinks or live bait at hand without taking up separate deck space.

Multiple flush-mount rod holders and a paddle clip handle your gear while the pedal drive does the work. The full-perimeter deck lines secure dry bags, nets, and other kit that does not need to go inside a hatch. The EVA foam deck padding adds grip underfoot when standing and cushions the knees when kneeling to land fish.

Scupper holes throughout the cockpit drain water passively, keeping the deck dry without any pumping. This is standard and expected on a quality SOT but executed well here — the scupper placement prevents pooling even when a wave washes over the deck.

The premium mesh seat is one of the BigWater 132’s strongest individual features. It rides on a shuttle track that adjusts fore-aft to accommodate different leg lengths and provides solid lumbar support — the kind of support that matters after four or six hours on the water. The mesh construction provides ventilation and passive drainage, so if water does get in, it moves through rather than pooling under you.

Anglers who fish all-day tournaments or multi-hour sessions consistently single out seat comfort as a purchase driver, and the BigWater 132 delivers here. The seat height and angle keep you comfortable whether you are pedaling, paddling, or sitting still waiting for a strike. It is a meaningful step up from the basic EVA-foam seats found on budget fishing kayaks.

At 122 lbs with the PDL drive installed (the drive itself weighs about 21 lbs and is removable), the BigWater 132 is a serious logistics challenge for solo paddlers. Loading it onto a truck bed or roof rack without a second person and purpose-built loading aids — a kayak cart, a J-rack with a roller system, or a truck-bed extender — is genuinely difficult. This is not a deal-breaker for anglers who fish regularly and have the gear and routine dialed in, but it is worth planning for before you buy.

Once at the water, a kayak cart handles launch and recovery well. The kayak has comfortable carry handles at the bow, stern, and mid-section for moving short distances. If you fish with a partner or from a truck with easy ramp access, the weight is manageable. Solo car-top transport to remote launches is where it will test your patience and your back.

Old Town makes a dedicated kayak cart for the BigWater series, and picking one up at purchase time is strongly recommended. Factor it into your total budget.

The BigWater PDL 132 is built for serious freshwater and inshore saltwater anglers who fish regularly, fish long days, and want the best pedal-drive fishing platform they can buy without stepping up to a motorized vessel. It excels on lakes, large reservoirs, slow rivers, and protected bays where its size and weight are assets rather than liabilities. The 500-lb weight capacity means larger anglers and anglers who pack heavy have genuine room to work with — 378 lbs of usable capacity for people and gear covers a realistic all-day load with fish finder, tackle, food, and water.

It is not the right pick for anglers who need to transport solo, launch from remote beaches without ramp access, or who fish primarily from small cars or sedans that cannot handle the load. It is also an honest premium investment at roughly $3,000 — anglers who fish occasionally or who are still exploring whether kayak fishing is their thing would be better served starting with something lighter and less expensive before committing to a platform at this level.

For the dedicated angler who knows what they want — hands-free pedaling, standing stability, all-day comfort, and the storage to stay on the water from dawn to dusk — the BigWater PDL 132 is a benchmark kayak in the pedal-drive fishing category.