Turning Your Pedal Kayak Into an Electric Fishing Machine

There’s something pure about pedal-drive kayak fishing. You power the boat with your legs, glide quietly across the water, and chase fish without the noise and chaos of a gas motor. It’s stealthy, simple, and brutally effective.

But let’s be honest—some days your legs are toast. The wind is ripping. The tide is pushing. And that fishy shoreline or reef you want to reach suddenly feels a whole lot farther away.

That’s exactly where the Old Town ePDL+ Retrofit Drive changes the game.

This system is essentially the missing link between traditional pedal-drive kayaks and full electric fishing machines. If you already own an Old Town kayak with a PDL drive, the new ePDL retrofit lets you drop in a hybrid electric drive and instantly transform your boat into a power-assisted fishing platform.

No complicated installs. No weird trolling-motor mounts hanging off the stern. No DIY wiring nightmares.

Just drop the drive in, connect the battery, and suddenly your kayak has electric power on tap.

For anglers who want more range, less fatigue, and more time actually fishing instead of pedaling, the ePDL retrofit might be one of the most exciting pieces of kayak technology to hit the water in years.

The foundation of the system starts with Old Town’s legendary PDL pedal drive. These drives have been the gold standard in the kayak world for a long time. They’re durable, efficient, and incredibly reliable. Anglers around the world trust them to cover serious water while chasing fish.

The new ePDL system takes that trusted platform and adds electric assist power directly into the drive.

Once installed, you now have three propulsion options in a single system. You can pedal normally like a traditional PDL drive. You can engage pedal assist to help your legs push the boat farther with less effort. Or you can switch over to full electric cruise control and let the motor move the kayak while you focus on fishing.

The beauty of the retrofit is how simple it is. It’s designed as a direct plug-and-play drop-in replacement for the existing PDL drive unit. That means if you already own compatible kayaks like the Sportsman PDL series, Predator PDL, BigWater PDL, or Topwater PDL models, the upgrade is incredibly straightforward.

One minute you have a pedal kayak.

The next minute you have a hybrid electric fishing machine.

The easiest way to understand the ePDL system is to think about it like an electric bike for the water. Electric bikes still allow you to pedal normally, but when you activate pedal assist the motor helps you move faster and farther with less effort.

The ePDL drive does the exact same thing.

With five levels of pedal assist, anglers can dial in how much help they want from the electric motor. Light assist lets you cruise comfortably across open water without burning your legs out. Higher assist levels let you push into wind or current much more easily than you ever could with leg power alone.

For kayak anglers who regularly fish big water—coastal bays, tidal rivers, large lakes, or open estuaries—this kind of power assistance is a massive advantage.

Instead of planning your day around how far you think your legs can pedal, you can explore farther and cover water more efficiently.

And that’s huge when you’re hunting fish.

One of the most impressive features of the ePDL drive is the cruise control mode. Once activated, the electric motor takes over propulsion completely and keeps the kayak moving at a steady pace without any pedaling required.

This feature alone changes how you fish.

Imagine cruising slowly along a mangrove shoreline while pitching soft plastics into every pocket and root system you pass. Instead of constantly stopping and starting the kayak, you can maintain a steady glide while focusing entirely on your casts.

Picture working a shoreline at sunrise with a topwater plug while the kayak moves quietly along the bank.

Or slow-trolling live bait along a reef line while your hands stay free to manage rods and watch your electronics.

Cruise control turns the kayak into a moving fishing platform. You’re no longer working the boat—you’re working the water.

And that means more casts, more coverage, and more opportunities to find fish.

The ePDL system runs on a compact 36-volt lithium-ion battery that weighs just a couple pounds but delivers serious runtime. Depending on how you use the system, anglers can expect many hours of operation on a single charge.

At lower cruise speeds, the system can run for most of the day. Moderate cruise speeds still deliver several hours of operation. And when you combine pedaling with electric assist—which is how most anglers will actually use the system—the battery life stretches even further.

For the average fishing trip, the battery easily supports a full day of fishing.

The system also includes a clean and easy-to-read LCD display that shows battery levels, power settings, and assist modes. The screen is backlit and designed to remain visible even through polarized sunglasses and bright sunlight—something that matters a lot when you’re fishing long days on the water.

Controls are intuitive and simple, which is exactly what anglers want. You don’t need to fumble through complicated menus or settings while fish are blowing up around you.

Everything is designed to keep your attention where it belongs: on fishing.

Saltwater anglers will also appreciate that the system is designed to handle harsh environments. Coastal kayak anglers regularly deal with wind, tidal current, saltwater corrosion, and long distances between fishing spots.

The ePDL drive was built with those conditions in mind.

Whether you’re chasing redfish on coastal flats, probing mangrove shorelines for snook, fishing offshore structure, or covering massive inland reservoirs, the electric assist makes long runs easier and dramatically reduces fatigue.

And when you hit those tough conditions—wind against tide or strong current—you’ll really appreciate having electric power backing up your legs.

Beyond comfort and convenience, the real advantage of the ePDL drive is how it makes anglers more productive.

Fishing is ultimately a search game. The more water you cover, the more fish you find. Electric assist allows kayak anglers to travel farther and explore new areas without exhausting themselves.

Cruise control allows anglers to stay focused on casting and presentation instead of constantly managing boat movement.

Reduced fatigue means anglers stay sharper longer and fish harder during those key bite windows when fish are most active.

And because the system remains quiet and smooth, anglers still maintain the stealth advantage that makes kayak fishing so effective in shallow water.

Fish that might spook from larger motorized boats often remain calm around kayaks, allowing anglers to get closer and make better presentations.

One of the best things about the ePDL retrofit is that existing Old Town kayak owners don’t need to buy a brand-new boat to enjoy the benefits. Thousands of anglers already fishing from PDL-equipped kayaks can upgrade their propulsion system without replacing their hull.

It’s a simple upgrade that dramatically expands what your kayak can do.

Suddenly your pedal kayak becomes capable of longer runs, better wind performance, and hands-free cruising.

You still have the reliability of pedal power as a backup, but now electric assistance is always available when you need it.

That hybrid flexibility might be the best part of the entire system.

Kayak fishing has evolved quickly over the past decade. What started as simple paddle fishing has grown into a highly technical and incredibly effective style of angling. Pedal drives changed the game. Motorized kayaks pushed things even further.

The ePDL retrofit feels like the next step in that evolution.

It blends human power with electric propulsion in a way that feels natural, efficient, and incredibly useful on the water.

For anglers who want to fish farther, fish longer, and fish smarter without giving up the simplicity of pedal kayaks, the Old Town ePDL+ retrofit drive might just be the ultimate upgrade.

Because at the end of the day, the goal isn’t to pedal harder.

It’s to spend more time casting, more time exploring new water, and more time hooked up to fish.

And with the ePDL drive quietly pushing you along while you focus on the next cast, that’s exactly what you get.