I had one of those sale $300 Costco packages a couple summers back. I cut up a cutting board and made backing plates for my Scotty rod mounts as the material is pretty thin on those and I was sure would rip out at some point without some sort of backing.
I have since switched to a sit-on-top that I far prefer (Pelican Boost while I save for a Hobie Mirage Drive) - and have kitted it out nicely with rod holders and a fish finder. While a teeny bit less stable, I feel a whole lot safer in it - especially around Ambleside where it can become quite the rodeo from time to time due to winds, currents, and mega-tankers - not to mention much easier dismounting at the shore when the waves are crashing in. Easier to control 2 rods, easier to bring up crab traps, and no chance of getting swamped. Like Damien I have yet to land a Spring on it, but will just cut the line as mentioned should it become unsafe. I've easily landed decent sized Dogfish and Sole down there on it, and battled a much larger beast for a couple minutes before I lost him. Not sure about Springs - hoping for the best - but Pinks will be a breeze. Ecomarine on Granville Island sells cool little kayak parachute anchors that I'm gonna pick up that I can throw out if things get hairy. The guy at the shop has one and was saying really good things about them.
As for lack of storage space - I store mine at Burrard Marina. Comes out to $1 a day for the year. Steps from the water to drop in - and super convenient to drive to and pick up for when we are hitting other waters.
The 2017 Mirage Drive system has a new 180 degree feature I'd love to try out. Sounds like an awesome feature one could activate to prevent a massive Spring from dragging you out into the tanker shipping lanes.