Pedal Kayak for fishing

[Mudbug]

Love kayak fishing, if your primary use will be fishing then you definitely want a pedal drive. I have alot of experience in the La marsh in an Outback, I have used and abused this kayak for 6+ years and it's still going strong.

I went with the Outback over the PA for easier combat launches when solo, and I because I wanted to be able to cover some ground. I mainly sight fish and like to stick and move. The smaller/mobile Outback seemed like a better fit for my use. I have no problem standing in calm water. If I were mainly going to use boat launches in reservoirs/lakes then I probably would have went with the PA. For me the OB is perfect for sight fishing reds in the shallow marsh.

 

[boom]

i have a Hobie Compass. the biggest complaint are these:
1. the rear main handle is goofy. damn near useless. you grab and lift the kayak, and it will tilt to one side or another. SUPER ANNOYING.
2. The SEAT is VERY LOW. in rough waters or in a boat's wake, it is great. standing up, it is goofy. try standing up whiles sitting VERY low to the ground and your feet are NOT underneath you. its a squat of epic proportion, with yoga and taichi balancing acts all mixed in.
2A. the seat is also low to the boat so you cannot stuff a normal Plano box underneath. talk about stupid!!
side handles. you need an extra one so you can use it to slide your body back on should you fall out.

my steering is getting looseer feeling. no biggie, but if you are hauling ass, and it turns itself because there is zero resitance in the steering..it could pitch you out. hahha..

other than that, it is pretty good. i could use better rod holders, and a real cup holder but whatever. its fast!!

i have the 180 drive. it is "okay". simply backpedalling with a propreller type kayak makes more sense. if i were NEVER planning to go into the ocean, i would get a Native 10.5. there are awesome aftermarket parts avaliable.

 

[scallop]

I have had a Hobie Mirage Outback since 2017, the first year they came out with reverse. Absolutely love it. Stable and easy to peddle. Kind of a pain to load into and out of the truck but still doable. I have tested a few of the other offerings and the Hobie's drive with it's ability to fold almost flush against the hull is a big advantage for where I fish (central Oh lakes and rivers) the competitions drive mechanism that is constantly 12-18" below the boat and has to be pulled up to go shallow is inconvenient. You can hold the Hobie's flush and still "flutter" kick for motivation. The only model I would consider moving into is the Hobie 360.

 

[Rokbar]

Ive got an older Hobie outback I bought used and its great. I did buy a new mirage drive for it. The factory seat is quite uncomfortable. I bought a plastic folding boat seat from Academy that fits perfect in the outback and makes a world of difference. Its nice at the coast fishing around bridge columns. Im able to load it on my trucks roof rack, with a bit of struggle.

 

[Deepshax]

Someone wrote above that the PA shines in large deep rough water - lol - so much wrong. PA has ok initial stability but zero secondary stability. I wouldn’t take one of those anywhere near water that will get choppy. Good luck flipping that back over or launching it through surf.

There are a ton of large/barge kayaks on the market geared toward stand-up freshwater type fishing. Sometimes I feel like these are the only kayaks coming out. Take your pick.

 

[HDwild]

I was obsessed with kayak fishing when I lived in Florida, I owned paddle and pedal kayaks from almost all of the major manufacturers. Hobies are expensive but for good reason. I even bought the 2019 Outback on pre-order and LOVED it! The Mirage Drive 360 was awesome but I still preferred a bike pedal-style system like the Old Town Predator PDL has.

I could load a 14ft Pro Angler in the back of my 5.5ft bed no problem. Just strap it down and throw a bright red or orange flag on the back of it and roll. One man loading is easy but not very gentle.

Here are some videos I did on the 19' Outback:

 

[Poindexter]

I have the Hobie Outback (wife’s) and 12’ Pro Angler (mine). Now that the kids are getting older we are talking about adding a tandem to the arsenal. Has anyone used one solo? I’m betting a lot of the tandem work is going to be done by me.

 

[Brewski]

Has anyone done the research on different pedal drive kayaks for fishing?
quietest?
fastest?
best in strong current and winds?
easiest to fix?
any thoughts?

I have kayak fished for about 15 years. My suggestion is to figure out how your going to be transporting the kayaks and how much weight you want to lift on to a roof rack. Lifting an 80+ pound kayak on top of a SUV by yourself gets old fast.
Second figure out where you are storing the kayak. They take up alot of garage space and if stored outside they need to be stored out of the sun.
I like Hobies but they have alot of competition and there's a ton of peddle drive options now.

 

[TX4ever]

I have a hobie compass and prefer it over the outback. It’s a little over 60 lbs and easy to cartop on my SUV. Only other kayak I would consider would be an Old Town PDL. Instant reverse for holding position would be nice.

 

[Fartrell Cluggins]

Hands free fishing is the only way to go.

 

[Cowbell]

I have a blue sky boat works 360 angler which is made by Jackson. It's freakin awesome. Check them out. It's like a catamaran.

 

[Centralcoastca]

i have a Hobie Compass. the biggest complaint are these:
1. the rear main handle is goofy. damn near useless. you grab and lift the kayak, and it will tilt to one side or another. SUPER ANNOYING.
2. The SEAT is VERY LOW. in rough waters or in a boat's wake, it is great. standing up, it is goofy. try standing up whiles sitting VERY low to the ground and your feet are NOT underneath you. its a squat of epic proportion, with yoga and taichi balancing acts all mixed in.
2A. the seat is also low to the boat so you cannot stuff a normal Plano box underneath. talk about stupid!!
side handles. you need an extra one so you can use it to slide your body back on should you fall out.

my steering is getting looseer feeling. no biggie, but if you are hauling ass, and it turns itself because there is zero resitance in the steering..it could pitch you out. hahha..

other than that, it is pretty good. i could use better rod holders, and a real cup holder but whatever. its fast!!

i have the 180 drive. it is "okay". simply backpedalling with a propreller type kayak makes more sense. if i were NEVER planning to go into the ocean, i would get a Native 10.5. there are awesome aftermarket

Tightening the steering takes a couple minutes and a Phillips screwdriver. Loosen the screws that hold down the strings for the rudder, with the rudder straight, pull the strings snug and retighten. I have a newer outback that needs to be tightened after the last trip and one that’s a few years old that has always been right. I have had a few friends buy different prop drive kayaks and all had problems with the gears in the drive, mostly native, one Jackson. This was a couple years ago and they got rid of them so I don’t know if they fixed the issues. I would be skeptical of the prop drives just because of the gear drives that run the prop. The Hobie reliability is due to its simplicity, there’s a lot going on but it’s done very simply. I’ve been using mine in salt water regularly for several years and the only maintenance I do is a fresh water rinse. I would like to have a pa but I wouldn’t be able to get it on the roof rack like I can two outbacks and I surf launch more than not and the outback is much easier for that. I was also tempted with the compass for the weight and price when I was getting a second kayak for my wife but I like the little extras enough that I just went with another outback, plus the outback is stable enough to stand on even with the dog riding along. Vibe makes a Hobie knockoff that looks pretty good, much cheaper and I know their paddle kayaks are great for the money, but have no experience with their new Hobie pedal drive copy but It’d be worth checking out for the price.

 

[xajoles]

I've been using and abusing a Hobie Pro Angler for years. Loved it when I got it and still love it 8 years later! I put the hitch extender on my truck and have taken it on 4 trips from Colo 18 hours each way to Lake Michigan. I stand up and cast flyrod and spinning gear for hours and hours....no problem even in choppy water. The PA is made for ocean fishing and is almost impossible to capsize. I learned how to turn it back over in the summer just in case that happens. I've had it for 8 years and never come close to rolling it over while sitting or standing. I have enough faith in mine that I've had it on L Michigan several times in November....no worries!

The force fins on the PA are pretty tough to beat. I can really cover the water. It's definitely a work out sometimes fighting the wind though. They make a alittle short PA but I like the room on the 14. I actually stand up on the back and have many times had 2 fisherman on board.

The PA has been out for years. If you keep an eye on Craigslist you might find a used one for a chunk less cash. Quite a few Hobbie dealers sell their demo kayaks at the end of the season . I got around $400 off mine and it had only been taken out a couple times. best fishing kayak under 500

If you have any specific questions about Hobie or PA's let me know. They are super dependable, stable, and a lot of fun! The only way I'll get rid of mine is if I ever upgrade to a bass boat!

I am searching for a good kayak big enough to stand in. I was looking at the sun dolphin sportsman. I know it isnt a kayak but i just need a small vessel to get me on the water.
let me know any good brands/models

 

[jakeuac]

I’m a big fan of the Hobie Revolution, but I primarily fish saltwater. It is speedy, and cuts through the water fanatically. It doesn’t weigh too much, some of the new outback’s and pro anglers and a chore to load up after a long day of fishing. Something to think about if your portages are long distance!

 

[OXN939]

Had a bit of a pedal yak saga over the past month people may find useful to hear about and possibly avoid.

Picked up a Hoodoo Impulse 120 on 01JUL. These are known to have a defect from the factory that causes the drive to pop out of one clip. The dealer replaced said clip in hopes of fixing this before I took the boat. No dice, problem was still present. Sucks, but I knew there was a chance of this happening and contacted CS. They initially badgered me for a video of the problem- since I wasn't going to spend the time, gas, effort etc to take my boat, launch it, take a video, compress it to an email friendly size and send it to them to fix a widespread factory issue, I just sent a picture of my boat with one clip removed. They said okay, we'll get the new part to you ASAP.

A week goes by. Then 10 days. Then two weeks. I check the tracking, nothing comes up. So I email again asking what's going on. "Oh, sorry, we don't have the clips in stock. No idea when we'll get them."

By this point, I've had an inoperative boat just sitting for most of a month. So I take it back to the dealer and traded it towards a Feelfree Lure 11.5 V2 that had a heck of a sea trial.

 

[Will_m]

Can you not lay the nose down against that cab with a strap and then keep the tailgate up with another strap across the kayak? What’s all this extender nonsense?

 

[Topher502]

i have not touched a fishing pole in over 20 years but just recently starting fishing from a kayak. to me it is a total game changer and incredibly fun.
are most fishing yaks sit ons?

 

[Jimss]

To me it's worth all the room of the Hobie PA14. I like to stand to fish. The PA14 has plenty of room in the front and even the back to stand to cast and fight fish. Also super stable when standing!

 

[OXN939]

What’s all this extender nonsense?

Longer boats, 12' plus, sometimes need the extender to sit stably in the bed of a truck. I don't use an extender with either of my two boats- I just put them under my bed cover and tie them in with some 550 cord and a trucker's hitch around the stern cleat.

are most fishing yaks sit ons?

Yes, almost all purpose built fishing yaks are sit ons. They are a much more fishable design than sit ins for a lot of reasons.

 

[Sizthediz]

Hobie outback and pa owner along with a native slayer. All of them great for hands free fishing
Just got to have a budget. Gets expensive quickly