what kayak do you have and why

[FTW]

What is everyone paddling?

[Funchy]

Got a perception swing 400. Good all-round craft. Has good stability and tracks really well when paddling. I have a rudder on it which makes a big difference too. Love it.

If I had the dosh I would get a peddle hobie but,..... well I don't ;)

[Si]

i got an ocean kayak prowler. good stability, is able to handle rough water, threaded inserts make attaching accessories easy without drilling holes. i bought as it was too good of a price to pass up.

I agree with funchy in that having leg propulsion would make things alot easier but the ocean kayak has its advantages over hobie especially in rough water.

[FishHunter]

I have a 2010 Stealth BFS mainly because I wanted the internal storage and the load capacicity. Woudnt take a Hobie if you gave it to me for free and I have used a few.

[Sunhobie]

Woudnt take a Hobie if you gave it to me for free and I have used a few.

Looks like it will work out well for you Mr Fishhunter, because there is not much chance of anyone giving you one!

[Feral]

I've got


An Ocean Kayak Prowler 4.5 which is my go to yak.



A Viking Tempo which is now my winter river yak, used to be my go to yak before I got the prowler (dryer than the prowler, nice to just float up and down with the tide, pig in a wind, paddles like a house brick)



An Ocean Kayak Seabreeze which is my "if you gotta drag it over sand bars etc" yak for small creeks and shallow rivers



2 Bandits for when I take the kids with my and I want the yaks to stack in the trailer.



An old dunga for if the kids bring a mate, cant even remember the brand, but elcheapo.

[tunaticer]

I have a Perception Swing at the moment but will either upgrade or buy a 2nd yak sooner or later. That new yak will be a Stealth Evo 465 for the longer legs and offshore trolling.

What sort of thing do you want to do with a yak?? River, lake, creek, bay or ocean fishing? Very hard to find a compromise across the spectrum.

[FTW]

Jack
Most of my fishing is river and estuary but do fish the dams is SE Qld also. Can get some reasonable swell there. I am looking at replacing a Canadian canoe with a Kayak. My wife has started to kayak and its to hard to take the canoe and kayaks (my kids also paddle), another kayak is better and I can paddle with her and fish. Win win far as I can see

[FishHunter]

Looks like it will work out well for you Mr Fishhunter, because there is not much chance of anyone giving you one!

Bit sensitive arent we? Or are we not allowed to disagree with the almighty Hobie purveyor?

[Nicko_Cairns]

I had two fish bandits (Extreme Kayaks) in Canberra and I miss them so much we're buying another two. We couldn't fit them in with the move unfortunately, great little yak and very good for impoundments, wouldn't take them into the inshore/offshore world though, but I'd take the bigger brother the Outlaw into that stuff.

Aus made too, and at around $699 you just can't go past them. No they're not a pushpeddle/flap thingy like a hobie but most yak fishos up here in Tinaroo swear by paddling to attract the barra and apparently the peddle ones are too noisy (from a fish perspective). ps this was told to me by Mark Hope, from worldrecord########### .theusual.au and if anyone knows how to catch barra from a yak, it's him.

[Sunhobie]

Bit sensitive arent we? Or are we not allowed to disagree with the almighty Hobie purveyor?

Puzzled by the chip on your shoulder. You have a long history of such comments.

[Just_chips]

I have a Viking Pro Fish and have recently added a Stealth Evo 495 to the stable.

The viking was my first yak and I have done everything with it, including skinny creeks where I could hardly turn, dams, estuaries, bream comps and offshore work. I chose this yak because of my height and the fact that the leg wells provided a little extra room for my build compared to many other yaks on the market at the time.

The Evo was recently added due to my increasing interest in offshore fishing from the yak combined with launching through the surf. This yak also has longer legwells which I also had lengthened further during the build. These things really shine in the offshore / surf environment as you are able to store fully rigged 7ft rods in the hull during some fairly torrid surf entries and landings. They are glass and fast, so travelling long distances is also less demanding, which makes a difference at the end of the day when you've been chasing pelagic bust ups all over the place only to see them disappear as you enter casting range.

There are lots of different yaks out there, many are suited to specific tasks, so it's just a matter of finding the right fit for you.

Kev

[FTW]

Thanks just seeing what people like and dislike at the moment

[phantomphisher]

We have a hobie outfitter with a motor (I know it's cheating). works really well and handles the rough stuff fine. a bit more bulky than some of the other options but the wife loves it.

cheers, Rob

[kingtin]

Viking tempo fisherman with 28lb minn kotta. Paddles like shit but very stable and carries lots of weight. Malibi mini-x for skinny water, also very stable.

[scrotty]

Hobie Outback, Easy to peddle, hands free, efficient propulsion, local dealer. Love it!
Cheers

[GreekBoi]

2013 Hobie Revolution 13 - Great for anything, got it so I could go offshore easily and inshore. Used it for 3 night camping trips and it easily has enough storage.
My ad and me have been building a storage box for the back which will be great and later down the track going to outfit it with 2 outriggers like the Hobie AI and a
sail. As much as I'd love the Hobie AI I just don't want to spend a heap..

I've only caught a few small stuff so far but I've hooked onto the big stuff just never got them up :(
The peddles are amazing for fishing. I do however like the stealth's due to the storage and how light they are.

[SURLY]

I Have a Prowler Torque, but am using it without its motor as more for fitness . Have just recently paid extra money to colour fishfinder installed plus a few extras. Doing quite well on sand flats around crab island in broadwater. Still on my wish list is a go-pro as so wanted to film one of the big girls I have been lucky enough to hook. I tell you even though new to this I am addicted to it, and to hook a 80cm + lizard in just over a metre in crystal clear water is awesome. Even better watching them swim away

[Spot82]

I have an ocean kayak prowler torque, love it to death, probably caught 60-80 barra out of it up to 120cms+ Love the fact that you can troll with two rods, also manouvre hands free basically with the electric and rudder to get those big fish away from the snags and not get towed around too much. Also loved fishing with it in the Brissy river for bass.

With some good weather and a good run of pelagics I will be giving it a fair workout offshore as well.

With a 80amp hour deep cell battery I have been on the water for up to 8 hrs and still not needed to paddle.

Biggest downside it just setting up and packing up with connecting batteries, sounder, etc, etc. Although I do take a fair bit of camera gear with me as well.

Steers well, little bit wet, but self draining scupper plugs are well worth the $$$, Good amounts of storage and good stability when loaded also, Although I wouldn't stand up and fish in one...

[Gigantor]

I have a Hobie Outback (1 person) and a Hobie Oasis (2 person). Have been a Hobie convert since 2007 when I got my first one, a second hand Outback. Before that I have a 15 foot Rosco canoe and a sit-in kayak.

The Hobie is a perfect fishing platform, giving me hands-free ability to play a fish and spend all day out on the water without getting tired. Hobie have always put in design features that are a benefit to fishos. Things like moulded in rod holders and trays, as well as giving you a kayak that has great capacity for gear and me. The leg-powered Mirage Drive makes trolling 2 lures a breeze in virtually all conditions. Though I generally fish the rivers, creeks and dams. Don't really play in the off-shore area, as I'm not confident in big swells.

The other important factor in staying with Hobie is their unwavering product support. They stand behind their products 100%, even when the kayak is old. If there is a problem – they will work with you to fix it.

Also I've seen quite a few yak fishos move to Hobies then move away to Ocean Kayak & other brands only to come back to Hobies again. I guess there will always be fads (for the want for a better word) or having the latest brand of kayak - but if what I'm seeing is anything to go on, then Hobie continues to offer something that yak fishos want. There must be a reason for this.

The other factor I would draw on is when a second hand Hobie is listed for sale on either www.akff.net (http://www.akff.net) or www.kfdu.com.au (http://www.kfdu.com.au) (2 long standing kayak fishing web sites) they don't stay listed for too long, as they sell very quickly.

NOTE: I am not paid by Hobie to voice this opinion. This is all simply my opinion and experience over 10 years or so yak fishing now.

Cheers,

Pete

[Gigantor]

Thanks just seeing what people like and dislike at the moment


FTW,

One key thing when considering what to buy is "Capacity". Can't emphasise this enough. 2 key questions on this…(1) what’s your weight? plus (2) what is my gears weight? Add these together and then compare that figure with the kayak’s capacity. The 2 figures (yak capacity - Me + gear = ?) shouldn’t be too close to each other – otherwise you’ll be sitting quite low in the water and need to expend more energy to propel yourself through the water, which = get tired quickly.

My situ is....I’m 6 foot 4 inches tall and 105kgs and I carry approx. 20kg of gear = so about 130kgs, and the Hobie Outback’s capacity is 180kgs. So I’ve got a very good total weight margin/buoyancy ratio. This issue was mentioned to me in my very early yak fishing days and I was forever grateful. You’d be surprised how many fishing yaks there are out there that have pretty sad capacities.

Cheers,
Pete

[randell]

I have a 12 ft canoe with a 3.3 hp Merc. It gets me to the place and back..... sometimes I paddle..

Randell

[Gozz]

FTW,

One key thing when considering what to buy is "Capacity". Can't emphasise this enough. 2 key questions on this…(1) what’s your weight? plus (2) what is my gears weight? Add these together and then compare that figure with the kayak’s capacity. The 2 figures (yak capacity - Me + gear = ?) shouldn’t be too close to each other – otherwise you’ll be sitting quite low in the water and need to expend more energy to propel yourself through the water, which = get tired quickly.

My situ is....I’m 6 foot 4 inches tall and 105kgs and I carry approx. 20kg of gear = so about 130kgs, and the Hobie Outback’s capacity is 180kgs. So I’ve got a very good total weight margin/buoyancy ratio. This issue was mentioned to me in my very early yak fishing days and I was forever grateful. You’d be surprised how many fishing yaks there are out there that have pretty sad capacities.

Cheers,
Pete

Totally agree.
I'm about a 100kg and sometimes I put one of my kids on the front and one on the back of my outback and it still holds the weight no probs.
it actually doesn't lose that much speed even with a combined 170kg.

[Nicko_Cairns]

I now have another Fish Bandit for my wife and I got a Lifetime Angler 3.0 for me. The Angler is big and slow which is great for barra in impoundments which is all I wanted it for. I wouldn't recommend it for offshore or in the surf. I picked it for its stability, holds 204kg and I can stand up on it if I want to (not that I would very often but will be good for a mid fishing stretch now and then).


I had two fish bandits (Extreme Kayaks) in Canberra and I miss them so much we're buying another two. We couldn't fit them in with the move unfortunately, great little yak and very good for impoundments, wouldn't take them into the inshore/offshore world though, but I'd take the bigger brother the Outlaw into that stuff.

Aus made too, and at around $699 you just can't go past them. No they're not a pushpeddle/flap thingy like a hobie but most yak fishos up here in Tinaroo swear by paddling to attract the barra and apparently the peddle ones are too noisy (from a fish perspective). ps this was told to me by Mark Hope, from worldrecord########### .theusual.au and if anyone knows how to catch barra from a yak, it's him.