Revo dilemma
 

I am thinking of graduating from the Outback and moving up to the Revo...
I just have one, to me, huge issue bugging the crap outa me...
on the Outback, I have 6 flushmount rod holders built in...
two front, four rear...
it seems impossible to do this on the Revo, thus forcing me to
have to have bait tank or a crate if I want more than two rods with me...
I rarely (almost never) use a bait tank...usually only when I come down to LJ...and can't stand the thought of being forced to shlep a bait tank everytime out...so...what are my options?

question 2...
on my Outback, I have the transducer installed betrween the sail mast and the pedal well, in front of the pedals...
I have seen a few guys install their transducer under their seat...
I am contemplating installing a thru hull TX like Bing, Sunburn, and Stevoo did...my concern is this...
if the TX is under your butt, behind the pedals, do you get interferance from the bubbles created by the pedals?
the reason I ask is it seems like the hull is not flat enough to do the thru hull install between the mast and pedal well, too mush of a radius, and it also seems like it would take away some strength to put it there.

thanks in advance for you responses.

Question 1 - does your seat have rod holders, or is there one that will fith the hobie that does?

Question 2 - I love my thru hull mount. Are you usually cruising full speed when looking for fish/structure or do you slow down a bit? Would seem that if this becoms an issue you could either slow down a bit or make some kind of very small dam to deflect the bubbles from the ducer (I know, not ideal)

Way to get the lake guys on the salt, btw.

ya gotta give up some luxury to save some gas............SUV to crossover :D

i know this is no help but curious as to why you are switching to the revo?
i have a outback too.

i thought i had a hard decision when i first started looking but now i know for me i made the right choice. for me storage and working space makes up for it's shortcoming compared to the revo.

i dont use a bait tank either but use a bait tube that i tow behind, it's made out of 3" PVC pipe which will hold 4-5 nice size mac's

Tell you the true, I got the small brother of the outback (sport) for 4 years and I'm very happy with it, I got 5 rod holders only use 3 rod no need for more & if you looking for speed, forget it, they all run the same the faster you peddler the faster you'll go. I do like Revo, but for fishing the the outback or the sport.:)

I have question #3 to add to this discussion, because I am considering the Revo over the outback. Does the Revo handle beach launches/landings better than the Outback. I am talking 2 to 4 ft surf breaks, which my prowler13 handles pretty well.

Big Brother Outfitter
 

Good put Leo! I have the "Big" Brother to the Outback, the "Outfitter Tandem" and it works great for my Son and I. We have surfed 2-3 ft waves coming in at La Jolla and for a Tandem it does great! :kayak-surfer: (need a pedal surfer moticon!) Launching is even better because I can have Roman start pedaling before I get in the yak so that we have speed and momentum going through the surf as long as he doesn't get excited and leave me behind! :eek:

For Speed we have the Turbo fins and we move fast enough to throw a pretty good wake. I haven't clocked the speed yet but I think we're doing about 5-7 knots max. :driver:

Stability of the Outfitter is excellent and there are well placed tackle trays on the gunnels.:jig:

We use a large pet-tainer baittank with eight rod holders on it and there are also 4 more built-in rod holders in the hull. I do have to regulate the water level to about 4-5 inches so that we don't exceed the weight limit of the vessel. :captain:

Overall, we love our Outfitter, but we're looking at the TI for the future.

Hope this info helps. :cool:

I have the perfect TI for ya...Only used twice. I have a potential buyer that's taking it out Sunday for a demo. If it falls through, come take this beast off my hands so I can get my ass back into a REVO!

I can't comment from experience on the through-hull transducer mount but my biggest concern would be related to being locked in to a particular brand of FF down the road. If you cut a hole to mount a Lowrance transducer, you will be locked in to that brand forever. What about if your transducer fails and you have to replace it. Will the new one fit? Patching a hole that size might be a challenge.

Since the wet and grease mount methods work quite well, it seems to me that using one of these methods might be more practical.

Regarding the rod holder question, the Revo only has two molded rod holders and they are placed in a less than perfect location. I always take my bait tank which gives me storage for up to five rods. I made a couple of adjustable rod holders that fit into the molded holes, (see the post in the Innovations thread). This gives me plenty of rod storage capability and puts my active rods in a more usable location.

If you don't want to pack along a bait tank but need more rod storage on a Revo, my suggestion would be to modify my rod holder design by adding a cross bar behind the seat. Using ABS or PVC fittings you could add a bunch of extra rod holders that extend off of the cross bar. It would be easy to build, inexpensive and probably work very well.

Bob

E150 Ford Van
 

I'd love to help you get back into a Revo, but first I've got to sell my E150 Ford Van first, unless you'd like to trade?:bigear:

Redsled,

I fished the tandem outfitters for years....awesome yaks!!! Have you guys seen the new Oasis Tandem, about a foot longer than the Outfitter with a front hatch, revo like bow, bait tank compatible, and steering in the front and rear. IMO a way better fishing platform than the TI.

Yakrider,
Like Dsaftey said the PVC rod holder across the back flushmounts is probably the easiest, see fongmans setup in the sticky "tricks" thread. The hobie bait tank is still my fav....just come fish LJ more!!!!
With the Hobie hulls there really is no need for a thru-hull transducer....for the best performance just set the transducer in the hull behind the sail mast and secure with a ziptie, very simple, very effective.

As for the difference between the outback/revo, check out the hobie.com forum...tons of info there. For me (i've owned both the 1st (worst ever) and 2nd gen outbacks) the major drawbacks to the outback was the loud, slappy bow design and wide beam .....the Revo's extra foot of length, 1" less beam, and narrow bow really make a huge difference when the wind/chop pick up and you still have a couple miles to peddle.

The revo and 2nd gen outback both surf well, although I feel much more comfortable in larger surf on the revo. The 1st Gen outback (without the front hatch) has to be the worst kayak hull ever designed, pretty much impossible to paddle which makes landing in any kind of surf really tuff. It's literally like trying to paddle an egg.

I have a revo and I simply hate the position of the two built in rod holders, pretty bad. I am in the process of building a crossbar for right behind the seat. Mounting options for rod holders up front a very limited. This is the ONLY negative that I have found with the revo.

With the turbo fins my friends in Outbacks go just as fast, if not faster than me on reg fins. Or maybe I'm just lazy.

I have a Revo and when I go out without my bait tank, I have a milk crate that fits just fine where the bait tank goes with 3 rod holders attached to the crate.

[QUOTE=-scallywag-;71205]Redsled,

I fished the tandem outfitters for years....awesome yaks!!! Have you guys seen the new Oasis Tandem, about a foot longer than the Outfitter with a front hatch, revo like bow, bait tank compatible, and steering in the front and rear. IMO a way better fishing platform than the TI.

Scallywag,
Thanks for the tip on the Oasis. I'll check it out.

Question 1- Maybe try a Rhyno Bar with 2 or 3 legit west marine rodholders mounted on it. I think Andy has a pic somewhere of a tarpon that he did that to. Sweet set up if you don't regularly carry a bait tank.

Question 2- I have a through hull. The picture is nice, and you get a true water temp. Had it for a couple years with no leaks. I have it mounted kinda just under my seat. I don't notice any disturbance from the mirage drive when i am under way. The way i see it, normal boats are using these things running at 20+ mph and getting good readings. If I'm cruising along at 6 mph, I highly doubt there will be enough disturbance to distort the signal. If it did, it would only affect the top few inches of water, which I don't typically fish in anyways. For the ducer, I would mount it in the flattest area possible, that doesn't get dragged on the ground much during launches/landings.

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/P2230011.jpg



http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/P2230017.jpg

http://i35.photobucket.com/albums/d1...r/P2230018.jpg

I doubt there are many revo owners who have not at some point wished for the gunwhale space and rod holders on an outback. I know I have.

We should just form a hobie co-operative, and pass the models around. Way cheaper :)

I have seen a few sweet looking PVC combo arm rests/ rod holders that could also support the type of crossbar that Bob mentioned.

Does Lowrance make a thru hull transducer for the Elite 5? (not a shoot through, but a drill through).

josh, I have the mad frog gear liberator which I use on my prowler 13.

http://www.madfroggear.com/liberator/liberator.html

actually works really well. not a permanent mount or anything though.

Revo Rod Holders
 

You don't need a crossbar or have to worry about bait tank access if you make a pair similar to one of these. On one I cut slots in the PVC so it would fit, on a better version I ground down the tube. They work great, are fully adjustable, don't get in the way, and give you two options on each holder.

What size pvc is that? How long is the longer tube?