Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge - View Single Post

Wintersun · 07-26-2014, 10:31 PM

I spent years diving from OK Scramblers and a Necky Spike and they were great, especially the Necky, for that use in and around the kelp beds. For surf entries the Necky Spike was better than any kayak designed for fishing.

Fishing with the Necky and later a borrowed Trident 13 I found that 75% of the time I was not fishing but retrieving my line and paddling away from the kelp. Sometimes I could grab some of the kelp and wrap a line around it and use it as my anchor but this was still marginal.

With the Revo I can keep my line in the water while fishing the areas around the kelp and I can troll with one or two rods and with one rod I can better sense when a halibut has grabbed the bait.

I also have noticed that when dealing with strong current and strong winds I am not even fazed when using the Revo. Part of it is the pedal power using my legs and part of it is having a lower profile into the wind than when paddling. It is like the diffference between a standard bicycyle and a recumbent one.

I have greater range with the Revo and going out 10 miles is very doable and I went 5 miles out into Monterey Bay the first day out with the Revo and it was effortless. Adding a sail or a eVolve unit can extend double my range.

I also have more speed if needed though going 4-5 knots instead of 2-3 may not seem like a lot - but with a 2 to 4 knot tidal flow it can make all the difference in the world.

I was apprehensive about the weight of the Hobie boats but have found the 71 lb. weight of the Revo 13 manageable even with my truck's roof racks which are 7 feet off the ground.

The trick is to find a place that will provide a demo boat. I had to make a 2 hour drive to Oakland to demo at California Canoe and Kayak and would expect that to be common for many as Hobie dealers are few in number and of those even fewer are set up to provide boats for a demo.

07-26-2014, 10:31 PM	#29
Wintersun Junior Join Date: May 2014 Posts: 22	I spent years diving from OK Scramblers and a Necky Spike and they were great, especially the Necky, for that use in and around the kelp beds. For surf entries the Necky Spike was better than any kayak designed for fishing. Fishing with the Necky and later a borrowed Trident 13 I found that 75% of the time I was not fishing but retrieving my line and paddling away from the kelp. Sometimes I could grab some of the kelp and wrap a line around it and use it as my anchor but this was still marginal. With the Revo I can keep my line in the water while fishing the areas around the kelp and I can troll with one or two rods and with one rod I can better sense when a halibut has grabbed the bait. I also have noticed that when dealing with strong current and strong winds I am not even fazed when using the Revo. Part of it is the pedal power using my legs and part of it is having a lower profile into the wind than when paddling. It is like the diffference between a standard bicycyle and a recumbent one. I have greater range with the Revo and going out 10 miles is very doable and I went 5 miles out into Monterey Bay the first day out with the Revo and it was effortless. Adding a sail or a eVolve unit can extend double my range. I also have more speed if needed though going 4-5 knots instead of 2-3 may not seem like a lot - but with a 2 to 4 knot tidal flow it can make all the difference in the world. I was apprehensive about the weight of the Hobie boats but have found the 71 lb. weight of the Revo 13 manageable even with my truck's roof racks which are 7 feet off the ground. The trick is to find a place that will provide a demo boat. I had to make a 2 hour drive to Oakland to demo at California Canoe and Kayak and would expect that to be common for many as Hobie dealers are few in number and of those even fewer are set up to provide boats for a demo.