Hobie or keep my Malibu stealth 14

[Fish Taco]

Originally Posted by dsafety

Most of the comments posted above are valid and reasonable. IMO, the most valuable feature of the Hobie system is the "hands free" factor. You can go where you want to go while still keeping your hand on your rod making it possible to instantly respond to whatever is on the other end of the line.

If this is important to you, then Hobie is the way to go.

That said, many of us are regularly out-fished by folks with better skills on other platforms.

Bob

This has been an interesting thread for sure... and the debate continues... but, I have a question for all of you Hobie mirage drive users...

I water tested a Hobie Outback before I made a decision not to go with a Hobie mirage drive system... and this is why... My experience while testing this kayak was that while underway, feet in stirrups and pedaling away... I felt like I almost needed to grab the sides of the kayak seat to get the proper leverage while pedaling. I tried to pedal without grabbing the bars on the sides of the seat (I think there were some sort of bars or handles there, can't remember exactly) but anyway... I wasn't comfortable being totally hands free while pedaling. I felt as if my feet were positioned too high in the air. Now I'm about 5' 8" tall and have somewhat short legs (28" inseam) but still felt as though this shouldn't have been an issue for me. The guys at the kayak place didn't offer any solutions or suggestions when I explained that I felt like I kept wanting to hold on at the side of the seat while paddling... so I just figured that that is the way it is with a Hobie Mirage Drive... and my conclusion at that point was... "What's the point of pedaling if you can't comfortably free up your hands - I mean, isn't that the whole point of the mirage drive?" I wanted a yak that I could fish from more than anything else. Needless to say, I was kinda bummed that it didn't work out for me with the Hobie. Although, my eye was always on the Stealth series from the get-go too, but really wanted to give the Hobie a fair try.

That being said, it wasn't until recently that I heard one Hobie user tell me that all I needed to do was raise the seat up some, and I would have been fine. Hmmm, nobody ever suggested that to me before, not even the owner of the kayak outfitter who was pushing me to buy the same boat he had, the Hobie Outback. I am happy with what I ended up with however, and I purchased a killer Stealth 14 from OEX in Mission Bay from CJ, who helped me rig it just the way I wanted it, complete with a Bassyaks motor & lift kit.

But I do wonder if any of you Hobie users have ever experienced what I did, and the urge or need to want to grab the side of the seat to get leverage while pedaling... or have any of you heard of this, and/or remedied it by raising your seat?

I'm just curious is all. The one thing I DO really like about my Stealth is that I can get into very skinny water without worrying about the mirage drive fins... where I live out here in New York (Long Island's North shore) there is plenty of flats and estuaries to fish from that hold large striped bass feeding on small baitfish, sand eels, grass shrimp, etc. and this yak will be easy to get in skinny water where other boats cannot.

Thanks in advance for sharing your thoughts and experiences with using your Hobies and what you encountered with leverage and pedaling.

Tight lines!

- Ken