What's Your Favorite Feature of Your Fishing Kayak?

A

angelaclarksons

Freshly Spawned
Hey everyone! I'm Angela, and I'm thrilled to join this community of fishing enthusiasts. I've been passionate about the great outdoors for as long as I can remember, and fishing kayaks have become my favorite way to explore new waters and reel in some exciting catches.
There's something incredibly freeing about being out on the water with just my fishing kayak and a few rods, ready for whatever the day might bring. I'm always on the lookout for tips and tricks to improve my setup and make the most of my fishing kayak adventures.
Whether you're a seasoned pro or just starting out with fishing kayaks, I'm excited to connect, share stories, and learn from all of you. Let's make some waves and catch some fish together!
 
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SurfnFish said:
on calm summer days two of my buddies, Gaz and Shawn (both RIP too goddamn soon) used to prone paddle longboard surfboards from the cove out to the Rock at Kiwanda, milk crate for the catch bungied to the nose, short spinning rods geared with soft baits, catch Blacks. Those were some core dudes...
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so fun!
 
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This was news to me, and hopefully relatively good news!
Apparently Bass Pro Shops purchased Hobie in September, from the venture capitalists it had been sold to a few years ago. The VC had seemed uninterested in the business of kayaks and consequently parts, etc became hard to come by.
Hopefully an actual sports-oriented owner will bring back some customer service & innovation to the line.
🤞
 
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Northern said:
This was news to me, and hopefully relatively good news!
Apparently Bass Pro Shops purchased Hobie in September, from the venture capitalists it had been sold to a few years ago. The VC had seemed uninterested in the business of kayaks and consequently parts, etc became hard to come by.
Hopefully an actual sports-oriented owner will bring back some customer service & innovation to the line.
🤞
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Gotta be an improvement....after being owned by three successive VC entities intent on extracting whatever value Hobie retained it was looking like a death spiral....
 
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Northern said:
This was news to me, and hopefully relatively good news!
Apparently Bass Pro Shops purchased Hobie in September, from the venture capitalists it had been sold to a few years ago. The VC had seemed uninterested in the business of kayaks and consequently parts, etc became hard to come by.
Hopefully an actual sports-oriented owner will bring back some customer service & innovation to the line.
🤞
Click to expand...
When the news broke in September my first thought was I hope they can right the ship. The brand is in a bad place.

I'm curious to see how BPS handles warranties, outstanding and future. I'd be stoked if you could buy replacement parts in real time from an online inventory instead of waiting years. Will Hobie be exclusive to BPS or will they keep the current network of dealers?

Taking into account what BPS has done to many of the product lines with Cabela's brand doesn't give me much hope Bass Pro will improve Hobie.
 
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Thank god the Swell Scupper 14 and 16 exist. If I was to get back into offshore kayak fishing I would order one of these in a heartbeat.

The best kayak fishing in WA I ever experienced was off limits to peddle boats. Thick kelp beds loaded with firecracker herring. Pulled up the rudder and went deep in the kelp and cast gurglers into small open areas.
 
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I picked a Hobie Compass for its light weight, a mere 68lb empty 😂 but seriously it’s light enough to pick up by myself to load it on the Thule Hullavator (gas strut assisted roof top rack) then on to the top of my 4Runner.
Thanks to @Northern for her advice on this.

Since I don’t have a truck bed it’s my only option, don’t want to pull a trailer because that would defeat the purpose of a simple kayak.

The Compass is pretty stable, I’ve stood up on it in the Sound, light chops. It’s 180 degree reversible drive is pretty sweet, I can troll backward in lakes!

Since then I’ve adapted a Autoboat unit as another mean of propulsion to go in its drive well. It has spot lock, autopilot cruise and auto navigation based on waypoints you can set in its app. The ability to spot lock is so good in squidding, allows you to fish a school of them really well.

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Now that is the ultimate fishing machine! I suspect the electric drive unit (when deployed) even further contributes to the Hobie's inherent stability by lowering its center of gravity.

The use of the modified Hobie scupper cassette to hold the drive is brilliant! It looks like you are able to easily adjust the prop unit depth.
 
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Phil K said:
Tell me about this motor adapter.

I'm seriously considering the new Hobie inflatable angler with 180 drive (once it becomes available.) I'm looking for something that's easy to store and can go in the back of my Honda CRV. 'Not sure I want or need a motor, but it's a nice option to consider.
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I took the Hobie cassette, drilled holes through it and filled the inside with expanding foam to help make it more rigid (not really necessary). A 36lb Newport kayak TM with its head removed goes through it and an Autoboat gps head unit goes on top. You’ll have to do some dremel and epoxy work to fit a piece of the existing TM to get it to sit on top of the cassette. Lots of YouTube videos about the Autoboat head if you’re interested.
 
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