Stand up kayaks

[Grampa Spey]

Hobie has listened to potential and current customers, and will have on the market a shorter/lighter Pro Angler 12.

Hobie has put a lot of work into listening to customers re this model. It still is a heavy yak, in fact Hobie lists both PA as fishing boats.

However, using a two or three step/loading approach, most of us should be able get this yak into and on the bed of our pickup trucks.

The seat might be the most comfortable boat seat on the market.

It should be at the dealers in June/July. If you want one, you might want to order it before the first batch is sold out. Apparently, many dealers have orders that exceed or equal their first allotment.

If you plan to stand up for casting or searching for fish, you probably should order Hobie's H Bar to lean on and to support you.

http://www.hobiecat.com/kayaks/mirage/pro-angler-12/

Cabela's has some excellent prices on the Freedom Hawks including the new Pathfinder and Freedom Hawks. This is a 4 day only sale on the internet:

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Boati...3Bcat104252580

Anyone have experience with these type kayaks? The outrigger concept looks great, only 49 lbs and the ability to stand up and cast 360 degrees looks good to me for some of the hard to access small waters I fish. Should be easier to carry than a pontoon boat.

A kayak gives you much more mobility than a toon or tube, would allow you to cover much more water, gets rid of the fins and allows you to stand up. Seems like a win win for a portable boat. Any feedback appreciated.

http://freedomhawkkayaks.com/videos.php

[Tony P]

I don't know anything about these but they sure have sparked my interest.
http://www.diablopaddlesports.com/

[Grampa Spey]

They certainly beat using a SUP board to fish from. Most of the SUP users we see are under 40 and often about 30-40, and they were surfers and came to the SUPs as they are easier on their bods. Also, they can use the SUP's in protected lake areas, smaller rivers and bays. They don't need waves and surf to ride their SUP's to have fun.

If you buy one of these, get their raised seat. That bow appears to be similiar to the Hobie Mirage Sport, aka, the wet butt yak.

Then, if you are going to fly fish from these, get some type of h bar that can be attached and raised to get up, hold onto or lean against while fly casting.

Also, attach a drill less anchor trolley to keep the yak in position to be able to fly cast.

The Freedom Hawk 12 yak is similiar but will be more stable with its pontoons/stabilizers extended and its grab/stand up bar. Due to its profile, it, also should be used in protected areas and buy the elite seat to get your butt up and into dryness.

Last but not least, you probably should have two paddles. One is a long kayak adjustable paddle and the other, a stand up paddle to manuever in areas where you don't want to and shouldn't be using a regular yak paddle.

I don't know anything about these but they sure have sparked my interest.
http://www.diablopaddlesports.com/

[ptychocheilus]

Hey Grampa,

There's a few rotomolded poly SUPs that work rather well for fishing, thank you very much.
No H-bar needed, and way lighter than the freedom chicken.

Not convinced? How about a muskie on the fly from an Imagine Rapidfire SUP? (apologies in advance for some slightly saucy language, don't watch if you're easily offended).

http://michaelanderson.smugmug.com/F...JgbkS&lb=1&s=A

[Tony P]

They certainly beat using a SUP board to fish from. Most of the SUP users we see are under 40 and often about 30-40, and they were surfers and came to the SUPs as they are easier on their bods. Also, they can use the SUP's in protected lake areas, smaller rivers and bays. They don't need waves and surf to ride their SUP's to have fun.

If you buy one of these, get their raised seat. That bow appears to be similiar to the Hobie Mirage Sport, aka, the wet butt yak.

Then, if you are going to fly fish from these, get some type of h bar that can be attached and raised to get up, hold onto or lean against while fly casting.

Also, attach a drill less anchor trolley to keep the yak in position to be able to fly cast.

The Freedom Hawk 12 yak is similiar but will be more stable with its pontoons/stabilizers extended and its grab/stand up bar. Due to its profile, it, also should be used in protected areas and buy the elite seat to get your butt up and into dryness.

Last but not least, you probably should have two paddles. One is a long kayak adjustable paddle and the other, a stand up paddle to manuever in areas where you don't want to and shouldn't be using a regular yak paddle.

I was just showing another option to consider. I've been fishing & flyfishing from kayaks for many years. You can see one of my kayaks in Ken Hanleys book "Fly Fishing the Pacific Inshore". going from a sitting to a standing position in any type of kayak no matter how stable it is will challenge most people regardless of age & once you're standing casting is will also challenge you since any movement in a water craft that small & narrow will move with any movement.
My suggestions to anyone who would like to get in this type of water craft should go paddle all of the different models the are considering before plunking down the cash. Once you figure out what you want the possibilities for rigging them are endless. Just my .02

[Adam Grace]

I have seen an increase in fishing shows revolving about kayak fishing. It looks like there are more option now. Personally the mirage drie system looks cool but I would be apprehensive about buying on without trying one out. I am concerned that the fly line/stripped in line would tangle around the mirage system. Does anyone have experience with a Hobie with this drive system?

[Grampa Spey]

About 6 decades ago, I bought my first fly rod, a telescoping metal one. My Dad was an excellent fly fisher, however as a teenager I knew better. I told my Dad, I could do it by myself and didn't need his help.

After spending my first afternoon getting untangled from things that grabbed my fly line, leaders and flies. I asked for help.

At that point my Dad said to remember anything that stuck out or had sharp angles or was a bush/tree in the water, by the water or behind you, or had been, would grab my fly line and not let go.

As usual he was correct.

The Mirage Drives with the Hobies are great inventions which also love to 'attack' fly lines, leaders, tippet and flies.

We have a Hobie Oasis, a kayak tandem with 2 Mirage units. I was told that they were a great fly fishing vessel. Wrong! Besides the Mirage Units being traps for my two handed fly lines, there are other traps from the bow to the stern. Last not least, the Oasis is a beast for one person re loading, unloading it on any vehicle and getting into and out of the water. We love the beast once we have successfully launched it and pedal it in the water. A non kayaking friend suggested that I put a fairly large fish net over the Mirage units while casting over them. That works.

Even with the Hobie stabilzers/AMAs, the Oasis is not steady enough for me to stand and do anything let along cast.

I went to the Freedom Hawk 12 and now their Pathfinder as they were designed by fly fishers for their use and the rest of us. Their H Bar allows you to stand up and cast while their pontoons/stabilizers are extended. My favorite position is to face the rear and use the Elite seat as a big fly line casting net with the stabilizers in the Y position.

If I face forward or sideways, I use my Wm Joseph casting flyline tender/helper/basket.

Last but not least, long rods don't work that well in a yak, and a big fish has the advantage over you. So even my short Meiser 5/6 10.5' Switch rod is really too long for a fish 2 pounds or more.

With my damaged shoulders and torn rotator cuffs, I can't cast a single handed rod without the added handle/grip on the bottom.

I will have Steve Godshal convert a couple of one handed fly rods. A Sage 9' 4 wt and a 8.5' 5 wt modified to being short two handed rods.

Hobie's new 12 Pro Angler, even Hobie doesn't call its Pro Anglers, kayaks, might be a good platform. Put the h bar on it for stability and to help you stand and set down. After you drop anchor or use a stake out pole to keep your yak in position to cast, put a net or small blanket over the Mirage unit to avoid snagging your fly line, leader, tippet or flies on the Mirage unit. If your anchor is off your yak's bow, you can use the seat as a big basket to catch your fly line.

I have seen an increase in fishing shows revolving about kayak fishing. It looks like there are more option now. Personally the mirage drie system looks cool but I would be apprehensive about buying on without trying one out. I am concerned that the fly line/stripped in line would tangle around the mirage system. Does anyone have experience with a Hobie with this drive system?

[atavuss]

I have seen an increase in fishing shows revolving about kayak fishing. It looks like there are more option now. Personally the mirage drie system looks cool but I would be apprehensive about buying on without trying one out. I am concerned that the fly line/stripped in line would tangle around the mirage system. Does anyone have experience with a Hobie with this drive system?

I have had a Hobie Pro Angler for almost 3 years, the only fly fishing I do out it is trolling with Wooly Buggers, the fly line will end up wrapped around the Mirage drive if you try to cast out of it, the smaller Hobies may be worse because they have less room around the drive unit. It may be easier to use the H bar and keep your line on the front deck if you want to fly fish out of a PA. I have a H bar but have not installed it yet and I have never stood in the PA. when I was looking to buy a PA I could not find one to demo so I bought one without trying it, I have not regretted that decision. The PA is super stable and you would have to really work on falling out of it. This picture was at Heenan Lake:

[Grampa Spey]

Great picture and story.

We took the straps off of our Mirage paddles on our Oasis two years ago. It took us about 1-2 minutes to get used to pedalling without straps. Without straps we can get our feet in pedaling positions quickly. We both feel more comfortable without the strap, and we have pedalled up to an hour without the straps with average speed over 3 mph and able to hit 6 mph for a quarter of a mile.

Also, I can wear my Korkers which basically are my shoe/boot of choice while yakking. If we are wearing our waterproof kayak pants with the built in feet, the larger shoes/sandals/Crocs/Korkers needed to fit over the feet of the pants, do not fit into the Mirage straps.

Install your H Bar and try putting that great net over your Mirage pedals. That should work for flyfishing.

The H Bar will make your PA into an even better fishing machine and easier to get it launched.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnDftsLMW3k

I wish that I could have an H Bar for our Oasis. Now, I hold our Oasis until my wife gets in, then I straddle the yak in front of the rear seat and sit down. Then, my wife either pedals or paddles forward until we can Mirage out. It works but isn't a picture of style and grace/ease as in the video in the above link.

I have had a Hobie Pro Angler for almost 3 years, the only fly fishing I do out it is trolling with Wooly Buggers, the fly line will end up wrapped around the Mirage drive if you try to cast out of it, the smaller Hobies may be worse because they have less room around the drive unit. It may be easier to use the H bar and keep your line on the front deck if you want to fly fish out of a PA. I have a H bar but have not installed it yet and I have never stood in the PA. when I was looking to buy a PA I could not find one to demo so I bought one without trying it, I have not regretted that decision. The PA is super stable and you would have to really work on falling out of it. This picture was at Heenan Lake:

[atavuss]

I also took the pedal straps off a long time ago. In the picture you can see a 1 oz. fishing weight on the bottom back of each pedal, this makes the pedal stay in position so I can get my feet right on the pedal without fumbling around trying to position the pedal. I believe the new drive units have a piece of bungee cord that holds the pedals in a more upright position.