Fishing Victoria Forum

Bare with me Bear if I haven't lost you after that terrible Dad joke.

About 2 years ago I purchased a Hobie pedal kayak to predominantly cast lures for Bass & Estuary perch. The advantage of the pedals is I am able to maintain position and get plenty of casts at a snag especially in tidal situations. The Hobie drive I have is the 180 which allows you to operate in forward or reverse ideal for holding position or backing out of timber when recovering snagged lures. Would not find flicking lures as easy without the pedal system.

cheaterparts wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 17, 2020 5:03 pm

4liters wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 17, 2020 12:04 pm

- Is a sounder needed? In theory? No. In practice? Yes, it makes a huge difference and the sounder not working is usually enough for me to pack up and go home.

I agree with 4litres and not to find fish so much but to find structure - trust me you are not going to paddle/pedal all over the bay looking for fish but you may need it to find reefy bits or channel drop offs and maybe to find bait balls that fish maybe around

Am yet to get a sounder for my yak and manage to catch fish but it's still on my list. It will allow me to find snags and fish easier and map out the river better in regards to locations of submerged structure. These can be fitted down the track and sometimes I think anglers should work on the basics of boat and kayak fishing before learning sounders. You will still be able to get plenty of fish without it.

Just an alternative view..

I havent kayaked for a few years now so i have no idea of the current prices of the Hobie peddle yaks but 8 or so years back i was also looking at getting one however after reading a lot of Cheaters posts here and on Vyak i decided to go with a MUCH cheaper Wavedance Kingfisher. I was able to pick one up new for about $700 with a seat and paddle IIRC. That left me with plenty of money for safety gear etc.

Although i never got around to adding a sounder it did get me out on the water and i would say at over 4 metres in length it is an ideal starter kayak for the bay that is fairly fast and very stable and tracks perfectly straight without a rudder. I never felt uncomfortable on that thing, even in some fairly heavy chop.

SteveoTheTiger wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:34 pm

Just an alternative view..

I havent kayaked for a few years now so i have no idea of the current prices of the Hobie peddle yaks but 8 or so years back i was also looking at getting one however after reading a lot of Cheaters posts here and on Vyak i decided to go with a MUCH cheaper Wavedance Kingfisher. I was able to pick one up new for about $700 with a seat and paddle IIRC. That left me with plenty of money for safety gear etc.

Although i never got around to adding a sounder it did get me out on the water and i would say at over 4 metres in length it is an ideal starter kayak for the bay that is fairly fast and very stable and tracks perfectly straight without a rudder. I never felt uncomfortable on that thing, even in some fairly heavy chop.

Nothing wrong with an alternative view SteveO I think the correct kayak to use comes down to how the owner want's to fish. Cheater always provides good info on his kayaks and your post definitely backs it up.

SteveoTheTiger wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 17, 2020 6:34 pm

Just an alternative view..

I havent kayaked for a few years now so i have no idea of the current prices of the Hobie peddle yaks but 8 or so years back i was also looking at getting one however after reading a lot of Cheaters posts here and on Vyak i decided to go with a MUCH cheaper Wavedance Kingfisher. I was able to pick one up new for about $700 with a seat and paddle IIRC. That left me with plenty of money for safety gear etc.

Although i never got around to adding a sounder it did get me out on the water and i would say at over 4 metres in length it is an ideal starter kayak for the bay that is fairly fast and very stable and tracks perfectly straight without a rudder. I never felt uncomfortable on that thing, even in some fairly heavy chop.

I kept count of the gummies I caught on my first kayak also a wavedance kingfisher it was just over a 100 in the first year of kayaking and back then I think I bought the kayak and set up with a black and white sounder ,rod holders , anchor and anchor trolley paddle and seat for around $ 1200 all brand new
my PB snapper also came on that 91 cm and 8.84 kg

still have a soft spot for the old kingy caught a lot of fish on it - and it's still in my avatar

One of the biggest difference I feel between foot pedal kayak and hand paddle kayak, is when fishing near structures.

In open water, drifting or anchoring, you'll have no issue.
But when you want to stay in place targeting/casting to structures while drifting, the foot pedal can be handy. As you can use both hands while your feet maintaining position.
Imagine below, that green is a big as cod and you're trying to cast and keep the lure in place, using both hands to retrieve the lure. But the drift takes you away.

With hand paddle, you have to keep switching holding the rod/reel and use one hand to paddle. With foot pedal, you can keep using your both hands on the rod and reel.
Watch Hawksey fishing video of him fishing port melb pylons where every now and then he uses his net with one hand to reverse while the other hand holding the rod fighting the fish.
There's also mini one hand peddle you can purchase instead of using a net like Hawksey.

But as said, in open water, no issue. As cheaterparts said, there are a lot of good hand paddle kayaks for the same or cheaper than foot pedal kayaks.

So back to what you want to do/use with the kayak.

I had a 4.3m hand peddle kayak before and for the stuff I do (learnt from that drifting thing on my doodling and port melb pylons like hawksey), I decided to sell and bought Slayer 10 foot propel kayak.

What a great thread.
No bitching, no fighting
Just good sound advice
Cheers Gra
Seb - that arts degree was a waste of time

Texas wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 18, 2020 1:29 pm

What a great thread.
No bitching, no fighting
Just good sound advice
Cheers Gra
Seb - that arts degree was a waste of time

Haha
My 5 year old nephew can draw better than that I'm sure.

Yes good thread.

For sounders it depends a little on where, how and what your fishing for how necessary it is and what model you are after. If you are looking to head out in ppb or wp chasing snapper and gummies one of the more basic units is well and truly enough to find reefs, channels, flats and a few fish. A more expensive model with sidescan definitely helps here but isn't essential imo. If you are fishing lures in shallower water <3m sidescan is extremely useful, lets you find fish and structure without needing to go directly over them, finds fish that are in an area but a bit more spread out and allows you to effectively target them without spooking. A few other things I wanted to add about pedal yaks etc. but a bit short on time atm but the biggest thing imo is establishing what sort of fishing suits you and picking a kayak based on that

Sebb wrote: ↑

Wed Jun 17, 2020 9:47 pm

One of the biggest difference I feel between foot pedal kayak and hand paddle kayak, is when fishing near structures.

In open water, drifting or anchoring, you'll have no issue.

I totally agree about fishing near structure. It would be much easier in a peddle yak. In my longer and harder to turn kayak i sometimes found it very awkward trying to navigate near the pylons at the RAAF jetty at Point Cook.

But i also would have liked the foot peddles when i hooked fish in open water. Quite often the line would be trailing back behind the kayak and it would have been much easier to spin around with peddles while working the rod and reel.

If i had money to burn, i would have definitely gone for a Hobie. Sure they cost a lot, but i think there popularity speaks for itself. There is obviously a lot of very happy owners so i dont think you are just paying for the brand name in this case. But there are certainly cheaper and still perfectly viable and safe alternatives.

SteveoTheTiger wrote: ↑

Thu Jun 18, 2020 7:24 pm

If i had money to burn, i would have definitely gone for a Hobie. Sure they cost a lot, but i think there popularity speaks for itself. There is obviously a lot of very happy owners so i dont think you are just paying for the brand name in this case. But there are certainly cheaper and still perfectly viable and safe alternatives.

Hobie PA is a great kayak to use for what its designed for, nice and stable, always dry, popular with great reviews, easy to modify, etc. But it's a bit heavy, trailer is recommended. Even outback is a great yak. Easy to find a second hand hobie yak.
I bought Slayer10 propel because it's much lighter and the ability to instant reverse. But not as popular, can be tricky to modify compared to hobie.
While hobie needs 180° drive or the newer more expensive 360° drive to reverse.