In article ,
(Greg Pavlov) wrote:

There's a large kayak shop not too far away that sells Hobies.
They tried to talk me into one last fall but when I saw that
gear sticking up in the middle of the cockpit, I was turned
off. I guess that I should take a second look: the store has
a pond where you can try out their kayaks.

It would be worth a look. I bought mine from the picture on the Hobie
site. I did try out the pedal system at a shop down in Tampa, the
original mirage and that pretty much sold me. But really, seeing all the
fishing related features on the outback was the clincher. The trays
along the sides were almost enough. The rod holders are nice but I find
that you can not use the front holders to store rods if you are fishing.
They are not really suitable for a fly rod.

My other concern was getting in to very shallow water as I regularly am
in water 6 inches deep and at times it can be less than that to get to
where you want to fish. The flippers do not need to be operated by a
full stroke to keep you moving. I can flutter them about a couple of
inches and still make about 1.5 mph. If you need, you can pull the
pedals out in about 10 seconds with the twist of two knobs. Of course if
you do not want to get out you need to do this before the water is too
shallow to get the pedals in a center position.

I have had mine for a couple of years (I forget when but I got it before
the first Christmas the year the came out whenever that was).

I get a little exccited about the Hobie, sorry. Not so say that there
are not other great paddle yaks. At times I have thought having another
paddle only boat might be nice. There is a new boat that I think is
close on amenities and maybe a few extra. I can not recall the name now.
But it should be available via a Google search. Not sure if it is called
the 'Angler' or 'Fishermen' or something similar. Still, for all around
and particularly if I have a distance to go, wind out or back, rough
water, the Hobie is what I want to be in. I use my leg muscles which
have more endurance than my arms and can go an avg. 3.5 mph all day
long. In a pinch I can sprint for a few hundred yards at 6 - 7 mph.
--
"Atlanta Joe" aka Joe Webb
Flats fishing is Flat Fun!
Visit my site at http://flatsfisher.com