Hello From Beaverton OR. New Pelican 130 Hydryve Owner.

I have had an interest in kayak fishing for the last couple years. It seemed like a great way to get away from the bank and explore new water. I purchased my Pelican The Catch 130 Hydryve from West Marine last month. My first time out I had some great beginners luck and landed a Chinook within my first 40 minutes on the water. I have been out 3 times so far. Twice out of Chinook Landing and once last week out of Rooster Rock where my Hydryve unit failed . The stainless steel fin rod stripped out the brass threads where it connects with the drive body. Pelican was great. I called and they are shipping me a new Hydryve unit. Until that arrives I am going to try blue loctite and if that doesn't work I have Marine JB Weld that should do it.  It has definitely been a learning experience but a whole lot of fun.

Welcome!  I too am from Beaverton and try to fish as often as i can.  Good luck and hope to see you on the water.

Welcome to kayak fishing -- that's amazing good luck to catch a chinook on your first outing within the first hour!!     Looking forward to LOTS more reports from you.

Welcome to the group.  I am in Beaverton as well.  Let's go fishing!

If you want try some bay fishing this Saturday we’re having a tournament in Garibaldi 

If you can’t make it and want to hit the bay let me know, if I’m fishing I’ll give you the local tour.

Welcome! My nephew was actually looking at the same kayak, how are you liking it so far?

Nightvisionary......I bought one also.  There is some things you need to do to it before using so that the drive doesn't break.  I love mine and haven't had an issue with the drive so far.  Also I'm in Gaston out by Hagg Lake.

If you want try some bay fishing this Saturday we’re having a tournament in Garibaldi 

If you can’t make it and want to hit the bay let me know, if I’m fishing I’ll give you the local tour.

Thanks for the invite I would sure like to make it out there with you guys one of these days. Unfortunately my days off are Wednesday/Thursday so I couldn't make it today but I actually launched out of Garibaldi on Thursday the 19th and fished Ghost Hole for Chinook. There were about 20 powerboats out and I was the only kayaker. No luck and I didn't see any nets in the water although one guy had a fish in a cooler bag back at the park. Lots of floating grass midday slowed things down. I hooked two Sculpin and one of my fin rods snapped on the way back so I had to paddle the last mile to Garibaldi.

Welcome! My nephew was actually looking at the same kayak, how are you liking it so far?

When the drive is working it's pretty good. I will post a full review in the next few days however I would say it needs a little bit of work before taking it out of the water.  It has a lot of screw and rivet holes that I think let water seep into the hull. The first time I took it out on the Columbia it  took on enough water that the boat was leaning slightly. When I drained it I would estimate it took on about  3 liters. The boat had already received the recall repair to the rudder mount before I purchased it that would allow water to enter through the mount rivets so that wasn't the issue. I put silicone around almost all the mounts and screws. The third time out after applying sealant I only had about a cup of water in the hull. Pelican definitely has some QC issues to work out on the drive rods and fins but they had a new Hydryve to my door in a week so customer service has been good.

Nightvisionary......I bought one also.  There is some things you need to do to it before using so that the drive doesn't break.  I love mine and haven't had an issue with the drive so far.  Also I'm in Gaston out by Hagg Lake.

What exactly are you doing to minimize drive problems. I had one fin rod detach my second time out after about 5 miles of total use. I originally thought the stainless steel fin rod stripped the brass threads in the drive body but I think the rod was able to rotate within the fin and just buggered up the bottom portion of the brass threads when it finally came loose. It appears that Pelican does not use loctite on these parts.

I think Hagg Lake is scheduled for a big trout restock on the 25th so I plan to get out there soon.