NEWB looking for first yak, advice welcome.

hello evryone, joined this wonderful site a week or so ago and been readin up on lots of info here and have learned a lot to this point, looked at lots of kayaks, reviews and so forth, seem to be lots of very good yaks out there and so makes the choice of which one to get so much harder, but got it narrowed down to hobie at least, like the looks of em and when i was a kid goin fishing with my dad, I was the motor in a 12' aluminum skiff so had my fill with paddeling, unless i have to...
looking at either the revo 13, the outback or PA14, 90% of my trips will be off the southern oregon coast for rock fish an ling cod an perhaps halibut, dont have any experience in a yak as of yet but spent lots of time in canoes.
woud like to hear thought from you guys who have experience with these kayaks, i know most of you say to demo them first, but the nearest place that has demos is several hundred miles away.
hope to have one by jan or feb and possibly meet up with someone in the brookings gold beach area to go out with, thanks.

hi danr.  You can demo in coos bay (waxers) or in redding (headwaters).  I have a revo 13 and like it a lot.   I'm not in the valley much this time of year or I'd let you take mine for a spin.  the PA is a great boat but its a bit of a beast to haul around.

Kayak fishermen are still a novelty in brookings.  during the chetco bubble this year I had a couple people actually taking my picture and talking like we were the baddest craziest people ever, the concept was just that foreign to them.

there's lots of lakes to fish too and if you're only getting one boat you might want the pa or outback, especially if you are sight fishing at selmac etc. and want to stand up.  It's darn hard to do that in the revo.

When its laid down between winter storms brookings is fantastic.  post up when you get a boat and I'll try and head out.

Welcome danr.  I too was in the same boat as you back in August. Being an outdoorsman that is boat poor....4 power boats, an inflatable dinghy, 2 belly boats, a canoe and a pontoon raft....the SOT kayak rage had not hit me until then. My research advantage was from maintaining a website and FB page that catered to reporting the success of fishermen in AK and so about 5 years ago a few brave souls discovered offshore fishing for halibut and salmon from a kayak. So I had the luxury of watching and reporting on this growing activity as an integral part of my research. One individual in my area stood out as being very knowledgeable from firsthand experience and I pounded him with so many emails asking questions that I had to create a Mail Folder specifically for our communications. 

My choices came down to a "must" for hands free fishing, i.e. no paddling and the leader of the pack in that department was Hobie and their innovative Mirage Drive. My choices, just like where you are leaning, was a PA or an Outback. Either were in my price range. As a complete newbie in kayaking my final decision was to go with a utility vehicle and not the Cadillac Escalade. I can easily sell my first craft in the future (or keep it as a spare for friends to use) and bump up to something with more features. But I was advised to start with a solid basic rig that is well proven by thousands of anglers and most importantly proven in my local waters -- and just as important, easy to transport. Get to know the sport with something that is the WW II jeep first that won't let you down.  The PA even in the 12 is heavy and the 14 almost unwieldy in weight. No cartopping either model for 90% of the vehicles and humans manhandling them. The Outback at about 85# stripped for loading is still like handling a sack of cement if you have the wrong vehicle configuration. 

I chose the Outback in "safety" Papaya yellow for obvious reasons as I plan to be out on lumpy ocean waters where small craft are difficult to keep track of. I also bought the Sidekick outriggers for the times when I want to stand up and pull crab pots or fly fish on the local lakes.

This next year just about every manufacturer of kayaks is coming out with or already have pedal powered kayaks. But it appears that all that I've seen are propeller drive units. I'm sure they have their place and appear to be as efficient as the Hobie system but the Mirage Drive is much more forgiving and versatile when floating waters with shallow bottoms or submerged obstructions than a stiff "lower unit & prop" that could create unsafe situations in moving waters during an impact scenario. One last benefit of the Mirage Drive is you can fold it up against the hull when fighting a fish and eliminate the chance of the line tangling. Not so easy with the prop jobs.

Good luck on your final choice. Youtube has thousands of ocean kayaking vids. Just search for your models of interest and you will have a lot of second opinions to help in your decision.

Welcome Danr!

Yup. Hit up Waxers. Given them a call and let em know what you would like to demo and they will set up a time with you. Revos and Outbacks are probably the most popular of the Hobies for those waters. Its a tough choice to decide to go with more stability and deck space with the Outback or more speed and efficiency with the Revo. Either way is a win in my opinion. The PA is a beast, and has its place, but not as friendly in current, wind, swells, waves etc. I consider that a "trailer boat" as well.

This time of year the opportunities to get salty are limited. Just keep an eye on here for meet-ups when there is a window of opportunity. Go with a group or a buddy and absorb what you can on gear and rigging and such. Start with the safety and immersion gear first of course before you go.

hey thaks guys for the responses an great advice,klondik its funny you would say go for the"utility vehicle an not the caddy" cause after seein the pa i kept tellin myself i have to have it, it looks so damn tough and thought i would look good on it, but you are right, dont have to have all the bells and whistles.
thanks crash may have to take a trip to redding for a demo, and hopefully by feb i will be another one of those crazy people heading out the chetco.

I was in the same "boat" as you last year only I ran out of money so it was either loose my deposit or buy a Hobie and that is what I did.  I am actually looking into buying a second Kayak for up here in Alaska now just debating on which one.  I went with the Outback, our waters up here are cold like yours down there and they are really maneuverable. I have a Nissan Extera so my roof rack can pretty much support any weight Kayak.  I know rodgerdodger  the guy with the king in in the picture of the month photo has an outback and an I11s, which I am going to copy.  Just make sure you get the sailing rudder and if you get the older models the turbo fins.  they are worth every penny, you also do not have to go with the lowrence fish finders if you don't want to you just need to rig it up differently because the transducer plate is made for the lowrence.  one of our guys up here has a lot of information and a website if you lookup halibut fishing in Alaska.  Good luck and tight lines!

Make sure you can turn a PA right side up if you need to.  I know a couple of folks who can't right theirs when they flip it unless they're standing on the bottom.

Maybe they need pointers from the good folks here?
 

Make sure you can turn a PA right side up if you need to.  I know a couple of folks who can't right theirs when they flip it unless they're standing on the bottom.

Maybe they need pointers from the good folks here?

This is another trade-off. We usually focus on speed vs. stable, but I have come to understand that the wider kayaks are not only harder to right, but harder to pull yourself onto, because until you get your center of gravity over the near gunwale, you are just going to pull the far side over on top and roll it again. With a narrower kayak it is not only easier to reach the far side handle, it is easier to get your bellybutton inboard and keep it right side up as you remount.

So while the Revo is a sportier ride, and will put you in the water quicker, it is probably easier to get back into than the Outback, and you can straddle the Revo to stabilize it. Try that with an Outback and you can really hurt your....parts. OTOH, with the landlord around, you don't want to dip your toes in the water to stabilize the boat. OTOOH, you don't want to be in the water and have a harder time getting back in, while the aforementioned landlord sizes things up. OTOOOH you stand much less chance of being in the water in the first place in the Outback.

Someone can comment on the prospects of getting a PA through the surf.

Check out "MY" Santa Cruz Raptor..  The new G2 model will accept a Hobie Drive unit.  Great in the surf,, there's a few interesting modifications that you might appreciate.   The adapter will float the mirage drive if dropped overboard.
   As far as righting it after flipping..  Rolling it back over and getting in is easy.      Jump to the 2 minute mark in this video which shows the G1 model.
   https://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=490430371006293&saved

   These are now molded in Bellingham WA.   Still very new ( just released this year )  I'm delivering one to Headwaters in Lodi this afternoon.
   Hoping to get up north to deliver one for Crash soon...  ( Not forgot about you Doug )

That's cool Jim.

I have been crabbing off the G2 and playing in the surf the last couple weeks (crab is open in CA in the ocean right now, OR is Dec. 1).  It is an awesome surf boat.  Love how it handles.