Shakedown Trip for "New To Me" Hobie Revo - Lake Merwin

I acquired a used 2011 Hobie Revolution 13 kayak from Jammer last week. Before outfitting it with rod holders, fish finders, and the likes I decided to take it for a shakedown fishing trip to Lake Merwin. I had never fished this lake before largely because it is a trolling fishery and I found that my 9.5' WS Pamlico kayaks are just not fit for trolling. It was time to put the Mirage drive in action. However, I did upgrade to a sailing rudder and and turbo fins before heading out.



I had the lake all to myself in the morning and except for the warbling calls of loons it was absolutely silent and gorgeous. I goofed around for a few hours pushing my physical limits on the boat as far as speed and sketching out ideas for gear placement. I also trolled a couple pink and green hoochies with dodger flashers running about a foot up above them. I hooked into a couple nice 15" rainbow which will be pan-fried in the coming days. I also hooked something much larger that after couple minutes of gently playing it broke my 10 lb line like it was nothing. I assume this must have been a big Bull Trout. It was a great day on the water in my new to me boat. Which I have christened the Redd Raider.





First impressions and ideas for my Hobie Revolution:

1.) Mirage drive - I love...love...love it. I covered 10 miles today with ease. I can't even begin to say how great it is to have my hands free while covering ground and fishing. It is very easy to maintain speeds anywhere from 1 to 4 mph without effort and makes trolling a breeze. I hardly noticed not being able to go in reverse except for at the ramp where you just need to plan accordingly.

2.) Rudder - I have never used a boat with a rudder but am impressed with how nimble a 13' boat can be with one. However, with the new sailing rudder on the boat I am unable to raise the rudder from the cockpit. Any ideas?

3.) Seating - I must say I must have been spoiled with the WS Phase 3 seats because the Hobie seats kind of suck. I was in the boat for 6 hrs today and my butt hurts. The back is nice but I will definitely need to add some cush for the tush.

4.) Outfitting - I've been looking over Rawkfish's Revo for ideas and spending time on the water today helped me sketch the layout for my boat.

- Rod Holders - For some reason it feels more natural for me to reach forward with my right arm and backward with my left so I think I will put one elevated rodholder on the starboard side of the boat forward of the chair and one just aft of the seat near water level on the port side.

- Rod storage - Going to follow Rawkfish on this one with his aft rod storage system.

- Fishfinder - I just order a Lowrance Elite4 (on sale at Cabelas right now for $50 off). I'll probably run this just aft of the front hatch using the sail mount.

- GPS - even though the fishfinder I ordered has a chartplotter I still think I would like to mount an Etrex right next to seat on the starboard side so I can monitor my trolling speed. This will come in handy for springer, kokanee, and walleye fishing.

- Storage - going to order a seat storage bag from Crack of Dawn, probably sew my own insulated fish bag for the back, and work on a way to store tackle in the more readily accessible hatches.

- Go Pro mounts - Still not entirely sure yet. Definitely want one up front facing aft but trying to figure out how to mount one of the port or starboard side without it getting in the way. 

With the crappy weather I should have plenty of opportunity to outfit the boat before the winter steelhead arrive. I would appreciate any suggestions on outfitting this boat.

A pair of 16" Yak Attack tracks mounted on the gunwales in front of the mesh pockets will give you all kinds of options and flexibility, and you can put rod holders and other equipment from a variety of manufacturers in the tracks.

Nice fish!  How hard did you pull on your rudder? I have the sailing rudder on my outback and have to pull pretty hard to get it to pop up. I also have problems with the seat. I bought a couple foam seat pads at Dick's for $6 each. One for the seat and one for the back. They helped quite a bit and didnt break the bank. I have my current fish finder mounted in the sail mast. I like it there because its out of the way and its easy to see while you are looking up, instead of having to look down or to the side all the time. However, I just purchased an Elite 5 and am not sure if i should install it closer so that i can mess with it easier while fishing. I'm not sure how important it is to have it within arms reach. Maybe someone who has a similar fishfinder will chime in. Also, doesnt the Elite4 display your trolling speed?

One trick I learned about raising the rudder, (I have an outback with a sailing ruder) turn your rudder all the way to the right then raise it. It puts a straight line on the pull string back at the rudder, if not when the rudder is straight the pull string is at a 90 deg angle. Look back at the rudder you'll see what I mean. Learned this trick on my own, and it makes a BIG difference. Hopes this helps. ....

A prediction about your fish finder:  If you mount it on the sail mount, you'll rarely change the view or the settings, make waypoints, and do all the other cool stuff you can do with a fish finder, because in order to push the buttons you'll need to slide forward out of your seat and stretch forward over the pedals and past your toes.  If you mount the fish finder on one of the gunwales where it's within easy reach, you'll mess with the fish finder all the time, and the fish finder will be much more useful.  Another disadvantage of mounting the fish finder on the sail mount is that it will be harder to read the screen than it will be if you mount the fish finder closer to you on the gunwale.

A prediction about your fish finder:  If you mount it on the sail mount, you'll rarely change the view or the settings, make waypoints, and do all the other cool stuff you can do with a fish finder, because in order to push the buttons you'll need to slide forward out of your seat and stretch forward over the pedals and past your toes.  If you mount the fish finder on one of the gunwales where it's within easy reach, you'll mess with the fish finder all the time, and the fish finder will be much more useful.  Another disadvantage of mounting the fish finder on the sail mount is that it will be harder to read the screen than it will be if you mount the fish finder closer to you on the gunwale.

That is a good point.

Two more suggestions:

1.  Hobie's run-wiring-through-the-hull plugs work great.  I highly recommend them.

2.  I like to keep a lot of stuff (clothing, lunch, sunscreen, etc.) in the storage area in front of the seat.  In this storage area, you need to keep gear in a dry bag, not so much out of concern that the kayak will fill up with water, but because every time you open the hatch, water runs off the top of the hatch into the storage area.  It helps to flip the hatch open all the way real fast.  The dry bag(s) need to be small enough to go into the hatch.  Flexible bags are easier to get into the hatch than stiff bags.  Even with a flexible bag, you'll probably want to leave the bag only partly loaded when jamming it into the hatch.  It's a pain in the ass to dig stuff out of standard roll-top bags when they're down in the storage area.  I use two 10-inch diameter waterproof duffle style dry bags, because they have a great big opening, and it's easy to dig around in the bag while it's in the storage area.  You can slide the duffle bag forward and backward in the storage area while rooting around in it.  One of the waterproof duffles is an old Watershed dry bag with the ziplock seal, but Watershed doesn't make a 10" diameter bag any more.  The other is a Mad Water roll top waterproof duffle bag I recently bought. I put one bag to the left of the hatch, and the other to the right of the hatch, with their openings pretty much under the hatch.

You guys are awesome!

I notice that YakAttack has two different GearTracs a 0.9" and a 1.75". Is there any advantage of one over another.

I really like the idea the gear tracs as I can pull everything off when I am out crabbing and don't need to worry about it getting caught up in the crab pots.

The wide track is wider than the Revo gunwales, and with the mounting holes on the edges, you will not be able to use every mounting hole. The narrow track will fit on the gunwale without hanging over and has one set of holes down the center. You will be able to mount both styles solidly enough to handle your rod holders and electronics, so that is not a problem. I like the look of the narrow model better on the Revo.

Thanks guys. Does anyone know if the Apex or Surf-to-summit bags can be mounted on the back of Hobie seats?

Thanks guys. Does anyone know if the Apex or Surf-to-summit bags can be mounted on the back of Hobie seats?

Excellent job! You'll love the revo, your wife will probably hate it The bags will fit, just not real well. I have the surf to summit but I haven't been able to get it to mount up real well. Rawkfish has one too and I think he did a better job of mounting it than I. There is some pictures of it around here some where.

Excellent job! You'll love the revo, your wife will probably hate it

She'll hate it because I'll catch more fish than her. She is a fish killing machine. Thanks for the advice on the bag.

Thanks guys. Does anyone know if the Apex or Surf-to-summit bags can be mounted on the back of Hobie seats?

yes..  you just have to get creative.  It requires a couple zip ties and melting a few holes in the lip of the  hobie seat.

I chose the 1.75 track for two reasons, even though they are horribly expensive:

(1) They are wider and have two lines of screw holes, rather than a single line of bolt holes down the middle, and thus are better able to resist the leverage placed on them by rod holders.

(2) They are easier to mount, because you don't need to worry about the shape of the area under the gunwale or obstacles under the gunwale such as cast-in nuts.  Just find a flat spot on top of the gunwale, drill holes, and put in the screws. 

When I mounted the tracks on my 13' Revolution, I couldn't put screws in two of the screw holes because the inside edge of the gunwale zig-zags in and out.  But there are still 14 screws holding down the track, which should be more than enough.

I second pretty much everything everyone said.  I have an Elite 4 and I recommend putting it closer to you, so you can push the buttons and read the display.  Also, you can change the setting so that it displays your speed.