First Hobie outback looking for pictures?

Hoping to get a little help with the layout. Can some of you gentlemen show off you outback gear and layout. I am not that handy but I can replicate

Bing or google it.more than enough there to help.

Congratulations on your new Outback.  My only suggestion, and lesson, which I learned the hard way, is watch as many youtube videos and comb this site as much as you can before you start drilling and cutting and buying, as there are so many cool ways to customize your Outback, depending on how you fish, what you fish for, and conditions you will be fishing in.

Before you mount anything, tape it down, sit in your kayak, make sure you can reach it, make sure it's not going to tangle you up, and make sure it's conveniently located, before you start drilling.  What may look right in concept, may not be practical once you are on the water.

Good Luck.

I'd recommend NOT copying anyone else. Go fishing with it, catch some fish, and the boat will tell you what's needed and where.
It's hard advice to listen to, especially when you're new and you want everything needed, but the Outback fishes fine stock; and you'll thank yourself later. Also, sometimes the best improvements are the things you remove.

Makes sense

I'd recommend NOT copying anyone else. Go fishing with it, catch some fish, and the boat will tell you what's needed and where.
It's hard advice to listen to, especially when you're new and you want everything needed, but the Outback fishes fine stock; and you'll thank yourself later. Also, sometimes the best improvements are the things you remove.

+1

There are some good ideas out there though. I like Roy's idea of mounting a flush mount into one of the front cup holders. 4 tiny holes versus a big hole. I lost my fear of drilling into my kayak long ago but for my GF's kayak it worked out really slick.

But yeah I agree that everyone is a little different. I will say that if you do a lot of trolling I recommend the rod in front crossing over the kayak  unlike a paddle kayak you can't have the butt of the to sticking into the kayak. Also raising the mount with an extender arm seems to help me out.

I'd also add that I try to mount everything on one side to allow clear access for re-entry from the other side.

A couple of general suggestions about rigging kayaks for fishing:

1.  When paddling a kayak, your paddle and arms sweep over a large area of the kayak with every stroke, which limits where you can mount your fishing gear.  Because you have an Outback, you will have more flexibility about where you mount your fishing gear than those who have paddle kayaks, because you may only need to use your paddle to move your kayak a short distance when launching and landing your kayak. On the other hand, if you expect to be doing surf launches, and want to use your paddle when going in and out, you'll want to set up your kayak more like a paddle kayak.

2.  Kardinal_84 is right - leave one side of your kayak free enough of fishing gear so you can easily get into and out of your kayak, and can turn sideways in your kayak to reach things which are behind you.

3.  The advantage of mounting fishing gear on gear tracks rather than on fixed bases which are screwed onto your kayak is that it gives you a lot of flexibility about how you set up your kayak, during a single day, from one day to another, and from one kind of fishing to another.  Tracks also make it easy to improve the way you have set up your kayak as you learn more about what works for you, and allow you to use mounts from several different manufacturers.

4.  Mount your fish finder close enough to your seat so you can reach the controls easily, and so you can view the screen easily.  If you mount your fish finder in front of your feet, it'll be hard to see the screen, and you won't use its features as effectively or frequently because you have to strain to reach the controls.

5.  If you troll, mount your rod holders in front of you where you can monitor the tip of your rod easily.  Mount your rod holders where you can reach them easily without straining.  I avoid mounting rod holders on extenders, because they increase the stress which your rods place on the hull of your kayak.  Because I do a lot of trolling, much of the time I mount a rod holder next to my calf, with the rod crossing my legs at right angles, and far enough back that the rod is a couple of inches behind my toe when my pedal is at the rear end of its range.  If you have short legs, this point will be further back than if you have long legs.  The pictures below show what I mean.





6.  There are various items of fishing gear which you will use regularly during a day of fishing - net, long-nose pliers, scissors, fish club, etc.  Figure out how to mount these items on your kayak or on your life vest where you can get to them easily. 

7.  Set up all your gear so you won't loose it if you manage to flip your kayak, or if you accidentally drop it in the water.  Bungie it down, clip it to something, or leash it.  I use small retracting dog or cat leashes, which work great in fresh water, but might get corroded in salt water.  See the first picture above for an example.  There is a small-dog sized retracting leash on my rod, and smaller fly-fishing sized retractors on the gear in the mesh pockets next to my knees.  Attaching floats to gear is another option, but if you flip, you could end up with quite a yard sale of gear floating rapidly away from you.  Or if a piece of gear falls in the water when you aren't watching, you could paddle off and lose it, even if it floats.

8.  I strap a cooler in the cargo area behind my seat so I can keep fish which I catch on ice.  For fish longer than about 30 inches, I've insulated the area under my front hatch, put a couple of bottles of frozen water in the area, and stash big fish there on ice cubes in a big garbage bag.

And remember, good judgment comes from experience, and experience comes from bad judgment.  This applies to rigging kayaks as well. Expect to choose some gear and mounting options which you later decide are not such a good idea.  On the bright side, you'll probably set up your next kayak much better.

I've found the rod holder extensions to be useful on the outbacks. Lifts the rod higher so my rod can lay more horizontal to the water.



I also recommend a quick release rod holder like the folbe. I'd give folbe an A rating except sometimes the lock mechanism doesn't completely lock. Still I really like it.
Skip to the one minute mark and at 2:45. More than once I've just about thrown other rod holders overboard when a BIG fish is screaming out drag and it basically pins the rod to the holder.

Great thread. Thanks especially to Pete and Kardinal. Awesome Homer kings clip.

Wow...looks like fun....thank you for the thoughtful responses.

Congrats on the new Outback, and welcome to the addiction.

1 1/4 Sch 40 PVC fro the rocket launcher.  Lowrance Elite-4 HDI mounted with a RAM mount in the cup holder and cable passthroughs in the side tray. I removed the rod holder plugs and filled in the screw holes with a hot glue gun.  I also put the sailing rudder on, it turns much better in wind and current.

I think it's a good idea to find a way to get your fish finder base off of the gunwale of your kayak when transporting it, to protect it from the elements and from getting banged or broken.  I mounted a short section of gear track in the cockpit of my Revolution, and move my fish finder base into the cockpit before loading my kayak on my vehicle, as shown below.  I cover the base with a nylon stuff sack to protect it from rain and road dirt.



Some people move their fish finder base to inside their front hatch when transporting their kayak, but that won't work unless the fish finder is mounted pretty far forward, so the cables will reach into the hatch.

It's a good idea to put dielectric grease on all electrical contacts in your kayak to protect the contacts from corrosion.

I remove my FF for transport, and tuck the cables in the cup holder.  Clean gunnels for cartoping upside down.