Below you will find my thoughts, the good with the bad. Being an
ambassador for Mariner-Sails allows me to speak freely about kayaks regardless
of brand and to offer what I feel is advice to both consumers and the
manufacturers. I am very grateful for their support.
Some people may agree, some may not, but these are my thoughts.
For the last several weeks I have been field testing a 2013
Hobie Outback from Mariner-Sails in Dallas, TX. Mike from Mariner installed the
rectangular hatch in front of the seat and I installed two , 4” GearTrac GT-175Rails. Other than that, no modifications were performed to this kayak. I fished
in this kayak eight times, all trips were over 4 hours in length and all were
recorded on video so I could go back and review.
I originally chose the Outback because of a trip to Lake Fork. I
knew with March weather, it could be rough. I didn’t want to be limited by just
my paddling strength and liked the thought of speed and less fatigue that the
Outback represented. I needed to be able to rig it out with my fish finder, a
Lowrance 5X-DSI, fit my BlackPak from YakAttack in it and past that, just be
able to fish and put the kayak on top of my Ford Escape.
With all of these criteria met, I picked up the Hobie Outback in
early February, rigged it out and got to fishing.
The Good
The Outback is light enough to cartop by yourself. At least for
me it was. Anything under 75lbs is typically able to be put on top of a car or
SUV. Some folks are stronger, have load assist bars etc and can do more but if
you have a factory rack or foam blocks, 75lbs is a pretty good threshold. The
Outback comes in under that. My rigged weight was 74lbs.
Though not advertised as such, you can stand and fish in this
kayak. The platform is not quite developed to promote it but I stood and fished
a crankbait out of this kayak with no problems. At 33 inches wide and just over
12 feet long with a tunnel hull, the Outback is very stable. I sat side saddle,
stood and even disembarked by walking straight up the centerline to the bow.
With increasing demand for stable, standable kayaks, this one should be on your
list.
Outbacks come with a rudder already installed and have tiller
steering. For those of us who brace with our feet, this is a great feature. I
spent an afternoon trolling for hybrids by pedaling the Outback while enjoying
a large soda. Not a lot of platforms offer hands free fishing. Another nice
feature to the rudder is being able to stay on a line with the wind blowing.
All rudders offer this but a tiller style is easier in the wind for us
“bracers”.
The Mirage Drive comes with standard fins that are upgradable to
turbo fins which are narrower and generate more power. While the option is
nice, don’t think it necessary to immediately upgrade. The standard equipment
will move this boat well.
The draft on the Outback is much shallower than I thought. With
the fins spread I was able to fish in less than a foot of water multiple times
in many conditions. If you remove the Mirage Drive, the kayak is limited only
by your poling ability. I crossed over a stretch of water standing and poling
the Outback at Lake Fork that was four inches deep.
The back well storage is large. I pack a lot of things when I
fish. Typically, the added gear weighs another 60-80lbs. It has to go somewhere
and above deck is where I like it in freshwater. I was able to store everything
behind my seat and still have room for a small cooler if I wanted.
The front hatch is a nice size. While not the largest of front
hatches in the market, the Outback has enough clearance to stow rods, paddles
and other gear below deck. The sail post just in front of the hatch also gives
easy access to install a fish finder or other accessory post if you don’t plan
on sailing.
The Outback seat is not your normal seat. Usually strap in seats
are flimsy and give you about a four hour max seat time before your back wants
to leave the country. Not this seat. With adjustable support via air intakes
(you just twist) I had no issues fishing six or eight hours without a shoreline
exodus.
The Bad
These are the things I see as needing improvement for future
models. Not everyone will agree but these are what I encountered.
The tunnel hull offers great stability in the water. It makes it
very difficult to transport with other kayaks or by itself while upright. You
cannot stay rigged when transporting this kayak. The hull causes it to lean to
one side which means all of your gear will shift and your rods are at a funky
angle. I suppose you could fix this with PVC, a trailer, Hydro Glide pads from
Thule or something of the like but it still remains a nuisance. Lots of
preplanning has to go into transport.
Straight gunwales are at a minimum. The longest GearTrac I could
add to a front gunwale was four inches. This doesn’t leave a lot of room for
adding accessories and made me think long and hard about where everything would
have to go. A straight eight inch section of space would be nice (that’s NOT in
the recessed areas by the handles).
Move the rear carrying handle already. People have complained
for years that the rear carrying handle is hard to get to and covered by the
rudder in the stowed position. I don’t want the rudder flopping around while
I’m loading and I don’t want any more scratches and cuts from fighting the
rudder while carrying the Outback. Move it to an offset position on the back
and front, four inches from where it is and problem solved.
The Outback is able to be fished standing up currently but is
not designed for it. Steal six inches of the back well and move the seat back
to add a flatter, larger surface just in front of the seat. And while we are
talking in front of the seat, make the rectangular hatch standard so you can
fit a paddle and larger gear underneath.
Summary
The Hobie Outback shines as a fishing boat. It is a nice hybrid
between the sleek, fast Hobie Revolution and its battle cruiser brother the Pro
Angler. If you want a kayak that is able to be car topped, transported via cart
easily, is versatile enough for almost any water and comes with tons of
features built in, this is a great choice.
