New Hobie ProAngler 17Tandem

[rogerdodger]

Amazing new fishing boat from Hobie- ProAngler 17T. Heavy and expensive but amazing.

Little history- the exisiting PA12 and PA14 are designed to be feature loaded and easy to configure fishing machines with amazing adjustable Vantage chairs, rod holders along each side, in-hull tackle storage right in front of you and replaceable gear mount boards for sonar/gps/rod holders....propulsion is a nature inspired "Mirage Drive" that you pedal in a back and forth motion which moves flippers underneath side-to-side (push either pedal forward and the flippers are tight up against the bottom so no worries in shallow water). I can pedal my fully loaded PA12 at 2 to 3mph for hours...4mph is a workout and my burst top speed is 5mph....

The PA17T has a weight capacity of 900#! (PA12 is 550#, PA14 is 600#) and comes with 2 Vantage seats and 2 Mirage drives. But it has 3 wells for Mirage drives because the seats can be mounted in several configurations- 2 people both facing forward, 1 person right in the middle, or 2 people facing towards each other (both people still provide propulsion since the forward person facing backwards can pedal a Mirage drive in the center well). There are also 3 tackle storage holds so that regardless of where each seat is mounted, you always have one right in front of your seat...

6 rod holders in the front, 4 at the rear make it possible to carry 10 fully rigged and ready to go rods (PA12 has 4, PA14 has 6). And down each side is a special grab rail that is used to mount all the stuff you need- rod holders, sonars, cup holders...plus all the PA boats come "Lowrance Ready" with transducer mount molded into the bottom and pass throughs for wires (I installed an Elite7 hdi on my PA12 in less than an hour with no drilling!).

wow. cheers, roger

 

[bass]

Ha, they forgot to leave enough runway for the planes to land

Seriously, I think I would rather have a real boat and motor. I think at that size you give up most of the advantages of a portable kayak. I guess the only advantage would be for no motor lakes.

 

[rogerdodger]

Ha, they forgot to leave enough runway for the planes to land

Seriously, I think I would rather have a real boat and motor. I think at that size you give up most of the advantages of a portable kayak. I guess the only advantage would be for no motor lakes.

yeah, they should toss in one of those remote control helicopters to fly off it, the battery/cooler place they put at the stern looks like a perfect 'copter pad...

I did like the Hobie comment on this being a "Guide-style tandem" which makes sense for one-on-one guide trips in areas where a quiet self propelled boat is required and/or just different. The 'quiet+close to nature+close to the water (& sometimes in the water :thumb' aspect of fishing from a kayak is something I think we can agree makes it very different from a boat with motor fisherman delivery system...

I am really glad that we got our Oasis Tandem earlier this year, saved me $3000 over buying one of these!

 

[C_Run]

At what point do these "fishing platforms" cease to be kayaks? I guess if it is longer than it is wide it is still a kayak. I would like to see the addition of some sort of torpedo system as well as a cloaking device like in Star Trek. I like the idea of sending out drones. Good one.

 

[rogerdodger]

At what point do these "fishing platforms" cease to be kayaks? I guess if it is longer than it is wide it is still a kayak. I would like to see the addition of some sort of torpedo system as well as a cloaking device like in Star Trek. I like the idea of sending out drones. Good one.

my criteria has been that a Sit-On-Top kayak must be self draining (sculpers) and have an enclosed floatation hull. this differentiates them from small open boats, drift boats, canoes, stand-up-paddle boards and surf boards...

 

[C_Run]

Once I become too aged and infirm to lift the kayak I have now, I will probably just buy a regular boat. That could be sooner than I think if I keep falling off ladders and **** like lately.

 

[JonT]

I have the ProAngler 12' and I wouldn't trade it for any other kayak. I thought the 14' was overkill - 17' tandem is a few hooks in the head waiting to happen.

 

[JonT]

Hahahah - "Social seating configuration" - they are trying to bring us all back together.

 

[Blackdiamond1983]

I would kill for the smaller version of this. Seeing as how I can't afford a boat motor set up.

 

[rogerdodger]

I would kill for the smaller version of this. Seeing as how I can't afford a boat motor set up.

that would be a PA12 if you want a solo, just like JonT, I love mine. for tandem, the Outfitter is 12' and Oasis is 14' but they are not designed to be fishing machines but lots of us do rig them for some level of fishing, they are narrower so they glide easier through the water, and no fancy captains chairs so you sit lower which is good for keeping upright in swells...

here is a great video of a guy getting rolled in his PA12, he had the seat in the "high" position and lots of gear on deck, so his center of gravity was too high when the swells/wind got hold of him:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKSnRKLJpq0

 

[oregondragonfly]

I rent the mirage 14 when I am in Hawaii great stable boat on the ocean easy to propel with your feet which I can do a lot longer than I can with my arms plus a lot faster and my arms are free to use the fishing pole and maneuvering while fighting a fish ( you have to be fast or the tiger sharks will take your fish) or you can still paddle if you want.