My Hobie Outback Kayak with the Mirage Drive gets wet

The first voyage with my new Hobie Outback proved a wonderous kayaking experience. I spent the previous week modifying my new boat in anticipation of this first trip. Once I launched, put in the mirage drive and started pedaling, a new world opened up.

I was quickly going 3 and 4 miles per hour both up and downriver. I was able to turn on a dime and basically went anywhere I wanted. My first trip was in the bay off the Milwaukie boat ramp.

I pedaled for an hour looking for sturgeon on the finder but saw only salmon. When I did find a group of sturgeon on the bottom of the river, tossed the anchor. My modifications worked flawlessly and I was quickly anchored in the Willamette. I tossed the line in and immediately got hung up on the rocky bottom. I unhooked the anchor release line, retrieved the fishing line and easily went back upstream and retrieved the anchor. I decided to try another location downriver and again easily anchored up and started fishing.

What amazed me was the tremendous stability of the Hobie. My Redfish 10 is a stable boat, but those extra two feet made the Outback comfortable and safe regardless of how much I moved around. I have an info video of the modifications my YouTube Channel, Kayakflyangler.

I wanted to shout out a special thanks to Scappoose Bay Kayaking and Hobie for their help in getting me the boat. With the price of gas shooting up, I have a feeling I will be spending a lot more time fishing for spring chinook from my Outback than from my sled.

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