Looking for some suggestions/recommendations for pedal-powered tandem kayaks for fishing.

 

Wife and I have been doing tandem fishing in the Crescent Crew kayak for a few years now, but we're looking into upgrading in the future with pedals and she prefer the tandem layout if possible.  This narrows down the options a bit, but what comes to mind for me was the Hobie Mirage Compass Duo / Mirage Oasis; but I'm sure there are probably a few more options out there.  So I figured I'd post on here in case anyone has knowledge/experience in this area.

 

We typically just use it for lake fishing with the occasional river adventure.  We try to minimal, but generally still carry 4-5 rods between us!  I imagine minimizing the paddle needs would be a big quality of life upgrade in this area though.

 

 

 

my friend has the Compass Duo.  he takes his brother out for trout and he says it is awesome.

 

when i met him, he was fishing solo out of it and it was super spacious.  now he has a ProAngler and we dont see the Compass often anymore.  it is LONG!!!  and putting it in the back of his full size truck requires a bed extender.  he uses the inxpensive one from HarborF.  it is slower than my outback.  only one of the pedal drives is the Turbo version.  but even then, it is kinda slow.  

Tandem kayaks and tandem bicycles aren't called the divorce makers for nothing.....lol

Go big or go home. Pro Angler 17T. Or if you ever plan on offshore, Tandem Island. 

any particular reason you wouldnt consider a canoe with electric trolling motor instead? 

4 hours ago, Functional said:

any particular reason you wouldnt consider a canoe with electric trolling motor instead? 

I can think of a lot of reasons. Less stable, louder, have to carry a battery, have to register because of the motor (depending on state), less fishing friendly than a pro angler. 

Not a lot of choices, really for tandem pedal drives.  The tandem Pro-Angler would probably be pretty amazing on water, but I can't imagine lugging one rigged to the water.  I can't imagine it being too fun on the river either, but I could be wrong.

 

So the best choice I see is the Mirage Oasis.  I'd have one if money and storage space was no issue.  I'm not that keen on tandems, but when I take a kid fishing or the wife decides to join me, it would beat a canoe a lot of the time.  The Oasis is not by any means perfect - it has no rails for mounting your rod holders, cleats, etc.  It has little storage as I remember, only a tiny hatch up front, some tiny hatches in the floor, and the best storage is the tankwell, but even that's pretty small.  There are a couple of flush mount rod holders, but not much else.  I'm guessing these have gotten Hobie expensive and run $5k or maybe more now.

 

The good things make it stand out in an uncrowded field.  It has steering controls and the rudder raising mechanism front and rear.  Doesn't seem like much until you think about when that might matter when 2 people are fishing.  It is a Hobie, and pedals like a Hobie.  Don't have one myself, but I'll admit the drive is the easiest to pedal on the market still.  It has the reverse - this is one area where I feel like the other pedal drives are better than the Hobie, but with the Compass you'd have to buy or trade for a reversing pedal drive if you wanted one.  The Oasis is stable enough for me, although I'd try it before you make it yours, especially coming from the Crew, which I suspect is pretty stable.  And it is fast, especially if the two people on the pedals want to make it so.  Shouldn't be a surprise - it's got to be close to 15'.  And it's not super heavy - I know it weighs less than my solo pedal drive (Old Town Predator PDL).  And you could use it on the river if you go occasionally.  

 

There just isn't a lot of demand for a tandem pedal drive fishing (or otherwise) kayak, but I think the Oasis is the best that's available.

11 minutes ago, CountryboyinDC said:

Not a lot of choices, really for tandem pedal drives.  The tandem Pro-Angler would probably be pretty amazing on water, but I can't imagine lugging one rigged to the water.  I can't imagine it being too fun on the river either, but I could be wrong.

 

So the best choice I see is the Mirage Oasis.  I'd have one if money and storage space was no issue.  I'm not that keen on tandems, but when I take a kid fishing or the wife decides to join me, it would beat a canoe a lot of the time.  The Oasis is not by any means perfect - it has no rails for mounting your rod holders, cleats, etc.  It has little storage as I remember, only a tiny hatch up front, some tiny hatches in the floor, and the best storage is the tankwell, but even that's pretty small.  There are a couple of flush mount rod holders, but not much else.  I'm guessing these have gotten Hobie expensive and run $5k or maybe more now.

 

The good things make it stand out in an uncrowded field.  It has steering controls and the rudder raising mechanism front and rear.  Doesn't seem like much until you think about when that might matter when 2 people are fishing.  It is a Hobie, and pedals like a Hobie.  Don't have one myself, but I'll admit the drive is the easiest to pedal on the market still.  It has the reverse - this is one area where I feel like the other pedal drives are better than the Hobie, but with the Compass you'd have to buy or trade for a reversing pedal drive if you wanted one.  The Oasis is stable enough for me, although I'd try it before you make it yours, especially coming from the Crew, which I suspect is pretty stable.  And it is fast, especially if the two people on the pedals want to make it so.  Shouldn't be a surprise - it's got to be close to 15'.  And it's not super heavy - I know it weighs less than my solo pedal drive (Old Town Predator PDL).  And you could use it on the river if you go occasionally.  

 

There just isn't a lot of demand for a tandem pedal drive fishing (or otherwise) kayak, but I think the Oasis is the best that's available.

my friends Hobie Compass has the reverse on one of the pedal drives.  i think you typically put it in the rear port.  his other drive is non-reversable, and not the turbo drive.  it has rails for accessories and two compartments in the floor.  not a bad fishing platform.  they usually float and drown worms for trout in the thing.  and trolling. 

On 2/15/2023 at 4:23 PM, flyfisher said:

Tandem kayaks and tandem bicycles aren't called the divorce makers for nothing.....lol

Lmao.  You know...after a decade of so doing this together.  It really is a rarity!  I don't think we know one couple that does tandem anything since their initial attempt besides us.  To be fair, when my wife and I first started...there were some spats as well.  We did even sink a canoe or two during that time...

 

On 2/16/2023 at 11:10 AM, Functional said:

any particular reason you wouldnt consider a canoe with electric trolling motor instead? 

Cbump mostly covered the reasons.  After trying several over the years, we've gravitated more towards kayaks than canoes personally as well.  Honestly, if not kayaks, I would be open to a jon boat but at that point, you start getting into boat talks in general.  

 

Due to the winter seasons here, the lakes gets huge recreational boat traffic when the water is not hard.  As such, kayaks made it a lot quicker and easier for us to just enter in without dealing with the ramps.

 

On 2/16/2023 at 7:33 AM, Cbump said:

Go big or go home. Pro Angler 17T. Or if you ever plan on offshore, Tandem Island. 

Ha!  You know what, I'm going to look into that...but that 17'--geez!  My running joke with the wife is "Hey, you sure you don't want to just go solo?" so I can get a Pro Angler 14 with the 360 drive.

 

 

On 2/16/2023 at 4:12 PM, CountryboyinDC said:

Not a lot of choices, really for tandem pedal drives.  The tandem Pro-Angler would probably be pretty amazing on water, but I can't imagine lugging one rigged to the water.  I can't imagine it being too fun on the river either, but I could be wrong.

 

So the best choice I see is the Mirage Oasis.  I'd have one if money and storage space was no issue.  I'm not that keen on tandems, but when I take a kid fishing or the wife decides to join me, it would beat a canoe a lot of the time.  The Oasis is not by any means perfect - it has no rails for mounting your rod holders, cleats, etc.  It has little storage as I remember, only a tiny hatch up front, some tiny hatches in the floor, and the best storage is the tankwell, but even that's pretty small.  There are a couple of flush mount rod holders, but not much else.  I'm guessing these have gotten Hobie expensive and run $5k or maybe more now.

 

The good things make it stand out in an uncrowded field.  It has steering controls and the rudder raising mechanism front and rear.  Doesn't seem like much until you think about when that might matter when 2 people are fishing.  It is a Hobie, and pedals like a Hobie.  Don't have one myself, but I'll admit the drive is the easiest to pedal on the market still.  It has the reverse - this is one area where I feel like the other pedal drives are better than the Hobie, but with the Compass you'd have to buy or trade for a reversing pedal drive if you wanted one.  The Oasis is stable enough for me, although I'd try it before you make it yours, especially coming from the Crew, which I suspect is pretty stable.  And it is fast, especially if the two people on the pedals want to make it so.  Shouldn't be a surprise - it's got to be close to 15'.  And it's not super heavy - I know it weighs less than my solo pedal drive (Old Town Predator PDL).  And you could use it on the river if you go occasionally.  

 

There just isn't a lot of demand for a tandem pedal drive fishing (or otherwise) kayak, but I think the Oasis is the best that's available.

 

Thanks for the write-up!  I have a few buddies with the Old Town PDLs and they love them.  If it was a solo kayaker consideration, it certainly would've been on my list to look at.

 

I don't know if they'll ever get there soon due to the limited tandem market, but I think an Oasis with the newer 360 drive may just work.  

 

There is a hidden benefit for my situation though.  Sometimes my wife just like to read while on the water but don't mind helping position the kayak when I'm fishing--built-in Spot Lock!  ?