Hobie vs. the others

Wanting to set-up a fishing kayak with the peddles but $2500+ is a little steep. Are these any better than the other brands and why?
Will also want to go out and just cruise with people, does this glide pretty well?
Will be going out in the bay, do I need stabilizers or are they pretty stable?

Yes the Hobie's are better. The Mirage Drive is much more efficient than the pedal drives that spin a propeller. The Mirage Drive is like riding a bike on level ground, the prop drives are like riding a bike up a hill, continuously.

I own both Hobie PAs and Native Mariners with the Propel Drives so I can run them both down for you from my experiences

I personally like the Propel drives on my Native Mariners better than the Mirages drive on my Hobie PA and I disagree about the Mirage having greater efficiency, but both types are great to fish from since they're hands-free. I think I like the Propel drives because the smooth pedaling motion is more natural, and no matter how I try I end up banging the Hobie fins on the bottom of the kayak.I put raised swivel seats on both my Pro Angler and the Natives so the lower leaned-back seat isn't an issue for me. I fish a lot in Tampa Bay with boat traffic and I also river fish and both types of kayaks work well in both waters, and I haven't dumped one yet.
Pros & cons :
The PA is 38" wide so it's a little more stable than the Natives which are only 32" wide.
The Hobie is a barge compared to the narrower and slightly shorter Natives, so they're a little faster and easier to maneuver than the PA, (plus they hold themselves in place in a moving tide or current by back-pedaling which is awesome).
The Hobie has way more real estate so it's easier to fish out of and there's a lot more room for your stuff, and it can take a lot bigger load.
The Mariners are easier to pull yourself back into from deep water, being flat in the back also makes a good area for a cooler
I have a 4-bay trailer so loading/unloading isn't an issue, but the PA 14 is a tank if you're loading into a truck by yourself while the Mariners are about half the weight and are pretty manageable
Used Mirage drives are cheap and easy to find, parts are plentiful and they're fairly easy to work on
Propel drives are harder to come by, take some special tools, require more maintenance and are way more expensive to replace if you lose one
You can get into really skinny water with the Hobie by feathering the Mirage drive, while the Propel drive needs more water depth to operate
The Propel drive will break off the center plastic tab if you hit something submerged, the Mirage drive will just bend the masts.The plastic Propel hold-down tabs are a couple of bucks.
The Propel's center shear pin will break long before the propeller if you hit something, and it's cheap and easy to replace. I keep extra plastic hold down tabs and shear pins in a bag in the hold.
The Mirage drive kind of gets in the way when you pull it to exit the kayak. The Propel drive pushes up out of the way and gives you a lot of standing room

I've had three used Hobie PA 14s and one old school Hobie Mirage. The PA 14 I have now was the most expensive at 1,800 bucks and included a custom trolling motor set up
I also currently have three used Native Mariners and you can normally pick one of these up for less than a grand. The nicest one I have was also the cheapest, I got it for 600 bucks and it looked and functioned like it was brand new when I got it

Honestly, you can't go wrong with either type of kayak, I love fishing off either. just shop around and get the most bang for your buck and do a test drive around on the water to make sure everything's functional the kayak doesn't take on water!

I agree with Tom Kirkman. Hobie's Mirage Drive is much more efficient than prop drives. I also had a Native Propel Slayer 13. For example, on one hour timed cruise speed runs, the Hobie Outback covered an average of 4.51 miles (with Turbofins) while the Slayer averaged 3.89 miles -- not even close. Props are magnets for the sea grass or seaweed that you would find in the bay, can clog and seize. You have to stop and pull the junk out by hand. The pedal cycle is longer on a prop which is hard on my knees unless I am tooling around at 2 MPH, and, like Tom, I find the pedaling effort higher and the stroke speed uneven. Finally, the Propel makes a whirring noise while operating (gear in oil bath system) that I find annoying. Not surprising, I have noticed that most of the prop drive fishing boats at my local lake stay within about 1/2 mile from their launch area, while the Hobies are much more widely distributed through the lake. I ended up selling the Propel after a few months.

The only other Mirage Drive copy that I know of is sold by Pelican. The company does not recommend them for marine use and the one I tested showed corrosion damage after only 6 months, the seat buckles had failed, one crank arm had broken (both replaced under warranty), and the drivewell was collapsing (see pics). The drive was hard to operate and slow. It was cheap but there was no quality -- it was a piece of junk.

Pelican corroded buckle, rusty spring


Pelican both seat buckles broken


Pelican drivewell collapsing


Hobies may cost a little more, but IMO, they are definitely worth it. If you've noticed, the resale values are up there -- they hold their value over the years.

Agree 100%

_________________
Steve Stubbs
USAF (retired)

SeaDek Fishing Team
Unfair Lures Pro Staff
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2015 Pro Angler 14 - Papaya
2018 Compass - Sea Grass