I will buy a new Hobie Oasis Mirage for family & fishing

I had intended to do this last spring/summer, but two cataract removals and a knee operation got in the way.

My age is 71.5, and I fly fish regularily with the two handed fly rods, the Spey Rods, which is where my sign in name is derived.

My original intentions were to get a single Outback. However, my wife will now be basically retired at of June, and she wants to kayak with me. My two very active grand children, Girl age 11 going on 31 and a 9 year old, all boy, informed me that they wanted to kayak with PaPa.
People, who know and like Hobies recommended the Oasis over the Outfitter for two.

The only problem I see with the Oasis seems to be lack of Hobie accessories for fishing and compatibilities versus the Outfitter.

My wife will not be fishing, but a guy in a similiar situation lets his wife have the back seat to drive/pedal and steer. He sits in front and fly fishes, and he gladly lets his wife backseat drive. Fishing with my wife will be simple with one rod and basically sight fishing without a lot of gear.

We will kayak in our local river, the ugly Napa River, the Russian River and probably the Lower American. We will kayak the kayak/canoe only areas of Lake Berryessa and in Lake Henneysee. There are dozens of places in N California we can kayak as we learn the game.

This looks like a great site for beginners, and I hope to learn from the masters and everyday users to shorten the learning curve and make the trips more enjoyable.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

Hello and welcome to the forum Grampa Spey! Great name by the way!
You're just a youngster yet and I hope the healing from your surgeries is successful and complete. Good luck with your purchase, whichever you choose, and may all your adventures be safe ones. You can bet that you'll receive plenty of attention and great advice from the knowledgeable gang in this forum.
Bless you,

GR8 Laker

PS. We'd love to see some photos of your purchase and fish that you catch from it.

I'm feeling young at 50 all of a sudden! I'm not sure the logic on the Oasis versus the Outfitter. We have two Outfitters and pedal, paddle, sail them two up all the time. The Outfitters are much more versatile in mission capabilities from touring to fishing to daytripping. Search my posts in the forums (plfinch) to see some of our Outfitter journeys and experiences.

Peter

I'm always intrigued by statements such as this. The only physical difference between the Outfitter and the Oasis regarding fishing (that I can spot) are the 4 molded in rod holders. What else makes the Outfitter much more versatile?

The Oasis is more "umm.....tippy?"
Not to say that it will flip more easily....it just "feels" that way. (secondary roll aspect?)
Having a friend with both sorta helps point out the difference....
The outfitter has a flatter bottom and tends to tilt less than the Oasis IMHO.

We have had discussions (over beers of course) about the reasons to even have an Oasis over an Outfitter.
Havent really found any good ones yet.
Keep in mind we do nothing else but fish from ours...no touring, no rivers, no class 5 rapids.

Thats just my take on things....for what its worth.

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Don't lead me to temptation, I already know the way.
Syn

I own the tandem Outfitter and find it to be very stable.
I think if you tried both you would find the Outfitter much more stable than the Oasis.
We have sailed the Outfitter in moderate high winds ~20mph and were able to maintain control without much effort.
If you are buying new, I would try to get a demo of both that way you can make an informed decision.

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I'd rather be sailing,
Mark.

We will be demoing the Hobies before we buy them to see what suits us.

Part of the problem is the weight distribution. Depending on the time of the day, I weigh between 205-210. When you add some boats/shoes, jacket, Gore tex pants and a life preserver, that weight can increase by 10#'s. According to Hobie's latest re load distribution, that puts me at the max in an Outfitter.

Also, lit searches seem to show that many users feel the Oasis is more secure for two versus the Outfitter. The good news for Hobie is that both models are theirs. There are some fascinating pictures on this site with overladed Outfitters with the stern very low in the water, and very large people in a Oasis with less apparent lowering in the stern.

Like anything in life with two or more choices, you can end up with some heavy discussions with every choice getting raves and pans.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

I had the accommodating lenses put in my eyes to replaced the cataracts. The results have been incredible. My vision is better than ever. After a few months, I felt like I had auto adjusting lenses as I could go from viewing something at a far distance to closer by just a quick focus.

Also, I don't need reading glasses except for situations where there isn't that much light. My fishing magnifiers stay in my bag or jacket. I may need them for the really tiny flies this summer.

The knee is excellent with the exception of having to use it. If I sit for an hour without really using it, apparently the scar tissue tries to take over. This is eliminated with good walks. That is where the Hobies come with their Mirages. I and relatives have talked to guys and gals with similiar knee ops (not replacements) with Hobies, and they have minimal problem due to the pedaling.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

A year ago, I would have bought the Outback or Outfitter. Now with the wife, grandkids and ?, the Hobie will probably not see that much fishing if the weather is good. Speed becomes important, when people are waiting on the shore/pier for their turn.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

Thanks for your feedback.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder

This is precisely why I went with the Oasis as well. I have previously owned a Kona, which shares a similar hull design as the Outfitter. The Kona impressed me tremendously with its stability. I really wanted to keep with stability while upgrading to a Mirage Hobie.

However, I too noticed that two adults in an Outfitter often resulted in minimal freeboard for the rear occupant, even in flat water.

(I realize that this is an extreme example, but still)

The same thing occurred in my Kona. And Matt Miller has verified that the Outfitter is technically less stable than the Oasis at near-max weight limits.

Many people assured me that, in general, the Oasis stability nearly matched that of the Outfitter, so I am willing to give up a bit of stability to gain another 100 pounds of buoyancy and apparently a faster boat. I hope this turns out to be the right choice.

And demoing here in Connecticut, with dealers miles inland, appears to be a rare event.

Hi... im pretty new to the forum and relatively new to kayak fishing as well... My girlfriend and I bought the outfitter and we love it. we just finished a kayak camping trip down the colorado river and we loaded that sucker up with another 80 extra lbs. I weight 200 lbs and my girlfriend weighs.... we'll before i get in trouble and post her actual weight on the internet ... lets just say she is of average weight for a 25 year old, 5'5" moderate active female...

We had absolutely no problems when it came to stability and with all of our gear properly balanced on the yak, we moved pretty smooth in the water.

Once we took it out with two of our neices (at the same time)... both about 80 each... We sat kinda low in the water with that one... but again the stability was great.

We've done great taking it out fishing, mainly in bays and harbors where the water is flat. i have my fishing crate in the back, fish finder mounted on the side, and the rod holder on the other side. My gf has a rod up front working the bottom as we drift, and i work the crank baits in the back.

Overall... Outfitter is great. We've enjoyed every minute we've been on it. I wish you the best of luck in your new toy and hope you have just as much fun as we have.

I bet you will be happy with either one.

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I'd rather be sailing,
Mark.

Welcome G-Spey
We have had our Oasis Tandem since 2006 and have a great time using it in the Lower American, Lake Tahoe,Tomales Bay, Folsom Lake, The Delta, Lake Natoma, Lake Spaulding and San Francisco Bay. We carry lots of gear including tents food drinks etc and its never felt unstable even in choppy boat wakes. Im sure you will love your Oasis too. See you out there this season on the water

Have fun
Kepnutz
Lower american


Discovery Park


Tomales Bay


Tomales Bay with Two Sails and Two turbo Drives




Lake Tahoe



Lake Tahoe



San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay



China Camp



The delta..


Natoma / Rainbow Bridge



Lake Tahoe


Tomales Bay...same boat different years



Tomales Bay Thats all Folks

kepnutz: Thanks for posting the great pictures!

I will show my wife these so she can see what can be done with an Oasis.

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2009 Oasis
2012 Freedom Hawk Pathfinder