Hobie iTrek or Bote Lono Apex?

[Dewberry]

Trying to decide between the Hobie iTrek 9, Hobie iTrek 11, and the Bote Lono with Apex Pedal Drive.  Live in an apartment so no storage for anything but an inflatable.  Anybody have experience fishing with any of these?  I'll only be on small lakes (50-100) acres in good weather conditions with light wind.  Fish about twice a week. I like the quality and stability of the Hobie, but am concerned about not having reverse on the Mirage drive (is this a big deal?).  Noticed some questions online about Bote's customer service.  This would be my first pedal drive.  Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

[Koz]

I guess the Mirage Drive GT doesn't go in reverse. Can you upgrade to the 180?

 

For me, having instant reverse on my Seastream Angler 120 PD is an absolute necessity. Having that allows me to jog in place as well as make small course corrections (along with the rudder) when I'm drifting and keeping the craft pointed in the right direction WHILE I am fishing. It also helps me maneuver easily when fishing docks. There are also times when I've got hung up on flooded timber and laydowns where reverse comes in handy.

 

The reason I bought a pedal kayak was so that I could actually fish while in motion and not have to keep putting down the rod and grabbing the paddle to correct my positioning. For me, having instant reverse is a big part of that.

 

A good example is let's say I'm fishing parallel to the bank and drifting along the bank. I will angle the bow of my kayak towards the bank and drift while making occasional micro corrections to the rudder position as well as jogging the pedals every now and then. If the wind or current is pushing me towards the bank I can just back pedal a little bit. But if I didn't have reverse I'd have to put down my fishing rod, paddle to adjust my positioning, lock the paddle down, then start fishing again.

 

I imagine that in an inflatable kayak the wind would probably push you around a bit more than my heavy kayak. Maybe someone here has fished both an inflatable and a rigid and can state if the inflatable gets blown around a lot more.

 

Your kayak fishing style might be completely different than mine so you may have no issues in not having reverse. But the way I fish docks, banks, and flooded timber it would drive me nuts because it would be like fishing a paddle kayak. Sure, I could get to where I was going faster, but the actual act of fishing would be a lot like a paddle kayak and that's what I wanted to avoid by purchasing a pedal kayak.

 

I don't mean to slam paddle kayaks at all. But my experience with them is that when there was any kind of breeze I spent just as much if not more time positioning the kayak than I did fishing (I did not have an anchor). I hated that.

 

I hope some others chime in with their opinion, and maybe they feel differently and can provide a great counterpoint. But I would be lost without instant reverse on my kayak.

 

 

[Dewberry]

Thanks so much for the reply, Koz.  I couldn't agree me more.  The whole reason I'm switching to a pedal drive is because I was spending so much time putting the rod down to make positional adjustments with the paddle (I tried using the paddle with one hand while still holding the rod, but found that to be pretty challenging for anything other than minor adjustments). 

I ended up ordering the Bote Lono with the Apex Pedal drive this morning.  I think I made the right choice.  It just seems like a more fishable kayak.  Thanks again for the feedback!

[deadaimz]

On 8/3/2021 at 1:31 PM, Dewberry said:

Thanks so much for the reply, Koz.  I couldn't agree me more.  The whole reason I'm switching to a pedal drive is because I was spending so much time putting the rod down to make positional adjustments with the paddle (I tried using the paddle with one hand while still holding the rod, but found that to be pretty challenging for anything other than minor adjustments). 

I ended up ordering the Bote Lono with the Apex Pedal drive this morning.  I think I made the right choice.  It just seems like a more fishable kayak.  Thanks again for the feedback!

How has the lono apex held up for you? I'm thinking about pulling the trigger on the system.