Hobie Mirage Pro Angler 12 Kayak - 2019

{"reviews":[{"body":"I was rather skeptical about buying a product as big as this from Amazon, but I live in a rural area and the only other option was driving over half a day to get to a dealer. I was also wondering if the boat was big enough for me since I am 6'3\" and weigh about 290. I also have a reconstructed elbow and was really wanting something I could propel with my feet when my arm grew sore. I have some really nice water near where I live so decided to take the plunge and order one.Shipping: The amazon shipment estimate proved to be low. The dealer was on the east coast and was unable to ship from his location so they decided to ship from the factory in California which was much closer. Very nice, very professional people and highly recommend them. They stayed in contact with me and sent me emails and called as to how the shipment was going. It took a bit longer than expected, but the boat arrived with no damage on a large shipping truck.Packaging: Two packages, the boat itself which has a box around the middle of the craft and plastic sheeting wrapped around the bow and stern. There is another cardboard box with the mirage drive and other widgets that come with the craft. Had zero issues.Assembly: Hobie provides some great documentation, both with the boat and videos you can watch from their web site. It was a bit daunting at first, but once I went through everything a few times it was no issue. Took a few hours to get everything hooked up and figure out where everything went.Performance: Really enjoy this boat. Its rated to 500 lbs total weight, with a seat that is rated to 350 lbs so no issue for someone of my size. The seat is also very comfortable, and highly adjustable. I was out the other day and was getting kind of tired (its kinda like an exercise bike at the gym on medium setting) and laid the seat almost full back to use some different muscle groups. Really well designed. It also moves at a good clip when using the mirage drive. I don't know the speed, but I would guess around 5-6 mph when your peddling at a good clip. It also is highly adjustable, with pedals you can extend out for taller people or move in for shorter. I put it on the second to last setting and its almost too far out for me. The mirage drive paddles can be pulled up and laid flat against the hull of the craft so you can beach the kayak with no issue. The boat is also highly stable and comes with a skeg which is a rudder like device that helps keep the craft straight in the water. Both the rudder and skeg can be pulled up into the hull for transportation or when you are beaching the craft. It can turn very sharply with the rudder \/ steering system, and I find when I have the seat in the high position it gets a bit unstable when I turn too fast. I suppose its just a higher center of mass and how big I am, but smaller folks should have no issue. I have not tried to stand up in the craft (I would fall over pretty fast I am sure) but I assume that lighter or smaller people would have no issue. It also works fine in rougher water. I have taken it out on windy days where there were larger waves for the lake I go to (1-2 foot) and have no issue at all. There are people who take these out on the ocean so it does really well in those conditions.Transportation: I have a small SUV and currently use it to transport to and from the water. I bought a rail system for the roof and flip the kayak over on its rails to mount on the roof. I also have one of those solo side mounting systems and it works OK. Its a heavy boat. And its almost a kayak +, in that its very wide and weighs about 110 pounds. Its workable \/ doable, but if you have the option I would recommend a trailer. I recently had some family visit and they had a simple flat bottomed 10 foot trailer. Easy to plop the rear of the craft on the trailer and then scoot the craft down to the end, then tie off the bow with straps. So much easier than lifting it onto the roof of my car.Storage, etc. The boat has a wonderful bow storage compartment which I use quite a bit. It also has a great tackle box area right in front of the seat that is very handy. It comes with a rail mounted rod storage system that works well and can hold three rods. I bought some other rail mounted accessories such as a cup holder and upright rod holder which I highly recommend. There is an aft area behind the seat, but I find I cannot get to it when I am on the boat. But its a great place for a cooler or other device.Overall highly satisfied.","comment":null,"by_shop_owner":false,"youtube_video":null,"verified_review":true,"id":1197495,"displayed_image_url":null,"created_ts":"2018-07-06 00:00:00+00:00","star_rating":5,"score":0,"user_name":"RJ","user_image_url":null},{"body":"I bought a Pro Angler 12 after reading many articles and watching many YouTube vids, I feel like I did my homework before dropping over $3000 on this boat. Let me be clear, I fish for bass and crappie in rivers and lakes that are shallow and full of tree stumps and logs - typical south USA conditions. The Hobie Pro Angler simply cannot easily make the maneuvers necessary for fishing in my environment. The boat has effective rudder steering only when moving forward or backward, it is impossible to rotate left or right while stationary using the Hobie paddle drive mechanism. Minor boat rotations and fine maneuvering are necessary for fishing (and lure recovery) where I live. Attempting to accomplish these side maneuvers by utilizing the provided kayak paddle requires simultaneous juggling of one more (large) object. It only took a couple of fishing trips to decide the PA12 was not going to work out for me. Now then, I don't doubt for a minute that the PA12 would be great for open water conditions, but be aware that it is not, in my opinion, effective for chasing old 'bucket mouth' in his own close-quarters back yard. One more note, this boat is HEAVY and can be troublesome launching and recovering, first time you try to pull this boat up a bank to reload it in your truck and you will see what I am talking about!","comment":null,"by_shop_owner":false,"youtube_video":null,"verified_review":false,"id":1197490,"displayed_image_url":null,"created_ts":"2018-05-14 00:00:00+00:00","star_rating":2,"score":0,"user_name":"Big Dave","user_image_url":null},{"body":"Fast, stable, and you can fish without fighting a paddle.","comment":null,"by_shop_owner":false,"youtube_video":null,"verified_review":true,"id":1197491,"displayed_image_url":null,"created_ts":"2017-03-21 00:00:00+00:00","star_rating":5,"score":0,"user_name":"c","user_image_url":null},{"body":"","comment":null,"by_shop_owner":false,"youtube_video":null,"verified_review":true,"id":1197492,"displayed_image_url":"https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/715CwwxZqUL.jpg","created_ts":"2016-08-08 00:00:00+00:00","star_rating":5,"score":0,"user_name":"Customer","user_image_url":null},{"body":"Ty boat arrived on time and un damaged","comment":null,"by_shop_owner":false,"youtube_video":null,"verified_review":true,"id":1197493,"displayed_image_url":null,"created_ts":"2016-06-23 00:00:00+00:00","star_rating":5,"score":0,"user_name":"Scott B.","user_image_url":null},{"body":"This by the best kayak I have ever owned! It is a fishing machine, and the quality of workmanship is amazing, I would recommend this kayak to anyone.","comment":null,"by_shop_owner":false,"youtube_video":null,"verified_review":true,"id":1197494,"displayed_image_url":null,"created_ts":"2015-03-03 00:00:00+00:00","star_rating":5,"score":0,"user_name":"David Shane hunter","user_image_url":null}],"product":{"platform_product_id":"1886133420090","star_distribution":{"1":0,"3":0,"2":1,"5":5,"4":0},"name":"Hobie Mirage Pro Angler 12 Kayak - 2019","average_stars":"4.5","review_images":["https:\/\/images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com\/images\/I\/715CwwxZqUL.jpg"],"review_number":6,"variants":[{"id":5214114,"name":"CAMO"},{"id":5214115,"name":"IVORY DUNE"},{"id":5214116,"name":"GOLDEN PAPAYA"}],"id":969016},"review_page_count":1,"questions":[]}