Ok, after going to Time Out and talking to them, they seem to have convinced me to lean towards the Native Mariner 12.5 over the Hobie Mirage Outback. Mainly because I am going to want to do a lot more stand up fishing. And the Native has flat areas to stand in much easier and it seems like a more stable boat to stand up in.
The thing is, I hear mixed review about the Propel drive system. I am going to demo both a mirage drive boat and the Mariner with the propel drive system today to see which I like better. But I really like the layout of the Native Mariner with it’s larger deck in the back, flat area to make standing easy etc…
Anyone out there have the Native Mariner? To go with a Hobie with the Mirage drive system and get the same type of stand up capability, it seems you have to spend an extra $700 and get the Pro Angler. Which is not in my budget. I just don’t hear about or see too many Native boats out there. Especially with the Propel drive system.
I’d suggest that you talk to a friend of mine who is on the Native Pro Staff, Philip Ruckart. You can find him on facebook or e-mail yak4fish@mac.com
He can tell you anything you want to know about the Native lineup.
Thanks, I looked up his page and he had a nice review of the Mariner. It seems like people that have a Native Mariner really like it. There just does not seem to be a good amount of Native Propel users out there to get a good feel on the system.
I ended up goig with the Native. I liked the Hobie drive a little better than the Propel system on the Native. But not enough to overcome the way I liked the layout and comfort of the Native. The seat on the Native is such a nice feature. With the Native, I had a higher profile seating position and felt much more secure in the boat. I could easily stand and I can probably throw my cast net out of this thing without much practice at all. The hobie was nice if you want to sit down a lot. But to get the same kind of room and stability in a Hobie, I would have had to spend another $700 for a Pro Angler. Not in the budget.
I ended up buying Time Out’s Demo boat. Those guys were great with all my questions and letting me demo the two boats I wanted test out and possibly buy. I would highly recomend them. I pick it up tomorrow. They are installing an anchor trolly for me and giving me some rod holders to mount where I so choose after I get out and figure out where I want them.
Now it’s time to get out and find the fish sometime soon.
I have the volt drive for my native which I know is not the propel but functions in the same manner. My likes are that it does provide hands free fishing and I can get to spots a lot quicker than by paddling. It really shines in the lake and makes it so much easier to fish along banks etc without having to paddle and readjust your position every 10 seconds. It does well in the salt water which I fish most of the time but it does have draw backs. The biggest one is oyster beds. The propeller hangs down a good bit and to get into any skinny water(less that a foot or so) you have to pull the whole assembly out of the water. Not a big deal but think about copahee for example. I would spend more time messing with the engine than fishing so many times I elect to leave it at home. What I like about the propel better than the mirage is the ability to back up. I’m sure that will come in handy at some point. I love my ultimate and it really is the perfect boat for what i love to do. Congratulations on your purchase.
Here is the actual boat. Spent a little today putting some rod holders on it and getting some things put together for a crate. Taking it up to Lake Moutrie tomorrow for some trial runs to see how I want things rigged further.
