We’ve been fishing further away from shore, and my Scupper Pro felt tippy and overloaded with gear. I wanted a kayak that could handle wind and cross current if those conditions came up, would be efficient enough to propel (paddle or pedal) with the least amount of parts to break down, and have a center hatch large enough to store gear and fish. A transducer cavity under the hull, large enough for my Garmin EchoMap 44CV would close the deal.
I looked at a lot of offshore kayaks and narrowed my list down to the Hobie Revolution 13 (which Frank has), the South African fiberglass Stealth Profisha series and the Ocean Kayak Trident series. I realized that I probably would forget to take out the Revo 13 mirage drive when landing on the beach, or take it out while fishing and drop it over the side, and I’d gouge the fiberglass Profisha on rocks, or drop it in the parking lot. Those two kayaks are beautiful and pricey and even if I didn’t destroy them I’d be too worried about theft.
So instead I went to Go Bananas in Kapahulu to see what Trident models would work for my needs. John Enomoto explained that the discontinued Trident Ultra series was modeled after the hardcore New Zealand Trident series, sporting a much larger center hatch and huge tank well designed to carry loads of fish and even a bait tank. The new Trident 13 and 15 didn’t have as much storage and the rails were cluttered with track mounts that wouldn’t be strong enough to hold an offshore rod.
So for quite a bit less money than the Hobies and Stealths, I could get a very seaworthy, durable kayak that could carry a lot of gear and fish. I was sold.
John installed/improved the bow and stern handles, front rod holder, center hatch, seat and rudder, and my fishing buddy Frank fabricated a stainless steel mount for the transducer to fit high and tight in the transducer scupper hole.
In the 4 trips so far, I’ve felt much safer and have caught my PB uku and first pelagic. I really feel comfortable out deep on the Ultra 4.3.
In this video, I do a brief intro as to why I chose the Trident Ultra 4.3, and John of Go Bananas walks through the improvements he made. No laugh, I nevah like be in front da camera!
Had two hobies and ended up getting an ocean kayak for all the same reasons you listed. I’ve got the Big Game Prowler but wish I had that hatch between the legs to fit a fish and those front built in rod holders. Nice kayak!
Hey Joe,
Yup my friends on Hobies continue to ask when I’ll be upgrading to a Hobie. I guess it’s like married people recommending marriage to single friends. 🙂
The only limitation my Trident Ultra presented was the shorter range since I was paddling not pedaling. A Bixpy motor solved that problem and now I have a kayak that can handle some surf and a lot of chop, and cover distance completely hands free if I chose to fish while motoring. Best of all worlds!
There’s a lot of used Tridents around with the center hatches that are cheap cuz no one wants to paddle anymore. Maybe you can get one and keep the Prowler as a backup.
-scott