Anyone fish in a tandem?

I know they're named divorce boats for a reason but was wondering if anyone actually has success in a tandem? I just started fishing and loved it, so here I am looking for a kayak to get some exercise and fish! We were mainly trolling for Kokanee, and loved that! So a lot of our fishing would probably be that. My gf also loves being out on the water and wants to join. She doesn't fish but just wants to be out there, maybe helping, maybe doing some reading, and keeping me company!

So here's my next question, as my first kayak, I dont want to spend a lot of money. We were looking at a tandem pedal yak and saw the feelfree lure 2 tandem that fits a lot of the boxes. But I heard its like a barge, its slow, tracks poorly, and has only one pedal drive. But there's also an older used Hobie compass duo for sale. It has the older mirage drives with the blue marks on the fins, so no reverse. They're both the same price (2k), what would you get? or wait until fall for more sales?

My wife and I have been using Hobie Oasis for 7+ years and love them.
I am not familiar with Feelfree kayaks.  I have several friends with Compas Duo, and they like them.  If you don't get an opportunity to try Feelfree Lure 2, I would stay with Hobie.
The price of a used kayak will come down in the fall, and you might have to increase your search area. 

You can see us fishing from our tandem kayak: https://youtu.be/p-Y43IAmWj8?si=KMsb9HHgMCE54PnI

Paul

I'm not sure I will be much help because it sounds like you are mostly interested in pedal kayaks, but I use a Crescent Crew Paddle kayak. It is a tandem but is also very functional as a single person kayak. I love it quite a bit and can't imagine another kayak that would fit our needs better. I often troll for kokanee, but due to how I setup the downrigger (I attached it using the secondary seat attachment straps) I can only use one chair when trolling with the downrigger. The boat is big enough that my two boys (age 6 and 8 ) can sit in the front while we troll (on the fishing cooler) and I can hand the rod to them when we hook up with a kokanee.

Last year my brother-in-law and I took it out at New Brighton and we both fished for baitfish and halibut. While we didn't get any halibut, we got quite a few mackerel (my wife's favorite fish) and anchovies that we cooked up at camp.

I also took my father out on it two years ago at Doran Beach, where we were able to get some nice Dungeness. He was sick with cancer at the time and would not have been able to paddle himself out there. He passed away about a year after that, but it was one of our last fishing trips.

And yes, my wife and I also use it together often.

So I know lots of people call them "divorce boats", but another perspective is it gets people out on the water that wouldn't be able to go out on their own or be able to keep up. I enjoy trips alone on it, but the trips with others tend to be extra special.

I would pick the compass personally. It's a fair price for a tandem hobie. I love the older GT than the reverse for it's durability and maintenance.

I fish double from both my hobie tandem and sometimes have taken one out solo for more room (like Monterey or SC just rockfishing)

Good luck with your selection.

I think that the peddle tandems are not as much of a divorce boat situation as a paddle tandem.  You can easily peddle without coordination and steer with a rudder.  The divorce boat issues stem from having to have good paddle technique, or you end up going in circles and then things can go down hill from there 

Not really sure how comfortable it would be doing it solo however, but i'm sure it can be done.  If you want to go with the tandem just be sure you can also fit a single in your garage later when you you have the fishing itch and she doesn't want to get up at 5am 

I've had paddle and peddle tandems but the peddle boats won. Al has it right, you'll need to coordinate your paddling on a tandem, especially in a shorter kayak. I've never used a compass but do have an Oasis that I enjoy, except for the size of it, it's a lot of kayak to move and store.

Reverse is overrated IMO and I would rather have the GT drive. 

Depending on how much you might take your GF though, you could consider a cheaper, used, tandem paddle kayak like a Wilderness 135T. Then save some cash for a single peddle drive. Why have 1 kayak?

You'll be fine on the hobie compass.  I've fished many, many times out of both pedal and paddle tandems, both with others aboard and solo. 

Some things to consider when tandem fishing are:

• coordinating portage, because tandems tend to be longer and heavier than you may be able to yield yourself
• OTW time, you may want to still fish after she's done reading
• fitness disparity, be prepared to be sole actuator
• assuming you sit in rear, wacking her in head or face as you fight a big fish that runs across your bow
• surf launch/landing coordination, tricky enough in a solo, sometimes sketchy getting two aboard and underway

As for fishing solo off of a tandem, done that plenty of times, including 10+ mile days for salmon trolling.  If you can only buy one, then get the tandem, and simply spreadload the boat to mitigate hull slap at the bow.

Hobie's tend to retain resale value on secondary market so just buy it, get in your few/several years of blissful yakfishing with your lady, then sell it again when you're ready or want to up your game to a kitted out single boat.

Paddle or peddle, there is ample opportunity to talk things out with a significant other. Hobie makes better boats in the peddle realm. they will track better, keep you drier, and will be fairly durable. My wife and I have fished out of a tandem Oasis for the last decade, and been in all sorts of water, and it is a lovely ride. MalibuTwo XL is a great all around boat, but the Zest by ocean kayak tracks like a dream.

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/spo/d/gilroy-hobie-oasis-kayak/7766264991.html

we started out in this version of oasis, and it is a super worthy boat. I like that it has more space than the compass.

good luck,

Aloha,

Isao

https://sfbay.craigslist.org/scz/spo/d/gilroy-hobie-oasis-kayak/7766264991.html

I would steer away from those older pedals simply bc the parts are harder to find and it's worth it to get the new drives. Plus the prices of a newer seat hobie isn't as high as before.

I will be putting a 2017 hobie oasis up for sale soon… super fun and fishy boat, just haven’t been using it much lately. Has ama kit installed and the 180 drives. As others have mentioned it’s a great platform for tandem fishing, seaworthy, fast, and not overly heavy. I know I’ll regret letting it go, but need to thin the fleet

I fished a Perception Tribe 13.5 tandem for about 2 years before getting a solo pedal kayak. I still take the kids out once in a while on the big tandem. Works great, even for a kayak that isn't even really a fishing kayak. It paddles great, and running solo I have tons of deck space.  I'm considering making some upgrades and using that kayak for salt water.

With a kid on board, I usually just paddle and let my passenger fish. That way I can keep us in the right spot while they focus on fishing.

Used paddle tandems are easy to find for cheap, and pretty much all of them can be used solo.  Also, rental places usually have some used kayaks for sale. A lot of them would discount the rental price off a purchase, if you wanna try it out before you buy.

I would steer away from those older pedals simply bc the parts are harder to find ...

I would respectfully disagree with that. I have multiple GT drives and have rebuilt some of them fairly recently. It's easy to find non-Hobie cables and chains (which are cheaper than Hobie parts and, IMHO, better than the Hobie originals) and those are the parts that are by far the most likely to break. I make my own crank arms, so I can't comment on those (other than to say that I have a bunch of official Hobie crank arms, if anybody want to get one for cheap, not to mention pre-GT drums...). The only part that I've been unable to find is the spine, and the chance that you'll ever need a new one of those is extremely remote.

I would steer away from those older pedals simply bc the parts are harder to find ...

I would respectfully disagree with that. I have multiple GT drives and have rebuilt some of them fairly recently. It's easy to find non-Hobie cables and chains (which are cheaper than Hobie parts and, IMHO, better than the Hobie originals) and those are the parts that are by far the most likely to break. I make my own crank arms, so I can't comment on those (other than to say that I have a bunch of official Hobie crank arms, if anybody want to get one for cheap, not to mention pre-GT drums...). The only part that I've been unable to find is the spine, and the chance that you'll ever need a new one of those is extremely remote.

It might be true if we all have your DIY skills, time & stash of spare parts. Above I was mostly referring to the version 1 of the mirage drives (like the ones in the CL ad with those funny looking fins). I always prefer hobie part even though they are expensive. Buying expensive after market drums and parts to upgrade the older drives doesn't interest me. I'm in favor of the new tech always 

I've also been noticing less and less parts available off mariner-sails, cck, etc for the MirageDrive Classic Glide Tech (2015-2018) already. They used to be sold and available to us in days. Now it's not certain we can buy them like before.

While we are on the topic of old Hobie pedal drives - how many different shape drive wells are there? I'm fairly certain the old gen 1 drive wells are different than the GT, which is different than the 360? Do the kick up drives have a different well than the non-kick up? Just trying gauge cross-compatibility from one to the other.

By my count it is either two, or maybe up to eight.

While we are on the topic of old Hobie pedal drives - how many different shape drive wells are there? I'm fairly certain the old gen 1 drive wells are different than the GT, which is different than the 360? Do the kick up drives have a different well than the non-kick up? Just trying gauge cross-compatibility from one to the other.

By my count it is either two, or maybe up to eight.

I believe all the non 360 drive fit the same in all the rotomold hobies.

With exception some you need to shave off two knubs on the drive to fit on the inflatable i-series or the older hobies.