Best way to store Stealth Pro Fisha 550

[Jordo]

Also it had old "BLADE Kayak Fishing" stickers on it that have been removed but you can still see, does anyone know anything about this club/group?

I asked Shep's son and he said these were from before Shep owned it.

It'd be great to know the full history of this ski.

Blade is a kayak fishing magazine.

[aussieDave]

Also it had old "BLADE Kayak Fishing" stickers on it that have been removed but you can still see, does anyone know anything about this club/group?

I asked Shep's son and he said these were from before Shep owned it.

It'd be great to know the full history of this ski.

Blade is a kayak fishing magazine.

Cheers Jordo,

This one;

Blade kayak fishing magazine.png (239.88 KiB) Viewed 2415 times

[peatop]

Store it on your roofracks that way your reminded every morning "it's a great day to be out fishing"

I'm starting to feel like the odd man out these days..

being out with them so many times in the last month at Portland, they are definitely fast and im definitely impressed but i honestly still think the AI might put up a good fight, seeing the AI take off trolling it's no wonder they cover the k's however i would guess the glass has better maneuverability

Hi PeaTop,

I used to want to take the AI road but after NSC 18 I just don't trust them any more, I'm often out on my own as the SA offshore scene is just a few of us and most are unavailable (Minny off travelling, Baggs being Baggs, Chris is always busy, I have recruited and have been training up a new guy Sam who'll fit right in) most of the time so I need reliability. I think AI's and Revos are great yaks but I need to be able to trust that nothing will go wrong. Also this was a very opportune buy at $650 with a $300 600g paddle thrown in so I couldn't go past it.

If only I could park securely I'd leave it on the roof, I'm hanging out to take it for a spin but it's windy here all week, I'm just not comfortable leaving it on the roof in the front yard in my working class suburb.

Dave

Nice, at that price even i would be in glass NSC 18 was an unusual event i don't believe you can use those issue as a true guide however i am aware that the older AI do take on a fair amount of water through the front hatch, also in your situation 100% of your fishing(salt) is offshore an you do need to take that into consideration when buying a suitable yak, there is no wrong or right it's just what we find which best suites our needs Gratz on your purchase and I'll give you $651 for it lol

[aussieDave]

Nice, at that price even i would be in glass NSC 18 was an unusual event i don't believe you can use those issue as a true guide however i am aware that the older AI do take on a fair amount of water through the front hatch, also in your situation 100% of your fishing(salt) is offshore an you do need to take that into consideration when buying a suitable yak, there is no wrong or right it's just what we find which best suites our needs Gratz on your purchase and I'll give you $651 for it lol

Haha... No sale, sorry...

This kayak will be for 100% offshore, I'll still use my Outback for fishing the bays as I've found that when anchored in short chop snapper fishing next to Minny in his Pro Fisha that he's often sitting in the wave while the Outback floats over the top.

Well, the conditions weren't that bad for NSC 18, the little Outback handled them well in the big sheltered bay that is Portland, from memory it was only called off as a precaution and most of the experienced guys were a bit pissed off as they thought they were fine but insurance... say no more... The Stealths handled the day well though which reflects well on Stealth/Sea Sherpa the major sponsor.

[Seasherpa]

It'd be great to know the full history of this ski.

From memory when the Fisha 550's first came in a few went to the Mona Vale boys, yours might have originated there.

[laneends]

I used to want to take the AI road but after NSC 18 I just don't trust them any more, I'm often out on my own as the SA offshore scene is just a few of us and most are unavailable (Minny off travelling, Baggs being Baggs, Chris is always busy, I have recruited and have been training up a new guy Sam who'll fit right in) most of the time so I need reliability. I think AI's and Revos are great yaks but I need to be able to trust that nothing will go wrong.

I can understand this, simple yak with less to structurally fail. After having leaks on the water three times now, it does leave that feeling of what if i was on my own and way offshore. I know the revo 16 is an "offshore" kayak, but without back up flotation/stability leaves that niggle in the back of my mind.

[happyas]

A question to Eoin, sorry to be slightly off topic. How many stealths are there in Victoria. I think there was only one other when I got mine from Tasmania of all places. I would love to upgrade but my finances don't support my wishes at this point in time. But what a great platform they are. Back on topic, I store mine on a "shelf" with support along most of the length of the yak. The shelf is covered with carpet to prevent scratching, not that you would notice on my old craft.

[Seasherpa]

A question to Eoin, sorry to be slightly off topic. How many stealths are there in Victoria. I think there was only one other when I got mine from Tasmania of all places. I would love to upgrade but my finances don't support my wishes at this point in time. But what a great platform they are. Back on topic, I store mine on a "shelf" with support along most of the length of the yak. The shelf is covered with carpet to prevent scratching, not that you would notice on my old craft.

I honestly couldn’t tell you Larry, but certainly there are a lot more than there used to be! I had to come see yours when I wanted to get my first as it was the only other one around.
Between the new models and turning over second handers there are quite a few down here now, we’ve sent them from Gippsland to Warrnambool and everywhere in between.
The ski market is growing with a few new players coming in alongside Stealth - Backline, Vortex, the second generation Pinnacles, Seawolf, JB kayaks to name a few and ourselves obviously with the Xplora models which will be in production very soon. There are also plastic kayaks coming in soon that are modelled on fishing skis that look like an interesting hybrid that should be good competition for the likes of Viking. There are certainly plenty to choose from out there at the moment.

[mingle]

I'm a bit perplexed as to why you've had issues with leaks / water-ingress with the A.I. and Revo-16.

They're pretty tried and tested boats and undergo some pretty hair-raising adventures (no pun intended) out on the open ocean.

Mine is a 2011 model and even though I haven't been out on it for about 12 months, I've been out in some pretty atrocious conditions and done some length offshore trips and never had a drop of water inside the hull.

What sort of issues did you have / where did you have leaks? (apologies if I've missed the relevant threads!) Most (all?) of the current Hobies have internal flotation blocks which keep the hull above water in the case of a major hull-breach. Even mine (2011) had this fitted, although I did move some of it, as it go in the way of the centre hatch.

Cheers,

Mike.

I used to want to take the AI road but after NSC 18 I just don't trust them any more, I'm often out on my own as the SA offshore scene is just a few of us and most are unavailable (Minny off travelling, Baggs being Baggs, Chris is always busy, I have recruited and have been training up a new guy Sam who'll fit right in) most of the time so I need reliability. I think AI's and Revos are great yaks but I need to be able to trust that nothing will go wrong.

I can understand this, simple yak with less to structurally fail. After having leaks on the water three times now, it does leave that feeling of what if i was on my own and way offshore. I know the revo 16 is an "offshore" kayak, but without back up flotation/stability leaves that niggle in the back of my mind.[/quote]

[aussieDave]

I'm a bit perplexed as to why you've had issues with leaks / water-ingress with the A.I. and Revo-16.

They're pretty tried and tested boats and undergo some pretty hair-raising adventures (no pun intended) out on the open ocean.

Mine is a 2011 model and even though I haven't been out on it for about 12 months, I've been out in some pretty atrocious conditions and done some length offshore trips and never had a drop of water inside the hull.

What sort of issues did you have / where did you have leaks? (apologies if I've missed the relevant threads!) Most (all?) of the current Hobies have internal flotation blocks which keep the hull above water in the case of a major hull-breach. Even mine (2011) had this fitted, although I did move some of it, as it go in the way of the centre hatch.

Cheers,

Mike.

...

To catch you up Mike, at NSC18 there was three issues with AI's, one AI broke it's sacrificial pin on the outrigger causing it to collapse while under full sail and flipped, another two took in so much water they had to be rescued, I never, ever want to need to be rescued.

I've also had a couple of Mirage Drive issues in recent weeks, 4 weeks ago I pedaled out of the Saint Kilda chanel here in SA, I got to the end of the chanel and built up to tuna trolling speed as it was a training session and without hitting anything just through the torque I'm putting through it to my turbo fins a mast snapped, 2 weeks ago I was heading for a snapper fish 5km out the Outer Harbour chanel, I got 1km past the end of the breakwalls and in 15 metres of water all of a sudden no power, a drive cable snapped and I then had to paddle for 1:40 into the outgoing very strong current to get back. A lot of my mates that use Outbacks for bay fishing only are amazed that I maintain a constant speed of about 8km/h so I'm thinking I'm having these issues as I'm pushing my Mirage Drive past it's capabilities.
I know some guys like Shane would have fixed these issues on the water but that's not really something I want to be doing.

My Outback has been a fantastic yak and I'll continue to use it for all my bay fishing as with the shorter length it so much better anchored in the short chop we often get here and I have no issues paddling it back a few km but I would hate to be 10km out and break a Mirage Drive.

This yak is also such a great bargain and I reckon having to work so hard to keep the Outback up to tuna trolling speed has cost me fish this summer so I just had to get it.

Dave