A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Questions new members commonly ask e.g. Which kayak should I buy?
Post Reply
sputnik
The force is strong in this one
Posts: 50
Joined: 16 Jun 2013, 17:59
kayak: 2015 Hobie Outback
Real Name: Steve

A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Post by sputnik »

Hi there guys i'm new to the forum so bear with me. I am looking at purchasing a kayak for fishing and one i have my eye on is the stealth 9 by Malibu. Now i have done some searching and yes searched through the forum as well but i don't have the answers to my questions. Now after reading some negative things im left with a few questions.

- Has Malibu fixed the issues with leaking hatches?
- How would this kayak hold up in the bays? I plan on fishing both portphillip and westernport.

Thanks in advance guys!
User avatar
cheaterparts
Needs a life (forum tragic)
Posts: 5758
Joined: 29 Mar 2010, 07:04
kayak: Stealth Profisha 525 ---
Real Name: Stephen-The Mud King
Location: Cranbourne

Re: A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Post by cheaterparts »

sputnik wrote: - Has Malibu fixed the issues with leaking hatches?
- How would this kayak hold up in the bays? I plan on fishing both portphillip and westernport.

Thanks in advance guys!
cant tell you about the hatches

I'm not sold on short yaks for the open areas on the bays as they dont track as well as a yak with some lenth
that also means that a short yak is slower and harder to do any distances
for WP there are places were the tide flows a bit here you need everything in your farour , a slow hard to move yak is not the go
My kayak PBs
Gummy shark 128 Cm -- Elephant fish 85 Cm -- Snapper 91 Cm -- KG Whiting 49 Cm -- Flathead 55 Cm -- Garfish 47 Cm --Long tail Tuna 86 cm -- Silver Trevally 40 Cm -- Cobia 117 Cm -- snook 53 Cm -- Couta 71 Cm -- Squid 44 hood length


cheater
0402 208 657
User avatar
Seasherpa
PHD in Yakology.
Posts: 2945
Joined: 28 Sep 2012, 10:31
kayak: Lots of composite ones
Real Name: Eoin (Owen)
Location: Seaford
Contact:

Re: A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Post by Seasherpa »

sputnik wrote:Hi there guys i'm new to the forum so bear with me. I am looking at purchasing a kayak for fishing and one i have my eye on is the stealth 9 by Malibu. Now i have done some searching and yes searched through the forum as well but i don't have the answers to my questions. Now after reading some negative things im left with a few questions.

- Has Malibu fixed the issues with leaking hatches?
- How would this kayak hold up in the bays? I plan on fishing both portphillip and westernport.

Thanks in advance guys!
There are lots of variables to consider before anyone could give you a reasonable answer consider the following:
-Type of fishing you want to do (and the amount of gear you want to carry)
-How far are you wanting to paddle
-Your size/weight
-How you are going to transport your yak (lifting 25kg onto a car vs 35kg for example)
There's more but that's a start.

I have seen the stealth 9 in BCF and personally I'm not a fan, its quite small, the dry bag inserts in the side pockets looked flimsy and the front hatch on the one I looked at didn't close properly. I do like the idea of the central live well though. If it was my money and I had to buy a malibu , I would go for the Pro explorer; much longer twice the carrying capacity and only 2kgs heavier. I think the 125kg capacity of the stealth would not be hard to reach but then I'm heading on 100kg just by myself. Having said that I would consider what the guys on here will probably suggest in the wavedance kingfisher. A lot of blokes swear by them and they do a lot more fishing than I do. If you can find a second hand cobra they are a good buy too, mine has served me well.
moirae
Square eyes
Posts: 564
Joined: 07 Dec 2011, 06:41
kayak: Hobie Revo "Fishless"
Real Name: Andy

Re: A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Post by moirae »

Might want to look here: http://teammalibu.ning.com/forum/catego ... orCategory

All things Malibu there.

From memory they changed the design of the front Gator hatch in some way to make it actually seal. I don't know how good they are.

I was looking at one of their bigger kayaks before I joined the big ghey bay club. You do get some bang for your buck.
sputnik
The force is strong in this one
Posts: 50
Joined: 16 Jun 2013, 17:59
kayak: 2015 Hobie Outback
Real Name: Steve

Re: A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Post by sputnik »

Thanks for the reply guys, i was looking at the kingfisher and it has me thinking. im 90kg 6'2, i want to do both bait and plastics and also travel around a fair bit in it. What is the price on the kingfisher ? Keep in mind i was looking at the malibu yaks because of the stablity factor. I want to be able to move around a bit without feeling like im going to tip.
User avatar
Seasherpa
PHD in Yakology.
Posts: 2945
Joined: 28 Sep 2012, 10:31
kayak: Lots of composite ones
Real Name: Eoin (Owen)
Location: Seaford
Contact:

Re: A few questions about the Malibu Stealth 9

Post by Seasherpa »

sputnik wrote:Thanks for the reply guys, i was looking at the kingfisher and it has me thinking. im 90kg 6'2, i want to do both bait and plastics and also travel around a fair bit in it. What is the price on the kingfisher ? Keep in mind i was looking at the malibu yaks because of the stablity factor. I want to be able to move around a bit without feeling like im going to tip.
To be honest seeing your height and weight I'm even more inclined to agree with cheater on short wide yaks. Everyone's classification of stable is different and with yaks its always a bit of a trade off the wider the yak it might feel more stable, and have more storage, but without the length its not going to move very quickly and as cheater said the tracking will leave you zig-zagging as you paddle and not making ground. My yak is wide and very stable but the trade off is that I won't go very far out in the bay because if the weather changes its is very hard to paddle it quickly over a long distance. The best advice I can give you is to try as many yaks as you can and find the best fit for you, its also worth saving for the best model you can get as jumping in too quickly often means having to trade up soon afterwards when it begins to limit your fishing.

As far as the kingfisher goes bide your time and look for a good secondhand one. They can be picked up with gear for $800.
Post Reply