Bass Pro Shops Acquires Hobie

Bass Pro Shops announced September 24, 2025, that it has acquired Hobie, the storied watersports brand best known for its MirageDrive pedal kayaks and sailing catamarans. Hobie will join White River Marine Group, Bass Pro’s manufacturing arm, which already builds Ascend kayaks and several major boat lines in Lebanon, Missouri.

The company will shift Hobie production from Mexico to the Missouri facility, a move Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris framed as a strategic investment in American manufacturing. “We are proud to bring Hobie home to America’s Heartland,” he said in a release announcing the deal. Terms of the purchase were not made public.

For Bass Pro, Hobie brings global brand recognition and a technology platform that competitors have tried to emulate for years. White River Marine already claims to be the world’s largest boatbuilder by volume, with brands including Tracker, Ranger and Ascend. Adding Hobie expands its portfolio into the premium kayak and sailing markets while reinforcing its commitment to fishing. The shift of Hobie production to Missouri is expected to begin quickly, with Bass Pro emphasizing job creation and domestic output.

While some industry voices worry the mega-retailer could dilute the independent spirit that made Hobie iconic, Bass Pro leadership emphasizes it understands Hobie’s soulful roots as a brand by and for watermen. After all, the Hobie origin story of a passionate young surfer shaping boards in his father’s garage echoes Bass Pro’s own legend of a passionate fisherman selling tackle in the back of his father’s liquor store. From those humble beginnings Johnny Morris built Bass Pro into a multi-billion-dollar corporate behemoth.

Optimists in the kayak business note that the Bass Pro acquisition strengthens Hobie’s position in the fast-growing pedal-drive kayak segment. Hobie’s MirageDrive technology has long set the standard for hands-free fishing and recreational kayaking and combining it with White River’s production capacity and the distribution reach of Bass Pro could boost Hobie sales. However, dealers Kayak Angler surveyed since the Bass Pro news broke were more cautious.

Dealer reactions

Retailers surveyed agreed on what Hobie needs to do next: For starters, a return to the product Hobie made in Oceanside, California, before an investment group purchased the company in 2021 and began moving production to Mexico. Second, and just as importantly, Hobie’s new owners need to close a backlog in orders and warranty claims. Finally, the company will have to continue working with specialty retailers to provide the sales and service expertise that Bass Pro likely can’t.

Dealers Kayak Angler spoke with consistently said that in recent years Hobie had experienced problems with kayak hulls and the new MirageDrive 360. As warranty claims mounted, deliveries of boats and critical components slowed to a trickle. “I haven’t had a new Hobie in here for over a year, and I’ve had certain parts on back order for over two years now,” says Curtis Ramsy, General Manager of Sandy Point Progressive Sports in Daytona Beach, Florida.

About a year ago, the company told dealers to stop emailing them about back orders and warranty claims, says longtime Hobie dealer Dave Lindo of OKC Kayak.

Bass Pro also lacks experienced staff to service the complex pedal kayaks, adds Lindo. “The simple fact that Bass Pro has never worked on Hobies is going to be a further cause of contention between Hobie consumers and Bass Pro,” Lindo predicts. Years ago, whenever Lindo’s staff ran up against a Hobie maintenance issue they couldn’t solve, they would call the factory in California. But now no one there has the knowledge to help.

“Hobie got rid of a lot of the veteran staff that was really good at imparting that knowledge to the dealers. And now they’ve done the same thing at the dealer level. There’s hardly an independent Hobie dealer left,” Lindo adds.

What’s at stake

For Hobie enthusiasts, the stakes feel existential. Many see the Bass Pro acquisition as a chance for Hobie to reclaim its place at the pinnacle of the kayak fishing market. Others fear that assimilation into a corporate empire could erase the brand’s unique DNA.

Still others in the industry envision a win-win scenario:

“If they treat each store like a distribution point, saving the specialty retailers within that region a significant amount of money on freight and upfront investment that they have to make in order to carry the Hobie brand, they can create a symbiotic relationship where Bass Pro Shop is the retail outlet that sells the boat and the shop is the place that you get it accessorized, outfitted, rigged and warranted,” says Kayak Bass Fishing founder Chad Hoover.

“I think that that could be a match made in heaven.”

Editor’s note: This story was updated October 1, 2025. 

Hobie will join White River Marine Group, Bass Pro’s manufacturing arm, which builds Ascend kayaks and several major boat lines in Lebanon, Missouri. | Feature photo: Courtesy Bass Pro