Two weeks before Hobie premiered the revamped Pro Angler, I sat down with James McBeath, director of marketing, to get answers to a few pressing questions.

Hobie Drops the 2025 Pro Angler

Question number one: what took so long! McBeath laughs and points to a bunch of pandemic-related hurdles. “We have some catching up to do,” he says.

Next question: why did you make the changes? Hobie’s first priority is to revamp the ultra-popular Pro Angler series to answer customer requests and give the market what it wants. According to Hobie’s research, the market wants motors. So the new Pro Angler is ready to accept a trolling motor in the bow and an electric outboard in the stern.

But they didn’t just slap a motor onto a Pro Angler and send it out the door. McBeath says their engineers worked on reinforcing the boat for strength and durability. The new models have been tested in the lab and on the water. “If we are going to accommodate motors, the boat must handle the speed and torque,” he says.

It can also handle big and tall anglers. The Hobie Mirage Pro has set the standard as the most stable big guy fishing kayak.

Introducing the motor-ready 2025 Hobie Pro Angler fishing kayak.
Introducing the motor-ready 2025 Hobie Pro Angler. | Feature photo: Hobie

Design Updates Beyond Motorization

To complete the motor-readiness, the new Pro Angler has dedicated space for batteries and removable plates to run wires and controls. There are even spaces for dual Power-Pole anchor systems. “That’s what people want,” McBeath admits. The design team responded to the most popular rigging trends to eliminate the need for aftermarket mounts and brackets.

In addition to prepping the Pro Angler for motor power, the design team also looked at a few critiques of the current Pro Angler. For example, they re-engineered the middle hatch and rod holders to prevent leaks.

The new and improved Pro Angler carries on the boat’s tradition as the premier full-feature, full-size tournament-ready fishing kayak. McBeath explains, “It’s the Pro Angler in all its legacy format with strength to accommodate new power systems.”

Last question, what’s next? According to McBeath, the ProAngler remodel is the tip of the iceberg.

“We have great plans for 2026 with new models and more improvements,” McBeath says. We’ll see more of the new Pro Angler as photos and stories trickle out of a big pro-staff event in Florida. And, stand by for a full review of the new Hobie Pro Angler in a future issue of Kayak Angler magazine.

Visit Hobie to learn more.

Introducing the motor-ready 2025 Hobie Pro Angler. | Feature photo: Hobie

 

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Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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