really calm waters..fishing from a SUP?

[Darth-Baiter]

I think it would be a blast!!  stand up paddle board fishing!  water needs to be glass smooth for me for sure or warm and shallow.  hahah.

 

anyone doing it?

[Smalls]

There's several companies manufacturing SUPs specifically designed and marketed towards anglers. Kaku, Vibe, Jackson, and even Hobie all make a SUP.

[michaelb]

I paddle my kayak as a stand up paddle board fairly regularly. So just using the kayak paddle and holding it near the end (sometimes holding one paddle) and paddling around. It would be better if I could trim the seat back and stand in the middle. So my kayak isn't as good as my paddleboards for paddling because the center of balance when standing is forward of center. But it is much better for fishing.

 

I haven't actually fished off any of my paddleboards. I have two that would be stable enough to fish, but they don't really have any set rigging for storing gear or rods, so I haven't actually tried just grabbing one rod with one rigged tied on and fishing off one of those for a bit. I am planning on getting another paddle board and I think I will get big enough for fishing (inflatable or one of the brands mentioned above) so I would have that as option.

 

My goal is to sight fish for a bowfin in the shallow flats, but they have been hiding from me this year. I did catch a nice sized bass though in the spring that was hanging out in 6" of water.

[bigbassin']

SUP fishing is relatively popular for saltwater flats and backcountry situations.

 

The main advantage is that it’s a far better sight-fishing platform since you are always standing.

For typical bass fishing, I don’t think most people are doing much sight fishing. The exception being the spawn of course.

 

The other advantage is that it’s better for fly fishing. The open front deck with nothing to snag makes for a good area to place your line between casts or even utilize a stripping basket.

 

Again, I don’t think nearly as many bass guys are fly fishing as in the salt.

 

Cons of fishing off one is the lack of storage, slower, can’t handle rough conditions, can’t handle even a slight wind without being blown all over.

 

They are a fun change up, but conditions have to be right to use them. The kayak is definitely a better option in pretty much every situation for conventional bass fishing.

[the reel ess]

Well, one of the cons of kayak fishing is the time spent paddling reduces your actual fishing time. I see the SUP as an even worse option in this regard. I also don't really enjoy standing up all day. But I would like to try one sometime.

[Boomstick]

On 9/26/2021 at 10:50 PM, Smalls said:

Kaku, Vibe, Jackson, and even Hobie all make a SUP.

I've seen some sweet Kahuna rigs. You can go a little larger and more stable and really more of a kayak and go with the Voodoo or the pedal drive Zulu as well.

[Smalls]

13 hours ago, Boomstick said:

I've seen some sweet Kahuna rigs. You can go a little larger and more stable and really more of a kayak and go with the Voodoo or the pedal drive Zulu as well.

The Zulu looks awesome.  If a SUP was practical where I lived, I'd have probably bought one. 

[GaryH]

On 9/26/2021 at 7:58 PM, Darth-Baiter said:

I think it would be a blast!!  stand up paddle board fishing!  water needs to be glass smooth for me for sure or warm and shallow.  hahah.

 

anyone doing it?

I saw a teenager on Keuka lake earlier this year fishing off one. The lake wasn’t calm and there was boat traffic. I was amazed how good he did even with boat wakes. I laughed and told my partner I’d have been in the water on the first wake. It looked like a blast if only I was that young again.

[TnRiver46]

[Smalls]

5 hours ago, GaryH said:

I saw a teenager on Keuka lake earlier this year fishing off one. The lake wasn’t calm and there was boat traffic. I was amazed how good he did even with boat wakes. I laughed and told my partner I’d have been in the water on the first wake. It looked like a blast if only I was that young again.

The way some of them are designed, they're really nothing more than a solid kayak without a gunnel. My buddy has a 12' Vibe Maverick,  and he's had himself and another guy at the same time standing and fishing. They're ridiculously stable.

[flyfisher]

I am looking pretty hard at a hybrid kayak/SUP for next year that I will primarily use as a river boat and have it be motorized.  As a fly fisherman the open deck is super appealing to me.

[Boomstick]

8 hours ago, Smalls said:

The Zulu looks awesome.  If a SUP was practical where I lived, I'd have probably bought one. 

The Voodoo and Zulu are basically flat kayaks. My oldest son has a Voodoo, it's pretty stable and even better yet, it keeps you dry - drier than a kayak. It tends to rock a bit on the water, so chop seems to blow it around a little more than my kayak.

 

We added an Engl cooler with 4 rod holders behind the seat which we use for food and drinks in the summer and tackle if we aren't using it for food and drinks. Then we added a milk crate with rod holders in the back and the kaku bags on the seat

[schplurg]

Flat paddle board looks like a pain in the butt to fish off of. Where do you put any gear? No seat? Nah. Maybe for an hour or so just for fun. Once.

 

I see no advantage to it over even a cheap paddle kayak, including price. I suppose if I had just a SUP I'd try it, but I'd probably trade it for a kayak instead if I really wanted to fish.

[Smalls]

8 hours ago, Boomstick said:

It tends to rock a bit on the water, so chop seems to blow it around a little more than my kayak

Another reason why I can't have a SUP, even though I really want one. By the end of the day my kayak looks like I paddled through a tornado. I'd probably bounce hundreds of dollars of tackle overboard before I smartened up and quit tossing crap on the deck. There's probably $40 worth of tungsten rolling around it right now ?

[Boomstick]

9 hours ago, Smalls said:

Another reason why I can't have a SUP, even though I really want one. By the end of the day my kayak looks like I paddled through a tornado. I'd probably bounce hundreds of dollars of tackle overboard before I smartened up and quit tossing crap on the deck. There's probably $40 worth of tungsten rolling around it right now ?

 

That's what I like about my Bonafide SS127's seat tray. If I don't want to put anything away immediately, I throw it in there.

[Boomstick]

19 hours ago, flyfisher said:

I am looking pretty hard at a hybrid kayak/SUP for next year that I will primarily use as a river boat and have it be motorized.  As a fly fisherman the open deck is super appealing to me.

Look at the Kaku Voodoo. Motor mounts, high weight capacity, pretty stable etc.

[desmobob]

I really like the idea of the smooth, open deck of a SUP for fly fishing.

 

Then, I remember that I'm a spastic klutz with only rudimentary coordination and realize all my nice fly fishing gear would likely end up in Davy Jones' locker...

 

As a fly fisherman, I know there's sometimes a fine line between wading and swimming.  I've crossed it plenty of times.  I'd bet the line between stand up paddle board paddling and swimming is even finer!  

[Bass Junke]

The Vibe Cubera, has a seat option you can mount. Looks like a pretty sweet fishing platform. I would most likely kick too much gear over the side. Might get expensive. 

[desmobob]

I think Dave Scadden's fishing-style inflatable SUP has a seat/cooler/gear box option.  
I can't imagine a long day of fishing, all done while standing.

[flyfisher]

4 hours ago, Boomstick said:

Look at the Kaku Voodoo. Motor mounts, high weight capacity, pretty stable etc.

that and the crescent SUP+ are high on my list.  The Voodoo seems a little heavier than I want but not sure just yet.  I need to get out to a demo days and try them both.  I am pretty stable standing in all of the kayaks I have used and paddled so I am thinking a paddle board hybrid is high up on my list.  

[Boomstick]

1 hour ago, flyfisher said:

that and the crescent SUP+ are high on my list.  The Voodoo seems a little heavier than I want but not sure just yet.  I need to get out to a demo days and try them both.  I am pretty stable standing in all of the kayaks I have used and paddled so I am thinking a paddle board hybrid is high up on my list.  

I was actually going to buy the Crescent, but it was out of stock when I bought last year with a 6 month backlog, and when I looked 6 months later for the hell of it it was further backlogged. It's definitely a little more wallet friendly and may actually be preferable if you're going to paddle it and you may be able to use it like a SUP where you want to paddle the Voodoo seated. But if I was going to put a motor on it, I'd go for the Voodoo it's just designed for it.

 

[michaelb]

Loving the love for kakus here. I like the sup+ a lot and the price is pretty good. But the seat just straps down to tie downs and is not fixed. So adjusting that will take fiddling and it wont be rock solid. Probably not great for serious or extended paddling say in rough waves. Its a nice sup with a strap on seat. 
 

in contrast the voodoo and the zulu have awesome seats that mount and side on track. So much more stable and adjustable. 

[TnRiver46]

20 hours ago, desmobob said:

I think Dave Scadden's fishing-style inflatable SUP has a seat/cooler/gear box option.  
I can't imagine a long day of fishing, all done while standing.

You don’t have to stand on them the whole time. 

[schplurg]

What is the advantage of a SUP over a kayak for fishing though? Not price, not storage, not stability (maybe a little?). I don't see the attraction.

 

You have to lash everything down. Lash down a cooler and a seat and - hey it's a kayak!

[Smalls]

1 hour ago, schplurg said:

What is the advantage of a SUP over a kayak for fishing though? Not price, not storage, not stability (maybe a little?). I don't see the attraction.

 

You have to lash everything down. Lash down a cooler and a seat and - hey it's a kayak!

The open deck is the biggest attraction. They also have very little draft, so they typically paddle very well. And there's really not many traditional kayaks out there that can rival their stability.