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Paddle Board recommendations for Fly Fishing

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ECFlyer33

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I am in the market for a SUP for fly fishing here in New England, specifically North Shore Massachusetts, New Hampshire Sea Coast, to the South Eastern coast of Maine. As you can imagine my biggest concerns being durability with the rocky coast as well as effectiveness out on the water in case of chop and wind. Using a kayak these days which is fine but would rather be standing to cast more effectively especially in deeper water and out on flats or shallows. Any feedback on models such as hard board to inflatables would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!

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Mine is an inflatable, I got it because inflatables are more durable, surprising as it may seem. Bote has a nice line of both hard and inflatable boards, even ones with outboard power. Mine is a Red Paddle Co 12'6" Explorer. It is plenty stable for me at 6', 200 lbs. The bigger you are the bigger the board you should get.

 

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2 mins ago, Cpalms said:

Google 'Live Watersports"  for a flyfishing SUP there is this one and then everything else.  I have only used a friends but there is no monohull (if you will) SUP that has anywhere near the combination of stability and speed. 

 

I should be pulling the trigger on one shortly.  

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On 2/12/2019 at 5:26 PM, Cpalms said:

I'm on a hopeless quest to find a used one in the NE.  I'm gonna bite the bullet soon.

 

Have you had a chance to compare the Live Watersports products to the stand up SOT Kayaks?  Originally I had my heart set on the L2Fish/L4Expedition but now I'm looking at things like the Bonafide and Jackson Mayfly.  Torn on the direction.

 

I'm 230# but move like a cat.

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I have a cheap-ish board from Amazon.  It's a Z-RAY FS7 11' inflatable.  I'm not even sure if they still make it, but it's way nicer than I thought it would be.  It seems pretty tough, but I'm not sure I'd feel comfortable beating it up off some rocks.  I mainly got the inflatable since it was more convenient...I really enjoy fishing off of it, but if it's choppy/windy, I prefer the kayak.  I think for fishing out front I would prefer a board like the Botes posted above.

 

Here's the Amazon picture, I don't have many pics of it.  I bought a 12V compressor to replace the manual air pump, definitely saves a lot of work. 

 

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37 mins ago, VeeRay56 said:

Interesting topic. A logical offshoot of this discussion is “inflatable” or “rigid”?  Which is better, if either, or what are the benefits, efficiency, etc? 

As I have both I can comment

Rigid-

pros:

faster to paddle and quicker to manuever

good for sharp objects like oyster reefs that could puncture an inflatable

better paddling in the wind as it rides lower

california paddleboard snobs wont give you dirty looks

cons:

harder to transport and store

if you bump into things it requires repair

can get waterlogged if not repaired

 

Inflatable

pros:

easy to transport and store

can bump into blunt objects without worry of ding or crack

very family friendly... generally more rugged and needs less TLC

cons:

slower to paddle and manuever

hard to paddle in the wind as it rides higher on the water

can be punctured... though it would take something very sharp hitting it hard

kind of a pain to inflate and deflate and roll up

 

 

both work great for fishing... generally i use my hard board here in the ocean as i want to paddle further and i use my inflatable if i am in the flats / marshes and sweetwater fishing or if my kid wants to come along

 

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I used an inflatable for a couple years before understanding a hard board was a far, far better option. The issue with the inflatable for me was it just doesn't go through anything but the calmest water effectively. I've used a Bote HD 12' for the last couple of years and I don't have much bad to say about it. Its design does very well in open water. I'm careful around rocks, but I've still bumped and scraped them by mistake without damaging the board. The fiberglass over foam design isn't bullet proof, but it's also stronger than most assume, and repairable. You'd have to really eff it up to ruin a board.

 

One big consideration is the board weight, and how far you have to carry to the water. At about 33lbs, the HD12 is ok to carry for extended stretches, but at the end of the day it can be heavy when you're tired. One of the things I love about paddleboards vs. kayaks is the ability to get in the water pretty much anywhere with no extra devices, so weight is a concern...especially when you consider what else you might be bringing along.

 

You also want to make sure there are embedded pins, or something like that to create lash points for bungees. These have been critical for using an anchor, using a drift sock, and securing rods for beach landings.

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This is my normal setup non-flats, but normally the stripping basket is not with me. The beach chair (Alite) is probably the best addition to the board. It goes under the bungees, creates a pretty perfect place to rest the rod for access, and to keep the tip away from waves while underway. If you get tired, you can anchor and sit against it.

 

Happy to answer any other questions about SUP fishing. I've learned a lot from trial/error and it has been my favorite way to fish for a few years.

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