Fly Fishing from Paddle Craft
Prepare For Success
When fly anglers begin to think about using a paddle craft as their fishing platform, we inevitably begin by wondering, “How am I going to pull in all those massive fish with this little boat?”
But before we deal with that problem (hopefully) there’s a lot of work to be done. The first consideration in paddle fly fishing is gear. And the first step in preparing is getting rid of some of it. Here are a few beads of wisdom.
● Do you really need more than one rod? Even if you will make use of them, how will you store the ones waiting their turn?
● Will you need a cooler? Compared to an outing in a boat, you will probably eat less food on a paddle board, and I know very few fly anglers who take beer on kayak trips.
● By that token, do you need a tackle box or vest? On some trips I limit my tackle to what I can hold in a chest pack.
● And, will a shirt pocket fly box do the job? Are you going to change flies enough to need a spacious, boat sized fly box?
● Do you need a proper camera? Would your phone be enough?
● Other gear that we pile up in boats are landing nets, fish bags, and stringers. Again, their usefulness must be compared to their mass, volume, and complicated use.
● Also, will toothbrushes, thermometers, and stomach pumps be used enough to justify their places?
Next time, we'll look at gear that paddle anglers do use.
