Dave N.
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John’s right, yet again. I should hope that the general fishing public doesn’t catch on… but I didn’t think that this board was a representative cross-section of the angling public.
May you never hit your 2%.
John, it appears you’re really good at trolling. You got me there, it’s something SUPs absolutely suck at.
Since we’re on “devil in the details” — how well does that bicycle contraption work when you’re trying to stand up and fish? How well does the reverse work on that? You can just throw it up on top your car, yeah? How she handle whitewater?
Hey John,
I have to respectfully disagree with you on almost everything except all boats having pros and cons. I probably wouldn’t take mine out to fish rigs a couple miles offshore, but then I probably wouldn’t want to be out there in a Hobie, either.
I’d argue that simplicity is a design philosophy and a strength. I think of my roto-molded SUPs as being scaled-down microskiffs, with a clean, flat deck but with rocker like a whitewater kayak. They actually pole surprisingly well! Not a lot of storage, true, but then if I wanted to bring a bunch of stuff I would hop in the big boat and fire up the outboard (and you may have overlooked the deck storage hatch on my SUP?).
As far as safety, there’s nothing saying you can’t take a knee or sit on the deck of a SUP and paddle for speed. I’ve resorted to this several times to get to the takeout before a lightning storm hit, and I often keep a normal kayak paddle onboard for just such instances. Speed is probably their biggest drawback, but they’re not as slow as you might think.
That said, I’m not going to change your mind on here, so I’ll make the same offer I made Zach. You’re welcome to fish off one of mine anytime.
I’ve watched two people in a canoe fight over which direction to go to avoid a bridge piling, nail it dead center (still arguing), and wrap it. They swam (and were still arguing). People can get themselves into trouble in lots of different ways — it may not be the board’s fault. If you’re a competent boater to begin with, then some SUPs offer a fantastic flyfishing platform.
The Versa boards are only ~33″ wide, and can be a bit squirrely. I have two Imagine Rapidfires (as well as two fiberglass racing/sport SUPs) and have run them on everything from the Nantahela to surfing waves on the Atlantic coast and a lot of water in between. They have become my go-to boat when I fish for most of the year. I have a couple of friends that fish off Jackson’s SUPerfishal — it seems to be a similarly maneuverable and stable little craft.
I like them because they’re stable (MUCH more stable than any canoe I’ve ever been in, which is a sizeable list) and simple. No silly attachments or clutter, just a nice, clean, flat deck without things to catch fly line or trip you.
If you want to give one a try, you’re more than welcome to tag along sometime.
