Fishing from your stand up paddle board

As a recent report¹ has shown, fishing is a huge past time among Americans and around the world. Perhaps it is just an excuse to drink beer and be outside, and that should only be done in the appropriate circumstances of course since we are around water, but fishing is a very relaxing, satisfying and almost spiritual sport. And I use the term sport loosely, let’s call it an activity or past time. Second only to running, jogging and trail running (19%), fishing has a participation rate of 16% of all Americans aged 6+, or 46 million people. That’s a lot of people.

I liken fishing to surfing. We all sit around waiting for that big one to come along, we get the ride of our life, reel it in or get barreled to the beach and then we get straight back to it, looking forward to the next biggest fish or best wave ever.

The beauty of stand up paddle boarding is you can experience both worlds. You can also reach many fishing places you couldn’t otherwise reach by boat or land. Kayaks indeed offer this same ability of reaching untouched and unfished locations, and there are some pretty stylin’ fishing kayaks out there, but a stand up paddle board will offer so much more. The family can enjoy paddling about, jumping off the board, hanging with friends or you can enjoy a solo paddle for exercise. Fishing from a SUP is like fishing from a mobile pier or bridge. Carry some bait and chase the fish, load up the cooler with the trophies and head back home to tell the tales.

[column] [threecol_one][/threecol_one] [threecol_two_last]Fishing from an inflatable SUP is especially clever. Being able to pack down your equipment and carry it into remote locations or stow in the trunk or below in your yacht or motor boat, opens up a world of new locations. But, what if a hook pierces your board? Well, unless you are fishing for 10ft great whites, I wouldn’t worry about hooks piercing your board. A filleting knife perhaps, so you might want to leave that until you are back on a land!

The Red Paddle Co 10’8″ Mega is especially suited to fishing. 10’8″ long and 36″ wide, it is super stable, with plenty of room to move. It also has 4 tie down points where you can attach a cooler or tackle box etc. It’s also available here as a board, paddle and free leash package.[/threecol_two_last] [/column]

See all the boards we have in our range here.

1. The Outdoor Foundation: Outdoor Participation Report 2013