Does anybody flyfish from a Hobie?

[flyak]

Hi Everyone; This is my first post. I really like this forum. I'm just getting into joining my two hobbies: flyfishing with kayaking. I've done both for years - but not together. Last year, I rigged my Malibu 2XL, and my sit in side Pungo which worked OK, but I'd prefer to go for a boat specific for fishing. I like the idea of propulsion, but I'm wondering how frequent the line gets snagged onto those pedals. If anyone has some personal advice on the best kayak for flyfishing (and I'd prefer to stand on occasion) please chime in. Thanks. -ron

[gafisherman]

Hey I have a Hobie Revo 13, got it last year, and I fly fished a bunch out of the kayak and it was great. Never tried standing and flyfishing, but I caught a lot of bass and panfish out of the Hobie and it was fun.

The only thing I had to watch for was to make sure my excess flyline wasn't wrapped around anything, it did tend to wrap around the rudder control every once in a while, but not a big issue.

Good luck!

[Mark]

I also fly fish from a Revo 13. I never feel a need to stand and I wouldn't try it in a Revo anyway.

It's pretty hard to tangle stripped line in the Mirage Drive since it sits so far forward in the kayak. I've never done that. But I do keep the left side of the kayak clear of anything that would snag the line since I'm right-handed and I cast mostly to the left of the boat or straight ahead. I store the paddle on the right and keep my pliers tucked low in the side pocket on the left. As you know anything in the path of the line will catch it.

I either strip line to the hatch cover that sits between my legs or I simply drop it into the water to left side of the boat. By dropping it in the water, it's really no different than wading and allowing the line to fall into the water at your feet. However on occasion in windy conditions I have floated over the line and that's not good. It can take some time to recover from that depending on how much line I have out.

When I toss poppers for freshwater bass or for stripers in the Bay I actually do very little line stripping. I toss the line out, pop the fly a few times and pick it up and sent it out again. That's much easier than fishing streamers because there is hardly any line in the way to get tangled until you hook a fish. Then of course you have to put the line somewhere as you strip the fish in. I usually drop it into the water unless I'm fighting the fish off my bow. Then I'll drop the line to the deck between my legs.

Lastly, you'll be sitting low to the water in most kayaks. That's analogous to wading in waist-deep water. Be mindful of that and keep your rod tip high on the back cast to avoid slapping the water behind you with your fly. That will take distance from your cast.

You'll enjoy fly fishing from your kayak. It will give you vantage points you could never achieve by wading.

Good luck,