What are the best boards available for fishing off an SUP and where in Australia can you get them? There are some excellent models available in the US such as the Hooked SUP and the BOTE SUP, but these boards do not appear to be available here. That's a shame as SUP fishing seems to be really taking off.
Seriously?
www.seabreeze.com.au/forums/Stand-Up-Paddle/Review/BOTE-Fishing-SUP-boards/
Starboard make a fisherman & a big daddy that come with rod holders, but you wouldn't want to paddle them to far, 39" wide.
BoatHoist at Nelson Bay have just released a fishing platform that attaches to the deck of a Redpaddle SUP called the SUP-YAK. It comes with 1 or 2 molded boat seats, 2 fishing rod holders and a paddle holder that acts as a horizontal bar to lean against with tossing a lure.
Hi Micky,
I have a Starboard avanti and at 36 inches wide has great stability for casting lures at structure, it is not the best paddler but i can travel 1km in 10 minutes so it has enough range for the locations i fish (around canal estate rock walls). If you wanted to chase pelagics out to sea or need to cover some distance to get to the fishing grounds then i would look for one of the touring type boards (the Fanatic Ray looks interesting). I have had a go on the Starboard Fisherman and it is a massive board that paddles quite well, in the end it's use would have been too limited for me. If you check out the following pictures i have modified a milk crate for fishing and it works well. The horizontal rod holders have securing bungies if you flip over and you can have the spare rod pointing backwards to get into the mangroves or tight spaces. The milk crate also holds my cooler back pack containg the most important piece of equipment, beer. The milk crate is attached to the board with a small ratchet strap and has very little drag because the Starboard bottom shape is perfectly flat at this location. With all the fishing gear attached the board is still balanced for carrying with my backpack on my back, this means only one trip to the water. I have really enjoyed the leasurely Friday arvo sessions with a few beers and a couple of fish showing up from time to time (have averaged 2 fish per session but nothing big enough to eat yet). Well i hope this helps and you get out and have a go, if you love fishing you will love SUP fishing.
Hey guys
The JP Cruiser has the drill holes for a Scotty mount at the back. I only just picked one up second hand but yet to add the mount. It's very stable and high volume (at least compared to my SB Allstar fitness board).
I used to fish off Ski's a lot so looking forward to giving it a crack on the SUP, perhaps trolling hard body lures on light drag setting, or paddling to a good flathead area and sitting down for a drift fish.
Cheers
I've got starboard hero 33 wide and have a fishing bag from bcf with built in rod holder caught plenty of squid and samon on it
Waiting for an inflatable with a built in cup and rod holder. Can fish without a cold bitters and a place to put it.
Also use an Avanti and have Velcro tabs stuck on esky and deck with rod holders on the esky, can either trawl when I paddle or just sit and fish - works really well.
HGfish, nice esky mod. I think I will do the same. The stowaway pack was my inspiration for the milk crate. $190 is a bit steep for me great product though.
Not much money to buy a pool noodle......cut it into 3 pieces (3 floats)....and buy 3 hooks
Throw them out as you going for paddle
Retrieve on return trip........no expensive equipment and reels
Big call on a SUP. I have used them off Ski's and Kayaks as the Transducer can be easily siliconed into the bottom under the seat, and it will 'beam' through a few mm of plastic or glass, but not a whole board. Add to that a rather heavy battery that needs to keep dry.
You would have use an external one and suction cup mount Id guess if really keen, but too much of a pain in the a$$. To be honest Id be happy drifting over sand for Flathead or casting for squid off weed-beds on a SUP, easy to find and you don't need to look for bait balls and deep reefs that you use a Sounder for, such as Snapper, Kings etc which would pull you into the water anyway if you hooked one standing up!