Great Fishing Vessels

I am so pleased with the decision to graduate from my old sit in kayak to the Wilderness Systems, sit on top Tarpon. There is no comparison when it comes to convenience, freedom of movement and stability. I can sit sidesaddle like in the picture. I can straddle the yak and I can even kneel and stand. Standing is reserved for poling through shallow flats. (I would not attempt to fish in that position.) Throwing your legs over the side makes it like fishing from a chair. Waders are standard when waters are cool but in summer lightweight "quick dry" pants work well. If you really want to have an armchair fishing experience you can pack your tube. Paddle down to the hotspot and then chill out in the tube. Nothing better for pin point control fishing than the trusty old float tube.

FLOAT TUBE TROUT

YAKFISHING CAMP

A good friend and fellow flyfisherman and I enjoyed a few days of river fishing for smallmouth on one of the local rivers back in August. This lucky fellow is taking his kayak to Florida soon while I sit around in the Great White North tying flies and waiting for winter to go away. It was minus 21 today where I live.

Late Season Bass

This largemouth was caught in Early November while standing and flycasting from my pontoon boat. The plywood that the fish is resting on prior to release was found in my garage and happened to span the frame of my pontoon perfectly. Now whenever I want to stand I just reach behind me and pull out the plywood and place it on the frame in front of me. It slides a few inches under the seat and thus is held perfectly in place. When I don't need it it stores behind my seat on the rear storage shelf.

On October 24th I continued my experimenting with gear . This personal best river smallmouth was caught on unweighted plastic on my ultra-lite spinning rod.