SUPs

Anyone here getting hooked on boards? I've been out on mine once or twice a day for the last month. About to try out the fishing rack attachment. Lovin' it!

You mean those stand up paddle boards? They look ideal for the Brazos when it is really low. In the summer you have to get out and drag a kayak in a lot of places, something with less draft than a kayak might be the ticket.

Yes, this is the one I have.

Sweet

Those are sweet as jam man. I wanted one like that but ended up building me one.

What do you think the draft would be for a 200 pound rider?

I've never given those SUP's any consideration although I think they are pretty cool, but at my age I'm doing good to stand up on dry ground.
I'm content with sitting down and fishing from my kayak.

It has a fin like a surfboard, so that is the main concern, but you can remove it if you are trying to get really shallow. I weigh 240 and it carries me with a draft of just a few inches.

It takes things to a whole different level when it comes to exercise. Since you are standing up and balancing, you are using a lot of core muscles. You also use your whole body to paddle. It's way more exercise and strength building than kayaking. If I get too tired, I can sit on my knees and paddle.

Yesterday I put the rod rack on for the first time and fished. It was not any more difficult than paddling. Only time I felt a little off balance was the first time I turned around to put a rod back in the rack.

Definitely make sure you demo before you buy. There is a huge difference in stability between the boards. You need a really stable board if you plan to fish.

nice ride

Well, first, here is some math. We know that heavy things can float in water because the water that is displaced weighs more than the "heavy things." So concrete and steel vessels/structures can float if these heavier than water objects are configured correctly to spread their weight out over a larger surface area. Sure, shape matters, too.

If I take 13 feet by 30 inches and sink it two inches in water (156" X 30" X 2"), I am displacing 9360 cubic inches of water . . . and that water weighs 338 lbs.

Anyway, I think SUPs might be longer than 13 feet and wider than 30" (average width from tip to tip) and remember that you have to add to your own body weight the weight of the SUP itself.

I have seen two of them floating down behind my house and they looked very cool! I went down and talked to the guys. As I recall, they both had some sort of a cooler to sit on. You definitely want to get off your feet now and again if only to sit and re-tie hooks. These two men looked very balanced to me.

I totally agree. This would absolutely require SUP demos or heavy research, including looking at videos, to find which models have the best stability, paddle the best.

Finally, I was in Austin Kayak in Houston and I saw the new Hobie SUP with its proprietary pedal drive and the thing really shocked me as to how very large it was. I wouldn't go that route, we are after all pursuing simplicity here I think, so I'd stay "finesse" and buy a good paddle.

Brad

My wife and I rented some to float the Trinity in Fort Worth a few years ago (no fishing). She wanted to bring our lab with us, thinking he would just hang out on the front and ride along. I was skeptical, because he is water crazy and I knew he wouldn't want to stay on the board. Also, he is 90 pounds, so having that type of additional weight made me a little nervous.

It went way better than I expected. He did dump me over once, but those things are pretty stable. And we didn't have nice ones like JP's. These were the cheapo rentals.

I fly fish on my Bote Drift. I've taken it to a creek and a pond. Main lake points next.

I picked up a Jackson SUPerFISHal several months ago and have got it wet at least a dozen times now. I love it. I can only sit for so long before my back cramps up badly, so my kayak trips were often cut short. I've fished for well over 4 hours at a stretch on the SUP and been fine to go longer.

I have a BIC Cross - couldn't pull the trigger on a BOTE HD- $$. I am on kinda old dude with a bad back, and sitting in a kayak isn't possible,