Fishing has been on my mind often when packrafting; I always see them near rapids, hopping out of the water and everywhere else while on rivers, creeks and lakes, yet I have not found a good general purpose fishing system nor invested much time into it. My current system is a pencap with fishing line wrapped around it and a few lures. I don’t use it much because it kinda sucks. So I’m curious what other packrafting folks bring as their fishing gear and how successful it has been working out for them?
A fly rod Seriously. A fly rod is not that excessive. Go Tenkara and jam it in your paddle if you want minimalist. I haven’t seen the need, though maybe I should learn Tenkara. A full setup is only a lb or so.
I coming at this from the opposite direction. I got a packraft to enhance my fishing.
I plan to use my Scout raft on small alpine lakes only, not rivers. I travel by motorcycle, so the packraft is perfect since it is not too bulky to carry, even with the rest of the requisite gear; paddle, pfd etc. The rod I have been using for a few years is a Shimano telescopic travel spinning rod. The telescopic shaft separates from the handle so it packs down to less than 14" in its case yet it is a really nice 6.5’ rod. It is perfect for small trout that I go after. The raft will just let me get out to the deeper cooler water to find them in the summer months.
As for rivers and streams, I have just discovered Tenkara and have recently added a Tenkara rod and set up to my kit. I don’t plan to use it from the raft, but will go wading instead. I mostly expect to use it for small mountain streams, not larger rivers.
Thanks for the initial ideas, the tenkara method seems promising. I did a bit of looking and found a complete tenkara setup for $159 and 5oz which seemed pretty nice but a bit much for me at this time. I’m going to try to find a Chinese direct one on az, I think there all made in china anyway. On a side note the Tenkara method reminds me of a fishing method we invented when I was kid, when the reel got all jammed up and we could not find any worms we found that by whipping the hook back and forth into the water worked very satisfactory for what I think were sunfish and rock bass in a beaver pond . I have not tried trout fishing yet, seems like the main lure are flies however I often see trout just bellow a rapid seemingly scouting the water flowing by them, which makes me think if I floated a lure by them they may take notice and bite or maybe just a nibble? maybe they bite harder on a fly style fishing rather than a float by style? idk I’m just thinking out loud now
I use my alpacka as a general multi purpose boat, fishing being one of those purposes. The lightweight and low cost aspect is relative as any inflatable craft such as ours is both low cost and lightweight considering the more traditional fishing and/or boat options.
I use a packraft fishing table. Rather, it’s what I will be using as I just recently purchased both my packraft and fishing table and haven’t had a chance to use them just yet.
I came across that table as well and liked the idea. It is a really good system for managing the fishing gear. I ended up building my own version though scaled down to what fit my Scout and to suit my gear as well as to pack in with the rest of the kit on my motorcycle.
Just wanted to update my personal experience with the packrafting table.
I’ve had a chance to use it regularly now as I’ve recently moved to a little ski town with plenty of nearby alpine lakes, and the packraft with table has transformed my fishing. I used to be a mediocre fisherperson simply because my heart wasn’t fully into it. I just didn’t have much patience. Now though, I can connect my table, jump into my raft, and have fish on almost at will. Part of that of course is learning the local waters, but that would never have happened without an affordable fishing vessel. The packraft table, for me personally, is integral to my fishing success.
What a beautiful thing, to finally be able to catch fish!
Whether you are a skilled angler, or a relative newcomer to the sport, you most likely understand the significance of fly fishing tools. Whenever applied properly, fly fishing tools can not only improve your fishing experience, but in some cases in fact save your life. In this article we’ll explore the three basic types of fly fishing tools, and just how they can help you to catch more fish and also have more fun doing it.
All collapsible rods seem to share the same weakness, their tips are fragile! Carry spare tips. However some rods are better than others. I like the longer rods in case the tip breaks.
Here is what I have. Experience is limited, but I like them so far. They come with a heavy duty tip holder so additional carry tubes are not really necessary. All rods will be different weights. Seems like the cheaper the rod, the heavier it is and the action sucks also.
I have these two rods and the reels are nice also. I have the 5 ft 10 in and 6 ft 9 in rods. http://www.psfishing.com/edition-im-12-mini-spin-telescopic-fishing-rod.html
Seriously. A fly rod is not that excessive. Go Tenkara and jam it in your paddle if you want minimalist. I haven’t seen the need, though maybe I should learn Tenkara. A full setup is only a lb or so.
. I have not tried trout fishing yet, seems like the main lure are flies however I often see trout just bellow a rapid seemingly scouting the water flowing by them, which makes me think if I floated a lure by them they may take notice and bite or maybe just a nibble? maybe they bite harder on a fly style fishing rather than a float by style? idk I’m just thinking out loud now