Hi all,
I’m seriously considering purchasing a raft with the main intent being a river fishing craft. Which models would people recommend?
Also what type of modification have people made for adapting to fishing.
How have you attached rod holders?
Thanks for the help,
Ben
I took my llama on a month-long fishing/floating/backpacking trip to Patagonia last year. I also use my llama to access fishing in AK.
I’ve never found it to be a good craft for fishing from, for starters, packrafts want to start spinning the instant that you take your paddle out of the water. It might be alright for occasional use on a windless lake, but if you are looking for a personal fishing craft, a pontoon style boat is still your best bet, imo.
I have found my packraft to be excellent for accessing good gravel bars, and floating between wading locations. I tend to strap my rod vertically to my pack while switching wading locations, so it is out of my way while paddling… would be a bummer to flip with it situated that way, but it works just fine otherwise.
Some info on fishing/packrafts here on my blog
Steve
I would think that the Unrigged Explorer is a good model for fishing. It’s the model I plan on getting.
Steve, What can you tell us about that newer model boat with the black tube extension? If you have any more photos of it I’d be interested in seeing them.
Thanks,
Todd Schulke
Todd, I am not real sure what you mean? My raft has a black section on the front of the mid tube (?), it is just decorative (a custom order) I just wanted to funk it up a bit so my raft stood out a bit from others, it has no other purpouse 
It is an oversized but otherwise standard 2011 Denali Lama with a spray deck as per the Alpacka site, I find the spray deck a good option for fishing as it provides a ’ work’ platform for your lap. I have put the odd fish spike and hook hole in the spray deck and am working on a fish mat to protect it (and the fish) I holed through the deck and into the raft inflation chamber also with a fish spike (spine) it was a tough hole to find and patch. If you scroll through my blog the Alpack rafts feature pretty heavily as I do mostly back counrty and remote area fishing and it is the only boat for the job, 95% of my fishing is in an Alpacka now.
Steve
I was wondering if it was an extended version. Is this what you mean by “oversized”? If so, how much length did you have added? Do you notice any difference in hull speed etc.? I’m thinking of getting an extended Llama or Unrigged Explorer and am wondering what others experiences are.
Thanks,
Todd
No not extended in length, mine is wider, the Alpacka site specs are wrong and when my Denali showed I did not fit in it (too tight ie it was only 330mm across the seat not the 390 they claim in the specs), I sent it back and they made me one as per the site specs (they called it a custom but…). This has happened to a buddy of mine also, do not trust the raft specs on the Alpacka site because they are wrong for their new range! Thankfully Alpacka fixed their mistakes but us poor OS clients get slugged with the heafty return postage (ie $90 to return my new raft!!! ouch)
Thanks for the info.
I’m still quite interested in using an alpaca for fishing transportation (as opposed to fishing form the boat). Being able to hike in to remote rivers and fish is ideal. My question comes in when i’ve got a 10’ rod and gear- what have people done to best store fishng rods. I’ve seen rod holders that can go on inflatables…
Thanks for the thoughts,
Ben
i have the unrigged and fish out of it all the time, both on rivers and lakes. like some have mentioned, it does tend to spin as soon as you take your paddle out of the water, but this can be easily corrected as long as you keep the paddle across your lap and dip the blade into the water whenever you want to straighten out; this can be done with one hand. i don’t have any rod holders or anything like that attached, but would think about doing so if i primarily fished lakes. when i’m on a river i typically roll my spraydeck back just far enough to stick the rod and reel down into he boat and secure it between my legs, when maneuvering of course. just in case i have to move it quickly to get it from hanging up on sweepers or other obstacles. haven’t had any problems thus far with any of what i’ve mentioned.
chris
Hello friends,
this is winslet here,
yeah! i need some type of modification on fishing craft. can u help me? i need some suggession. reply soon.
Winslet~ You have to be more specific…