Packraft/Fishing Paddle

Hi,
I recently bought an Aplacka Llama and I’m after a midrange paddle, probably quite like the The fibreglass shaft Aquabound manta ray on the website, but I don’t want bright coloured blades both to avoid spooking fish and I want to avoid attracting attention in some of the placed I fish. I guess I’m after a paddle with black or darkly coloured blades and shaft but I don’t want carbon blades as (correct me if I’m wrong?) i get the impression they can be fragile if used as a push pole. I know using a paddle as push pole is not reccomended, however as a fisherman in tight water i see it as a necessity due to the need to retreives lures from bankside vegetation and being blown into shore

Other things I’m looking for in a paddle/what i will be using it for:

  • I 'll mainly be hiking and fishing small creeks & rivers.
  • Mainly flatwater, quite often tight, often portaging
  • I want to be able to use the paddle on rivers with whitewater as well, but these will be less frequent.
  • ocasional rapids
  • price range $100-$150 US ($200 - $300 AUD) leaning towards the lower side, but willing to spend more if i can justifyn it.
  • lightweight
  • 4 piece, minimal breakdown length
  • lenght 210-230cm’s (as far as I can gather from what I’ve read)
  • Stiff blade that can handle some abuse.
  • available in or ship to Australia, where I’m based
  • I’m 6’2", solid bulid and would have a pretty powerful paddle stroke.

I’ve seen their is a “fishing” paddle on the aquabound website, but I’m not sure if it is available in 4 piece, if its in my price range and maybe more suoted to openwater kayak fisherman.

Does anyone have an opionion on Cannon paddles, I’ve tracked down some four piece fibreglass shaft versions of the Escape http://www.cannonpaddles.com/escape.html# and Wave http://www.cannonpaddles.com/wave.html# which I’m considering. Can anyone tell me the difference between the blade consideration of these two paddles ans which would be more appropriate for me? The description provided seems a bit airy fairy.

Any oher suggestions?

Cheers,

Gus

I was looking for a 4 piece Green paddle but could only find a 2 piece.
it’s not the lightest thing but at least it’s green and it’s strong.

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?id=0009281014700a&navCount=1&podId=0009281014700&parentId=cat602720

For what it’s worth…!

I love my Aquabound Splat 4 piece paddle. It weighs 1.1kg, and has had a fair beating, with no problems with fragility. Although they are advertised as “carbon fibre”, I think it’s only the shafts that are made of this - the blades look to be some form of plastic, which is very hard wearing - we have spent a lot of time pushing ourselves off rocks, with no problems.

The only problem I have had is that the ferrules between blades and shaft do tend to get tight with use, and getting wet, and I have had to sand back the male ferrule on both my paddles, but it wasn’t that big a deal.

I also think that any paddle you buy from the US will be much better value than what we can get in Oz, even allowing for the current crap exchange rate, and postage. I went pricing padddles here a few years ago, and what we got here for $400 was a lot less from the US - these days I buy nearly all my outdoor gear my mail order from the US, and it costs about 2/3 of what we would pay here for it.

Andrew Allan

I agree with andrewallen- the Splat takes a beating; I’ve been using mine for 4-5 years. There’s a thread on the ferrule getting stuck here, along with maintenance advice from Aquabound: http://www.alpackaraft.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=246

I recall Aquabound telling me there is some carbon fiber in the blade, I think it’s mixed in the a nylon matrix or something similar. I should ask them again; can’t remember…

Aquabound has that new paddle w/ a little slot for catching your fishline with. I saw it at the OR show, and it looked like a neat idea, but it wasn’t on a tough whitewater paddle like the splat. For hybrid performance, you might be better off putting a slight nick in the upper edge of a Splat or similar whitewater paddle, and using that as your line-hook.

Thanks for the feedback so far, its definately helpful.
So it looks like I may have had the wrong impression on carbon blades, or at least partially.
on the Aquabound website it says the blades are Lightweight abX carbon blades, so it sounds like they are a composite of resin and carbon.

Cheers,

Gus