I’ve received a few comments recently about how challenging it looks to fish from a SUP. On the contrary, I’ve found it much easier than a lot of other personal vessels including kayaks, float tubes, or even canoes. Here are some tips of little things to do and to avoid. The goal of this post is to make your life easier when fishing from a SUP. Hopefully, this will calm your fears of any peril you may feel so you can start fishing from an Airhead SUP.
SUP Fishing Do’s:
There are definitely a few little things you can do to help yourself catch more fish on a SUP. To eliminate your learning curve here are a couple little “Do’s” to make things a lot easier. Give them a shot, and you will be impressed with the results.
An Airhead SUP will glide effortlessly through the water. This is a blessing for getting to a lot of different spots quickly and easily. Yet, this effortless gliding can cause a problem if a little breeze blows while you are trying to fish an area. The hands down best investment to cure this problem is a small Airhead SUP Anchor. An anchor will help you stay on fish, and keep you from drifting out of the places where you can get your line stretched. Check out one of my recent video’s of how an anchor helped me stay on fish to help you get a good idea of why this is important: Dierkes Lake Fishing Trip.
One thing I love about fishing from an Airhead SUP is how stealthy they are. Taking time to paddle around and looking in the water will help you find the best spots to fish. Bass are shallow water creatures. Oftentimes, you can spot them when cruising along close to shore on your SUP. Paddle on past them looking for more, and then go back and start “Kraken” them. It’s a really effective strategy.
It’s easy to get distracted while paddling around. Oftentimes you can miss detecting strikes because you aren’t paying attention to your line. It is critical to pay close attention to how fast your line sinks normally, and how the weight of your bait on your rod feels. We all work so hard to get those fish to bite. You don’t want to miss the chance to set the hook on that little ole fish!
SUP Fishing Don’ts
Making mistakes and learning is a part of life. Especially when fishing from a SUP. Here are a couple of the mistakes I’ve made that hopefully you don’t run into while out on the water paddling.
I’m constantly guilty of this. There is quote on a t-shirt my dad has which says, “Too many lures, and so little time.” Having too much stuff can really limit your maneuverability, and distract you from enjoying the moment and fishing. Try to limit the rods and the amount of tackle on the board, so you can just concentrate on finding fish and fishing. Check out my post on Essential Bass Fishing Tackle, and you’ll never need more than those items listed for bass fishing. “Less, but better” is the mantra you should live by on a paddle board when fishing.
The sun can really eat you up if you are not careful. The extra glare from the water intensifies things evens more. Plus, when paddling on the water there are typically no shade trees in the middle of the lake. There have been too many trips where I didn’t have sun block, and wound up looking like a lobster. Do yourself a favor, put on the sunscreen to make life better.
When introducing my friends to Paddle Boarding they always want to stand up. My suggestion is don’t. Start on your knees. Learn how your paddle works, and get a feel for the board. When I’m battling a bass on the board I always end up on my knees. This will help you keep your balance, and keep you Kraken Bass!
Hopefully, these little bits of advice can help you with your Paddle Board Fishing woes. Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns fishing from a SUP. It’s become one of my favorite ways to fish because of the maneuverability, the stealth, and the ability to get to places boats and shore fisherman can’t.