Re: bank fishing vs. boat fishing
Just to be able to go fishing ... Period!
I like boats, especially wooden boats. And I have this idea, rather it's true or not is another thing, that casting from offshore towards the bank always gives better results than casting from the bank out toward the middle of the pond, lake or river.
Dale
Re: bank fishing vs. boat fishing
To answer the question: Even here in the mid-west I prefer to be on foot if I can. Either on the bank or wading. There is something about being mobile that I just prefer. Where that doesn't work, I prefer a canoe.
Dale - That is funny, it has been my experiance that fishing parallel to shore is by far the most productive direction of retreival, and with nymphs, especially when the damsel nymphs are in the water, retreive towards shore is by far the best. It is funny how everyone's experiance in this sport is so frequently different.
Ed
Re: bank fishing vs. boat fishing
If you flyfish and you don't have a kayak, you are missing out. It takes me about 10 minutes to get my kayak ready to fish if I put the battery and the depth finder in. That is 10 minutes well spent. I can access most any area I want to fish. Yes I could get the big boat out, but that would mean missing out on the peace and tranquility of fishing from my kayak.( no fuss,no bother)
Re: bank fishing vs. boat fishing
For stillwater boat/canoe/pontoon are the best. Easy to operate and make it possible to quickly move to a different spot - follow fish and cover a lot of water. In many situations you can use wind to your advantage. On the fast moving water the boat would be better if you were to anchor it everytime you try to fish or have somebody drive/steer for you.
I have little plastic boat http://www.jowatercraft.com/Bass9.4.html which is extremely stable. I can get it loaded and off the trailer in less than 5 minutes so the prep time is no an issue. I have no problems fly casting from it and steering/controlling at the same time. Use of dual anchor or drift sock further increases possibilities of fishing.
However you cannot forget that sometimes there simly is no choice but to walk and wade. Most of the trout streams around here are too small for any sort of floating (other than dry fly).