best fly fishing boat

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
1

My wife and I (both retired) have been fly fishing for about three years–lakes–rivers–salt water. We each own pontoon boats but want to move into a single boat.

Here’s my question–what is the best boat/boat brands/size and rigs to fish lakes. This boat needs to provide enough room for two casting fly fishers and all the necessary equipment for a day on the water. The boat has to be light enough to be put on top of a truck canopy and deployed by one person.

We plan to transport this boat on top of a truck canopy, fly fishing throughout the country, while towing a travel trailer.

Any photos of your boat or recommended boat brands, ideas for rigging the boat, plus concepts for mounting the boat on top of a truck canopy would be appreciated.

Thank you, looking forward to your responses.
Richard

2

how 'bout a Portabot? we carry ours on/in our Impala, and one of us can set it up. there’s a website at portabot.com we love its durability and stability. it’s a bit like standing on a waterbed, but you get used to that quickly.

3

Maybe a Jon Boat? I wouldn’t go less that 14 feet long or 40 inches wide.
http://www.loweboats.com/showroom/rivited-jon/lowe-jon/l1440m.php
It could be mounted on a utility rack with rollers.
http://www.rackwarehouse.com/s1.html

4

For sure there’s no lack of fishing boats in this neck of the woods. For canoes I have my wood/canvas pride and joy that goes into nothing but mill ponds and wide sandy bottomed rivers. Love this canoe but it is not for the rough and tumble. For toting along on the roof of my little popup camper when I go out for some serious back in the boon-docks fishing, I have a Raddison transom canoe/boat. It’s very light and I can handle the thing by myself and can carry it for a distance. Plus I find it a good fly fishing boat, either alone or with a buddy who is also quite skilled at fishing from a canoe, in close quarters and SETTING DOWN. The thing is beat up but does not leak and have had it for since the mid 9Os’s. Will handle a small motor, electric or gas, but most generally just paddle it. There are a couple of good sized rivers that I love to put the canoe/boat in and meander downriver to the campsite, fishing along the way. Maybe might even pull into shore and put on the waders at a few choice places. For what I do I really like the boat.

http://www.bwmarineproducts.com/transom_canoes.htm

5

Hello Richard,

As Casey mentioned in his post, the Port-A-Bote might be what you are looking for in terms of portability, size and flyfishing stability.

Take a look at my review here on FAOL:

http://flyanglersonline.com/prorevw/portabote.php

It is a V-hull, but when you stand up in it, you actually stand on one side of the keel, not straddling it. It is very stable for flycasting.

Cheers,

Richard in Plano TX

6

I’d recommend a jon boat as well.

Paul

7

For the specs you listed, you should give up the idea of carrying it up top all the time and take a very hard look at the boats you see at the link I’m giving you. Find the right boat for you from their line and buy it. You won’t be sorry. I did tons of research and testing before I bought mine. And my brother and I both have them now. We’ve got 3 years of use on them…lakes, rivers, and ocean. They are “as advertised.”

http://www.seaeagle.com/FoldCat.aspx

8

What model do you have & what type of power?Is this only mailorder,or do they have dealers?I fish mainly The ICW & it has a heck of a lot of boat traffic.Usually run2-3 miles to get into the area I fish& run in the Cape Fear River that is never flat or without wind.Seems she may
not be stable due to high center of gravity.Your thoughts please.Oh yeah,do
gators eat them?FD

9

Richard -

For a number of years, my wife and I traveled around the northwest US and Canada, towing a travel trailer, and chasing fish. My fishing was in both freshwater lakes and rivers and I used (still have) a high quality custom made inflatable cataraft for this purpose that would take 2 people. I could carry the fully assembled cataraft over my truck cap, but more often than not I either kept the deflated boat and frame inside the truck’s bed while we traveled, or just had the boat’s frame on top. I could also put a front or rear mounted electric trolling motor or small gas outboard motor on it.

I don’t believe there is any one boat style or manufacturer that is perfect for your needs, so you’ll have to consider the trade offs in evaluating just which one you ultimately pick.
For example, an inflatable will probably handle rougher water, but will be harder to handle in high wind conditions. However, if I were going to again consider buying a 2 person boat for lake fishing such as what you’re doing, I’d probably still pick an inflatable watercraft.
In addition to those types/brands already suggested, you may also want to look at those offered by Dave Scadden.

As far as affixing your boat on top of a truck cap, I used a removable Hauler aluminum ladder rack, that affixed to brackets that went under the truck cap, on top of the bed rails. I think it was rated for a 1,200 pound load - so I could virtually put anything and everything I wanted on it. Here’s a picture of the ladder rack and my truck:

Another option (which I would consider if I were to do this again) would be to permanently install something like Yakima tracks directly onto the top of my truck’s cap) and then mount Yakima crossbars onto it. This would be quite a bit cheaper than the ladder rack that I used. Thule may also make a similar rack, but I’m not sure.

John

10

Look through all their boat models. You may be more interested in their runabout model rigid raft-style boats, but you’re not going to flip a Foldcat. They’re like Zodiacs, and are Zodiac’s biggest competitor…as a matter of fact. But they specialize in accessorizing for fishermen as well as doing the “dinghy” job for the yachting crowd. But you will find that their boats are all rated at least class III white water and safe for saltwater use. You will fall out of one of their boats before you will capsize it. And the runabouts/rafts will take pretty big motors.

My brother and I have the Explorer 380x and 420x Kayaks. And I far prefer it to a solid-body kayak or canoe most conditions. In a trafficked bay situation like you describe, I would definitely prefer my Sea Eagle. The rigid inflatable design rides higher on the water and doesn’t cut through waves/wakes as much as solid material kayaks do. So I stay drier. FYI, both the 380x and 420x are 2-person expedition kayaks. But if you decide to go that way, take the 420x. Fly anglers don’t need but will appreciate the extra room when fishing 2 people. But I didn’t recommend this boat because you didn’t seem to be describing a kayak type of boat in your original post.

11

Richard,

You could do lots of things and spend lots of money.

But, I like ‘simple’ and ‘versatile’ for things like this.

A 14’ aluminum jonboat would suit your needs with no or at least just a very little ‘fiddling’. You want at least this long so you can put two fly casters in it and fish without too many tangles.

I’d ‘add’ mounts for two ‘pedestal’ or bass boat type seats. These mounts (flat plates with a hole in them) would be permanent on the boat, but allow the seats to be removable when traveling with the boat on the truck. You stated that you are both retired…seats like this will save your backs and knees from the strains associated with sitting for long periods on thwart type seats. They swivel, so you can face the direction you are fishing/casting…very helpful. As a ‘tip’- mount them as far apart bow to stern as you can and still have leg room as you turn on the seat.

A suitable electric motor and battery, and you are set. If you can afford it, a small (7-15 hp) 4 stroke gas engine will let you travel farther/faster if you want to.

I know you can buy the hull, brand new, from Sportsman’s Warehouse for around $800…other outlets should have a similar hull for around the same price.

For mounting the boat, two crosswise tubular braces is all you need…there are fancy roller and pully systems out there…but these boats are light and you can slide it up into place by yourself. A couple of racheting tie down straps and you are secure.

The addition of couple of those neat little dolly wheels to the transom will make moving the boat from the truck to the water and back easier. You can buy these that are permanent, that detach, or that fold…all of them work just fine.

You can find all of these accessories in the boating sections of catalogs like Cabela’s and Bass Pro Shops. Both places also sell the hulls, if you can get to one of them.

Aluminun boats are tough. If you do knock a hole in one, they are easy to repair with what you can find in the adhesive section of a hardware store.

They are light.

They will give you enough room for two people to fish comfortably and still be on speaking terms after a day on the water. You can carry all you’ll need, including a cooler with food/drinks and the dog if it likes to come along.

Aluminun jon boats are NOT rough water boats, though. If you think you will be on larger bodies of water or where wind/weather could be a problem, you might consider a 12 to 14 foot V hull…they will be heavier but handle waves better.

Buddy

12

I’m going to say a Porta Bote too. I’ve seen them on Henry’s Lake in wind and rainstorms and they are stable. You can put up to 9.9 hp motor on the 14’er. If they can perform in those conditions, I’d say they’re a good boat. Plus the accessories you can get for them. We don’t have one, but one day when the time comes, I think I’ll be an owner. Look at the website and check out the vid’s.
http://www.porta-bote.com/
And they’re not outrageously priced.

13

Thanks to everyone who responded. I will investigate each of these recommendations before I decide on a boat type. You responses are excellent and have broadened my knowledge extensively.
Due to my travel plans I will defintely need to store the boat on the roof of the truck–so I’m leaning towards the jon boat with truck racks or porta-bote concepts.
Thanks again for all the great ideas!
Richard

14

I use a Coleman Crawdad. Plastic boat, sits too comfortably. It’s a flat bottom jon Boat, that a 36lbs Thrust Trolling motor moves very well. 20 minutes at home depot puts a rudder on it to make it stay straight.

SUPER Stable and at 11 - 12 feet long, two people fly fish out of it very comfrotably. I load it in the back of my truck by myself. It’s a great cartopp boat, and on craigslist you can find them everywhere for 200 - 350 (usually including a motor and batteries)

This picture is just a google image, but there are a lot of creative people out there. I’ve also seen these used in Bay’s and estuaries for Saltwater Stripers and Albies without a problem. In New England, there is a huge cartopper bass boat following, because of ease of transportation, non gas motors, and you can literally just drag it to about any pond.

here is a couple of my buddy Jeff on a Carp outting. We were fishing some mudd flats in 1 - 2 feet of water for carp.

jeffcrawdadfightingafish.JPG
jeffcrawdadfightingafish.JPG634×476 35.1 KB

jeffcrawdadtying.JPG
jeffcrawdadtying.JPG634×476 73.8 KB

15

Clack-A-Craft…:lol: