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Stand Up Paddleboards

Nutterbuster

Nutterbuster

Well-Known Member
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Oct 12, 2017
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Where the skys are so blue!
I've eyeballed and eyerolled these in the past. One of the perks of my current job is we often end up with offers to test products. None of my coworkers had any interest, so I ended up with Bote's Rackham Aero 12'4" iSUP. Fully kitted out. Paddle Sheath, SUP and kayak paddle, seat, sand spike sheath, fishing rack, and (arriving any day now, I've been assured) the new pedal drive system.

I'll be doing a review and some additional content for work, but figured here was a good place for an "unofficial" review. Thoughts so far...

For me, the biggest surprise is how stable the thing is. Athletic I'm not, but I had 0 issues hopping on the board with no prior experience aside from canoe/kayak experience. I can 100% see sight fishing small creeks or inshore flats in this thing. Plenty of stability to cast and fight fish. 400lb weight capacity, so you can bet it's getting deer blood on it at some point this year, just because I can. Overall, I kinda feel like it has more usable room than any of my canoes or kayaks. Almost as roomy as my 1436 jon boat.

It may be my lack of experience, but it's a bit of a dog to paddle. I clocked myself at a bit better than 2mph last night. Hoping the pedal drive fixes that problem when it comes in.

The inflatable thing is...different. Takes about 8 minutes to inflate with the included hand pump. But it fits in a trunk or back seat. I can tow and cartop, so not much advantage personally, but I imagine for a lot of folks that would be huge.

The rack is clever. I can see there being a market for adding the rack to other small craft. But they missed an opportunity by not putting backpack straps on the case it comes in.
 
So I had a Jackson superfishal for a little while that I floated the local flint rock river. Fished for smallmouth out of it, had a small torquedo motor for it in the long, slow pools of the river. Had some straps to secure my 20qt cooler that doubled as a seat. It was cool but not practical for 75% of the fishing I was doing at the time.
 
That is interesting.

Several years ago I encountered a young man who was circumnavigating Lake Superior on a SUP. Not all in one go, he'd do a weekend at a time then go back to college until his next expedition. He had it loaded down with drybags and spare paddles and IIRC even a rod holder so he could troll as he went along. Really made me think these things are good for more than just messing around at the cabin.
 
@Nutterbuster
I wish you all the best with your new found adventures. :)

I've been kayaking and canoeing for over 52 years and have found that there's a huge difference between fishing outfits and hunting outfits on the water. Kayaks are way more stable, than canoes, due to how low they sit in the water. I wouldn't touch a canoe for hunting, without an outrigger on one side, if not both sides. :rolleyes: I've seen people out on paddle boards and just going off of what I've witnessed, I'd say you should be prepared to be in the water, get dumped or however you want to say it....get wet. o_O Not something I'm interested in doing, while hunting in the colder months.

For hunting purposes, a hybrid kayak would be best. Something like an Ascend H12 that has plenty of hauling weight capacity, is extremely stable and easy to handle on the water as well as loading and unloading. :cool: 450 lbs. capacity at 76 lbs.
Ascend H12.jpg
 
My buddy has a SUP that he flies down to miami with in his luggage and slays fish in the canals down there from it. We have one of our own that my wife likes to paddle around with her friend. I have caught a few trout and bass off of it with my flyrod and used it to access lakeside streams, but it is far from a fish-slaying system for me. I hate pumping the thing up by hand but the electric pumps are either expensive or junk. Also when you first open that valve to deflate someone nearby in the parking lot, ramp, or lake side almost always ruins their drawers cause that harsh sound scares them so badly. The thought of you paddling that thing to a duck hole with your tenkara rod in your back pocket and clouded leopard hoody on is almost too much for my brain to handle. An old GF in college used to live on a lake and her family had a non-inflatable paddle board that I much preferred for fishing off of occasionally
 
I guess I should have clarified. I've hunted and fished out of kayaks, canoes, and small boats extensively. I'm not looking for input on those nor am I on the market for an addition to the fleet.

I'm just sharing a novel thing and curious to see what other people think/wonder about SUPs in particular.

@BackSpasm, I'll definitely be tenkara fishing in the hoodie @cloudedleopard gifted me this year. And it took all of 3 trips before I decided this thing was just going to stay inflated for the rest of the summer. I can see a hard one being the cat's pajamas for calm backwaters where you can't get a boat. SUPs look much lighter than most fishing kayaks with more usable space.
 
I've always been curious about one of these myself. All started with the " silver fox" talking me into going to yoga with him lol.

How do you think this would work for more traditional canoe or tubing trips down river? Sounds fun for lakes and such
 
Several years ago my wife bought a pink camo Vibe SUP before I had ever tried a SUP and she liked it a lot so I had to try one. I ended up bowfishing off of hers and thoroughly enjoyed it so I ended up buying a knock off. Both of ours are foam filled with a hard polyurethane shell and it is a bit of a necessity for the crazy adventures we've had them on.
I've used mine to get to hunting spots, hauled in numerous bowfishing carp, taken the dogs out, catfished off off it, taken it down a really sketchy river with broken off cedar trees like punji sticks and have had it flipped, tipped and trapped in a log jam.
They're kind of the multi tool of the self-propelled boat world since you can rig them to your needs and liking.
They are a dog to paddle but my wife's is more streamlined and she can run circles around me even with her twig arms. We exclusively use kayak paddles and if standing use the kayak paddle like a paddleboard paddle.
I generally rig mine with a "Larry Chair" which serves as a bank chair or hunting chair if I'm using it to hunt and a Engel cooler as a dry box or bait/beverage holder the cooler is equipped with pole holders for travel, the boards have the "Scotty" style rod holders.
We've had fun on ours and will probably go back to them more often once the little one gets older since they're a bit of a pain with small children.
 
Any kind of watercraft that's inflatable, sucks! :rolleyes: As soon as you stop paddling, the watercraft stops. Then there's the puncture issue. o_O
If it was motorized, that would be different.
 
Horn said:
I've always been curious about one of these myself. All started with the " silver fox" talking me into going to yoga with him lol.

How do you think this would work for more traditional canoe or tubing trips down river? Sounds fun for lakes and such
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I think it'd be awesome for floats down really shallow waterways. It doesn't draft any water. The fin us the limiting factor but if you take it off you could float in 3" of water. With the fin I'd say you clear 6" clean.
 
Jtaylor said:
Several years ago my wife bought a pink camo Vibe SUP before I had ever tried a SUP and she liked it a lot so I had to try one. I ended up bowfishing off of hers and thoroughly enjoyed it so I ended up buying a knock off. Both of ours are foam filled with a hard polyurethane shell and it is a bit of a necessity for the crazy adventures we've had them on.
I've used mine to get to hunting spots, hauled in numerous bowfishing carp, taken the dogs out, catfished off off it, taken it down a really sketchy river with broken off cedar trees like punji sticks and have had it flipped, tipped and trapped in a log jam.
They're kind of the multi tool of the self-propelled boat world since you can rig them to your needs and liking.
They are a dog to paddle but my wife's is more streamlined and she can run circles around me even with her twig arms. We exclusively use kayak paddles and if standing use the kayak paddle like a paddleboard paddle.
I generally rig mine with a "Larry Chair" which serves as a bank chair or hunting chair if I'm using it to hunt and a Engel cooler as a dry box or bait/beverage holder the cooler is equipped with pole holders for travel, the boards have the "Scotty" style rod holders.
We've had fun on ours and will probably go back to them more often once the little one gets older since they're a bit of a pain with small children.
Click to expand...
Let me see a pic of this contraption you have put together!
 
I tried one out about 15 years ago in hawaii. Novelty item for me, I didn't enjoy it that much. The guys that are really good and can surf em look like they are having a good time but it was too slow/awkward for me and I doubt there's much of anywhere one can get that my kayak couldn't. The pedal drive on a SUP also stumps me. Can't think of any reason to not get a kayak if that's what someone would want. Does it also have a rudder attachment or you still have to hold the paddle and steer with that?

I'd mess with one if I got one for free to test though for sure.
 
I’ve caught striped bass from a friends Bote, they are so wide there is very little chance of tipping. I used to have a stand up when I lived by the beach.
For me certain gear is just too much equipment.
I suppose you could wind surf to a remote spot but that is just ton of gear to cart - store - pay a few grand for .
If you live on the water I could see the benefit as you just pop it out of the shed and go.
your field of view standing vs sitting could allow you to scout as you paddle, maybe. Or fish from your bucket.
( I am a surfer and there is a certain disdain for SUPs , kind of like how traditional bowhunters feel about crossbows, not that there is anything wrong with either.)
 
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It actually is pretty frickin fun to fish from.

I think I'd really like a hard one. 45-50lbs for a huge platform vs 80+lbs for most SOT kayaks. Both are equally crappy to paddle IMO, but I really like the layout once you're fishing.

I wanted to sight-fish for bowfin today, but the water wasn't really clear enough. Made do with putting a hammering on pickerel and bass, and catching one channel cat and one bowfin.
 
Almost bought one years ago. May get one eventually and if I do, it'll be a hard top. The inflatables ruined the growing industry. As said before, nothing inflatable paddles worth a damn. Not as hard to use as people think. Very fun to fish off of.

A kayak doesn't come close when you consider the ability to stand, move around, and actually see something without being at water level.
 
Buckhole75 said:
Around here we call a pickerel a Jack and in my opinion he is the best eating freshwater fish there is just above a red horse sucker
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I don't know if ya'll pickle pike in GA but it's a big thing in MN. What with all our Scandiwhovian immigrants with memories of pickled herring back home. It's an excellent use for smaller pike, or those times you don't want to deal with y-bones. Eat it on nice crackers or rye bread, maybe with onions or lingonberry jam.
 
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