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Falsecast

Monday: Paul Arden
Tuesday: Harps
Wednesday: Bernd Ziesche
Thursday: Mr T.
Friday: Sudesh Pursad
Saturday: Viking Lars
Sunday: Akos

Ronan's report

I have no idea how popular fishing off kick boats, pontoon boats, V-tubes and float tubes are in the rest of the world. In South Africa, this is reasonably popular and one of my favourite ways to fish a large piece of water like a dam or lake. I would like to share some of my thoughts with regard to this method of fishing and will try to remain as unbiased as possible.

Firstly the choice of boat one chooses usually depends on cost, size and transportability. I recall looking for a large boat that will carry all my tackle and supplies for a day’s fishing. I also wanted to be raised well out of the water for two reasons:

1. To give me a higher casting platform so that I could easily make long casts when searching for fish
2. To stay as dry as possible, even though I was wearing waders as the water in some of the dams could be quite cold

With all of the requirements noted, I ended up buying a nine foot pontoon boat. Not sure what your requirements may be, but my suggestion is to first look at all your requirements and then look for the best boat and at the best cost that will suit all your needs.

I must share that my preference to stay as dry as possible stems from my years of borrowing boats before I had acquired my own. On one occasion, I was sitting very low in the water in a float tube. I had also borrowed chest waders which were slightly small for me. The conditions turned out very windy which resulted in water pouring down my back. At sex degrees celsius and after fishing a three hour session, I had mild hypothermia. My friends always remind me of the day when they saw and brown skinned Indian guy go blue.

As mentioned in my tricks articles, use large diving fins as opposed to the frog-foot ones. This helps immensely to control the boat and get to spots quicker, especially when the wind is blowing hard. Even when the wind is not blowing hard, often at the end of the day you will find yourself at the furthest end of the dam and now have to paddle all the way back. The big diving fins makes this far easier.

I also suggest that you pack lightly and conservatively, ensuring that everything you need is easily accessible. Also ensure that you work over your stripping cover to prevent any unnecessary “overboards” of critical stuff like fly boxes, forceps, tippets, spare spools, etc.

You will know the areas you want to fish, so I won’t cover that. However, my suggestion is to setup your net before you get onto the water. Also ensure that the net is attached to the boat with some sort of lanyard. I use an elasticated cord and attach this to the boat using a simple carabena.

I must mention some disadvantages and safety considerations for fishing off the boat. In terms of disadvantages, with most kick boats, you sit quite high off the water and get blown around by windy conditions. It takes more work (paddling) to stay in one spot. An anchor will help if you find a good spot and would like to work it. Another disadvantage is that if you need to go to the toilet, you often find yourself right in the middle and often leave it to the last minute. My suggestion is that as soon as you feel like you need to go, paddle immediately to the side and relieve yourself. It is a horrible feeling wondering if you are going to make it in time to the side. Also allow time to take off all the layers – really stressful times if you ever leave it as late as I often do.

There have been numerous safety concerns with regard to float tubes that had one main tube. If for whatever reason it became punctured out in the middle, you could risk drowning. Later models had a second backup tube as a backrest, but this is barely enough to keep you al all the kit afloat. The pontoons offer better safety features as chances of both pontoon getting punctured at the same time is rather slim. Pontoons also have inner bladders which are protected by strong outer material. Anyways, the moral of the story is to avoid punctures while out on the water.

Another safety concern is otters and snakes using your boat as a resting spot. Otters are not so much of a problem as they are often quite shy and stay away. Snakes on the other had have no concern for your occupancy. Keep your eyes open and rather paddle away from any approaching snake.

All in all, kick boats, pontoon boats, V-tubes and float tubes offer excellent access to large pieces of water and can provide you with lots of fun. Definitely worth trying if your fishery permits it.

Tight lines and screaming reels.
Sudesh

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