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Kayak Fly Fishing Video

Five years ago I arrived at one of my favorite saltwater flats here in Maine, only to see the beach overrun by tourists with colorful umbrellas and the crystal clear water disturbed by kids and dogs splashing in the water. I bit the bullet, got back in my car and went straight to some kayak store and bought a kayak. I threw the kayak in the water and within minutes the sights and sounds of sunbathing tourists were replaced by miles of endless flats and sandbars. I typically fish dropping tides, so I would use the kayak as a tool to get me from one sandbar to the next. I would beach the kayak and prowl the flats in search of fish. We have 10-12 foot tides here in Maine, making for a dynamic and always changing flats fishing experience. The kayak was just the tool I needed and provided me with the transportation I need to bounce from one flat to the next and follow the fish with the tides. Many times, while paddling from one flat to the next I would spook nice fish. I tried standing up in my kayak, but immediately sat back down and realized how quickly a typical kayak becomes unstable. So, standing up to sight fish was out of the question and I resolved to using the kayak as a transportation tool only. But, another common scenario often emerged. I would see fish on top working bait on the edge of rips or just off the sandbars. The fish were just barely out of comfortable wading range. So, although I did not like sitting down and fly fishing out of my kayak; I could not resist those fish. During these times, I would fish out of my kayak. And even though I was casting to fish on top and pursuing these moving fish, I was still confined to that sitting position. I actually got

pretty good at casting, shooting line and fighting fish while sitting down in a kayak, but I would be lying if I didn’t tell you that I was always wanting to stand up. Here in Maine, it is not uncommon to spend the morning fly fishing the saltwater flats and the afternoon casting dry flies on trout and salmon rivers. So, many times I would show up to my trout and salmon spots with my kayak still strapped on top of my car. Several times, I would use the kayak as tool to get me to the spots that were totally inaccessible from foot. I would ditch the kayak on a rock pile or on the bank, and fish from foot. After one or two attempts, I realized that I did not enjoy trout fishing from the kayak. Fast forward to 2007 (a couple weeks ago), I retired my old kayak and got a new stand up kayak. I can row, while standing up and looking for fish, across miles of flats and sight fish with ease. I can row, while standing up and hunting for rising fish, up and down trout and salmon rivers. I still beach the kayak and fish from foot the majority of the time. But, when the opportunity arises and I want to fish from the kayak I can do so while standing up and that makes all the difference in the world.