Rafting/floating is the perfect method of fishing for the not so physical or mobile or aged fly fishermen.
Rafting or floating for fishing is particularly advantageous for anglers who are unable to walk very far or walk at all but it also cuts on downtime for even extremely fit fly fishermen for that matter. Accessing distant fishing spots over a slippery rocky riverbed is strenuous stuff, and not everyone is up to it. This is where the raft comes into its own. By using the specially designed raft, we can put an angler on more fish, with less effort on his/her part and cover large sections of the rivers if need to. It also creates a very different feel to the fishing experience.
What is further a great advantage is that the fly fisherman’s partner that doesn’t fish can travel with between fishing zones and have a base to operate from or enjoy them self from. I.e. one can transport a chair, cool boxes, towels etc for the ladies and they thus can partake in the fishing experience. While hubby walks the rapids they can take photos, tan, read a book do bird watching, take short walks etc. Always using the raft as the base.
Inflatable rafts make it easier to sneak up to quiet areas where largemouth yellowfish hold and can thus be approached without noise. We use the rafts mostly to get to the areas of fishing that can normally not be fished due to the size of the river and the distances. In long quiet pools the small outboard engines are used to move through if there are no fishermen targeting large catfish or largemouth yellowfish that are holding along the reeds on the deeper sides of the river.
The inflatable’s have been individually designed each with attachments to take small electric, 2,5 and 5hp outboard engines . Outboards are rarely used however as most fishing trips are carefully planned for each day and worked (drifted) downstream. Flat decks make it easy to stand and cast for between three and four fly fishermen per raft depending which size raft is used. It can take between 6 and 8 people with camping gear. It is not a requirement to make distant or long casts either from the rafts or from the banks as 'short shots' are sometimes more productive for the smallmouth yellowfish. Generally, smaller tributary rivers are easier to fly fish (although they generally require more hiking). Rewards from the larger rivers can come in impressive packages though. Including the size of the fish.
