Paddling Education

3-minute read + 14-minute videoBending Branches ProStaffer Gene Jensen (aka Flukemaster) shares his best tips with us for catching largemouth bass, especially in the spring. Are you a beginning kayak angler? These tips are for you. Are you an experienced...

5-minute readUrban Boatbuilders is a Saint Paul, Minnesota-based 501c3 non-profit organization that “empowers youth to succeed in work and life through experiential learning.” This includes building and using canoes, kayaks, paddles and longboards. A crew of excited paddlers on a...

If you’re just joining the kayak angler ranks you may wonder why you need a paddle that’s specific to kayak fishing. Why can’t you just use any kayak paddle?

Whitewater the Canoe Centre (WWTCC) is a paddlesports specialty shop near London, England, located on the banks of the River Thames. It’s been serving canoeists and kayakers in their region since 1954.

Bending Branches ProStaff team member JD Desrosiers offered some of his time and expertise to tell us about his photography life and work. Our conversation with him will inspire anyone interested in combining kayak fishing (or any kind of paddling for that matter) and photography.

Chris Funk, one of our kayak fishing ProStaff team members, offers some great advice to other kayak anglers through his social media platforms. We collected a handful of his videos here to give you a few of his kayak fishing hacks.

Ashley Bredemus and her husband Victor Pilon own and direct Birchwood Wilderness Camp in northern Minnesota. Canoeing and canoe trips are core to the programming of this small boys’ camp.

Bending Branches Prostaffer and long-distance canoeist Martin Trahan wrote an Instagram post about the pros and cons of smartphone use on wilderness canoe trips. “Toxicity or an essential tool?”

Alpine Shop is an award-winning outdoor retailer headquartered in the St. Louis, Missouri metro that serves outdoor enthusiasts of all kinds and experience levels. Paddlesports is one of their specialties.

Ever wonder what to bring along for a kayak fishing and camping trip? Bending Branches Regional Ambassador Moo Lee shares his gear list with us from a recent trip of his.

Minnesotan Rob Bossen has his hands in several paddling-related ventures including Bending Branches, Greg Duck Outdoor and US paddling’s newest trade coalition. We were able to catch him for an interview recently. Here’s what we learned from Rob…

Kayaking and kayak fishing are ideal activities for older adults. Bending Branches ProStaff team member Bill Schultz is himself a senior and an avid kayak angler. He offers his best tips and tricks below.

Bending Branches Regional Ambassador Terrell Hester is a huge advocate of turning kayak fishing trips into overnight camping trips. Here are his best tips.

Kristen Elgo has been a volunteer with San Diego Girl Scouts for more than a decade. She and other adult volunteers have gotten ACA certified so they can pass on their love of canoeing and kayaking to the girls they serve.

Camp Manito-wish YMCA is one of the top wilderness camps in the country. 2023 staffer Dave Scott co-led a 45-day canoe trip in northern Canada and shared his experience with us.

Thousands of you read our blog! We thought it’d be fun to highlight your favorite canoeing and kayak fishing content of 2023.

Kayak bass fishing tournaments are a great way for beginning kayak anglers to learn more about the sport of kayak fishing while getting in some friendly competition.

Lake Superior isn’t known as an ideal canoe camping lake because of its vast size and unpredictable weather. But Canadians Jon and Erin took 11 days in 2023 for such a trip along some of its northern shoreline.

You might think our underlying purpose at Bending Branches is to craft world-class canoe and kayak fishing paddles. But our Why goes deeper than that—it’s to inspire YOU to have memorable outdoor experiences on the water!

5-minute read + 23-minute filmIn this beautiful short film, cinematographer Jamie Barnes takes us along with him and fellow canoeist Martin Trahan on A Canoe Perspective of the Scottish Highlands: Jamie graciously took some time to offer additional thoughts and...

Tyler Thiede is a Bending Branches Regional Ambassador from our home state of Wisconsin. He’s been an avid kayak angler for many years and now enjoys bringing his son Jackson along to fish too.