Kayak River Fishing Safety Tip [Video]
(photo courtesy of @chapa_texasranger)
Bending Branches’ ProStaffer and kayak angler, Chad Hoover, takes us along river fishing for a trophy brown trout, and offers a few kayak safety tips along the way…
No matter what kind of fish you’re after in the river—trophy brown like Chad here, or other—Chad goes over one important safety tip that can save you from an unanticipated swim or from losing valuable gear.
He also adds in a bonus safety tip just to make your launching and exiting easier, and tells us about a favorite app of his. Watch it here:
Safety Tip: Learn How to Handle Rock Broaching
Chad sees more people get into trouble on the river making this mistake than anything else. You risk going for a swim and losing gear in the river unless you learn this important safety skill.
Rock broaching can happen anytime you fish on a river, because it includes current and water hazards like boulders and fallen trees. If your kayak comes up to one of these hazards sideways and gets hung up, that’s rock broaching. Your natural reaction is to lean away from it.
The problem with doing that in a current is that the force of the water will take that lean even further and likely dump you right over. This is especially true if you’re on a sit-on-top kayak with a high seat.
So instead of leaning away from the rock or tree, lean into it a bit. Put your paddle on it, lean a little and the current will spin you around it and you’re back going down the river.
This is something you can practice when you don’t have all your gear with you. The more you practice it, the more the correct lean will become natural to you.
Here’s an article about rock broaching on KayakAngler.com.
Bonus Safety Tip: Enter Your Kayak on the Up-Current Side
Whenever you enter your fishing kayak in a river, be sure it’s on the up-current side of your boat. If you’re on the down-current side and you slip, you risk your boat running over you. Not good!
Brace one foot under your kayak, use your seat as leverage and swing your other leg inside. Settle yourself on your seat, push off and let the current take you.
Bonus Tip: “Fishing Chaos” Fishing App
In the video, Chad mentions the Fishing Chaos app with its Catch Log function. You can enter photos and any pertinent details about your catch and store it for future use. He thinks it’s the best fishing app on the market.
What paddle questions can we help you with? Contact our friendly Customer Service team today: 715-755-3405 • [email protected]
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