Paddling Education

Want to go on a wilderness canoe trip but don’t want to sacrifice your good coffee each morning? You can learn how to make perfect canoe trip coffee for all your expeditions—the old-fashioned way.

Bending Branches fans, we have new merch ready for Fall 2021 so you can show off your favorite paddle brand. Some of these are already going fast, so don’t wait! Take a look at our collection…

Paddle Like a Girl is a woman-owned business that teaches women the skills they need to plan a backcountry canoe trip.

Paddling safety includes what you wear. The paddling rule of thumb is: dress for immersion, or: dress for the water temperature, not the air temperature. Why? Because there’s always a chance of capsize when you’re on the water.

So you’re shopping for a canoe and you know most of your paddling will be solo. Should you buy a solo or tandem canoe? That’s a good question!

A canoe trip on your wedding day? Why not! Bailey and Eric saw no reason why paddling a canoe to their wedding wasn’t the perfect mode of transportation.

In this video, Bending Branches’ ProStaffer, Chad Hoover, gives some tips for kayak anglers who want to fly fish their local rivers. His suggestions cover both the kayaking and the fly fishing on location in Happy Valley, Pennsylvania.

Head out on the water in this video with Hooked on Wild Water’s Drew Gregory for some big adventures with Bartrams bass.

In this fun and easy-going video from Dan Arbuckle and Headwaters Kayak, you’ll see how to re-enter a sit-inside kayak from the water.

After seeing an outdoor show about Quetico, this wonderfully wild spot, I did some research to try to put a trip together for the summer. This was the early eighties so I picked up my landline and started calling a few Canadian outfitters to get more details. 

Those that learn the skill of flippin’ a jig from a kayak have an advantage over those that choose not to devote their time to mastering the art of fishing.

“The novelty of paddling within an active volcano on a high elevation lake made my trip into Shoshone a unique paddling experience.” ~ Jim Gallagher, wilderness canoeist

Every canoe and kayak paddle we build is made to last. But durability isn’t our only concern. Bending Branches paddles are also beautiful, comfortable and efficient.

Are you getting into kayak fishing? Here are some starter rules for you…and a good reminder for those who’ve been in the game for awhile, too!

Bending Branches’ ProStaffer Gene Jensen, the Flukemaster, gets asked this question often when he’s at a boat ramp: “Won’t your kayak sink with those holes in it?” In this video Gene talks about scupper holes—what they do and why your fishing kayak won’t sink even though there are holes in your boat.

If you want to buy a new paddle every year or two, that's fine. But if you want to get more bang for your buck and hold a paddle that you can trust for the long haul- your paddle needs to have Rockgard!

Next to your canoe, your paddles are the most important gear for any canoe trip. But with so many to choose from, how do you know which one to use?

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…

Many anglers buy their kayak before thinking about how they’ll get it to and from the water. In this video, Bending Branches’ Pro-Staffer and kayak angler, Chad Hoover, tells us how to transport your fishing kayak.

By Dr. Courtney Bennett, Bending Branches National Pro Staff Recently, Hobie introduced a new kayak called the Hobie Lynx. I was instantly intrigued due to the 45 lb fitted hull weight of the Lynx. As I have leveled up to...

By Mikaela Ferguson You’ve been paddling for hours. It’s cold and raining and somehow it doesn’t matter what direction you paddle, you always have a headwind. After several false calls, you finally see that campsite sign up ahead - your...