Currents
N E WS
STANDUP PADDLEBOARDS FOR FISHING, LIKE THIS PAU HANA BIG EZ, ARE HITTING THE WATER IN GREATER NUMBERS. LOOK FOR BOARDS WITH SPECIAL INSERTS
THAT ALLOW THE ANGLER TO ADD ACCESSORIES. PHOTO: RIC BURNLEY
SUP RISING
STANDUP PADDLEBOARDS DESIGNED FOR FISHING HIT THE WATER
Pull into your local launch and it’s obvious that standup paddleboards are taking over the water. You’ll see paddlers loading boards with camping equipment, yogi doing headstands on their boards, old folks and young folks paddling quietly through the water, even people taking their kids and their pets on their boards. Visit your local box store and you’ll see paddleboards between the snack aisle and the underwear department. And, if this summer’s Outdoor Retailer Summer Market (ORSM) tradeshow is any indication, you’ll see even more standup paddleboards in 2016. There are thousands of exhibitors at ORSM, but standup paddleboards
made the biggest splash. This August, 29 SUP companies were hawking their boards to retailers from around the world and almost 100 companies identified themselves with the SUP market. Not only are a lot of new boards on the market, but a lot of other companies are jumping into the pool. Sean Adlao owner of Lakeshore Paddleboards responded to the trend
by adding fishing friendly features to their popular River Rover expedition SUP. “Customers asked us how to rig fishing pole mounts, tackle boxes, coolers and more on their boards.” So Adlao contacted Matt Friedman at SUP Think Tank for a solution. “They provided quarter-inch threaded inserts that we could install in the board,” Adlao says. Teaming up with RAM Mounts for a long list of accessories that can be installed in the
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inserts. “Originally we though the high retail price and a niche market would make the River Rover LE a custom order.” They quickly found out that wasn’t the case. “Customer response was very positive,” he says, adding that they sold-out of the first run of fishing-focused boards. In fact, many of the boards on display at ORSM were outfitted with inserts
to accept fishing accessories. And accessory companies are quick to jump onboard the SUP wagon. YakAttack, RAM and Scotty have introduced bases that work with threaded inserts or leash-plugs or use a strong adhesive or suction cup to add rodholders, tie-downs, camera mounts and electronics. There were even boards with gear tracks for more rigging options. This type of innovation sets a SUP designer apart from the crowd. One of the limitations of SUP fishing is board construction. Standup paddleboards built out of fiberglass are too delicate for rough-and-tumble fishing. Inflatable boards are tougher, but they lose some performance. One of the first players in the SUP fishing market, Pau Hana Boardworks introduced a new material called Ricochet for their Big EZ fishing SUP. On the ORSM show floor, owner Todd Caranto demonstrated the material’s toughness by slamming the board with a 17-pound bowling ball. After a week of abuse, the board looked good as new on the last day of the show. Caranto explained that staying ahead of the pack will keep SUP manufactures ahead of the pack in the over-populated fishing-SUP market. —Ric Burnley
DIGITAL EXTRA: Click here to watch PauHana’s Todd Caranto bouncea 17-pound bowling ball off the new Ricochet material.
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