Raft fishing

[FlyRod126]

I Just purchased a flycraft and looking for places to fish. I am inexperienced in float fishing and rowing. I plan on taking this raft out on lakes for bass fishing. After some time & experience I would like to start river fishing for trout. Do any of you have any suggestions on rivers and in and out points for beginners to start getting some experience under their belt?

 

[Fly-Swatter]

Google search "water trails" for whatever river is close to you. They should have maps with launch points, hazards (i.e., rapids), and river miles if such exist. The latter is so you can estimate how long your point-to-point float will be.

 

[FlyRod126]

Google search "water trails" for whatever river is close to you. They should have maps with launch points, hazards (i.e., rapids), and river miles if such exist. The latter is so you can estimate how long your point-to-point float will be.

Thank you!

 

[jifigz]

Just my opinion, but having a raft to take float trips for fish in PA (if staying in PA is your intention) is very limiting. We only have a small number of places where trout fishing floats are even feasible. The Little J (most of the time), Penns (most of the time, and you might **** off many wading anglers), The East Branch Clarion, the Delaware, the Lehigh, The Yough, and I am sure some others that I am unfamiliar with, but overall trout floating options are limited.

Now floating that raft for smallmouth is a much more doable trip. In that case, seek out the water trail maps. All of the bigger rivers would work, plus many smaller WW rivers.

 

[FlyRod126]

Ok, thank you for this information. I mistakenly left out that I was interested float fishing for bass and also would like to travel and fish from the raft. I will be checking water trails maps. Also if anyone has any information on the calmest and easiest sections of the Lehigh, Delaware, Susquehanna, Clarion I would appreciate anything anyone could add. Thank you

 

[nymphingmaniac]

I Just purchased a flycraft and looking for places to fish. I am inexperienced in float fishing and rowing. I plan on taking this raft out on lakes for bass fishing. After some time & experience I would like to start river fishing for trout. Do any of you have any suggestions on rivers and in and out points for beginners to start getting some experience under their belt?

flyrod126 don't limit yourself. It took me an hour to get proficient with my flycraft- an I haven't rowed a canoe in years. I wouldn't recommend going down rapids or going during high water events. When I turned the sticks over to newbies on floats, they could handle it. Just remember the rule- point the raft in the direction you want to go and don't overestimate the time you have to straighten the boat and choose your path until you hit the riffles/rapids. always look ahead

 

[Nocktavius]

Just my opinion, but having a raft to take float trips for fish in PA (if staying in PA is your intention) is very limiting. We only have a small number of places where trout fishing floats are even feasible. The Little J (most of the time), Penns (most of the time, and you might **** off many wading anglers), The East Branch Clarion, the Delaware, the Lehigh, The Yough, and I am sure some others that I am unfamiliar with, but overall trout floating options are limited.

Now floating that raft for smallmouth is a much more doable trip. In that case, seek out the water trail maps. All of the bigger rivers would work, plus many smaller WW rivers.

Pretty sure you could spend an entire lifetime learning and fishing only one or two of those rivers. Plenty of big water to float in PA with a raft- especially in early season when wading is dangerous and no fun. Don’t float penns when it’s below ~900 cfs (esp in April and May) unless you want to get cussed out by everyone

 

[mt_flyfisher]

I Just purchased a flycraft and looking for places to fish. I am inexperienced in float fishing and rowing. I plan on taking this raft out on lakes for bass fishing. After some time & experience I would like to start river fishing for trout. Do any of you have any suggestions on rivers and in and out points for beginners to start getting some experience under their belt?

If you are willing and able, my suggestion is to find an experienced person to go with you in the beginning - someone who can help you with handling your boat both on and off the water. That will shorten your learning curve significantly, and help you avoid problems or potential accidents.

Are you going to be able to carry or drag your boat, at least for a short distance, to the water? That would affect where you could or would want to take your boat.

Last, when you go on a river for the first time, don’t try to bite off a longer distance float than you can comfortably handle. 6-8 miles might seem like a short distance when seen on a map, but you might find that could take all day (or more) once you get on the river.

If you don’t mind traveling some, Pine Creek is a good stream for rafting and fishing, as is the Allegheny River (I’m thinking the Kinzua Dam to Warren for an easy float, good access and big trout possible).

 

[jifigz]

Pretty sure you could spend an entire lifetime learning and fishing only one or two of those rivers. Plenty of big water to float in PA with a raft- especially in early season when wading is dangerous and no fun. Don’t float penns when it’s below ~900 cfs (esp in April and May) unless you want to get cussed out by everyone

Yeah, you probably could spend an entire lifetime fishing one or two of those listed waters, and if that is what makes you happy, then go for it. That is why I offered the OP several suggestions of floatable trout waters and WW rivers to float. I know it's possible. I just don't think it is the best approach for PA trout fishing.

But that is why we all have opinions and are able to make our own choices. I think we can all agree to this, though: if too many people start floating Penns, the Little J, etc, it is going to be might annoying. My good buddy has a flycraft. I have even floated the Little J with him before. It was fun. But the fishing from the raft was limited on our trip. It was mostly used as a vessel to access prime waters and then get out and wade.

 

[FlyRod126]

If you are willing and able, my suggestion is to find an experienced person to go with you in the beginning - someone who can help you with handling your boat both on and off the water. That will shorten your learning curve significantly, and help you avoid problems or potential accidents.

Are you going to be able to carry or drag your boat, at least for a short distance, to the water? That would affect where you could or would want to take your boat.

Last, when you go on a river for the first time, don’t try to bite off a longer distance float than you can comfortably handle. 6-8 miles might seem like a short distance when seen on a map, but you might find that could take all day (or more) once you get on the river.

If you don’t mind traveling some, Pine Creek is a good stream for rafting and fishing, as is the Allegheny River (I’m thinking the Kinzua Dam to Warren for an easy float, good access and big trout possible).

Thanks you for this information

 

[krayfish2]

Closest to you is Schuylkill and Delaware both have decent bass fishing and should be easy enough to navigate for a new rower. The Lehigh is a little tough to get through as a novice. Susky and Juniata are good bass fisheries that are fairly easy rowing.

You're going to want to go in small steps until you get a BUNCH of floats under your belt. You'll quickly learn how to read water while moving and learn where you can and can not anchor safely.

Things nobody mentioned....

Raft = 4.5 million things your line catches on while fly casting. It can really suck at times.

Learn how to patch an inflatable...at some point you will have to fix it.

Wind direction and speed. One day you will forget to check it because you wanted so badly to fish. It'll happen once and never again. If the forecast is for NW 5-10, I would bank on NW 10-20. If it blows less, great. Ever see a beach ball floating in a pool and even gentle breeze can send it across the pool in a second? Same thing in a raft.

Start familiarizing yourself with how to read River flow gauges. You'll need to understand what a floatable flow is and what an unsafe flow is. I would suggest staying away from high flows until you have a lot of miles under your belt just for safety reasons.

 

[FlyRod126]

Thanks for sharing some knowledge and experience with me. I will be taking it kinda of slow and will be staying clear of high flows, thank you!