Inflatable Paddle Board on a budget

[pleasantvalley]

Alright guys, reccomend me an inflatable SUP.

I’m looking to use this after work mostly, keep it in my truck, and be ready to hit the rivers after work for a few hours. I’m 6’ 3”, about 240lbs. I don’t NEED tie downs for a cooler, bu it would be nice. Not looking to run long stretches, just get to some spots that are a real chore to walk/wade to. Hoping to keep it to $500 or less, used is ok.

Targeting bass, carp, sunnies, and maybe even a Muskie or two if I come upon them. I did last year float right over a slow cruising Muskie I could have cast it, had I been ready for it. What are your guys thoughts?

 

[clsmith131]

I would recommend either a u-shape or pontoon design, something that you can get in and out of. The doughnut shaped tubes are a pain in the butt in shallow water. Also, they are a little small for me, and probably not that comfortable for someone your size either. I've had two of the cheap Bass Pro brand tubes and they've been fine. I suspect all of the cheap ones are made by the same people, despite the brand.

 

[pleasantvalley]

Inflatable Paddle board. I should have been more clear in the title. I found a brand called airhead. Anyone have experience with h their stuff?

 

[rodneyshishido]

I have been eye-balling the offerings from Sea Eagle. Lightweight and compact. I have no personal experience. Just found them on the web and got interested in their product line.

 

[mjkirshner]

I have been eye-balling the offerings from Sea Eagle. Lightweight and compact. I have no personal experience. Just found them on the web and got interested in their product line.

Rodney - Sea Eagle is a great product. I had a NN116 (Needle-nose 11'6"). I ended up returning it and exchanging for an inflatable kayak, but it was a great product. Sea Eagle is the standard for inflatables. I ended up missing the iSUP, so I got another one, and now have an iRocker, which is a smaller board, but equally high in quality.

pleasantvalley - Check out the iRocker Cruiser. It is a 6" board, so even though it is only 10' 6" long, it has a capacity of 400 lbs, and at 33" wide, it is pretty stable for fishing. Many iSUPS are only 4" thick (and 30" wide), and at 6'3" and 240 lbs, those are probably not going to work for you. I am very happy with my iRocker. When I lost the center fin (it has two fixed and a larger removable center fin), iRocker sent me a new one at no charge. ("Wow. That sucks, Dude. I'll send you a new one today. How much? Nah. Don't worry about it.")

The Sea Eagle NN is a great board, and has a rigid prow like a kayak, which is great for cutting waves, but the shape gives it less volume, so not as much capacity. You'd need the NN14, but their LB126 (12'6" Long Board) would have enough capacity. Airhead makes a board for fishing that has two small side chambers, which increase both stability and capacity. That may be a good option for you, and if you have a truck, you should have the cargo space for the larger board. Sea Eagle has a FishSUP that is even bigger. Practically an inflatable boat, just flat. I think Sea Eagle is having a sale now, plus you can sometimes buy a return at a good "open box" discount. But the Sea Eagle and Airhead are not the cheapest. iRocker is great quality and a good price. This time of year, you may be able to score one on sale, too.

 

[b.young]

I'm in search of a budget SUP as well. I've really been eyeing the roc inflatable SUP. It's 299 on amazon. Anyone have any experience with this one?

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079FYRYDK/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_3?smid=A296T4R842LMMO&psc=1

 

[Windwarrior]

I went down this rabbit hole 2 summers ago and I'll throw in my two cents to all this from my personal experiences in all the research I did.

The thing you really need to keep in mind when looking for an inflatable is simple. Longevity and the seams. I watched countless videos on "issues " with inflatables and what I found was a LOT of them were blowing out at the seams be it from either over inflating or leaving in the sun too long. We're not talking about being in the sun too long on a lake or anything. I'm talking about letting it sit in the sun for hours on end and or sitting in the sun in your backyard while not being used.

I first started looking into the Tower models because they started off on the shark tank and Mark bought into it and the company took off. Selling them at 500 ish. They sold like hotcakes! Then I looked into Elevate on craigslist. They were also selling like hotcakes.

I decided to go check out and talk to the local rental shops at the local lakes and get some feedback AND try a few out. Well, after doing all that I decided to check out YouTube videos and started seeing one after another of all the "entry level " boards having blowouts at the seams or worse with warranty claims being denied by multiple manufacturers.

So then I decided I wanted something that was going to last a VERY LONG TIME! I narrowed it down to two leaders in the sport. Red Paddle and a local company called Hala! I went with the Hala Hoss. Far more than 500 bucks but I bought it for the long haul rather than a summer or two.

Keep that in mind when looking into buying one. I'm sure if you really take good care of even the entry level boards rather than leaving them out in the sun to blow up, they'll do fine. If your budget can handle more for the long haul however, look into the two I mentioned. You won't regret it!

Hopefully this helps. :fish2:eace::fish2:eace:

 

[mackyy]

Alright guys, reccomend me an inflatable SUP.

I’m looking to use this after work mostly, keep it in my truck, and be ready to hit the rivers after work for a few hours. I’m 6’ 3”, about 240lbs. I don’t NEED tie downs for a cooler, bu it would be nice. Not looking to run long stretches, just get to some spots that are a real chore to walk/wade to. Hoping to keep it to $500 or less, used is ok.

Targeting bass, carp, sunnies, and maybe even a Muskie or two if I come upon them. I did last year float right over a slow cruising Muskie I could have cast it, had I been ready for it. What are your guys thoughts?

Most of the branded ISUP boards cost around $750. As you said your budget is around $500. I can suggest you irocker nautical paddle boards. These branded Isup's come with 1-year warranty. External look also quiet better than cheap Amazon sup boards. The cost of these boards vary form $400 to $400. Also, you get discounts on mentioned price using irocker coupon

If you are looking to buy premium durable branded boards. Then go for Atoll boards. They cost around $750. After applying the discount code you might get at $700. Check out them and enjoy surfing.

 

[iROCKER]

WE OFFER YOU THE BEST VALUE FOR MONEY
Our inflatable SUPs are designed and developed with a lot of pride, knowledge and experience by paddleboarders from our iROCKER team in the Sunshine State of Florida. For us it is part of everyday life to include design and function requirements in our work in order to be able to offer a board that literally comes from the water to YOU. Not only do we sell our boards within the US, but also Canada, Australia, the UK and Europe! iROCKER uses only the highest quality military-grade PVC composite material for its inflatable Stand Up Paddleboards.

 

[raikiri96]

Hey there, paddleboards by top-quality brands like Sandbanks are expensive. But, you also don't want a Chinese knock off, do you? I think paddleboards by iRocker offer a good price to quality ratio.

If you're interested, here're some iRocker discount codes for you: https://couponitnow.com/irocker-coupon-code/

Hope it helps.

 

[GloveMan]

Try this brand out for a budget paddle vessel!

 

[idlerick5]

Or these:

 

[dtaylo1066]

Rather than an SUP, you may want to look at inflatable kayaks, as they will be more stable when floating down the river. Some are made specifically for fishing.

If you really want to go super compact and lightweight, look at inflatable pack rafts. I wound up getting one used last year on a great buy, a Kokopelli Twain, and it is blast to fish from and only weighs 11 pounds and holds two people. Pack rafts can quickly get expensive, though.

A great buy is the Sea Eagle PackFish 7. $499.

 

[Tubeman]

JMHO, if someone will be needing to "be ready" / hold position as a solo, while having both hands free to cast and possibly face / fight a hooked fish, it requires an almost impossible skill level - with a SUP, pack boat, kayak, or most other floating craft -except for a float tube or pontoon. But a SUP might work well if someone just needs to go a short time to a close by spot for stand-up fishing with bare minimal furnishings. Otherwise, they might have to figure out how to store food, water, fishing Essentials, safety and emergency equipment, etc, while still allowing for some space to move around on a SUP.

A search on Amazon and other internet retailers will usually turn up many written reviews by actual users on the pros and cons for just about any product, which might be more useful than a handful of opinions from a fishing forum. Myself tries to screen out opinions from the mostly obvious chronic complainers and overzealous promoters, then focus on the facts that are brought up that might be of possible concern. That approach has been a good tool for me to sort out what kind of prices to look for and what features / manufacturers, Etc to look at. Sometimes there's a satisfaction guarantee period which allows try before buy. That way, someone has the option to buy the same thing or something else, at another retailer, if they are not satisfied.

 

[Tubeman]

JMHO, if someone will be needing to "be ready" / hold position as a solo, while having both hands free to cast and possibly face / fight a hooked fish, it requires an almost impossible skill level - with a SUP, pack boat, kayak, or most other floating craft -except for a float tube or pontoon. But a SUP might work well if someone just needs to go a short time to a close by spot for stand-up fishing with bare minimal furnishings. Otherwise, they might have to figure out how to store food, water, fishing Essentials, safety and emergency equipment, etc, while still allowing for some space to move around on a SUP.

A search on Amazon and other internet retailers will usually turn up many written reviews by actual users on the pros and cons for just about any product, which might be more useful than a handful of opinions from a fishing forum. Myself tries to screen out opinions from the mostly obvious chronic complainers and overzealous promoters, then focus on the facts that are brought up that might be of possible concern. That approach has been a good tool for me to sort out what kind of prices to look for and what features / manufacturers, Etc to look at. Sometimes there's a satisfaction guarantee period which allows try before buy. That way, someone has the option to buy the same thing or something else, at another retailer, if they are not satisfied.[/QUOTE]

 

[dtaylo1066]

This place is reputable and has amazing deals. I have purrchased kayak seats from them. They confirm order and ship fast, and while the seats say "Body Glove used" they look brand new. Probably the same with their SUP. I think they have some kind of connection to Body Glove and another supplier's excess inventory or outdated models, or customer returns.

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[das spey]

I've fished from both SUP and personally fish from a 9ft inflatable pontoon. They are two different vessels for different fishing in my opinion. I've found SUPs to be great for lakes (generally more protected with less wind, better). This is perfect for hitting banks for bass, trout, etc but you are likely going to be rotating alot on the water and floating in one position becomes more challenging. Same issues apply to pontoons/rafts but you can generally find options that are bottomless to use your feet with fins for extra control; downside is you have a lower vantage point to see/cast (think about distance and ability to keep fly line off the water, rollcasts are huge). I loved the fact that with SUP you can really stand and see over the water for sight fishing. Other than that, consider it a primarily a workout/transport vessel. I would not recommend the SUP + river fishing combo as there are too many variables that can go wrong instantly.

I own the irocker brand for my family and they serve well for simple fishing.

 

[elbee_gunz]

I love my Hala board. I use it to fish for stripers in tidal estuaries all the time. If you want to paddle and cast from one spot I bring a mushroom anchor (make sure you know how to rig an anchor for effectiveness and safety) or I use the anchor to keep my board in one place while I fish from a location I used to get there. Hala makes some great stuff that are made for overnight expeditions, whitewater, and still water Check them out, they also have a Black Friday deal going. No affiliation, just good gear!