Podcast: Fly-Fishing from a Kayak, with Damon Bungard

I have gotten numerous requests to do a podcast on fly fishing from a kayak, and I was finally able to corral my friend Damon Bungard of Jackson Kayaks. Damon has broad experience fishing from kayaks all over the world, from tarpon flats to trout streams, and he also designs kayaks. It’s a very detailed podcast, covering everything from picking the right craft, to approaching fish, to anchor systems, to dealing with line handling, to fighting and landing fish. And he offers lots of good stories in between. Fly fishers have different needs than conventional anglers when it comes to kayak fishing, so I am sure you will benefit from the wisdom of a true expert.

In this week’s Fly Box, we cover a wide range of topics:

• Whether you find the same hatches on different stretches of a river
• Why a guide had an angler fight a fish with the rod in a vertical position
• How far upstream to cast a nymph with an indicator, and how much to let it hang downstream
• Will there be a kit to convert a Helios 3 D version to an F version (no, sorry they are totally different tapers)?
• Why are my knots breaking at the tippet ring but not when I attach it to a fly?
• Are mop flies evil?
• Why did I not have the same luck when I went back to the same trout stream a few weeks later?
• For small flies, do I need to tie all sizes between 18 and 24?
• Is a poly leader as good as a sink tip (to a blind horse?)
• A seriously disappointing etiquette question (for which I don’t have a good answer)
• Why aren’t jig style hooks used more often?

If you don’t see the “Play” button above, click here to listen.

Kayaks aren’t just for chasing small fish.
Photo courtesy Damon Bungard