I was looking at buying a kayak to fish out of and as I don't have any kayak dealers within 100 miles from me I went on a fishing trip to the Ozarks and stopped in at a dealer to ask questions and have a look with the possibility of buying.
I told the salesman that I was a flyfisherman and was looking at a kayak to fish my local lake and farm ponds with. After looking at several models from Jackson, Wilderness and NuCanoe I noticed a few paddle boards by Bote hanging on the wall. When I inquired about them the salesman got a grin and stated he owned several kayaks but had not used them in a couple of years because of his sup, which was a Bote Ahab.
He had me look at all of them but kind of steered me towards the iStalker for my use. I am glad he did. It is a bit of a barge but conversely it is a very stable fishing platform. It tracks very well even without the large center fin installed and I don't have to switch sides to paddle constantly.
I am able to easily fly cast, fight fish, kneel down to land fish and move around on the board. There are multiple threaded inserts for ram mounts and several metal d-loops. I have more tie downs than I need by far as I like to keep it simple. Cooler that holds my fishing gear a some water plus the side benefit of being a seat when I need it, one ram fly rod holder and usually a stake out pole along with my paddle.
Possible drawbacks, I am not an experienced paddle boarder so I have no frame of reference regarding other boards. I can see where a narrower and lighter one would be more fun for just paddling and playing around. Since the sup is a newer company on the market I have concerns about service if I ever have a problem but so far the board has been rock solid.
I have more fun fishing off of this than any kayak or canoe I have been on. Might not be for everyone but for me it is an outstanding flyfishing platform. I have already caught my 3 largest fly caught fish off of it and I have been fly fishing for over 20 years. I have no regrets and would buy it again.
