Unless you’ve been isolated on a polar ice cap for the last ten years, you’ve probably caught wind of the not so new but exploding popularity of Stand Up Paddle (SUP) boarding. SUP boarding, not surprisingly, originated in the Hawaiian Islands back in the sixties from surfing instructors wanting a better sight plane to see their students as well as upcoming wave sets. Fast-forward four decades and you’ll find a plethora of manufactures producing boards varying in style, shape, materials and intended purpose. While SUP’ing offers a fantastic core workout and another way to enjoy being out on the water, my passion combines fishing and paddle sports, so I want to know – how’s the board work as a fishing platform?

From a fisherman’s perspective, lets consider what board features would be desirable. First - the hull. As aesthetically pleasing as composite or thermoplastic over foam core boards can be to the eye, consideration of the environment you plan to use one in should be of prominence. Composites are fine in open water but what if your plans are low level, rocky rivers or inland coastal estuaries, where you’ll likely encounter all types of abrasive and composite shredding obstructions. Clearly you’ll want a board that can withstand the punishment. Also important is how does the board lend itself to outfitting. Rods, tackle bags, fish coolers all which need to be secured and comfortably stowed.

Now that we’ve got an idea of what we should be looking for, let’s explore the design and features that make the Versa board such a competent kayak fishing craft. First, it’s 33” wide tri-hull bottom offers excellent stability, even for the novice boarder to hop on and immediately feel confident to stand. Don’t feel like standing? There are two optional seats, a First Class swiveling seat, which attaches via a thumbscrew into a molded in-hull nut and the frameless DVC seat, which is attached with straps to molded-in nuts. If you choose to go bare bones, without a seat, you’ll still have a butt depression covered with a closed cell foam pad to comfort your buns. For extended standing comfort there are two closed cell foam pads in front of the seating area. To store gear there are recessed deck bungees on the bow and behind the seat. A kayak fishing bag, like the Watertrail Fishing Buddy can be secured to either of these bungee sets. For rod storage the Versa board comes with two flush mount Scotty holders behind the seat. Located in front of the seat is the flush mounted Groove track capable of accepting Scotty or Ram-Mount rod holders. Convenience features include the innovative Deck mounted clam shell paddle holder, a center mounted carry handle, which doubles as a security lash point, scupper plugs, a stern drain plug, stern and skeg access hatch, molded-in stern carry handle, bow carry handle strap and the optional Tag Along stern mounted roller wheel, also attached by molded in-hull nuts. Last, but not least, is a feature not found on any other board, which beats the pants off typical fixed fin boards – the in-hull spring-loaded drop down skeg, actuated by a pivoting handle. If you need to go ultra shallow simply flip the lever and the skeg retracts. Need to track straight in open water, just flip the lever and tracking improves exponentially. Being spring-loaded the skeg is protected by popping up in the hull. After you pass over the obstruction the skeg drops back down.

OK, enough tech speak, how’s it perform on the water? On a recent float trip down the New River, North Carolina I took an immediate shine to the capabilities of this board. The New River has many shallow areas, lots of rocks just under the surface and areas where high maneuverability is a big asset. Typical kayaks and canoes routinely bottom out and hang up where the Versa, capable of floating in just a few inches of water, allowed me to float on. Other benefits of being on a board are the low, nearly flat deck and ability to stand and better locate fish holding areas. If I wanted to stop and fish I could easily swing a leg over a side and foot anchor to rocks or the river bottom without having to deploy an anchor. The swiveling First Class seat allows you to do this in even greater comfort. Being in a higher gunnel canoe or even a sit on top you can’t get nearly as much leg length for depth as you can on a board. At 12’3” the Versa is highly nimble and easy to cut around and in between runs. In slower moving flat water a simple flick of the skeg lever and you’re tracking effortlessly true. Though I found the Versa to excel in rivers I can easily see it finding use for other waters such as coastal flats, farm ponds and even lakes. Since the Versa has a low profile it could be a craft to leave racked on the car without affecting gas mileage as much as a higher beamed craft, for that unexpected quick float.

What the Versa is and isn’t. This isn’t a board that you’ll likely see in races or folks performing tail whips. If that’s the type of board you’re interested in you should check out the Native Watercraft Osceola. The Versa is however one of the most well thought out recreational boards designed for comfort, stability, versatility, durability and use as a fishing craft on the market today. I won’t be giving up my other kayaks but the Versa definitely has earned its place by out performing conventional kayaks on my recent river trip.
(Posted on 7/19/11)

These thing are awsome, my wife was on the fence about getting one and after a few hours in it is ready to sell her solo canoe because she doesn't think shell ever use it again. The boats are incredibly stable, i was able to comfortably stand with both feet on one side of the boat and fish...or sit over the edge of the boat. Releasing fish is easy because your basically sitting at water level, so its a matter of just reaching over. Transitioning from sitting to standing and vice versa was very quick, and possibly a little easier than even my ultimate 14.5 (where i can basically jump up if i wanted to)

I for one am glad I got the seat because the dvc seat is very nice, but doesn't get inthe way when u try and stand. Its not quite as comfortable as the "first class seat" but then again ive sat in a lot of lazyboys that werent as comfortable as that seat. The nice thing about the DVC over the first class is that when its not in use the seat doesnt get in your way.

They paddle very nice, not quite as quick and quiet as the ultimate but not bad (that skeg helps a ton with tracking). It paddles very well into the wind from a seated position, but you do have to work when standing into a brisk wind, but thats more of a function of my shape than any wrong doing on the boat. They do suffer from wave slap but I'm ok with that.

Drift fishing on lakes/rivers will be a joy on these boats as the skeg allows them to drift with the tail to the wind/current. That way as your working your way over water you dont have the tendency to flip around making banks easier to work.

Ive mentioned the drop down skeg twice...it allows the boat to track like a much longer/narrower boat...probibly the closest comparison would be my old P&H touring kayak...not quite as hard to turn as that boat but very little "waggle" when using the kayak paddle (i j-stroke with the SUP paddle so that is not an issue). But with the flip of the lever and you might as well be in a white water kayak...your nose can move 2-3ft with a single stroke of the paddle. Would be great for tight water but makes paddling this thing strait more difficult.

I must say, everyone should have one of these. They are an exceptional fly fishing/fishing in general platform as there is little on the deck to catch your line, extremely stable which makes sight fishing very easy from a standing position, and self bail extremely well so rough waters should not be an issue (they have 4, near 2" scuppers with large plugs). (Posted on 5/18/11)