Posted: 2/9/2025 2:01:05 PM EDT
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Thinking about trying to hike into mountain lakes- day hikes or multiday. I've carried a pontoon a few times, but at 50lbs plus it's not viable for longer hikes or overnighter. Float tubes are OK, but those lakes can be down right cold, so dangling your legs in the water for hours means waders, fleece, etc, which adds weight and bulk. Wondering about a packraft type contraption. They are light- not sure how tippy. Also not sure of the seating - flycasting sitting down with legs out in front of you looks awkward. Anyone here tried this? Not planning on doing river fishing - have other floaty things for that. Fishing from a one man raft in moving water sucks. |
| Look at Kokopelli pack rafts. Very light. I’ve done a little pack in float fishing with a float tube. From a raft type boat it’s easier and more relaxing to just troll your fly. I’ve caught some big fish that way. Once you figure out where they are you can start casting. Just a reminder, high mountain lakes can be frigid even mid summer. Bring a life vest and be safe. |
| I've been looking at the kokopelli and alpacka rafts a little. Pricey damn things. Interesting they are all single bladder construction as near as I can tell - especially the ultra light single seater ones. Pfd of some type definitely required (legally required in mt for anything that you sit in above waterline). |
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Originally Posted By johnh57: I've been looking at the kokopelli and alpacka rafts a little. Pricey damn things. Interesting they are all single bladder construction as near as I can tell - especially the ultra light single seater ones. Pfd of some type definitely required (legally required in mt for anything that you sit in above waterline). All the lite stuff are “single wall” multilayered materials these days. The new stuff is pretty darn tough. Let us know what you end up with. I am curious. |
| I’ll ask my nephew what he used. He did The Beaten Path trail south of Alpine last year. He said it wasn’t worth it. But he covered about 50 miles on that trip. Shorter trips might not be that bad. |
Then there came from hunting, the weather-eyed shooter.
ARFCOM Callsign: Varmint
ARFCOM Callsign: Varmint
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Did a 5 day float trip through the Bob Marshall a couple years ago. One of our group had a kokopelli rogue lite. The raft was fine for him, but he wasn't fishing. I need to go look at them. I had my 9' fish cat pontoon. Better fishing platform, though still pretty hard while moving. Easier to get in and out of if you pull over and fish. But at north of 50 lbs it's not really viable for backpacking. |