Fishing for bass has been around since the dawn of time, but the vessels used to catch them has come back full circle. I’m talking small watercraft. It all started with small homemade floating platforms usually made from wood (dugout canoes), bamboo (rafts) or willows and animal skin (coracles). Since then, technology has taken over and our choice of watercraft has become more and more elaborate, larger and faster. These advances in technology are great when bass fishing on larger lakes, reservoirs or rivers, but when it’s time to hit the backwater cypress swamps or tight black water rivers that many large bass call home, we’re left searching for something smaller, more compact and lightweight. So here we are, full circle.
The appeal to backwater bass fishing isn’t always about the fishing (for me anyway), but it’s a chance to fish waters that aren’t heavily pressured with an abundance of wildlife and gorgeous vistas. Like Henry David Thoreau once said, Many men go fishing all their lives without knowing it’s not the fish they are after. Don’t get me wrong, I’m also in search of that once in lifetime bass, and typically I’m throwing some sort of topwater lure to find it (I may have a slight topwater addiction).
But if any of you have fished the deep backwaters, you know the setting. For starters, the access points to these places are less than ideal. These waters are typically down rough dirt roads where 4×4 is oftentimes a good idea or in tight quarters where maneuvering a boat trailer is out of the question. Even once on the water, these areas are often choked up with vegetation (both in water and along shorelines) and provide a network of mazes either through trees or sloughs.
Although we aren’t burning tree trunks to form a canoe, or cutting bamboo to tie together for a raft, or even tying willow branches into a spherical shape and stretching animal skin over it (maybe someone out there still is), but we ARE looking for those particular shapes and sizes. Think kayaks, canoes, stand up paddle boards, and Roundabout Watercrafts (here we are, full circle).
These are the type of watercrafts that we are in search of to access these remote and beautiful backwaters. Typically lighter in weight, smaller, more maneuverable and able to transport in the back of a pickup or atop a small vehicle, they are the perfect vessel to pursue your personal best bass.
The Roundabout Watercraft’s lineup was built with fishing in mind. This round watercraft is based on the coracle that has been used from as far back as the mid first century BC. The Roundabout offers up plenty of below deck storage, 360 degree seating (perfect for casting in any position), lightweight (weighs 120 lbs.), high payload capacity (674 lbs.), rated for up to a 2 horsepower motor, and fits into the bed of a pickup. Pair these with limitless outrigging options and its ability to roll for easy maneuvering makes the Roundabout Watercraft great for bass fishing backwater areas.
