Plan To Relax So You Can Continue Fishing

There are many equipment options that can help an aging angler stay on the water longer. The first, suggested by a Musky Hunter subscriber who likes this column, is the bike seat.

- Marty Forman

Bike Seats

Perhaps the simplest and lowest cost option of all, the bike seat (also known as a butt seat) is something you can “lean on.” It’s a half-standing/half sitting choice. Long before I finally succumbed to the “bionic” upgrade of two total knee replacements, the most important thing in my boat after my rod and reel was the bike seat.

The key is you are fairly close to standing, and everybody knows you can tell a musky boat from across the lake by seeing anglers standing in the boat. Sadly, you simply must stand to cast big musky baits effectively. Different from bass fishing (where these seats originated), we must also make a pretty good figure-8 or give away as many as half the bites.

Leaning on a butt seat with the support pole located in the center of the boat adds a real challenge to achieving a good figure-8. Musky “rules” demand your feet be spread shoulder-distance apart in an athletic stance and your toes right up against the gunnel of the boat. Once again, we are going to take a “senior discount” on the rules.

Sometimes you’ll see a following fish from way off which allows time to move to the gunnel for your figure-8. More often, you will need to rely on a much longer rod (minimum 8-foot-6) to reach out to make some kind of useable 8, but admittedly not the best.