Vojta Unger's experience with Gudieline Drifter belly boat.
I have spent the last twenty years in competitive fly fishing. And because I wanted to do it full time, I had almost no time to go pleasure fishing. All this time I was making plans about what I wanted to try and experience after my "competition career" was over. And one of my big goals was to get a Belly Boat and go to a nice lake.
After a detailed comparison of all the different options, I finally chose a Belly Boat from Guideline. And since I already knew from before how difficult it is to move around on the Boat using only the fins, I chose the option with aluminum paddles instead. And I did damn well! I was surprised to find that the Belly Boat doesn't put as much resistance when paddling and moves as fast as a small boat with less force. The paddles are firmly attached to the floats, they handle well and even a beginner can do it. For that light maneuvering in place or drifting, it's definitely good to have fins on your feet as well. What's nice is that the paddles can be attached to the sides of the Belly Boat when catching and don't get in the way at all when catching or casting. The paddles are collapsible and fit in a backpack, in which the Boat can be conveniently carried. Its weight is around 11 kg, which you hardly feel on your back.
Belly Boat consists of four floats/chambers. There are two double chambers on the sides - this is mainly for safety, should one of the chambers somehow get damaged and start to leak. The other small float is sat on and one is leaned against. The advantage is that all the inflatable floats can be removed from the Belly Boat's hard shell and dried separately. I like the fact that each of the floats can be purchased separately from the manufacturer should any damage occur over time. A small adhesive kit is also included. What is not included is the pump, but that can be purchased including two attachments from the same brand. As a beginner, I was a little worried that sitting on the Boat would not be comfortable. I spent three full days on the Boat from dawn to dusk and I can safely say that my fears were not confirmed at all, quite the contrary. The seating on the Boat is comfortable and can be adjusted in various ways with the pull straps.
I was taking too much stuff from Boat to begin with. Two large A4 size boxes, four smaller A5 size boxes, about 10 lines, three reels and five more reels. But still, miraculously, everything fit on the Boat. On the last day I had only a third of the stuff with me and it was quite enough for fishing. There are two really big pockets on the top of the left and right float, which are divided into several other smaller pockets. One of them can even fit large A4 size lake boxes, which is a big advantage. I really had no shortage of space. Behind the backrest is a compartment with a mesh bottom, where I put my rubber-tied grabber and also my wading boots, in which I always reached the lake. I then put the fins directly on my neoprene sock. I find it better than fins on my boots, which will then be unnecessarily heavy on my feet. There is a plastic strut in the front and back of the Boat that will greatly increase overall stability. A removable rubberized net in the front between the two floats is used to store the line but also to measure the catch. There are also various other eyelets and straps on the sides of the floats to which other equipment can be attached. I highly recommend attaching as much gear as possible to some sort of lanyard, as you can only drop things from the Boat into the water once. Last but not least, what I find practical about the Boat are the orange elements on the bow and stern, serving to make the Boat more visible on the water. And not just for other craft like faster speedboats, but also for friends who lose you in the fog.
I am really happy with my choice of Boat and can only recommend it! If you are interested in anything about this Belly Boat, feel free to contact me on my blog https://www.facebook.com/muskareni.podle.vojty/. I will be happy to help you with your choice.
Editor's note: You can find other articles about Belly Boats on our website:
The History and Evolution of Belly Boats and a detailed article about belly boat fishing Belly-Boat Fly Fishing.
