Angler Pro Fishing Paddle

The Angler Pro is the Angler Classic's lighter, cleaner sibling, and it has won YakAngler's Angler Paddle of the Year six times. The blade is compression-moulded fiberglass on a 100% carbon shaft, and the whole thing weighs 28.5 ounces.

The Angler Pro Is Seven Ounces Lighter

The Classic is 35.5 oz, the Pro is 28.5 oz. That is a fifth of the weight gone, and it is the only difference you will actually feel. You lift a paddle roughly a thousand times an hour with your arms out in front of you, which is the worst leverage your shoulders will ever work at. Seven ounces multiplied by that is the difference between a shoulder that is fine at four in the afternoon and one that is not.

What the Angler Pro does not give you is more power: the blades are within 2.5 square inches of each other. The Pro is more efficient, not bigger. Lengths, ferrule, feather options and warranty are identical.

What Makes a Fishing Paddle Different

Three things, and the one nobody mentions matters most. There is a hook retrieval notch in a blade, for pulling a snagged lure out of a branch instead of paddling over and standing up. There is a 40-inch tape measure printed on the shaft, so you can lay a fish alongside it on the spot — Bending Branches is clear that it is not an official tournament measuring device, and nor are we. And then the part that actually does the work: an oversized blade. A rigged fishing kayak with a crate, a battery, a cooler and four rods is heavy and catches a lot of wind, and a slim touring blade just slips through the water. A big blade gives you the low-end grab to move that weight and hold position against a breeze.

Bending Branches Angler Pro Details

• Blade: compression-moulded fiberglass, 105 sq in (677 sq cm), 7.25" x 18"

• Shaft: 100% carbon, ovalised at the grip

• 28.5 oz (808 g)

• Lengths 240, 250, 260, 270 and 280 cm

• Snap-button ferrule, 0° and 60° feather, left or right hand control

• 40" tape measure on the shaft

• 2-piece; 2 year manufacturing warranty

We have one, a 240 cm in Glowtek. If you fish a few weekends a year the Classic is a genuinely good paddle and this is a luxury; if you are out all day, or your shoulder already has an opinion, the seven ounces is worth the money. Hold both at our Clearwater shop — the difference is obvious in your hands.