Mark,
Very good question. I do almost all of my kayak fly fishing in the Delta in sloughs with relatively minor tide and/or wind-driven currents, so it is not overly difficult to maintain the kayak's orientation to the bank with one hand as I drift and cast flies toward the banks. Every so many casts, I do generally find myself putting down the rod, and paddling closer to or further away from the bank, because a lot of times the drift will take you in a direction other than parallel to the bank. But once I hook up, I put the paddle down and focus on fighting and landing the fish. Mean while, I let the kayak drift to wherever it goes, which is generally not that far. Obviously, I do keep an eye out to make sure I'm not drifting into an overhanging branch or something else that's going to skewer me or the kayak. But I generally don't have to worry about that. This would certainly be something to weigh carefully, though, in a river with a faster current. In that case, you might have to alternate between paddling as necessary and fighting the fish. I agree, I don't really see how you could both paddle and fight the fish at the same time. I just haven't had to deal with that.
-- Mike
Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that's why there are no signs of life.
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