While it may not be the most essential piece of equipment you take with you, a fishing chair can sometimes mean the difference between an enjoyable fishing experience and a miserable one, especially if the ground is wet. Fishing chairs can make your whole trip better as well, some of them come with rod holders, cup holders, and even coolers built in to store food, beverages, or some of the fish you’ve caught.
There are several things you should look for when you are going out to buy chairs for fishing. First, and especially if you are planning on fishing in an environment where you can expect saltwater, you should make sure that the chair is made out of a material that is both waterproof and rust proof. Odds are your chair will be exposed to rain, cold, heat, and possibly even a dip in the river, and this is necessary if you want to get more than one weekend of use out of it. Other than this, you should also take comfort, portability, and the space required for storage into consideration. There are several different kinds of chairs made to suit these different needs.
Portable Fishing Chair
If you’re planning on traveling or hiking into your fishing spot over a good distance, your best option will most likely be a very lightweight, very portable fishing chair. These chairs are very light and don’t take up much room, but they also sacrifice a lot on comfort. There are two main types of lightweight chairs. The first is a tripod shaped chair. In this model, folding supports hold up a triangular seat and the whole setup resembles a tripod. The second main type of chairs is a seat on the ground like a Thermarest Trekker chair. These chairs use your Thermarest air mattress and turn it into a chair you can sit on. This is the lightest and most comfortable way to go if you are in the backcountry and need to pack everything in and out.
Folding Fishing Chairs
The best combination of affordability, comfort, and portability is found in the folding fishing chairs. These are bigger than lightweight, portable fishing chairs but they are also many times more comfortable. Most of these chairs have four legs that make up a metal frame with an x-hinge that lets the chair fold up into a sleeve that can be easily slung over your neck. They are the same heights as normal chairs, fairly inexpensive, and even comfortable. Many times these will be designed as a camping chair, but if you can find one that was designed for fishing, they may even have adjustable heights, rod holders, and a table where you can rig your gear, tie your hooks, and cut your bait.
Ice Fishing Chair
Ice fishing chairs are a completely different animal than regular fishing chairs. These chairs need to be designed to conserve body heat and sit on the ice. Most all of them will use the same cushioning. This consists of foam that has been rated good down to sub-zero temperatures that has been covered with vinyl. Therefore, the most important part about the ice fishing chair will be the ability of it to store things. Most of these chairs have several components where you can store fish, tackle, bait, and other things, like your lunch.
You have many different options where it comes to buying a chair for your next fishing trip. Make sure when you buy one you know what type of activities you plan on doing. You don’t want to end up lugging around a couple big ice fishing chairs when you could have simply gotten away with carrying a smaller, lighter portable chair.
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