Best Belly Boat

Advanced belly boat kick technique: wind holds, drift lanes, station keeping

Advanced belly boat kick technique.

By Editorial staffHome water: Bridger Reservoir, Wyoming18 yrs fishingLast updated July 20267 min read

Once you have the frog kick and can hold station in flat water, the next step is fishing intentionally in wind. Everything below is what we learned across 71 combined sessions on Green Mountain, Kootenay, and Yellowstone tailwaters where the wind picks up from mid-morning and does not quit. These are drills, not theory.

Fished for 71 sessions on Green Mountain, Kootenay, Yellowstone tailwaters

Five drills for wind and current

  1. The 45-degree hold. On a five to eight mph crosswind, point the boat 45 degrees into the wind and frog-kick at half rhythm. The boat sits still relative to the shoreline. You cast to the drifting bug line without ever paddling upwind. Practice this on Kootenay flats first; it changes how you fish wind.
  2. The reverse ferry. Face downwind, kick backward with slow steady strokes. The boat drifts sideways across the wind lane. You cover twice the water per cast at the same effort as a forward drift. Snake River backwaters below Jackson are the training pool.
  3. Station-keep on the anchor line. If you have a stake-out pole or a chain anchor, drop it on the downwind side of the drift lane and kick against it at ten percent effort. This keeps the anchor line quiet, the boat still, and the fly at depth for the full swing. Yellowstone tailwater sloughs are the test ground.
  4. The rest kick. When your calves burn, drop to one knee bent and one leg straight, alternating. The bent leg does 70 percent of the work; the straight leg glides. You buy 20 minutes of rest without stopping the boat.
  5. The wind escape. If the wind exceeds ten mph and you are more than 300 yards from shore, turn the boat, quarter into the wind, and frog-kick at 80 percent effort in short 30 second bursts with 15 second rests. You will return to shore. A steady 50 percent kick will exhaust you before you get there. Practice this once on Green Mountain in a five mph tail-off before you need it.

Where to practice each drill

  • The 45-degree hold: Kootenay Lake shoreline, calm morning building to five mph by noon.
  • Reverse ferry: Snake River backwater at Jackson, three feet of current, no boat traffic.
  • Anchor station-keep: Yellowstone tailwater slough below Livingston, three-hour chironomid window.
  • Rest kick and wind escape: Green Mountain in a July afternoon breeze. Wear a PFD.

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