What Fly Anglers Should Look for in a Quality Outdoor Speaker

Music makes everything better – fly fishing trips included.

I’ve never been one to listen to music while I’m fishing, on account of all of the sounds it would mask. I like hearing American dippers on trout streams between their dives underwater. Sometimes the only way I can find redfish on a flat is by hearing one eat.

There's also the issue of sharing the water with other anglers. In my humble opinion, blasting music from a drift boat while passing a bank angler should be punishable by immediate fishing license confiscation.

Still, there's plenty of time for music during the in-between times on a fishing trip, and I’ve found that it’s worth having a great speaker along for the ride.

When to Bring a Speaker Fishing

If you’re running a flats skiff at 30 miles per hour — and there's no one else around — it can be nice to play some Kenny Chesney and feel like a pirate. If you’re parked on the side of a road rigging a rod next to a trout stream, it might be something more contemplative.

Either way, the key is having a speaker that’s built for what you’re using it for.

Outdoor Speakers Need Real Volume

An outdoor speaker has to be loud enough to compete with serious noise – think outboard motors, crashing surf, etc.

That was the inspiration for the first Turtlebox prototype, built by four friends in a Houston garage in 2012, and they’ve been making portable outdoor speakers ever since.

Turtlebox Speakers — An early Turtlebox prototype. | photo by Jasper Taback

An Outdoor Speaker for Fishing Has to Be Durable

If you’re going to bring a speaker on the water, it has to hold up just like any other piece of fishing equipment.

Mine has been dropped in several rivers and bounced around a number of boat floors and truck beds.

So far, so good.

Choosing the Right Turtlebox Speaker

Turtlebox recently released their newest speaker, the Cub, bringing the lineup to four different models. The smallest speaker, the Ranger, weighs roughly 2.5 lbs, and the largest, the Grande, is almost 19 lbs.

Each one has the same great sound quality. It comes down to the kind of fishing you’re planning on doing – how much volume you need and how much weight you want to carry.

Turtlebox Grande — The Grande | photo by Jasper Taback

Bringing Music Along on a Fly Fishing Trip

Naturally, you might end up needing a couple.

I have a Ranger that I keep in my backpack and a Gen 3 that I bring in the boat – because certain trips lend themselves more to one or the other.

At first, I wasn't sure if I'd have any use for a speaker on my fishing trips. It seemed antithetical to the quiet that I'm usually looking for when I spend time on the water.

But every fishing trip involves time spent cooking, drinking, organizing fly boxes, and passing the time without a rod in hand. Those are the moments that make a great outdoor speaker well worth the investment.

Some of the gear reviewed in this article was provided to me at no cost for evaluation. The views and assessments presented are my own.

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