Adventure Files: Learning to Fish From A Kayak

Recently, I celebrated a birthday... I turned a whopping 46 years old.  The kayak fishing adventure has just begun for me.  I have no earthly idea why it has taken me so long to see a kayak as an acceptable vessel for fishing.  I fished from canoes as a kid.  Banging around all over the place, we tied it off to trees, trolled, drifted along fishing Rat L Traps and creating great memories.  One would think that fishing from a kayak would be the next logical step. Fortunately, I came to my senses, so, I embarked on another kayak journey with Cole in celebration of my 46 years on this earth.

I was looking forward to doing some fishing, but I knew that still only having one kayak, that was not going to be a real possibility.  I really wanted Cole to experience the kayak as well. I took him along knowing that he would monopolize the time in the kayak, and leaving him to fish by himself on shore while I tooled around the cove fishing was a monumentally bad idea for a multitude of reasons, though it did cross my mind. Fortunately for both of us, I'm slightly more intelligent than that!

The planning for this little adventure being what it was found me at Wal Mart at 11 PM on my birthday eve purchasing a new paddle because of our paddle fail chronicled in Adventure Files: Kayak Fail (not so much) Part 2.  I found a small Propel paddle for just the right price at $23.87.  This will make a great stow away paddle when my new kayak and paddle arrive at Twisted Oak.

A boy and a borrowed kayak
Photo Chris Carson

The next morning, Cole and I headed back to Canyon Lake again.  The water was back to a more normal level.  Boat ramps were open again and most of the picnic tables were out of the water.  The water had receded about 60 yards or so since the last time we were there.  The wind was blowing out of the South at about 15-20 mph. The water was a little choppy in the cove we were in, but we handled it well.  I was a bit nervous about getting broadside to the wind, but the Aquaterra proved to be pretty stable given how narrow it is.

I must admit, I am beginning to like the Aquaterra more and more.  I still can't wait for my Malibu Stealth 14 to come in, alas, I must have patience.  In the meantime, I will enjoy this kayak and milk it for whatever lessons I can gain and use it to teach Cole water safety and how to position the boat for a multitude of scenarios.

The first thing I realized today is the importance of an anchoring system.  On our previous trip, the wind was calm and we could have easily positioned the yak.  Today, I showed him how to read the current to set up a drift since we had no anchor.  Without a drift anchor this also proved to be difficult as we were moving way to fast to be effective (especially in the summer when fishing deep and slow is usually the key).

The Anchor Rock   Photo: Chris Carson

After a bit of frustration, I fashioned an anchor from some parachute cord and rock.  I was inspired by a post on Facebook by Eugene Mora.  It wasn't pretty, but it was effective.  Notice above that I said an "anchoring system".  "System" is a key word here as without an anchor trolley to move the anchor to the back or front of the boat depending on how I wanted to position the boat, I spent most of my time broadside to the wind.

I also quickly realized that dumping a 15 lb. rock overboard with no anchor line management system was a good way for Cole to lose a finger.  Loose rope laying around with a heavy object tied to it is not a safe practice.  

 

Kayak Crate   Photo: Chris Carson

In other news, the kayak crate that I made awhile back worked well.  Although the Aquaterra is lacking in places to stow such an item, we strapped it down with bungees and made the best of it. Cole accidentally flipped it once trying to get out of it in deeper than he thought water. But, the crate stayed in place, one of the rods actually never left the rod holder.  All other contents floated long enough to recover easily, none the worse for wear.

Anchor line management is a different animal altogether though... I'm open for ideas, so comment below or on Facebook and give me your thoughts.

This trip was an exercise in getting a feel for fishing from a kayak.  Figuring out what works and what doesn't was the goal. There are many nuances such as casting angles and gear management that must be re-learned and mastered from a kayak.  For instance learning to flip a jig while sitting at water level will be interesting I'm sure! It's all part of the journey and I look forward to it! 

There were no fish injured or otherwise harmed in this excursion.