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Prime Time for Kayak Fishing
"Why a kayak?" I hear this often from all kinds of fishing people and even some who do not fish and I have come to believe they have a very different appreciation of nature than mine or maybe they're just too busy-minded to see the benefits of being the tortoise of the watercraft world. I think it is safe to say that across the board you will consistently find many nature/outdoors enthusiasts partly enjoying whatever activity they are participating in for the sheer reason of being away from the hustle and bustle of every day life. Escaping to the outdoors opens up the senses and brings a feeling of joy and pleasure to its admirers. In my case, I get that escape through fishing, specifically from a kayak.
I wrote last month about battling winds and overcoming them as best you can. Through the winter and the spring they are just an inescapable reality in the picture of any angler's day. Of course the winds don't completely disappear even in the summer and fall, but it seems they become a bit more manageable. The wind can be our friend, on strong southeast and south the tides rise and the water fills the marsh grasses. When this happens kayaks as fishing boats come into their prime master crafts of the skinny water.
I always get a kick out of paddling through an area. Let's say, for instance, I am headed to my spot and get passed by a boat in the open, deeper water. Perhaps a couple of hours later I come across this boat again and it is I who is then passing the boat as they have reached their maximum draft and I continue on to shallower water with fish that have yet to see a lure on that day or perhaps many days prior. I would say that the time is now, when the redfish are spending most of their time cruising the grasslines regularly, in the shallowest water they can find. I love this time of the year as the weather is still mild enough to not cook you out on the water. Chasing tailing reds should be good straight through and continuing during the fall, and the kayak is the perfect tool to get in and amongst 'em. Primo kayak season is here, no doubt. I hope all of you readers are dusting off your kayaks if you haven't already. It is time to get out and get 'em wet.
In other news:
April marked the kickoff of the second year of the Castaway Lonestar Kayak Series Fishing Tournaments. Dustin Koreba is the series founder and organizer and has done a great job. It has proven to be a great series of events. His main goal is promoting the sport of kayak angling amongst Texas kayakers. I fished the tournament but did not place. However, it was a blast watching the 'yakkers come to the weigh-in and everyone sharing stories and making friends. Out of 73 fish weighed-in for the tournament an amazing 69 were released, talk about a great conservation effort. Queen of the kayak, Kaylin Barlow, took top honors with an adjusted weight of over 16 pounds! Congrats Kaylin.
Throughout the last month I have been receiving increasing reader feedback. First of all, thank you to everyone who emails me! Keep the inquiries and pics coming. One recent question was in reference to the safety of being in the water with alligators. Please note that I am not a trained or licensed wildlife professional and that the following is purely my opinion. My experience has been that the alligators are more afraid of you than you are of them. I have yet to have anything faintly resembling a close-call encounter while on the water. With that in mind, if I did run into a sticky situation where an alligator was too close for comfort, I would simply leave the area. Ironically, not a week or so after getting the question on alligator safety, I came across a good sized gator sunning on the bank of a marsh just a few hundred yards from a launch spot.
This month's featured kayaker is David Rodriguez. I actually met David in person at the Houston Fishing Show in 2012 and shared some yakking pointers with him. Ever since I have been his Facebook friend and have watched him post photos of some great days on the water. I asked him to share a photo of himself with a fish on his kayak and unfortunately all he had available at the time were photos of himself freshwater fishing. No matter though, it's good to get after bass now and then, it is all in good spirit of kayak angling. Thank you David for sharing your photo with us, keep on paddling! Send your questions and kayak angling photos to my email address. We will try to feature as many as we can in future articles.
I wrote last month about battling winds and overcoming them as best you can. Through the winter and the spring they are just an inescapable reality in the picture of any angler's day. Of course the winds don't completely disappear even in the summer and fall, but it seems they become a bit more manageable. The wind can be our friend, on strong southeast and south the tides rise and the water fills the marsh grasses. When this happens kayaks as fishing boats come into their prime master crafts of the skinny water.
I always get a kick out of paddling through an area. Let's say, for instance, I am headed to my spot and get passed by a boat in the open, deeper water. Perhaps a couple of hours later I come across this boat again and it is I who is then passing the boat as they have reached their maximum draft and I continue on to shallower water with fish that have yet to see a lure on that day or perhaps many days prior. I would say that the time is now, when the redfish are spending most of their time cruising the grasslines regularly, in the shallowest water they can find. I love this time of the year as the weather is still mild enough to not cook you out on the water. Chasing tailing reds should be good straight through and continuing during the fall, and the kayak is the perfect tool to get in and amongst 'em. Primo kayak season is here, no doubt. I hope all of you readers are dusting off your kayaks if you haven't already. It is time to get out and get 'em wet.
In other news:
April marked the kickoff of the second year of the Castaway Lonestar Kayak Series Fishing Tournaments. Dustin Koreba is the series founder and organizer and has done a great job. It has proven to be a great series of events. His main goal is promoting the sport of kayak angling amongst Texas kayakers. I fished the tournament but did not place. However, it was a blast watching the 'yakkers come to the weigh-in and everyone sharing stories and making friends. Out of 73 fish weighed-in for the tournament an amazing 69 were released, talk about a great conservation effort. Queen of the kayak, Kaylin Barlow, took top honors with an adjusted weight of over 16 pounds! Congrats Kaylin.
Throughout the last month I have been receiving increasing reader feedback. First of all, thank you to everyone who emails me! Keep the inquiries and pics coming. One recent question was in reference to the safety of being in the water with alligators. Please note that I am not a trained or licensed wildlife professional and that the following is purely my opinion. My experience has been that the alligators are more afraid of you than you are of them. I have yet to have anything faintly resembling a close-call encounter while on the water. With that in mind, if I did run into a sticky situation where an alligator was too close for comfort, I would simply leave the area. Ironically, not a week or so after getting the question on alligator safety, I came across a good sized gator sunning on the bank of a marsh just a few hundred yards from a launch spot.
This month's featured kayaker is David Rodriguez. I actually met David in person at the Houston Fishing Show in 2012 and shared some yakking pointers with him. Ever since I have been his Facebook friend and have watched him post photos of some great days on the water. I asked him to share a photo of himself with a fish on his kayak and unfortunately all he had available at the time were photos of himself freshwater fishing. No matter though, it's good to get after bass now and then, it is all in good spirit of kayak angling. Thank you David for sharing your photo with us, keep on paddling! Send your questions and kayak angling photos to my email address. We will try to feature as many as we can in future articles.