It was a monster 6" crappie on a Berkley swim shad.... Who cares? It was a fish! No pic, I didn't take my phone or anything on the kayak that I worried about getting wet if I went swimming. I didn't. (thank God!)
I'm getting used to the balancing.... By the time Bay River rolls around in Sept, I should be an expert.
Thanks to soloskifffisherman for accompanying me today. AND for retrieving the paddle that I neglected to leash. Lesson learned.
I picked up one of those silly two part plastic oars that come with the cheap rafts at a thrift store for $3. Stuffed in a couple of broken off pieces of $1 pool noodle and it floats. The blade half by itself is a good one hand paddle to keep the boat from spinning while fishing and the 2 pieces slide into a very small space. I would look silly paddling with it, but it would get me to shore or beter yet to my regular paddle. I also leash the paddle.
If you wind up paddleless on still water you can tie on a big crank or spinner bait and pull yourself to the lost paddle. In current or wind your just out of luck. I keep a spare paddle in the yak if I am on moving water.
GLAD you are now initiated in the club, better watch fishing with SSF you will be tooling around on a pro angler before you know it.
Had a great day on the water with Len and great to see him get his first fish on the yak. I left with a skunk but nice to hang out with a fellow Red Xr and enjoy being on the water.
Congratulations Len..................now your hooked
I dont leash my paddle and wondered what would happen if I lost it. Summer I wouldnt care but winter it would be a huge deal. I just bought a wally collapsible paddle and stuffed it inside the yak so now im covered.
I was digging around in the garage looking for that hand paddle and found a paddle leash. I have no use for it since I'm foot powered. If you can use it let me know.
Good work, guys! I saw your post that you were going to be out there at HPCL and I was thinking of crashing the party if work allowed. It did not, so maybe next time. Len- Glad you had a nice maiden voyage!
As fellow new yakker (1 week and counting), I understand the learning the lessons out there. Went to Belews Wed afternoon for few hours to get some more time on it. Should have taken a pad and pen so I could write down all the things I needed for next time.
Ditto on the Nucanoe cudos, they are amazing boats. I checked mine vs the 14.5 slayer for speed with the GPS I can manage 5.3 in the Slayer for short periods and 4.6 in the Nucanoe for about the same time. I am sure if it was windy or the water was rough the Slayer would be even better, but a 24% drop in top speed is not that bad when you compare the amount of stability and the comfort IMO.
Looking forward to seeing the pics from the 2nd voyage.
Won't be pictures before I get a LOT more comfortable on the water. My only camera is an IPhone, and they are highly allergic to water.... I'm also allergic to paying hundreds of dollars to replace an iPhone which was near the slightest bit of mist.
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