True Life: I'm Addicted to Kayak Fishing

Follow me on my adventures as a southern Oregon kayak angler. I'm inviting you into my life. I won't be leaving out any of the dirty details. Laugh at my epic fails and celebrate my graceful recoveries.

[linglingherro]

I just want to do steelhead stuff with my friends. #steelhead #wintersteelhead #chrome #pnw #filletandrelease #oregon #floatfishing

[linglingherro]

Sunday crab and perch. #redrockcrab #surfperch #coosbay #cooskayakfishing #charleston #travelcoosbay #hobieadventureisland

[linglingherro]

It's been an incredible steelhead season and it isn't over yet! #cantstopwontstop #dawnpatrol #steelhead #onenanddone #freshchrome #chrome #pnw #oregon #floatfishing

[linglingherro]

#danggirl #steelhead #pnw #filletandrelease #oregon

[linglingherro]

Last one for today haha. I was so stoked to land fish on jigs that I tied. There's nothing fancy about this one, it was all utility! #handtied #homade #homemadejigs #nightmare

[linglingherro]

So hyped! #chrome #steelhead #wintersteelhead #pnw #oregon

[linglingherro]

I'll be back soon.

[linglingherro]

My First Chinook Limit Of The Year

I’ve been so busy lately and so focused on salmon fishing that I have completely neglected this blog. I was hoping to have more videos and fishing reports from this season, but you know how that goes. 

“The road to hell is paved with good intentions.”

I have had a pretty decent season so far, but for whatever reason, I’m not catching fish while my GoPro is recording. It’s beginning to feel like the camera is jinxing me. I looked at my camera and noticed the battery had just died, and no sooner after that my rod buries hard over the side of my kayak. It has been a struggle. 

My most recent trip has been the most memorable yet. I caught a quick limit and even paid some due tax to the Dept Collector of the Bay. Just when you think you’re on top of your game, a damn seal reminds you that you’re not the only threat to the fish. 

Here’s a little recap from Saturday.

I've gone on four trips in a row and come up empty handed. Morale was at an all time low, I never go that many trips without catching a fish...never in September anyway. I had a few hours to spare before work today and decided I would hit the first light bite. There was chill in the air as I hopped in my kayak, and just enough light to see the fog blanket over the hills to the east. I was surprised to see that I was among only a handful of boats. I pedaled into the fog as I made my first drift. I decided to turn around after about 200 yards. I never saw a net fly, I was preparing myself for day 5 of no fish. A few more boats showed up as I dredged my way back against the current. A boat ahead of me lost a fish while reaching for the net. Maybe things were about to heat up. I made another drift uphill and didn't  see another fish hooked. I pulled up my gear and headed back down the hill. Two kayakers became visible as the sun started to peek out over the hill. It was AOTD's first place finisher Nikko and new guy Dan. My rod went off right as I passed them. The fight was on, I almost forgot what it felt like to have a Chinook fighting for its life at the end of a pulsing rod. Instincts kicked in and I was back on the saddle, finally. This was a nice fish, I was worried about losing it, so I played it soft. I noticed Nikko heading downhill as I was fumbling with the fish. "There's a seal headed toward you!" Nikko yells. Then I see it, the little bastard's head bobbing up and down on the surface. Those beady eyes fixated on my boat. This is my fish, I think to myself. I put the hurting on the fish and horsed him into the net as quick as possible. Hell yeah! I ripped the gills and massaged the blood out of my prize. I put on a fresh bait and headed back down my drift. On my way back up the hill, my rod buries. I grab the road and the fight is on. I' can't believe it. I blanked on four trips and now I'm about to have my limit. The stoke was high. I hollered at Nikko to let him know that my fish was headed his way. At that same moment, my reel starts singing. WOAH, big fish! I let up on the drag and let the fish run. My line goes slack... I catch up with the slack and my rod comes alive again. Sweet, the fish is still on. It takes another hard run and my reels sings again. The line goes slack, I see my flasher heading toward me and the fish turns my kayak  the opposite direction. All of a sudden my reel starts screaming like never before. Shit, it has to be that seal. I thumb the reel a bit and I feel the weight. I thumb down a little harder and the sleigh ride begins. It was unreal. I held on for dear life as this little bastard towed me toward the barge. I see it surface with my fish in its mouth. I reel in the slack and try to pull the fish out of the seal's mouth but he won't budge. \ I tried to charge him at full speed, hoping he'd let go of my fish. He dove down with my fish and I went for another short ride before my leader broke. DAMN IT. It was pretty exciting, even though I lost my fish. A seal battle is far better than trolling all day without a bite. After the shakes went away, I put a new bait on and made another pass. I was thinking about calling it a day and heading in to clean my fish. I decided on one more pass. I didn't make it very far and my rod buries again. I horsed the fish in as fast as I could. I had that thing in my lap in record time. I was so stoked to get my first limit of the year. All the heartache and disappointment disappeared in an instant. The stoke is back up to 100%

I had originally thought that my GoPro didn’t capture any of the action. Here’s a little video of my quick limit. Check out the bonus clip at the end.

https://youtu.be/SCsIhoSfuYA

[linglingherro]

Scott Lake And The Oregon Rockfish Classic

I took a mini vacation from work to camp with my fambam and fish the Oregon Rockfish Classic on July 11th 2015. This was my third year participating and while I didn’t place well, I still had a lot of fun. It’s really hard to find much to complain about; I got to spend some quality time with my girls before hitting the water with some talented kayak anglers to take part in the biggest kayak fishing tournament in the northwest.

Scott Lake is nestled up high in the Willamette National Forest. The snow capped  Three Sisters make for an amazing backdrop to this mosquito ridden lake.

Our trip started late Wednesday night. We raced out of North Bend and headed straight for Scott Lake Campground. The lake is about 17 miles from the McKenzie bridge and sits at an elevation of about 4,800 feet. The campground is primitive at best. There are twenty spots scattered across the lake. There is no potable water, but they have two smelly bathrooms on site. You can pile your business on top of other people’s business. 

Luckily,  the mosquitoes weren’t a huge problem this year. The water level was considerably lower than the last time I visited the lake but there was still plenty of water to pedal my kayak around. I didn’t bother fishing, the lake doesn’t have much to offer in the way of amazing fishing opportunities. It was nice to get out and stretch my legs for a bit. 

Camping with an almost three year old can be challenging. She did really well on her first camping trip. She caught bugs of all shapes and sizes. She even caught some frogs and toads along the water’s edge.

Thunder storms forced us to head out of camp for a few hours. This picture was taken from the top of the Dee Wright Observatory. It’s only a few miles away from camp. That system in the background rolled in mid-day. We decided to check out the lava fields and head into Sisters for a quick bite. 

We spent two nights at the campground before heading to Depoe Bay on Friday before the ORC. I was excited to set up camp in the grassy field of the Chinook Bend. The campground is right on the Siletz River. I didn’t get much sleep at Scott Lake and I was hoping the soft grass would help me drift away to dream land.

I tucked in early on Friday night, I barely slept a wink. I think i fell asleep for about an hour before my alarm went off at 5am on Saturday.

I didn’t take any pictures during the tournament. My phone died and I didn’t feel like messing with it, I was focused on trying to catch fish. I figured I could grab some screen shots from my GoPro, but most of my footage wasn’t very good. My camera stayed wet most of the time and that never makes for good footage.

Evan started the day with a really nice ling, while I shook off pesky Black Rockfish for most of the morning. I was nice enough to help him get that fat ling into the tankwell of his kayak. The swell started to come up and the wind turned the ocean into a washing machine, couple that with a strong current and we found ourselves battling a 2mph drift. Every time I tried to land a fish or tie a new jig on, I would end up about 30 miles down the hill from my drift(I’m only slightly exaggerating).

I bobbed up and down, poking around every nook and cranny. I was determined to land a big fish. It wasn’t in the cards for me, I switched gears and trolled for salmon. I had seen some coho rocketing out of the water and I figured landing a salmon would make up for not placing well in the tourney. The ocean got more and more angry and it made trolling difficult. I ended up switching back to bottom fish. I drug a Lancer jig across the bottom as I drifted. Eventually, I landed a nice ling, it had an octopus hanging out of its mouth, so I quickly dispatched the fish and borrowed it’s lunch for bait. I tipped my jig with the octo-bait and started dragging bottom again. It didn’t take long for something to grab hold of my offering.

Something grabbed on hard, I pulled back trying to set the hook and the line went slack. I dropped the bait back down and waited. My line went heavy again and I felt the fish take some deep head shakes. It was short lived, the beast let go and didn’t come back for a third time. This has happened to me three years in a row at the ORC. I guess I’m fine with it. 

Around noon, the wind was building strength and I decided it was time to think about heading back in. The swells were starting to break and I really had to focus on not tipping my kayak. The Revo16 is a fine vessel, but it certainly feels less stable than my old Revo13. Strong winds helped to push me toward the launch but I found myself bracing against the swells with my paddle as I pedaled toward the channel. The ocean tried really hard to flip my kayak but I wasn’t having any part of it. 

Making it back to the harbor safely helped me to forget about not finding a winning fish. I pulled my kayak out of the water and was greeted by my daughter and girlfriend. I chased my daughter around with the two lingcod I kept, before packing my gear and heading back to camp. There were some nice catches being weighed at the check in. Evan looked to have secured a spot in the top ten. My buddy Justin came in with a nice ling, too. I thought for sure that Evan had a bigger fish. Justin beat Evan by a tenth of an ounce or something. It was crazy. 

The final results were announced shortly after the taco feed. The top ten finishers did an outstanding job. My friend and Hobie Fishing Team mate, Paul ended up with the largest slam of the tournament. Justin landed the second biggest ling and Evan trailed behind him for third largest ling. I’m proud of the guys for representing southern Oregon. They are some seriously skilled kayak anglers and I’m honored to fish among such great guys. 

It definitely feels better to win,but it’s hard to complain when I had such a great weekend with my family and friends. I had my taste of victory at the Chinook Showdown in the spring, so I’m okay with not doing well. To be honest, I really didn’t need any of the prizes anyway. :)

-C

Pictured from left to right: Evan, Justin, and Paul with their prizes. Good job guys!

[linglingherro]

A Great White Encounter

I straddle my yak, letting my feet dangle off the sides while I eat my sandwich and admire the glassy conditions all around me. I have never felt so relaxed and at home on the water. I then hear a light splash directly behind me.

In honor of Shark Week, here is an article I wrote that ended up in Kayak Fishing Magazine. I had a brief encounter with a Great White. Check out the article to see what happened! 

*Spoiler alert... I survived.

[linglingherro]

I did some self-rescue practice in a local lake. It was fun to get out and roll the kayak over. I really got to test the stability and see where the tipping point is. I was getting weird looks from people fishing on the bank. I looked like a bright orange sea lion trying to flop back on the docks in the harbor. There’s a fun little treat at the end of the video. Check it out. Practice self-rescue!

I’ll have a fishing report up next week. 

Keep it dangly

Chris-

[linglingherro]

Simpson Reef Trip Report 6/1/15

I have to keep it brief this time. I’ve got a two year old chewing me out because we aren’t at the park yet. It was a great Monday reef session. Fishing was really good and the conditions were even better! I scratched an orca sighting off my bucket list and landed a personal best kayak caught rockfish.

I was on the water and headed to the reef with Shawn and Evan by 9am. My plan was to use large frozen bait to attract big lings but I got bored of that pretty fast, especially when I saw others catching fish on the jig. I caught a couple of fish on a new lure I was trying out but the action wasn’t very hot. I eventually tied on a 4oz Copper Waterdog Lancer Jig and proceeded to catch fish after fish. I’m not sure why I even try anything else. Lancer Jigs always give me the best results.

The ling bite was kind of slow. I caught four and kept two. The rockfish bite was on fire! My fish finder was marking schools of fish through out the whole water column. It was pretty crazy to see that much activity. Trolling my jig through a school of fish proved to be the most productive technique of the day.

I caught several fish in the 20 inch range. This one went 20.5 inches. My biggest kayak caught rockfish to date! Notice that fat belly, it was full of squid.

Around noon, Evan pedaled over to me with a look of disappointment on his face. He ended up breaking a pedal arm on his Mirage Drive. Evan didn’t stick around too long after that happened. I knew I had to work at 4:30pm that day, so I was planning on fishing my way back to the launch. I pedaled over toward Shawn to let him know I was going to start heading back. He was fishing close to the rocks, when I got close he yelled over and let me know that he had just seen some orcas. Shawn said that he saw at least five of them. 

I was super excited and hoping that they were still around so I could catch a glimpse. It wasn’t long before I saw a massive fin surface near the rocks. The sea lions were clearly stressed out. The barking was the loudest I have ever heard out there on the reef. The orcas were hugging the rocks, searching for a careless snack that wondered away from the safety of dry land. Speaking of safety, heading back was starting to feel like a good idea. 

The orcas didn’t score a sea lion and eventually started to head north. It was a little unnerving when they would disappear for a while. I thought at any second they would be headed my way for a closer look. I’m not particularly afraid of orcas, but these whales were hunting and they had offspring with them. I had no plans of testing their hunting abilities. It was in this same moment that Shawn had this crazy look in his eye. He was jet setting after them to get some video! All I could do was laugh. What a crazy bastard! He was clearly stoked, I was too, but I was just fine with admiring from a distance. 

Once he got his footage, we went back to fishing. We poked around for another hour and ended up finding another school of willing biters before calling it a day. Back at the launch, we were swarmed by a hundred school kids playing on the beach in the rain. They were excited to see our fish. The teachers asked us a few questions and took some pictures of our kayaks before they ushered the kids away. I rushed to pack up my stuff, grab my daughter from her grand parent’s house, I had about an hour to clean my fish and get ready for work.

It was definitely one of the best Mondays I’ve ever had.

Chris-

Here’s a blurry picture of some fresh lingcod tacos. 

[linglingherro]

The Trout Tickler

I woke up at 5am eager to get out on a new lake to target bass. The bass bite ended up being super lame, but trout were rocketing out of the water in every direction. I switched modes from bass to trout and immediately started getting action. The day started out slow and weird...let me explain.

This is the weirdest thing I have seen while fishing from my kayak. That’s a motor powered dock. These people were drifting in the middle of the lake, singing worship songs at 6am. I was a little freaked out.

I set my alarm for 5am, the plan was to meet my buddy Shawn at Bradley Lake, in Bandon. I had never fished there before and I was excited to explore some new bass habitat. I rolled out of bed and headed out the door before the sun came up. Before hitting the 101, I stopped at a gas station to grab a quick bite and some snacks for later. I sped off out of town while a crammed a breakfast sandwich down my throat hole, day dreaming about a lunker bass waiting in the lily pads. I wondered if a recent unexplainable back injury was going to flare up and cut my day short. And that’s when it hit me, half way between Bandon and Coos Bay I realized that I forgot to pack my seat. Damn it...I flipped a U-turn and sped home to grab my seat. That little hiccup shaved an hour off my trip. I made it to the lake an hour behind schedule.

Once on the water, I pedaled toward fishy spots that were out of the wind. I tossed frogs and poppers in all the right places and never even got a sniff. As I made my way around the western end of the lake, I noticed a floating dock. There were about ten people sitting on this cult-like party barge. There was a guy strumming your typical christian worship chords on an acoustic guitar. Everyone else was singing along. It was a creepy sight to behold at this hour, in the middle of a lake. It finally donned on me that Camp Bradley rests on the NW side of the lake. I remembered driving past the entrance sign as a kid. It’s still creepy though.

Shawn showed up shortly after the encounter with the party barge. He got a couple bites on bass gear before we switched to trout. I rigged up a black Rooster Tail ripoff and began to troll. The spinner blade didn’t want to stay spinning, so I was constantly yanking the rod to engage the spinner. The fish seemed to love this action. It was putting the fish in a frenzy. I was getting slammed by these trout. I had seen some healthy looking fish surfacing but I could only manage to fool the dinky little planters. I trolled circles and figure eights for three solid hours. I caught and released a couple dozen trout and decided to keep a few for ling bait. I knew there were bigger fish in the lake and I wasn’t going to leave until I caught one.

I finally got to play with my new fish finder. It’s a great unit, notice the blood dripping off the screen. I landed a healthy cutthroat trout. The gills squirted blood when I ripped them out.

I switched from the black spinner to something pink and began to troll. I made a few circles without a bite. I was starting to lose confidence in the lure and suddenly my line went slack. I yanked the rod to engage the spinner and found some solid pressure on the rod. I finally hooked into the fish I was looking for. The thing went crazy, doing flips and death rolls. I haven’t caught a trout for AOTY and I knew this fish would be worth some decent points. I took my time and let the fish exhaust itself before I pulled out the net. It wasn’t long before I had her in my lap. She was nice and pretty. Very slender and chrome, she had two orange streak under her chin. I ripped the gills and blood shot everywhere, got her on the game clip and put my rod away. I had my limit of five by noon.

As I was heading in, Shawn and I talked to a guy fishing out of a pontoon, he said that his buddy caught some really big trout in the lake,one of them weighing 14pounds. That seemed a little far fetched and I chalked it up as a fish story. I got a text from Shawn while I was packing up my gear, he said he had just lost a trout easily longer and fatter than the fish I caught. I wished him good luck as I pulled out of the park.

-Chris

Typical end of the day victory shot :)

Beautiful fillets from that fish. I’m not a big fan of trout but it cooked up really well for dinner.

[linglingherro]

It's been a busy week, no time to fish or write! I'll be back next week, stay tuned. Here's a joke that I edited to be more relatable to the fisherfolk. Have a good weekend! Her Diary: Tonight, I thought my husband was acting weird. We had made plans to meet at a nice restaurant for dinner. I was shopping with my friends all day long, so I thought he was upset at the fact that I was a bit late, but he made no comment on it. Conversation wasn't flowing, so I suggested that we go somewhere quiet so we could talk. He agreed, but he didn't say much. I asked him what was wrong; He said, 'Nothing..' I asked him if it was my fault that he was upset. He said he wasn't upset, that it had nothing to do with me, and not to worry about it. On the way home, I told him that I loved him. He smiled slightly, and kept driving. I can't explain his behavior. I don't know why he didn't say, 'I love you, too.' When we got home, I felt as if I had lost him completely, as if he wanted nothing to do with me anymore. He just sat there quietly, and watched TV. He continued to seem distant and absent. Finally, with silence all around us, I decided to go to bed. About 15 minutes later, he came to bed. But I still felt that he was distracted, and his thoughts were somewhere else. He fell asleep; I cried. I don't know what to do. I'm almost sure that his thoughts are with someone else. My life is a disaster. ---------- His Diary: Keep losing fish...can't figure out why.

[linglingherro]

The Line Cutterz Ring

About a month ago, I stumbled upon a sweet little fishing gadget. I wanted to take the time to share my experience with the Line Cutterz ring. It’s a pretty simple device, it cuts fishing line and you wear it like a ring. I have found it to be quite handy. Har har har. That was a cheesy pun. Sorry...

I have been able to cut through 65# braid, 50# mono, and 150# dacron sturgeon leader with almost no effort. I’m really impressed with this tool. Wearing the tool like a ring means that I never have to fumble for a knife or snips when I want to switch baits. This saves me a lot of time and keeps me fishing longer. I also have a habit of forgetting my knife, or dropping my knife over the side of the kayak. That is never going to be a problem since I’m wearing the ring. It’s a no brainer!

Here’s a close up shot of the business end of this bad boy. Dual blades give you the option to either cut away from your body or toward you, whatever floats your boat. The velcro strap is comfortable. If you have baby hands, you can cut the excess velcro once you have it fitted to your tiny digits.

Attaching the ring to your fishing pole at the end of the day is a great way to make sure you don’t forget the ring at home. At $12 a pop, you can afford to buy a handful of these things and strap them to the rods you use the most. Get creative, the ring could be strapped to practically anything and everything. You could replace the velcro with zipties, and that opens up the doors for all kind of things you can do with the ring.

This man jewelry is making my life a lot easier while on the water. I’m stoked about this product. Vance, the owner/operator of Line Cutterz  is a really cool guy. He’s very quick to respond to emails and his customer service is top notch. Support a great product and a super cool dude!

Head on over to linecutterz.com and order one for yourself. 

Do you have Instagram? Follow @Line_Cutterz

I’ll link a little video that I made of my Line Cutterz ring in action.

Chris-

https://youtu.be/m_yD4SR3MqA

[linglingherro]

Some Evening Bass Action

The wind has been blowing like crazy for the past week and I have been withering away because of it. My work schedule has blown more than the wind and that doesn’t help my overall quality of life. Long days spent sitting in the shop are beginning to erode my soul away. I realize that sounds dramatic, but I’m not exaggerating.

Periodically, I’ll pull myself from the chair and gaze out the window to get a fresh glimpse at what freedom looks like at the moment. It’s absolutely nuking outside. The kind of wind that knocks trees over and sends a blade of grass straight through a rock. For a second, I don’t feel so bad being shackled to the front desk. I drag the ball and chain back to the chair and force another pint glass of ice water down my throat, this gives me an excuse to walk through the restaurant and fill my glass again. 

My work environment is unique; one side of the building is a seafood restaurant. A server will point you toward the west end of the building. You’ll duck your head so you don’t hit a surfboard hanging low above the breezeway, look to your right and you’ll see a handful of Hobie kayaks displayed on the wall. Watch your feet, you might trip on a child’s plaything. The kayak display is also used as overflow standing for hungry guests and their fussy little booger eaters. Take a few more steps and you have just arrived into the cluttered little corner that I like to call work. There’s a labyrinth of outdoor wear in the center of the space. The walls are lined with skate board decks. SUPs and surfboards stand tall in the far two corners. There’s a glass case, filled with skate hardware, that is riddle with old stickers. You’ve walked through the entire shop before you notice a sad, man-child sulking behind a desk. That’s me. 

Anyway, life really isn’t that bad. I love my job, but it can get super boring at times. There isn’t much to report this week. I didn’t fish over the weekend because of the wind. To my surprise, the wind decided to calm down for a while on Monday. I knew I had to get out, I didn’t care if it was for twenty minutes. I was going to fish and that’s all there was to it. I loaded the Jetta up with some bass gear and headed for the lake. This lake is tucked away in the dunes and is only five minutes from my house. I waste no time unloading my kayak. It’s a race against the  setting sun...and the mosquitos. I slide my thing into the lake and I get to hunting. My weapon of choice is a spendy little Rapala that floats and swims like a weird trout. I cast that thing about thirty damn times and decide it’s time to switch to something else. I like to let chance dictate my success; without looking, I reach for my tackle box and  choose the first lure that my fingers touch. I hold the lure up to my face and start tying a cheap spinner bait that I bought out of impulse onto my line. I whirl that thing toward a fallen tree near the water’s edge. I crank the reel a couple times and the rod bends over severely. My first bite was gone almost as soon as it began. I take a couple more casts, this time I reel in a bait full of grass. I clear the weeds and toss it out again. Another short battle fought and lost( I’m starting to like this spinner bait). 

I decide to paddle over to a different spot and as I do so, I notice something to my left heading straight for me in the water. This thing is creating a serious little wake. I can’t see it because of the glare on the surface. I make a paddle stroke to turn toward this wake and it darts in the other direction with a splash and then it’s gone. I take a second to try and figure out what it must have been. My best guess is a just a curious bass. 

I’m losing daylight and the thought starts to fill my head; am I going to get a picture of the sunset tonight or am I going to molest a fish’s mouth with my thumb? I decide to take one last cast before calling it a day. I start my half-assed retrieve when my rod goes off. I set the hook and begin a tug of war with a feisty little bucket mouth. A short fight later and I’m up to my first knuckle in a fish mouth. I strike a few poses in front of the GoPro for screen shot purposes and release the fish. I place the rod in the holder and grab my paddle, as I begin my stroke, a mosquito flies down my throat. I hack and cough the little parasite out of my wind pipe and paddle to the launch, I was glad that nobody was there to see that, but I was far happier to not be taking a picture of the sunset.

Chris-

Here’s a short clip of the one and only fish I caught that night. I’m glad I got out, the wind picked up today and it appears that wind is the latest trend for the rest of the week.

https://youtu.be/lM_VO2LxePM

[linglingherro]

The Buddy Rescue

I wrote up a report from over the weekend. It ended up being quite the ordeal. I wrote it originally at northwestkayakanglers.com but it was later picked up by Kayak Angler the kayak fishing magazine. Check out the full report here.

I learned some valuable lessons this weekend and I am left asking myself questions about what business I have fishing in the frigid waters of the pacific ocean, aboard an over-sized piece of plastic. How prepared am I in the event of a disaster while on the water, miles from shore? Do I have the physical strength to perform self rescue? Do I want to risk my own life to save the life of someone else? Should I hold the other person accountable for their own safety? Is it fair for me to rely on someone else if I find myself in a dangerous situation? Could I live with the guilt of knowing that my choices caused someone else to get hurt or lose their life? All of these thoughts were running through my head as I escorted a friend back to the launch late Sunday morning. 

As a kayak angler, I have acknowledged  and accepted the many risks that come with participating in this sport. I know that I am  at the mercy of the elements when I  paddle away from the safety of the beach. I try to be prepared for the worst. I have a marine radio, I wear a dry suit and a PFD, I have a safety flag, and other signaling devices. I tell someone where I plan to fish and how long I intend to be out and I try not to ever fish alone. I have practiced self rescue and I am confident that I can get myself back in my kayak if/when I ever fall out. I feel like I am fully prepared to keep myself safe while on the water. 

I believe that a kayak angler has no business on the water if they don’t hold any regard for their own safety. Choosing not to wear the proper immersion gear, not practicing self rescue, and not carrying the proper safety equipment puts you in a position to become a statistic, and worse than that, you are potentially putting another’s life in danger. There was a split second on Sunday where I had to decide if helping this man get back into his kayak was worth risking my own life. I don’t want to ever be faced with that decision if I can help it. I hope that I never put someone else in that same situation. I want to be prepared mentally and physically to keep myself safe, without depending on the help of others. 

I had an 80 year old man, strapped to an oxygen tank, come into the shop inquiring about a PA12. This man put me in an awkward situation. He was clearly out of breath just from walking into the shop. How does he think he could handle loading a kayak, let alone powering the boat. I didn’t have the heart, nor did I feel like I was in the position to give this man my opinion on whether or not he was physically capable of using a kayak safely. I pictured him keeling over dead trying to unload the boat on his first trip. I feel like it would be my fault for not speaking up about his health. Luckily, for my conscience sake, he came into the shop a couple of weeks ago and said he was about to have surgery and that he probably wouldn’t be cleared for physical activity any time soon. I was relieved to not have to order his boat. Do you think that I should have given him my opinion? 

I don’t know if I could handle knowing that something bad happened to that man because I agreed to sell him a kayak. The same applies to my friend. I’m glad that he was okay and he made it safely to shore. I was nervous the whole trip back to the launch. He was clearly disoriented. I had to work to keep him moving. I knew he would probably fall in again if he stopped for a break. I don’t know if he would have been able to get back in one last time. I can’t imagine what I would have done if he didn’t make it back to the launch that morning or if we ended up needing assistance from the coast guard. I have aspirations of someday becoming a kayak fishing guide, but the events of that day really got me thinking. I don’t know if I want to be responsible for the safety of another person. I want to enjoy fishing from my kayak. I don’t want to associate the sport with guilt or the concern for another’s safety before my own. I know of people who have their guide license with less than a year of experience under their belt. That is an accident waiting to happen.

This whole ordeal has inspired me to put on a safety clinic through the shop where I work. I want to raise awareness about the dangers we face as kayak fishermen. If I can help people to become self sufficient and safe on the water, I’ll feel good knowing that I did everything in my power to keep someone from becoming a statistic. I have been part of three separate rescues since I have been kayak fishing. I’m not sure how I end up being in the right place at the right time.