My 2009 fishing exploits from a little plastic boat...

[BlueDaksi]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to introduce myself to what appears to be a very fun site (I'm all about fun...). :victory:

I've fished off and on my whole life, but have become a real kayak fishing nut over the last six years since I moved from Oklahoma to Western New York. I can't believe the fishing opportunities here in the Finger Lakes and Lake Ontario Region! There seems to be quite a few folks here from Canada. I've started some kayak fishing forays up North and look forward to doing more in the future.

I still consider myself very much a developing angler, but had the best season ever in 2009. That said, I have always found it difficult to dabble in things and when I like doing something, I have to get involved... VERY involved... So, I'm currently a member of Team Malibu Kayaks Pro-Staff, Team FishGator, am co-owner in a small fishing blog site and online community of kayak anglers, and am the advisor for the Rochester Institute of Technology Bass Club, and am a co-founder of the Wester New York Kayak Fishing Association.

I put together a video of just some of my kayak fishing exploits from this past season...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcaYg...layer_embedded

I look forward to being a part of this community of anglers!

[cbiegel]

Looks like you had a good season. I'm looking forward to getting a kayak. My canoe is a little less balanced than I'd like.

[KenReece]

Great video, looks like a lot of fun. There is probably a lot of water that kayaks can get to that we would usually just drive by.

I graduated from RIT in 90', and did a good amount of fishing in the fingers. Mostly went after bucket mouths and some rare smallies. Also did a lot of steelhead fishing in Irondoqute(spelling?) Creek with a fly rod or floating spawn with spinning gear.

Welcome aboard!

Ken

[BlueDaksi]

Great video, looks like a lot of fun. There is probably a lot of water that kayaks can get to that we would usually just drive by.

I graduated from RIT in 90', and did a good amount of fishing in the fingers. Mostly went after bucket mouths and some rare smallies. Also did a lot of steelhead fishing in Irondoqute(spelling?) Creek with a fly rod or floating spawn with spinning gear.

Welcome aboard!

Ken

Ken - I'm a professor at RIT. Kayak fishing is a blast! I'm even going out into Lake Ontario after smallies and just starting to learn how to catch brown trout and steelhead in the tribs. Most of the time I fish for bass on some of the smaller Finger Lakes near where I live. My plans for next season include exploring the relatively unfished waters of some of the creeks and rivers in Western NY.

Here's one of the smallies that I caught on my last trip into Lake Ontario last season. Canada is behind me somewhere....



And another picture with the NY shore behind me...

[img]http://api.ning.com/files/dNJZ1zDTbR4xuNjfuWcMuoAnwY*WJGA2GRG2qhBLkMI_/Pauls18incher.jpg[/img]

I'm getting cabin fever up here now that the ice is closing in over the water. I'm going to have to learn how to ice fish...

[Woody]

Hi mate, i'd never be able to sit in something that size and Fish, i'd end up in the water!...You want to ask Bill about Ice Fishing, you two could share his new hut!

[Gary Switlick]

Boy the kyak fishing looks awesome! never really thought about it much because of the stability issue but you look like you've found a really stable kyak curios to know about what you have in it?

[BlueDaksi]

Boy the kyak fishing looks awesome! never really thought about it much because of the stability issue but you look like you've found a really stable kyak curios to know about what you have in it?

Well... The idea that kayaks are not stable is a long-lasting misconception about them, considering they were invented as a platform to whale hunt in arctic waters. I think that folks unfamiliar with kayaking know it only from the extreme whitewater kayaking often shown in television and film. I too thought the same thing until a friend of mine asked me to carry his 15ft long yellow lake kayak all the way to Baja California Sur on the top of my pickup truck when I was doing research down there. Needless to say, after he convinced me to take a paddle in it out in the Sea of Cortez, I was astounded at the stability, speed, and effortless movement that kayaks afforded. I was hooked on kayaking from that moment, but it took a few years for me to connect kayaking with fishing.

Here is a video of some folks that I know who take kayak fishing to the extreme....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLe77liVE-U

The fishing that I do from my kayak is fairly tame in comparison, but the video shows a bit about what can be accomplished from a kayak. Especially in the last three years or so, fishing kayak technology has come a long way and manufacturers are listening to kayak anglers in order to come up with kayaks that are superb or fishing. Some companies have developed unique drive systems including lightweight electric motorss. I can actually stand in mine for sight fishing and I have several friends of mine who even fly fish from theirs.

To answer your question about cost, it depends upon your style of fishing and the locations where you fish. If you are a small-water puddle jumper, you can find sit-inside recreation kayaks set up for fishing starting at around $300 or so. If you want to be able to fish on bigger water or stand, you will most likely need a larger sit-on-top model like mine which will be priced beginning from around $500 all the way up to over $1500. Mine is at the mid-to upper end level of fishing kayaks and you can get it for around $1300 depending upon what accessory packages come with it.

For plastic watercraft, modern kayaks will take a beating and will last for many years - certainly a lot longer than an aluminum boat given the same levels of use and abuse.

[Clive]

Thats a mean lookin yak! I just got a "starter" kayak this year, but I cant wait to upgrade to somethign like that when I have the cash!

Great stuff!

[jwm]

Wow! Very nice to have you on board, and I love the videos! You've got some balls taking that thing out on the sea of cortez, I'd hate to get stuck out there at the wrong time, I've been through 6 foot swells in a panga, and even thats not fun!

Also in the second video at 1:04 I see a dorsal fin pop up and go under. Any idea of that was a dolphin/porpoise or a shark?

I can't wait to see more of your photos and videos, those were awesome!

[Sanj]

cool vid, but are u really allowed to have that many lines in the water??