3-9,3-10 Kayak Trips

This weekend we got the chance to take the kayaks out for the first time. Saturday we loaded the car with the kayaks(and NuCanoe) and headed out to the lake. We got 3 dozen minnows apiece and took a look at the boat ramps at Rocky Fork Lake. The ramp at north shore had 10 or more boats so we decided to take a trip to Paint Creek lake and avoid the weekend traffic. Paint Creek Lake is a flood control lake and each winter it is drawn down 10 foot. However last week we had a few hard rains and the lake had filled up quite a bit.

We put the kayaks in at the boat ramp near the marina and paddled toward the islands. We had planned on fishing the steep ledges associated with the islands. On the way to the island we stopped and fished some trees sticking out of the water just west of the marina. The water was really turbid, visibility was less than 3 inches. We didn't have any luck fishing the trees so after an hour and a half we moved down to the island in order to find more productive water. After a couple more hours without bites we decided to head back to the boat ramp and unload the kayaks. I took some pictures of Amanda and Rylan as we paddled back to the ramp. Here's Amanda as she stops paddling to pose for a quick picture.


Here's Rylan showing off the stability of the NuCanoe.

When we got back to the ramp we unloaded the kayaks and took a ride on each others kayak. I started out with Amanda's Ascend fs12t. I had the impression that her's would be more stable than my Malibu x13 and that it would be significantly slower than mine because it was much shorter and wider than mine. However it was the complete opposite. Her Ascend was just as fast if not slightly faster than the Malibu X-13, and felt less stable. I also noticed that her kayak sat really low in the water, which I did not like. We got back to the ramp and exchanged kayaks once again. This time around I got to take Rylan's Nucanoe Frontier out. It was a tank, as stable as my 14 foot jon boat. However it did take slightly more effort to move than the kayaks. In both cases (ascend fs12t and Nucanoe Frontier) the seats were super comfortable, which made me realize that I need to invest in one shortly. After our joy rides we loaded the kayaks up and started on our way back home.

Sunday we took the boats out to a small lake that we knew would have several feet of visibility, Turkey Creek Lake. We still had minnows left from our Paint Creek Lake adventure so we brought them along. We knew that Turkey Creek Lake had crappie in it, but the population was very small. We had fished it before with minnows and caught a few small bass, but never many crappie. Amanda and I got the kayaks in at noon and started hitting fallen trees along steep banks. Rylan arrived shortly after and started fishing the other side of the lake. We didn't catch a fish until 2:30pm. At this point I had tucked in behind a tree and used it to anchor myself. I then started casting minnows on floats up against the tree trunk. I had a couple fish pull the floats under and then let go. The third time it happened the fish held onto the minnow. After a little drag slip and a half hearted jump, well more like a roll, I had landed my first fish in the kayak. The largemouth went 17" and 2lbs 1oz, which qualified us for 10 points in the Kayak Wars online tournament. Kayak Wars Website

I took a few quick pictures and then paddled over to Amanda to get a better picture.

Shortly after I released the bass Rylan landed his first kayak fish, a bass just under 1 pound. Amanda and I got a few more bites before calling it quits for the weekend. Rylan stayed a little longer and managed to catch another bass to end the evening. Amanda will have to wait until next weekend to catch her first fish from her kayak.

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