Who Is This Dude?
Moving to North Carolina a few years ago, I stepped up my fishing in a big way. There are a lot of lakes and rivers here and I am lucky to have a nice lake within walking distance of my home. As I got more into it, one of the things I noticed was the scarcity of fishable bank on the many waters here. That's the price of having so many beautiful trees – they grow right on up to the edge of the water. I was having a fair amount of success, but the thought kept nagging at me: I'm only reaching a tiny portion of this lake... That was especially true when the small bit of fishable bank was crowded with other people.
But I knew I didn't want a power boat. I'd been down that road before. I had a power boat many years ago and was relieved when I finally sold it. There's an old joke that "boat" stands for Bust Out Another Thousand. Unfortunately, it's totally true. Storing, maintaining, and operating my boat was an enormous money and time sink. I paid $1800 a year to keep it at a marina. It cost me $1800 a year just to park it. And that was 20 years ago! Of course, trailering a boat is cheaper. But you still have to worry about where you're going to store your boat and trailering adds a ton of time to the front and back end of boating trips. One way or the other, in money or time, you pay for it.
So this time around, I decided to buy a kayak. It's been a great decision. The initial investment to get one was relatively cheap. I store it in my garage, and it's easy to maintain. The way I rigged everything, my kayak doesn't take much time to prep and tear down. And as a bonus, paddling is great exercise!
Then there's the indescribable feeling of fishing inches above the surface of the water. It's a zen thingfor sure. Or becoming a human bobber for a large catfish! Everything that's great about fishing is amplified by doing it from a kayak in my opinion.
When you decide to fish from a kayak, there's a ton to figure out. I've spent a lot of time scouring the Internet, picking the brains of experts, and pouring over books to learn about this sport. While there are some good web sites out there, I think there's plenty of room for one more. yakflak is my outlet to document and share the things I've learned, solicit information from others, and provide a source where a newbie can get a good handle on things.
If you have a question, please feel free to send me an e-mail (dumeril7 at gmail dot com). And of course, comments on my posts are always welcome.
If you're curious, I'm also a serious musician, photographer, and marketer in the software industry. My regular website is www.dumeril7.com.