Dang is it cold…..

I must be getting old. Feels a heck of a lot colder on water than it does on ice………..Just about to the poibt you don’t want to handle another fish

Attachments:

1. 

   0131201567.jpg
   

You actually look cold and miserable which usually doesn’t translate in a fish pic. The only thing worse than freezing one’s kiester off in a boat is staying home and wishing you had gone fishing. My guess is you didn’t have much competition out in the harbor, eh?

1 other boat here at the power plant. Mr heater is my best friend today

Btw these footballs are fully inflated

My buddy was just asking yesterday if the Bender Park was ice free, and if I wanted to dig the boat out of the barn. Good to see you are out there.

Bring about 80# of salt. I’ve burned up about 200# so far.

Or… if the launches are frozen, you can still launch from the beaches in the right conditions with kayaks! Some fantastic days out there this winter with no boats in sight.

Attachments:

1. 

   10911502_10103908808358597_86862140443262765_o.jpg
   

2. 

   10931468_10103908804231867_3701940530172873_o.jpg
   

3. 

   10899997_10103908806497327_5733417353679677331_o.jpg
   

The look on your face in the jumping fish picture is priceless. I take it you were a little startled when that fish surfaced?

Just out of curiosity, what type of Kayak is that? It looks pretty sweet!

Mark,

Great pictures! When you have time, would you mind taking some pictures of your set-up? Talking us through the logic of why you have it set-up the way it is. It really does look like a sweet set-up. I have been dreaming of a River rig like that. I always seem to have more questions than answers when it comes to how I want it to be set-up.

Thanks,

FDR

I don’t have any really good pics of my setup at the moment. Here’s the best ones I have. I have a Wilderness Systems Tarpon 140 – it’s a kayak that’s got decent stability, but a little sleeker for easier paddling. The rudder is great, especially on big water on a windy day. I have a Humminbird 588HD DI mounted between my shins, with the transducer inside the kayak that shoots through the hull using some grease and mounted in place. The battery is in there as well.

I keep a crate behind me to hold my lures – I need to learn to be a little more conservative with my plano boxes – I rarely use more than a handful of lures. The rod holders in front of me are mounted far enough up so that I can paddle without hitting my rods for trolling. I do a lot of trolling for Lake Michigan fish, as well as pike, walleyes, and bass.

I also have an anchor trolley on the side along with a 3 lb grappling anchor that works well. This helps me direct which way I’m facing when I’m anchored. I have a length of chain that I use in current – it’s dangerous for kayaks to anchor in current, especially fast current.

I originally bought this yak because I love to fish, but don’t have the money for a boat. My dad had sold his boat and my grandpa moved down to Arkansas. The only fishing I could do during the year was ice fishing, and wader fishing in the local rivers. I stumbled upon Keith Gelhar’s Youtube page, which had videos of him catching King Salmon out of his kayak and I knew that it was for me. The tarpon is a great kayak, but I’ll be looking to “upgrade” to a Hobie some day. Those kayaks you actually peddle instead of paddle, thus leaving your hands free to fish. Makes it so much easier to troll, and especially deadly fishing current (think warm water discharges) without anchoring. You can peddle slowly to keep you in place while you cast towards the warm water discharge. Or if you wanted to jig for walleyes, you could slowly peddle in place or search for holes as you jig. Someday. For now, I make my kayak work.

There’s all kinds of kayaks out there for different types of fishing. You can by much more stable kayaks that you can stand in and sight-fish. These are great, but lack a bit of the speed. My kayak works great for the type of fishing I do – mostly trolling.

Attachments:

1. 

   10380317_10103172399138577_2832285314289990164_n.jpg
   

2. 

   1907652_10103172398759337_6215462823777633394_n.jpg
   

3. 

   10322789_10103172399043767_1461212866793226047_n.jpg
   

4. 

   984123_10103172398674507_1218342697848126587_n.jpg
   

Holy buckets, you have balls of steel out there in a kayak in the middle of winter!! Nice fish though!!

Dec through March is an incredible time of year out here. Can’t tell you how many years in a row we ran into 3yr old chins in March in the scour hole in the Racine Harbor. Cool as all heck to be out in a float tube while its snowing.

I would imagine a 20#+ chin could pull a sleek kayak around pretty good too. Couldn’t find any of the Lake MI pics of Scott and I in our tubes. Here is a couple from Ice out inland trout

Attachments:

1. 

   Scan0013.jpg
   

2. 

   Scan0014.jpg
   

3. 

   Scan0015.jpg
   

Whoa Randy, that’s awesome!

As far as balls of steel… eh. I’m pretty safe, gotta watch the forecasts (wind/waves), and definitely don’t go out in the winter by myself. I’ve got on a wetsuit, just in case. As far as chins pulling around the yaks, it’s always a good time when you’re going for a sleigh ride.

Kayak fishing the big pond is usually a group effort – we communicate and openly share what’s working (unless it’s a tournament :)). We can tag-team an area and there can be some outstanding days. It’s always fun out-fishing a boat in your kayak. This past year was great with all the cold water stacked up close to shore. A kayak is the ultimate stealth presentation.

Attachments:

1. 

   10423721_10103323654935747_1860306066678056357_n.jpg