SPANIARD’S BAY, N.L. — You might remember that two columns ago I mentioned a new kayak that I have on order. As far as I know it is still expected to arrive here on The Rock some time in May.
I’m hoping for a delivery prior to May 15 because that’s the opening day for summer trout fishing.
Brook trout fishing is closed from April 15 through to May 15 and I’m adamant that this regulation needs to be changed. But that’s a gripe for another time.
We are missing out on far too much spring trout fishing — best time of year — and I feel there is no legitimate justification for a closure. At the very least, I think this is true in my neck of the woods. There are more and bigger brook trout now than when I was a kid. And I think the ice safety argument is a textbook case of smoke and mirrors.
Back to the business of trouting and kayaks. Why a kayak, because there are certainly plenty of other options for going afloat? I think I may have tried them all over the course of my fishing lifetime.
My very first trout-dedicated boat was a 12-foot wooden flat-bottomed rowboat. I built it myself out of plywood when I was 13 years old. I christened it the SS Mono, after the many tubes of Mono brand sealant I used to keep it afloat.
Its maiden voyage was a go after sea-run trout in Spaniard’s Bay harbour. I didn’t catch any, in spite of them jumping all along Main Beach between Spaniard’s Bay and Bay Roberts.
A few days later I did have some luck right around the location of the old Avalon Store.
If you know where that is you are pushing 60 for sure.
My brother-in-law in Sudbury bought a 12-foot aluminum boat and motor. I spent a few summers visiting there and did a lot of boat fishing for bass, pike and pickerel.
That was fun and I was moving on up in the angling world.
Then I discovered the canoe. My brother-in-law, Mario, borrowed one from a friend for a trip to a remote lake.
I fell in love. Paddling was my thing. Motors make noise and strike rocks and you can’t see where you’re bloody going in a rowboat.
I got myself some proper training on canoe strokes and a whole new world of trouting and adventure opened up to me. I bought my own canoe and never looked back.
There is no question that one can certainly up one’s trouting game using a canoe.
In between, I also dabbled in the world of inflatables. For a while, I did a bit of fishing with a pontoon boat, but wasn’t moved much by the experience. I replaced it with a kick fin-driven float tube and I like that. I still use it now and then. It’s the ultimate in stealth, I think, given its super-low profile.
Then I discovered the kayak. It’s perfect for me, even better than a canoe.
I proclaim this subjectively, of course.
On to my kayak life: About 15 years ago I walked into a tackle shop on Gulf Boulevard in St. Pete Beach, Fla. A scruffy guy a bit older than me was filling a spinning reel behind the counter.
He looked very fishy.
“Good morning,” he said as he reached out and firmly shook my hand. This guy had worked with his hands, a carpenter by trade I later learned.
He introduced himself as Bear. He turned out to be Barry Grady, a native Floridian, but I could understand the nickname. His wholesome handshake and gruff weather-beaten appearance gave it all away. We were to become very good friends.
Bear and I got to talking, about fishing of course, and he told me about his fledgling kayak tour and angling business. He said he had taken out a couple of Newfoundlanders just recently.
Anyway, you know don’t you? The next morning I was off kayak fishing with Bear. I figured I might be able to write a few articles and drum him up some business from both Newfoundland and Labrador, as well as elsewhere. At the time I was doing a lot of work for American Angler.
I’m going to keep the Florida part of this short for now because I’ve written of those adventures before and I will again. Suffice it to say right now that I had a wonderful angling experience and became quickly hooked.
I wasn’t sure, and neither was Bear, how the fly fishing and kayak fishing worlds would blend. There wasn’t then and still isn’t a whole lot written on the subject. There are tonnes on spin and bait fishing.
In fact, kayak angling in general is one of the fastest growing sports in the world. It’s absolutely huge in Florida.
So, what’s the big deal? Well for one thing you can paddle a kayak just about anywhere. That includes shallow water, gullies, bays, rivers and so on.
That’s also true for a canoe, but wait. At least for me, fly fishing in any sort of watercraft short of 50-feet is a solo affair. So, I always paddle my canoe solo for fly fishing.
I’m a seasoned solo paddler so that’s no real problem, except that the typical 16-foot canoe drifts about badly in the wind while you’re fishing. I generally use a small anchor but the canoe still wanders about chaotically.
With a 12-foot fishing-specific kayak, you have multiple stabilizing keels under you, and, given the shorter wind catching length, you drift and sway about much less. Drifting slowly along a shoreline and casting flies is a wicked technique. You can cover a lot of water and catch many fish. Install a rudder and you can control the drift even better.
I love it.
Convenience is key to lots of trouting. If I take it in my head to go for a few trout after supper, I need minimum hassle. A 12-foot kayak can be just tossed in the back of my pickup truck and away I go.
I’m a seasoned solo paddler so that’s no real problem, except that the typical 16-foot canoe drifts about badly in the wind while you’re fishing. I generally use a small anchor but the canoe still wanders about chaotically.
A 16-foot canoe is way more hassle, whether you drive a pickup or otherwise. I have to load my canoe atop my truck. It’s just not as hop in and go convenience.
All that said, there might be a 12 or 13-foot solo canoe in my future, one with a keel and less rocker to be more suitable for solo fishing. But I wont run any whitewater in it.
It’s impossible to get it all with one boat.
When I say fishing kayak, I mean a sit-on-top style boat that has some degree of rigging for anglers. I’m talking about rod holders, storage locations, anchor systems, and the like.
Or you can just buy a recreational sit-on-top at a lower price tag and do your own rigging. You can buy all that stuff aftermarket. You can even get specific holders for fly rods. Scotty is a great brand. I’ll tell you more about rigging later.
I’ll end with this. Buy the kayak with the best seat you can afford. A comfortable butt makes for a happy kayak angler.
Unless you plan to fish while standing, and that, good reader, is a discussion for another day.
Paul Smith, a native of Spaniard’s Bay, fishes and wanders the outdoors at every opportunity. He can be contacted at [email protected] or follow him on twitter at @flyfishtherock.
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