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St. John, USVI

July 28, 2014
Exploring, Family, Hiking
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Amanda and I spent nearly a week earlier this month with my family down in St. John of the US Virgin Islands.  It was a tremendous trip, we had a wonderful time and really enjoyed a relaxing trip to the Caribbean.  I wasn’t sure how we would handle being that long away from our little girl, but it really wasn’t a problem knowing she was in good hands with Amanda’s parents.  We ate and drank well, we swam, snorkeled, hiked, and really just got reacquainted with an island that my family has been to a few times now.  Some of the highlights included the sunsets on the deck, the hike out to Rams Head, snorkeling with the sea turtles at Maho Bay and tarpon at Francis Bay, and the sunset sail on Survivan.  I packed a couple fly rods, but never felt the urge to break them out and dedicate time to fishing – I was too busy enjoying not-fishing, if that makes any sense.

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Humble beginnings

June 26, 2014
Exploring, Fishing, Fly Fishing, Kayak Fishing, Kayaking, Scouting
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My first kayak was a Pelican Castaway I bought on Craigslist from a high school kid in Kenner for $250.  That was back in August of 2007.  I had just moved back to Louisiana from Alabama.  I had yet to find a job.  It wasn’t really an impulse buy as I had been wanting a kayak for quite some time, but that didn’t make it any less irresponsible.  I had to get one though, I had to have a way to get myself on the water.  After all I had lots of time on my hands while looking for employment.  Living in a second floor condo didn’t make it easy to store either.  I can’t even remember where I kept it, I’m sure it stayed down at the bottom of the stairs often.  This was the start of what has become an incredible journey.  Kayak fishing has been a wonderful getaway and has taken me places I never dreamed I’d go.  It all started with an unproductive first trip to Bayou Little Alabama which was followed three days later by a solo trip to Dularge and my first redfish from a kayak.

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It wasn’t a big red, but I was still under-equipped and landing the fish became a production.  I was throwing Gulp under a popping cork, on a rod that had maybe 8-10 lb test mono on it – I had not yet bought any saltwater equipment.  During the fight my line breaks above the cork and off goes the red swimming down the bayou, cork bobbing along the way.  I chased after the cork for awhile, doing my best Benny Hill impersonation, finally landing the fish.  It was gratifying.  Not only had I caught a redfish, but I had dinner to bring home too.  I was a provider!

Soon enough I landed a job and my time on the water was reduced.  Spending most of my time fishing around Baton Rouge, my next saltwater trip wouldn’t  be until January of 2008.  This was the one that really started the addiction though.  This was the first trip I made with some of the guys from BCKFC.  It was also the first trip I made with the fly rod in the salt.  It was pretty windy that day, but I was determined to use the fly rod and catch fish.  I ended up having a great day.  Blindcasting, I caught three reds on a clouser minnow.  They were all small, but I found out just how effective a fly could be for redfish.  I rounded out a limit using Gulp under a cork and ended with a pretty nice mid slot red.  Not to be outdone I caught my first flounder on this trip as well.

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It was a really successful day in the salt and was the catalyst for what has become a passion for me.  The kayak opened up water I had never known about and expanded where I could fish.  A motorboat will do the same thing, but there is little to no maintenance with the kayak.  It gets me outside and gives me exercise, without me thinking it is exercise – which is a big plus for someone with an increasingly sedentary lifestyle.  I’ve become a much better fisherman because of the kayak too.

If you’re looking to get into kayak fishing and you can’t decide on what boat to get, don’t fret.  Get what you can afford and see what kayak fishing is like for yourself.  I later sold that $250 Pelican for $300.  The return on investment for kayaks both new and used is insane, so jump on a good deal and join the party!

Paddle Baton Rouge

June 13, 2014
Conservation, Exploring, Kayak Fishing, Kayaking, Scouting
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For those readers who are fellow Baton Rouge denizens, do yourself a favor and go visit the Paddle Baton Rouge website just to see what they have been up to.  Outsiders may not appreciate what the duo are trying to accomplish, but I certainly do.  Let me just highlight their “About” page so everyone has an understanding of what they are about:

Paddle Baton Rouge was created in 2011 as a grassroots group with a mission to improve paddling in Baton Rouge.  We are hands-on people who simply figured it was time *someone* started doing *something*, and it turns out, we also seem to enjoy a good day’s hard work.

Our mission, which we heartily choose to accept, is three-fold:

  1. Recon: We go see what’s out there.
  2. Trailblazing: Where debris blocks the water, we open a path.
  3. Cleanup: We collect litter to make the view worthwhile.

(There’s also an unwritten #4.  Where and when possible, we do what we can to improve public access to the waterways we work on.  That’s more talking than doing, and we prefer to get our hands dirty in the literal sense, but it *is* on our minds.)

Take a look around at some of the work we’ve been doing, and if you find yourself thinking that you might want to join us for a day on the water, we’d be delighted to have you.

It is one thing to talk about cleaning up waterways and improving access but it is another to actually get out there and do it and that is precisely what Paddle Baton Rouge is about. For those who are unfamiliar with the waterways they choose to work on – these are litter filled drains that are chock full of natural and artificial debris.  They’ve basically been written off for any sort of recreational use by the Parish and have been largely ignored even for proper maintenance as drainage.  I’ve fished them a few times when I need a quick fix, but often prefer to travel away from Baton Rouge.

These two saw a problem and attacked it with gusto.  Here is an article from The Advocate about the group(be sure to watch the corresponding video).  As a kayaker and citizen of EBR parish it warms my heart to see this.  Kudos to Paddle Baton Rouge on all they have accomplished and here’s to them continuing their mission on improving our local waterways.  Their “Upcoming Events” page lists scheduled cleanups where you can meet the group and lend a hand – I hope to make one of these soon, until then I will post what is scheduled below and hope that word spreads about their mission:

June 13-15, 2014

Project Clearwater — Do-It-Yourself Edition

Launching: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park, whenever you want.

Recovering: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park or whatever, whenever.

Mission: Nathaniel’s out of town, so after 26 straight weeks and 30 trips out on Bayou Fountain, it seems he and his canoe(s) are going to miss a weekend.  We’re trying to get BREC out for a tour, and after all this work, we certainly don’t want them to run into any obstructions, so if you happen to paddle the bayou and could send a brief note about what you find (or even, dare we ask) a photo or few that we can use for a brief post, we would be quite grateful.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Project Clearwater — Expedition 27

Launching: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park, 8am.

Recovering: Bayou Fountain at Highland Road Park, afterward.

Mission: Anyone want to spin the wheel and guess what this trip will bring? We’re pretty sure there will be water.