All things paddling

I think I'm about to pull the trigger on a Lifetime Teton Pro 116. It looks like it checks most of the marks for me a reasonable price point.
All the reviews have it as a solid fishing kayak.

 

Got the yak. Maiden voyage went well. Caught a 13-inch flounder and didn't flip.
Maneuvering it on land is a little more difficult than I expected. It's 75 pounds. I can throw 50-pound bags of stuff around like nothing. Apparently there is some cosmic force attached to dragging that extra 25.
The wheel-in-the-keel isn't what it's cracked up to be. It works well on hard surfaces, but about two seconds after hitting sand and shells.... it's toast.

 

I bought myself a nice inflatable life jacket from Bass Pro today. It's going to be much more comfortable (and COOLER!) than a regular foam life jacket.
I think I'll leave the thing on manual instead of automatic because I don't know exactly how wet it has to be to inflate. If you are kayaking, you're getting wet.
A helmet and shinguards would honestly be more practical than a life jacket where I use it. Even at high tide, the water is at most about 4 feet deep. You're far more likely to jack yourself up falling into an oyster bed than drowning. If you tip it, just stand up.

 

The soonest I can get down to check out Montgomery’s new whitewater park is next month, but I think I may wait until spring. Doesn’t look like there’s a lick of shade to be had. But apparently they’ve made a great technical course. Trying to psyche myself up to take a roll clinic and see if I can do a sit-inside yak.

https://www.montgomeryadvertiser.co...y-leibfarth-olympics-grows-sport/70384436007/

 

Been doing some fishing. Friday I caught the biggest flounder I have ever caught, just over 20 inches.
I love my kayak purchase. It checks all my boxes.
I did go this morning and get a cart. I bought the boat I did because it had the wheel in the keel, but that is useless in sand. From my house to the launch is about 200 yards. Dragging a 75-pound boat plus gear through sand wasn't impossible but not fun. The cart is a game changer. Getting it to the water was like a hot knife through warm butter.
I like watching kayak fishing videos. A bunch of fools trick out kayaks like they were bass boats. If you are doing all that crap, you're missing the point.
I'm a minimalist. The boat, my rod, a couple of extra paddle tails, a pair of pliers, and a bottle of water... that's all I need.

 

You fishing the sound?

 

Yeah, there are a ton of oyster beds and marsh creeks that drain when the tide goes out.

 

Went kayaking with my daughter on Long Island Sound on Saturday for the first time this season. I bought two kayaks three years ago right before the pandemic and they were a great way to be outdoors and not losing your mind during that time. I think I only went once last year because of my surgery, recovery, etc. But man it felt great to be out there again on a steaming hot day, to be able to paddle right up to a jetty to get an up close look at cormorants and terns. Can't wait to go again. We live within walking distance of the Sound now and I used a dolly and some bungee cords to just roll up right down to the water's edge. I asked a woman if it was OK if we used the pass through next to her cottage to launch the kayaks and she said no problem. You never know how people will respond, and I preferred to ask someone's permission than to be brazen and presumptuous. It's a private association they live in, so not sure how it works in terms of anyone's rights to water access.

 

I’ve dug oysters and scallops out down near Portsmouth Isle, but haven’t explored the sound much up by Hatteras, where we normally go down there.

good stuff!

 

I'm well south of the Outer Banks, closer to Wilmington.
Here is the view off my front porch and where I fish.
You've got the sound behind the house, some spoil islands, then the intercoastal, and those buildings are on the mainland. Those are oyster beds popping up out of the water.

 

Your front porch? You lucky fucker.

 

Note to self: Be Driftwood when I grow up.