September 18th, 2008
Not only am I your humble kayak rental and trip planner, I moonlight as a writer. My most recent submission has been published in Wavelength Magazine, a national magazine that typically includes articles on kayaking our West Coast and Canada. Wavelength has an annual warm water issue each fall and this fall’s issue includes an article about the Great Calusa Blueway around Ft. Myers/Sanibel area of Florida and my article is a close encounter around that same area.
Baby checking me out.
Currently the issue is available in its entirety online at www.Wavelengthmagazine.com and soon individual articles will be available. When this is available I will update the link to my article.
This website is a great website for all kinds of kayaking information. Every edition is available for FREE as a .pdf download. Check it out.
Tags: florida, kayaking, manatee, travel, wildlife, writing
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September 18th, 2008
By this time of the year the Patoka River has become a brown stagnant trickle, however, this year’s extraordinary amount of rain filled the Patoka Reservoir to the point where, as of this writing, the lake is still at least 5 feet above summer pool. The Corp of Engineers has the dam releasing water at the rate of 295 CFS to bring the level down before winter. Subsequently, the Patoka is flowing very well. At the tailwater, fishing from any of the sidewalks other than the two highest will require standing in about a foot of water. For kayakers and canoeists this water level means a pretty good 7.5-mile route is available.
The trip from a paddler’s point of view is enjoyable, along with the flowing water, flowers are blooming along the banks almost the entire trip and wildlife is abundant. When I went on September 9, there were few snags or log jams and the only major obstacle was a road that was submerged around mile 3. The road created a small waterfall with a drop of about 14 inches. The water level wasn’t high enough for me to run the fall, I tried and ended up doing the butt scootin’ boogy to finish. Usually the road is above water and it is an easy 9-foot portage from one side to the other.
From the recreational paddler’s point of view (a recreational paddler would be someone that gets on the water only a couple times during the year with friends and looks forward to moments on the trip when they can pop a top and falling in the water is a highlight of the trip) this trip may be a little boring, the muddy banks and private property don’t allow for many places to stop and picnic, however, this is a good fishing trip.
Around the 4th mile of the trip, trotlines began popping up and for about a mile there was a trotline about every 50 feet or so. This led me to believe that catfish must be abundant and locals verified this assumption. In fishing the river I usually catch crappy, pumpkinseed, and bass as well as bluegill. They congregate around submerged root wads, stream entrances, and the couple of bridges on the trip. I have also seen gar and supposedly there are paddlefish (illegal to take).
In a few weeks if they continue to release water from the reservoir, this trip will be highlighted by the fall colors of the hardwood lined banks of the Patoka. The maples are already turning and this trip will become stunningly beautiful when all of the trees’ leaves have turned.
Tags: fishing, kayaking, Patoka, trip
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August 20th, 2008
Did you see the bear chasing me?
Some of you were wondering about this. Just thought I would give you a visualization. AquaScapes doesn’t recommend these types of activities (the owner is afraid of heights).
Tags: quarry, trip, water
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August 20th, 2008
Last Thursday (August 14) I took Rhonda and her two boys, Dane and Ross, down the Blue River from Rothrock Mill to Blue River Chapel. The water gauge was reading 2 feet at White Cloud and we had pretty good water for August. We dragged in some of the shallows and had to portage a couple of times, but for the most part we floated.
The boys spent a lot of time fishing while we floated. Oddly enough when we got south of the I-64 Ross caught a walleye. I didn’t know walleye were in the Blue.
Rhonda was vacationing in French Lick and couldn’t believe the amount of activities that Southern Indiana has to offer.
Tags: Blue River, fishing, kayak, trip, water
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August 5th, 2008
We put a great group on the water Saturday morning. The Blue was running at about 3.5 feet by the White Cloud Gauge which gave us excellent water for the trip. We put-in at Stagestop and after some small mishaps (one of the folks rolled in the pool at the put-in, it kinda worried me about the rest of the trip) the group headed down river. The first ripple took out another one of the group but they regrouped, dumped the kayak and continued down the river.
After they rounded the first bend out of our sight. Amy and I headed out for the highway to see if we could meet them further down river. Off of Highway 66 in view of the river is a gated walking trail with a small pull off. We parked and packed some fishing gear down to the water to wait for the group. After 45 minutes of fruitless fishing we heard laughing echoing down the river and the first few came into view. They pulled over at the stop and waited for the rest of the group to show up for a few photo opportunities and then shoved off out of sight until we met them at the pull-out at the old Iron Bridge.
The trip took them about 4.5 hours and they were nothing but smiles as we loaded up. The group jumped to help with all of our packing. which was greatly appreciated, and they were talking about planning a trip every month as they drove off.
This is why I am a kayak outfitter, hopefully I’ve introduced a few more people to this great sport.
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