Well, it has been a great fishing year for me, and it is time to reminisce on all of the great times I had out on the water. Even though this year was cut short due to another deployment, the limited amount of time I had was put to good use. My fishing season started off after returning from deployment in April. The entire 9 months I was away, I researched the latest and greatest boats debuting onto the scene and planned to pickup a new boat when I returned. I was torn between paddle vs. pedal and like so many other things, the decision was coming down to money. I really do enjoy paddling, but the benefits of a pedal drive watercraft intrigued me and I wanted to give it a shot. Now, I just had to butter my wife up to allow me to spend the extra dough. She was a big supporter of me getting the boat I wanted and actually pushed me to get the pedal drive. With the decision made, I called my local kayak shop looking for a new Native Slayer Propel 13. Unfortunately, the two closest locations were out of the Slayer Propel completely. I had to call ACK San Antonio to locate one and they only had one left on the showroom floor in Lime Green. Not the color I wanted, but beggars can't be choosers. After paying for the boat, I made arrangements to pick it up. Again, my loving wife, supported my hobby by enduring the additional 2+ hour drive to get the boat I wanted.
Rigging complete, it was now only a matter of getting on the water. Lake Stillhouse Hollow is only a 15 min drive from my home, so I spent my first several outings there. After gaining some confidence and having some decent success I expanded my waters. Belton Lake was the next logical stop being only 30 mins from the house. A similar lake to Stillhouse, the same tactics I used before worked on Belton as well. As I gained confidence I looked for some new areas. Another Lake that is relatively close to me is Lake Georgetown. I had heard mixed reviews on the fishing on this Lake, but decided to give it a shot anyway. The reviews seemed to be true and I had a tough time only getting one bite. I was all over the bait fish, but nothing wanted to play. A little demoralized, I looked for a lake with a hot bite. Lake Walter E. Long (formerly Lake Decker) sounded like the place to be. I researched the fishing reports for a while and decided to make a trip. About a hour and half cruise on the turnpike got me to the lake. After paying the crazy $10 entrance fee I launched and worked my way up the western side to the power plant. Sure enough I encountered a lot of activity and some good fish.
It was a great year on my Slayer Propel 13. I was hesitant to spend the money on it, but have zero regrets now. Enjoy.
NICE! Looks like a blast! I am always envious of folks who can fish without a drysuit! lol. I can recall having a BLAST with the bass when I went to school in upstate NY. Miss those buggers!!!!
Thanks for sharing!!
AlaskaKayakFisher.com My personal pages on fishing southcentral Alaska from a kayak.
The administrator has disabled public write access.