Inane Randomness

This weeks Inane Randomness!!!!!

My fishing buddy Keith loves gear. He has loads of kayak fishing "stuff" that he drags out like outriggers, a leaning post so he can stand up and fish, a poling platform, a portable A/C unit, and a flag/light rig. Actually, it's not THAT much stuff, just less than the amount of stuff I drag out. Even though I'm TOTALLY the opposite, it gives me a good reason to give him a good natured ribbing from time to time. Yesterday, I found this which is actually pretty cool because there is no drilling involved. The mount just fits in your flush mount rod holders. Not a bad deal for the money either. This is not really something that I'm looking for, although it WOULD come in handy on the long paddle back to the put in spot....

Don't forget to listen to Kayak Fishing Radio this Thursday at 8 pm Eastern. If you can't listen or call in, listen to the podcast later.

Saw this story about a Great White Shark biting a kayak of the coast of Northern California. This guy is lucky that he only got a few holes in his kayak.

Of course my sick and twisted mind was trying to determine if I was in that situation, what sort of fly would I toss at a Great White Shark? Am I alone in thinking this way?

Here is a video one of my friends from California sent me...White Sharks among the surfers....

The Hatch

One of the best features on my kayak are the 3 middle hatches that make up the casting deck.

The middle hatch gives me the ability to have everything I need close at hand. This middle hatch can also be used as a livewell for live bait (Although I can't remember the last time I used bait)

As you know, I approach my gear with a basic school of thought. I only carry a medium fly box, a water tight box for my phone, keys, and camera, a GPS, a few soft plastic jerk bait bags, a box for hooks, swivels, and weights, a multi-tool, and a pair of scissors.

This basic approach allows me to worry about less stuff and be able to concentrate on finding fish.

Happy Fathers Day

Sunday Morning... Nag Champa burning....French press coffee....the delicate sounds of a Porcupine Tree and Pink Floyd play list....Lacy snoring gently.

Even though I don't have any human children, I like to be the best dad I can be to Lacy.

We went to her doctor yesterday for her annual check up and shots and was given a clean bill of health. She's in much better shape than she was last year. She weighed in at 57.2 lbs where last year, she was 68 lbs. Instead of her laying around by the pool, I've been running her around.

Today, I'll be getting my gear in order, changing the backing on the 12 weight from 20 lb gel spun to 30 lb Power Pro since those silver beasts made short work of it last time, repairing the kayak where the seat cleat was pulled clean out.

What do you bring when you bring it?

A lot of folks ask me what sort of gear do i bring when fishing the flats?

Answer: As little as possible....but it depends on where we'll be fishing and what sort of fishing.

If we're wading a flat while fly fishing, i take my trusty Cabella's medium chest pack with a small fly box jammed with flies i'll be using or might need, (this is hard), scissors, a few pre-made leaders, face cover and the trusty camera. i keep my tackle bag with everything else handy on shore that has my Evan Longoria batting gloves for those long days casting an 8 weight, a few Nalgene's, pliers, and the big fly box. If we're fly fishing off of a seawall, i'll use a stripping basket and fore go the chest pack and just carry my fly box and scissors in my pocket.

As a rule, i never carry a radio or MP3 player or anything like that because i need to experience the solitude even though we often are "urban fishing" as it were....and we always need to field all of the usual questions.....

"Hey....are you fly fishing?/is that a fly fishing rig?"

"What do you catch in saltwater on flies?/ didn't realize you could fly fish in saltwater"

"Yeah....we used to fly fish for trout up north...."

Yeah, fishing at Coffee Pot Bayou tends to generate other problems too such as making sure your backcast doesn't get snagged on a tree/jogger/cyclist/car, or making sure your child doesn't jump over the gated docks with the "Keep Out" signs all over them to retrieve a miscast lure because those people can be nasty.....but it's a great place to fish because it's full of docks with snook under them.....plus it's really close to the house.

Sorry to get side tracked....

If i'm fishing with spinning gear, i'll usually carry the whole damned tackle bag with me as it has the box full of plugs and soft plastic lovelies the we all know and love as well as the "idiot rig" gear (corks, hooks, sinkers) and the always popular live bait bucket with air pump as well as leader material, first aid kit and headlamp (this comes in handy at night). If we're fishing from a bridge, we'll oftentimes mix in a floating light.

So....what do YOU bring when you bring it?