Next topic of discussion was..... Paddles.  Kirk brought two different types of paddles that are typically used with fishing kayaks.  Just like kayaks, paddles can be made from all different types of materials ranging from low end aluminum shafts and nylon blades up to carbon fiber shafts and fiberglass reinforced or even solid glass blades.  Typically it's going to take 1,000 paddle strokes to propel you approximately one mile.  If you buy a cheap 55 oz paddle at some big box store, you'll be exhausted before you know it.  So please talk to a professional before you pick out a paddle.  It's really very important. 

One thing Kirk does NOT recommend is rectangular shaped paddle blades.   Most of these are designed to be pretty flexible and that's not always a good quality.  When you're paddling and the water resistance puts enough pressure on the end of the blade and causes it to flex several inches under water, then you're not getting the functionality you think you've paid for - it'll tire you out real fast.

At this point he gave us an impromptu paddle lesson, instructing us to lean slightly forward and push the air-exposed half of the paddle with your arm as much, if not more, than you pull the submerged paddle blade.  It's a 'pull and push' process that takes some practice to get used to but eventually results in a more relaxed paddle stroke.  If you only use the pulling motion as you paddle each stroke then you're simply putting unnecessary strain on your neck and rotator cuff.  Try to get into the habit of locking your elbows a bit as you paddle which forces you to use your back and tummy more than your arms.

Another small change: don't hold a paddle with your thumbs underneath, which is the most common (natural) grip for new paddlers.  Nothing will cause a blister faster than a 'death grip' on the paddle shaft.  He suggested we use more of a "hook" grip similar to the way you would hold a set of weights when you do a bench press.  That hand position helps to 'lock' the wrists.  And...if you want a little cushion under your hands to make the grip even more comfortable to hold, you can purchase paddle grips that just Velcro around the shaft so you can position them exactly where you want, and they look great, too.  They add a little personalization to your gear - if you're into that sort of thing.

From there, he moved on to paddle length, a detail most people don't really take enough time to consider and it's really important.  So what determines the best paddle length to use?  Kirk says the paddler's height, and the width of the boat.  He showed us two paddles for comparison.  One was 220 centimeters in length (a little over 7 ft) and the other was 230 centimeters (a little over 7.5 ft) long.  He even sells 240s and 250s but the point he was making was that a paddle in the wrong size results in more work and sore hands - it'll wear you out and nobody wants that.  Again, that's why it's important to have a professional help you with this selection.

On a side note, he mentioned that some of the paddles he carries even have a measuring device built right onto the shaft.  That's pretty handy when you want to measure a fish quickly.  And others have a specially designed groove in the paddle blade that's designed to help retrieve a lure that's either stuck in a mangrove branch above or on an oyster rock below.

Next, we asked Kirk's opinion about PFDs (the new term for 'life jacket').  He personally doesn't wear one and he gave us several reasons:  A) they're hot and that's doubly uncomfortable during the summer months in Florida, and B) he fishes in such sallow water that he's more concerned about cutting himself on oyster shell than he is about drowning.  One of his main frustrations with this piece of safety wear, however, is their 'uni-sex' design.  Men and women have entirely different physics.  A man's height is primarily from the waist up.  A woman's height is from the waist down.  A 'one-size-fits-all' PFD just isn't going to cut it in this day and age.  So over the past eleven years as a kayak business owner, he's seen a lot of improvements made in the design of PDFs and he carries, in his shop, what he calls true paddling jackets, which are opened on the sides and the foam in the back is cut up with only a bit of netting to pull the strap through so when you sit down, so it's comfortable.

And on a side 'safety note' Kirk is a big advocate of a designated "meet-up" place and time before launch so that if several people are going out on the water together and eventually head in different directions, losing sight of one another around or behind a mangrove island, there is always a plan for meeting back up again in order to account for everyone in the group.  We thought that was a GREAT idea!

As we continued the discussion of safety on the water, Kirk help up an interesting little gadget.  It was a manually powered (as in no batteries) flashlight that's waterproof and floats.  For every minute you crank the handle you get an hour of light.  It gives you the option of a single beam of light (which lasts up to 6 hours), a triple beam (max of 4 hours), or a flashing beacon style.  AND...It's practically indestructible.  He has one in each of his vehicles and vessels and travels with one, too.  Pretty nifty little thing!

Oh, and by the waHis "other" piece of safety equipment is his Ruger .38 LCR

So we were curious about what Kirk typically takes out on the water for a day of fishing.  It's always cool to ask simple questions like that because you learn different tactics and strategies for keeping food cool and safe during a hot day.  Kirk, we learned, is an "on the water early / off the water early" kind of guy and doesn't like to fish when it's really hot.  His lunch box consists of 2-3 granola bars and a few frozen water bottles.  The night before, he empties out a little bit of water and then puts them in the freezer overnight.  In the morning, they're frozen and he puts the caps back on.  They act as ice-packs for his lunch and he can have ice cold water as they thaw throughout the morning.  Of course Murphy's Law is that the minute you stop to eat or drink anything, the line you had out in the water starts screaming!  Sometimes you can be out there all day and never take (or have) time to eat!

We also learned that Kirk is more of an artificial lure kind of guy but when he does use any type of live bait, it'll be shrimp.  He uses a six pack, soft side cooler with a couple of packs of blue ice at the bottom and a damp paper towel to cover.  Toss the shrimp on top of the damp paper towel and they'll go dormant for a few hours.  This storage style keeps the shrimp from freezing to death but makes them easier to handle initially.  He cautioned us to hold on to those 'dormant' shrimp when putting them on a hook, though, because the second they feel that pin prick, they "wake up" and can quickly pop themselves right out of your hand and into the water before you know it - and that's money (and a fish) lost.  He repeated a little trade secret that Capt. Kyle Messier mentioned to us several months ago, too, and that was Lizardfish make great bait, so if you hook one accidentally, cut it into a few pieces and see if you don't hook up on a redfish once or twice.  And don't make the mistake of using small pieces of bait on a small hook to catch big fish.  Use big pieces of bait skewered on a 5/0 circle hook if you want big fish!!  Plus, a larger hook is a heck of a lot easier to remove than a small hook is.

Capt. Kirk Deardorff, owner of Riversport Kayaks in Homosassa, Florida, agreed to be our guest speaker for our July 1st meeting.  Topic:  How to rig a kayak for fishing, and he should know, it is his subject of expertise.  He also outfits and repairs damaged kayaks as well so who better to come and give us an overview of kayak fishing necessities vs luxuries?

Capt. Kirk, (yes, I'm sure he's heard the reference to Star Trek a gazillion times, so we won't put him through that) started off the meeting by giving a short self-introduction and told us that he, and his wife, Cindy, have owned Riversport Kayaks for almost 11 years.  He has his masters degree in Ecomonics and was a Risk Manager for Citrus County for a number of years and walked away from all of that stress to be his own boss and he hasn't regretted that decision for one second.  His only disappointment is that he doesn't get out on the water for his own fun as often as he would like to.

He went around the room and identified those who have kayaks and those who do not.  Secondly, he wanted to pinpoint specifically what brand and style of kayak each member had.  It was a good way to evaluate the experience and knowledge of his audience so that he can educate us accordingly.  The kayak spectrum went from WalMart brands all the way to high-end Hobie Pro Anglers.  Kirk acknowledged that even the less expensive style kayaks are enough to get you on the water.  What was interesting was that he owns two specially designed motor driven boats and he still prefers to paddle around in his kayak.  His favorite is a Commander 120 by Wilderness Systems, which is a cross between a canoe and a kayak.  You sit down in it.  It has a double-tunnel hull so it's very stable.  It's a 30 inch wide boat that he can actually stand up in.  It has a lawnchair style seat with a canoe style cross bench behind it so you can fold the seat down, store it under the cross bench and sit on the cross bench just line a canoe.  The advantage to that boat is that it only weighs 60 lbs. and you can stand up in it.

He brought several brochures for the following fishing kayak manufacturers:

Jackson Kayaks

Wilderness Systems Kayaks

Hobie Kayaks

and briefly explained how the rudder and peddle systems work on the Hobie Pro Angler and the advantages of a hands-free (for fishing) propulsion mechanism that allows you more casts for an increase chance of fish hook ups.

Kirk warned us that the biggest obstacle to overcome when learning how to fish from a kayak is the need to minimize your equipment.  He carries one small bag specially designed to hold all the lures he would potentially use on an outing.  His necessities include Gulps, jerk baits, bass assassins, skidderwalks, mirrodines (in blue, chrome and black, sometimes white, and sometimes chartreuse), weighted hooks, floating pliers, line cutters and a tape measure.  This is a visually noticeable difference from the 12 tackle trays inside two tackle bags that he used to carry on his flats boat when he only ended up using a total of three different lures the entire day.  It all comes down to the bare necessities.

We moved into recommended rods.  Kirk shared his opinion, telling us that he prefers to use Shimano brand 2500 series spinning reels, spooled with 10 lb braided fishing line with 25 lb fluorocarbon shark leader all on a 7.5 or 8 ft soft action rod.  One of the main challenges of fishing from a kayak is the difficulty to make a long cast from a sitting position.  The longer the cast the better your chances of catching a fish on the off chance that you've scared a few that otherwise would have stayed in close proximity.  Redfish, like many other species, can feel the displacement of water that a small boat makes as it navigates through the water even at an extremely slow pace.  Even a manned kayak with minimal gear will displace some water so the farther you can cast, again, the better your chances of attracting fish that have no idea you've arrived yet.  To keep things simple, he only takes two rods with him on his kayak.  One of which has a sub-surface artificial lure on it.  He replaced the treble hooks with circle hooks and lets it troll through the water behind him as he paddles.  The number of trout hits he gets is surprising.  The slower you paddle, the higher the lure stays in the water column and because trout tent to be looking upward for food, they can see it from above.

Kirk held up a 30 degree flush mounted rod holder and began to talk about the difficulty in organizing the gear, starting with rods.  Most fishing kayaks already have a minimum of two flush mounted rod holders installed on each side of the kayak behind the seat, however, more of these can be added in other locations on the kayak or can be installed on a river kayak to make it functional for fishing if needed.  The down-side to this style of rod holder is that if a rod is baited and in the water with a tightly set drag and a large fish bolts with the bait, the rod can quickly be pulled out of the holder before you know it.  Kirk prevents that problem by loosening his drag half way (just like RG taught us during our last meeting) so that when something like this happens, and he can't react immediately, he still has time to grab his rod and bring in his catch.  The fish may have run with quite a bit of line at this point, but it's better to lose a fish than to lose a rod.  He does not recommend a rod leash because it's just one more thing that gets in the way.

In addition to the flush mounted rod holders he mentioned above, Kirk also told us about a different type of rod holder option called a Scotty Rod Holder that is a wee bit more advanced than the basic flush mount.

This rod holder can be secured to many different spots on a kayak but is typically mounted within arms reach in front of the kayak seat.  The benefit of this type of rod holder is that it can be adjusted horizontally and vertically and be easily removed all together with a quick turn of a knob. 

On a side note, He told us to organize our kayaks the same way each time we go out so that we get familiar at every launch where all of our gear is located and it becomes a routine.  Like assigned seats in school.  You should know where everything is all the times.

We moved on to paddle storage.  Kayaks are sold with a wide variety of paddle storage options from paddle parks made out of bungee cord to hard plastic clips that allow the paddle shaft to 'snap' in place. 

Kirk's problem with each and every one of these paddle park systems is the noise that's made, no matter how careful you are, when securing the paddle shaft to a holder like this.  In most cases, even the smallest amount of noise will alert a fish and it'll flee the area before you even have time to cast.  Not a good way to use your time out there.  He suggested investing in a paddle leash and just lay the paddle quietly in the water and let it float.  It's the best use of time, makes no noise and it can easily be retrieved because it's leased to the kayak.

Everybody on a boat or kayak should have one!  The benefit of a dry bag over your basic household Ziplock bag is the floatability.  It's fine to keep your necessities (keys, phone, camera, etc.) in a watertight Ziplock bag, but if it hits the water for some reason, it's still going to sink like everything else and what good will that do you?  Sure, it's still dry, but how are you going to find it in four feet of murky water?  There's nothing worse than losing stuff out there on the water.

Stake Out Poles -

Great for places with soft muck bottoms.

These can be pushed right through the scupper holes.

It can go down through a ring tied off to the side of the boat.

It can be used with an anchor trolley system.

Some that come in 8 and 10 ft can actually double as a push pole.

Anchor Trolley System

This is basically a pulley system.

One pulley is secured to each end of the kayak.

A thin rope is threaded through each pulley.

And the tag ends of the rope are tied to a ring.

The anchor line is also tied to the ring.

This device allows you to anchor in various positions with or against the current.

Sea Anchor

This is a device that looks like a wind sock. Kirk himself uses one to drift fish.  The down-side to that thing is that a caught fish will sometimes get fishing line tangled in the sea anchor line.

One think that Kirk strongly recommended was a simple buoy system for the anchor.  There will come a time when your anchor rope detaches itself from your yak.  Maybe due to a loose knot or something.  Likewise, there will come a time when you are anchored down and your hook has become embedded in a mangrove branch or oyster rock.  If you have a marker for where your anchor is (like a small floating buoy) then you don't have to worry about pulling your anchor up.  You can voluntarily detach yourself from the anchor system, take care of your hook problem, and simple paddle back to reattach your anchor if you wish.  Why? Because the floating buoy marks the spot where you left your anchor. 

Everybody always ties their anchor rope only around the ring at the top of the stem.  But what happens when the anchor claws get stuck on the rocks?  In a kayak you have almost no chance of getting that out.  Kirk pointed out that these types of grappling anchors have another eyelet ring at the bottom, too.  Most people don't realize that.  The best practice is to tie the knot on the bottom of the anchor instead of at the top.  That way, if it does get stuck, one quick tug of the rope should actually "un" stick the anchor from its rocky trap.

Need more storage room?  Kirk can install a kayak hatch kit for you.  But that hatch won't be 100% secure until you've put the hatch cap on tight.  As he talked about hatch sizes he mentioned one of the Jackson Brand kayaks that has a specially designed long hatch that can double as a bait well or live well if you wish.

Delores, Martha Ann and Sue met up at Levy. Co. Park at 7:00 a.m. and discussed the weather forecast.  Weather radar didn't look too concerning but stepping out of the vehicles and getting a first-hand visual of the morning skies did bring concern.  Unexpected lightning even more so.  You could literally hear the rain coming toward the shoreline. 

The Plan:  Go ahead and unload the gear that a little rain wouldn't hurt.  Maybe by the time kayaks were unloaded, the weather would clear out and the designated launch time of 8:00 would happen according to plan.....then again......maybe not.

An hour and a half later (8:30) it was still raining and lightning in the distance.  Decided to take refuge under the picnic tables and wait the storm out.  Our new friend, Dale, who was setting traps for mud minnows, asked if he could join us until the storm passed.  He told us his life story in all of about 10 minutes.  He also told us about a few marine landmarks near the launch site.  A place called Hodges Island, a sunken shrimp boat called The Silver Lining, a waterway called Vassey Creek, and a nearby island with a deserted fish camp on it.  Lots of places to research and paddle to one day in the near future.

Mean while - those three kayaks all prepped and ready to go were calling out   "Let's Go Girls"  And with the skies clearing up by 9:00 a.m., it was time to heed the call.

Time to part ways with Dale and bail out all of the water that accumulated in various spots on the yaks.  There's nothing more uncomfortable for a woman than to sit in liquid of any kind....even water.  The hunt was on for fish!

Clear skies, strong in-coming tide, and bait fish were everywhere.  All systems were "GO"................

And in typical Florida fashion - the skies opened up fifteen minutes later and dumped more water.....

But....that didn't prevent a few fish from being hooked.  Over the next few hours we just relaxed, paddled around and hoped for the weather to hold out just a little longer for us.  Over the course of the morning Caught some Jacks and Trout and a random catfish from time to time.  Martha Ann saw a number of black drum tailing and did her best to lure them with artificial crab to no avail.  Neither were the reds going after spoons. 

Martha Ann got an up-close and personal visit from a few dolphins that were taking advantage of the calm waters and abundant baitfish.  Maybe they're the reason not many fish were caught on a line and hook!  They really were everywhere you turned and a dolphin show comes a close second to catching fish.  Dolphin Show video will be posted to the Nature Coast Lady Anglers Facebook page.

By 12:00 (high tide) another rainstorm chased everyone off the water.  Kayaks and gear were loaded back up and a stop at the Shrimp Landing for crab-cake burgers before the drive back home.  It wasn't a stellar day in regards to hooking up with fish but it was still good to get out on the water with friends!