Kayaking on the Bow

I have to admit when my friend Darren asked if I was interested in Kayaking on Sunday, I was a little concerned that the weather might be a little shitty to be paddling around on the river in the cold and rain.  Luckily I have faith that anything Darren thinks might be fun, usually turns out that way.  So despite the forecast for being overcast with a chance of rain, I hustled my ass and rounded up all my kayaking gear so I could join him and his wife out on the Bow for a day of fishing and floating down the water.  It turned out to be a pretty nice for being out in my Yak.  We enjoyed +17 despite the fact that it was overcast most of the day.  In fact as we crossed under the bridge at 22x, the sun started blazing.

It's amazing how the look of a river can change so dramatically as the seasons change.  It was really something to be out there and see all the fall colors out in full force.  I really wish we had more red in our trees to offset some of the overwhelming yellow's and oranges that we get, but that's not to say our fall colors lack anything in the beauty department for a lack of red.  It was so nice just to float and take in the scenery around me.  The river did most of the work and carried me along while I was gently bobbing along in my kayak.  For an hour after I got off the river, I still felt the gentle rocking motion of the boat.

Luckily the river was kind to me yesterday and finally rewarded me with a fish!  Yes that's right!  After casting my line out over a thousand times over the summer I finally caught something!  Oh wait.  I caught a fish when I was at Buffalo Lake at the beginning of August but that one didn't put up much of a fight compared to this one.  This trout was a beauty, at least 12 inches and I had it jumping out of the water on the end of my line!  I pulled it right in to the boat and as I was reeling it in, it slipped the hook and swam free.  Ah well, I'm ok with that.  Yesterday was about catch and release anyway.  I wasn't planning on taking him home with me, although I'm sure my cats would have loved that! :o)

Now that we're deep into Autumn and I've had my last taste of the water for a while, I'm already eager for next year to come around.  I have a few more modifications I'd like to do to my kayak and then it will be a great recreational fishing craft!  The most important change will be the addition of drain plugs at either end.  I'm tired of the hassle it takes to try and get all the water out of my yak when I come off the river.   This little green fishing kayak of mine has been a great learning experience.  I'm sure at some point I'll upgrade to a newer model and hopefully by then I will have figured out all the features I really enjoy and want in a kayak. ;o)  Till then, I guess I'll have to enjoy my winter hobbies!

Oh and before I let you go, here's a link to a little YouTube montage of all the pics and video I took while I was out on the river!   Enjoy! http://bit.ly/9vsK64