Despite putting in a fair amount of time paddling a kayak and fishing from one, something always seems to bite me when I least expect it.
This weekend, fishing out of Glen Arbor, I managed to turn my boat nearly over; once during launching, and another time landing in heavy surf.
Thinking I had everything tied down or otherwise secured, I seemed ready to launch. Pushing the boat into shallow water, I moved to one side of the yak and started to sit sideways to begin entry.
With too much weight on one side, over the boat went. Things I had forgot to secure began floating on the water.
Rods came out of the holders and so did a couple tackle trays. Embarrassed, I collected all my equipment, stored it again and this time made a successful launch.
Later that day, returning to shore, I headed into the beach along with a couple other boats. The surf was up so it was important to have things out of the cockpit, stored and secured to the boat.
Going through surf was not new to me. Even landing in rough conditions wasn't much of a factor. But getting out of the yak proved to be a challenge. Swinging my feet over one side, I started to stand up and over the boat went.
Tackle, rods, glass case, drink bottle; you name it and in the water it went. Since I was out of the boat I began retrieving equipment from the surf.
Momentarily forgetting my boat, the surf caught it and began taking it back out into deeper water. Fortunately, several of my buddies arrived and helped with the boat and stray equipment.
Others in our group had similar adventures over the course of the weekend. The moral is no matter how experienced you are, there are still some surprises awaiting those that aren't expecting it.
For more info on kayak fishing visit www.kayakfishthegreatlakes.com.
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