Paddling goodbye to my last kayak sunset of 2016 After the terrible bite during our last trip, a group of us kayaking buddies decided to plan one last hoorah for the season.  This time at a lake where we never get skunked (though sometimes that means landing only dink bass and pike).  But we want to end the season on a good note and with slime on our kayaks.  My Home Boss (wife) authorized this last full-day hoorah with the agreement I would put the kayaks away for the season the next day (in her defense I was tournament fishing HARD the last few months).  I offered the barter as my body was battered and tired from the countless hours on the water pushing myself in the KBF tournaments.  The frigid temperatures only made my aches and pains worse, I needed time to recover before ice fishing season. The evening temperatures in Northern Wisconsin has been dropping into the teens and 20s.  With the time change, we opt to meet at 8 AM to mitigate numb finge...

It's that time of year folks!...the holiday season!  For a lot of us kayak fisherman (especially us guys in the Northern United States) it's time to trade in the kayaks for hunting and ice fishing gear.  For me, I already have too many hobbies so that means it's time to spend some quality time with the family and tinker with a thousand different things before spring.  With that tinkering comes the wish list, that is continually being added to every time I open up a catalog or start perusing the web.  Sadly for a fisherman on a budget I am forced to limit myself to the essentials that can pertinently help my fishing experience day in and day out.  While these items might not be the most expensive, they are essential and tremendously improve kayak fishing experiences! Now I know that the whole Christmas list has been done and overdone...  What is different about this is it isn't your average wishlist, don't worry we will have a couple awesome pricey ite...

The first weekend in November.  Typically in Wisconsin the temperatures and hunting seasons are leaving lakes mostly barren.  A few walleye and musky fisherman remain.  Pleasure crafts are winterized, the trees are nearly completely bare, and a few lingering flocks of geese pass overhead headed to warmer climates for the winter.  This year is different, daytime temperatures are in the 60s, record highs.  Overnight temperatures are near or below freezing. This temperature swing makes kayak fishing extra challenging, and dangerous.  Water temperatures continue to drop.  Falling in the water before the air temperatures rise after noon could turn deadly.  The temperature swings also make the bite slow and difficult.  With the nice weather still in the forecast, a group of us decided to plan a trip to a local lake in the Chippewa Valley of Wisconsin. Chang Lor of www.cxfishing.com and his first sunrise on a FeelFree Lure We arrive early a...

Hey all! I would like to apologize for my absence lately!  I recently just returned from the great state of Texas. It's actually what this article is about...just to clarify I didn't catch a PB, I didn't see an armadillo, and I didn't have the best steak of my life...so don't expect any of that! Biggest fish I caught at Lake Fork So many trees! Picture by: popeslanding.com The reason for my visit to Texas was for the Yak4It Tournament of Champions, which I qualified for through the Kayak Bass League Championship.  It was an honor to attend this elite event, and I was very excited to visit Texas for the first time.  More importantly I was going to have the honor to fish one of the best bass lakes in the nation, Lake Fork.  No matter where you live in the nation, I guarantee you have heard of Lake Fork.  It has been at the top bass lakes for years.  It has produced multiple bass over 15lbs and continually produces double digits on a weekly bas...

The end of October.  The beautiful fall colors have dropped from the limbs, now rotting on the forest floor and my gutters.  The water temperatures are below 50, the air temperature in the 30's at night.  I hit one of our favorite lakes with a buddy, hoping to get into some of the 5-6 lb. bass of recent weeks. I was currently holding onto 2nd place with 60.75" for the KBF Regional Challenge (MN, WI, MI).  My fellow FeelFree Kayak Fishing Team member Mike McKinstry was 1.5" ahead of me in first place.  I needed 2 21" tankers or a 22" monster to move ahead (note 3 fish bags over 60" are extremely tough in this region - we had both been blessed with an epic month). The conditions seemed right.  The skies overcast, rain in the forecast, and a light breeze.  But they weren't.  The water temperatures low, bass were not as active.  We found ourselves catching Northern Pike and dink bass.  I had landed a nice 24" Northern Pike with a good ...

I lived in Central Wisconsin for 7 years but never fished it much (I had a first baby, first house, while working full-time, getting certified in my day-job field, and attending college full time).  Kayak fishing is huge in the area.  I've had the privilege to fish with some of the guys in that area, such as The Wisconsin Bass Yaker  and other amazing members of the Wisconsin Kayak Fishing Club .  Having been so busy this summer, heading east to my old stompin' grounds was on my 2016 season bucket list.  The opportunity arose when FeelFree HQ contacted me about helping a customer.  I was happy to, and it gave me an opportunity to fish over there. I reached out to the guys and planned for a 6:30 AM meet at their place (a 4 AM departure required from my house in Western Wisconsin).  The decided to take me to a honey-hole they discovered in the Northwoods (for those of you not familiar with Wisconsin geography, the Northwoods is a place that consi...

This bass season has been one of epic proportions.  When I began kayak fishing, I never imagined the new world it would open up.  I can fish more often, exponentially cheaper, and in areas previously untouchable.  A week prior, my buddy and I had an epic day on the water .  We went back to our fall honey hole in hopes to come close to repeating the events of that historic day in our fishing careers. Fall in Wisconsin is a bittersweet season.  The trees are afire with their natural colors.  Flocks of geese can be seen and heard overhead, heading south to avoid the frigid northern winter.  The bass bite is amazing as they gain weight to store calories for the hard winter.  However, as the temperatures drop, sounds of geese cease, and trees become bare, we are reminded temperatures of -30 degrees Fahrenheit are soon coming.  The bitterness gets worse when the bass bite begins to dwindle. The morning started as a beautiful fall morning. ...

Well guys it's happened...probably THE WORST time of the year! I had to break out the pants for fishing this past week.  After flirting with some questionable weather with shorts and rain pants, I finally had to bite the bullet and I'm not happy about it...on another brighter note FALL FISHING IS HERE or has been here depending on your latitude.  Now I know that everyone has their personal preferences on what they have confidence in throwing during all seasons of the year, this is especially true during the fall.  Hopefully my yakbackwards way of thinking can help you try something that maybe you aren't so keen on throwing in an attempt to put more fish into your small craft! Now one thing I really dislike in articles is vague descriptions of many critical aspects such as what to look for in a spot, water temp, and other critical details.  So I will do my best to include all of these, but if you have more questions feel free to comment below! Now onto the fun stuff...

Hello there everyone! I would like to thank you for going through the several clicks needed to take a look at my first blog post as a part of Small Craft Fisherman.  Needless to say, I am very, very excited and honored to be a new addition to this blog.  I hope I can educate and entertain you through the good, the bad, and the ugly experiences I somehow always manage to have on my kayak. So my recent experience was a first for me.  After getting let outta work early, I found a few hours on my hands.  Now at this point I was beyond fed up with bank fishing and NEEDED to get out on the yak, plus I really wanted to try out my new micro power pole that I had just installed on the Jackson Kilroy LT.  Unfortunately for me, my go to fishing spot is 40 minutes away and with only 5 hours till I had to be at work for my part time job, I was left searching for some new territory.  I thought about braving out onto the dreaded Lake Decatur (seriously if you don't beli...