For those of us in the north it is inevitable.  Winter hits, water turns to ice, and our kayaks are put away to hibernate for the winter along with our souls.  This winter, I would open up the shed to sneak a peek and say hello to my Feelfree Lure and Bending Branches Angler Pro whilst they slumbered.  A tear would drip from my eye and instantly freeze.  Head hanging low, I shut and locked the shed before retreating to the warmth of the house. A couple ice fishing trips slightly abated the urge to hit the water.  It at least gave me an opportunity to wet a line and land some fish.  But the odd weather this winter ranged from dangerously cold to dangerously warm.  This made for tough and/or unsafe ice conditions.  I was unable to get as much time on the "hard water" as I would have liked.  Still, I had to scratch the itch to fish. I was able to accomplish this by stocking up for the upcoming season and the first season for Small Craft Outfitters , my new kayak sales/guide

12v 10,000mah Lithium Battery vs. 12v 4amp SLA Battery One of the most essential kayak accessories is a fish finder.  A fish finder allows you to a lot of knowledge on the water such as depth, water temp, structure, and even fish.  Some fish finders also have GPS features that can help keep you safe on the water.  These units range from 3-10 inches, I'm sure somebody has gone bigger but not that I have seen...yet.  The one trick with these units is on a kayak you need a power source that isn't as big as the yak!  Bass boats have the luxury of being able to hold multiple 12v 30-50 amp batteries.  In a kayak you need a battery that has a lot of power in a small size.  Currently there are two major options for batteries, Sealed lead Acid (SLA) batteries and Lithium batteries. Now before we get into talking about the differences between SLA and lithium batteries, a very common question is what battery do I need?  What I say is to look at what that the amps per hour that par

Two weekends ago was beyond busy...busy with fishing!  With the recent warm weather than we have been having I knew it was time to break the cabin fever.  It also meant I finally get to take my brand spankin new Hobie Pro Angler 14 out.  I was like a kid in a candy store as I spent all week getting it rigged up for its first voyage. Ain't she beautiful! Now that the pre-excitement stage has been set...to the good stuff!  Sunday is when all the adventuring began.  I was meeting quite a few KBL members and other area kayak fisherman at Coffeen Lake, a local power plant lake in Southern-Central IL, for a preseason shootout (aka a friendly competition).  The day began for me around 3:30 a.m.  Even though it's only an hour and a half drive and we were meeting at 6 a.m., I could not sleep any longer! I was so excited to try out my new yak!  I paced as the coffee machine slowly but surely poured my caffeinated jolt that would get me to the boat ramp.  As I made my drive down thei

The sport of fishing as we know it continues to grow exponentially.  Fly fishing, bank fishing, float tubes, jon boats, kayaks, canoes, bass boats, paddle boats, arm floaties, pontoons, mom and dad's speed boat, decked-out bass boats, etc.  As the vessels and technologies of each advance, we see the sport continually evolving.  Beyond the type of vessel/method you use, our sport has evolved even further.  We have tournament fishing, leisure fishing, fishing-when-the-wife/husband-lets-me, guiding, social media fishing.  Tournament fishing is spreading like wildfire (in a good way) thanks to technology, such as TourneyX . The social media fishing scene also evolves constantly.  Prostaff applications now ask for your YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, blog, website, and related information.  Some choose to use all of these platforms, some focus on one and supplement with another.  I focus on the blog/writing and Facebook, using YouTube and Instagram as an additional tool.  No

Now you probably read that title and thought...only 4?! There are so many more essential items than just 4 and yes I would agree.  A couple that came to your mind was probably fishing gear, snacks, bump board, and the dreaded tournament identifier.  Now I forget those a lot of the time but they don't make my essential 4 list.  To be honest it's more like an essential 10 list but if I had to boil it down to 4, this would be the 4 top items that I would not leave the boat ramp without...side note, this doesn't include the recommended safety precautions (PFD, light when needed, whistle, etc...) those are essential they are mandatory! Now let's get started! 1.  The first essential item on my list is a Sharpie marker.  If you ever see me at the ramp I usually have access to about 3 (pocket, in yak, and in the truck).  They can be used for many different things out on the water!  It is great for last minute additions to your tournament ID and touching up on your bump board.

A beautiful January day in IL. Photo Cred: Jeff Ashmann This past weekend, I managed to sneak out on the water on a gorgeous 61 degree day.  I have no idea how or why it we had a 61 degree day in January, but I wasn't gonna miss my chance to break the yak out.  I met up with a bunch of new friends from Southern IL and we went to a local power plant lake.  The fishing wasn't great, we did manage to catch some fish and I got to fish in shorts so I was a happy camper!  One thing that I pondered while on the water was how do you determine what bait to throw (slow moving baits).  I know everyone has their preferences and confidence baits, but what is the deciding factor when fishing a new lake?  Is it the water clarity? Type of cover? Presence of forage?  In my opinion that is A LOT to take into account when you are on the water, especially when you have a limited amount of time.  Now let me preface, most will start with a reaction type bait to find fish, which I did but I coul

It is inevitable in the Great White North.  The scorching, humid, summer is followed by the blazing colors of fall, followed by the blistering winter.  Said winter makes it difficult to kayak with ice thick enough to drive large vehicles on (though I have seen people attempt it).  Thus, we kayak fisherman take this lemon and make lemon vodka.  We bust out the shanties and ice poles, fill our flasks with vodka, and fill our ice-free coolers with beer (to keep it from freezing since it is so cold), and head out on the "hard water". Hard water is a beast of its own.  Specific rods, reels, lures, bait, electronics, and augers to get you a hole through which you wet your line and (hopefully) retrieve some fish. In this area, others had been out sooner.  Some die-hards will go out on questionable ice, crawling across with plywood, tied to their buddies with a long rope.  Yes, I've kayaked in my fair share of conditions others wouldn't consider.  But, for me, ice is too un