December 11, 1999

Kayak Fishing

Trip #70

6 miles

Well, I thought I'd go back to the spot with all the fish and try my hand at kayak fishing. A while back I wanted to try, but a small craft advisory beckoned me out into the rough water to play. As I listened to the wind howl last night, I teetered between going fishing and going out to Sandy Point to play in the waves.

After getting up I thought about not going anywhere at all and tried to go back to sleep. But there was no way so I headed off for Leesylvania to fish. I stowed my tackle box inside my cockpit between my feet up by the foot pegs. The wind didn't appear strong, but as I headed out into the water and turned up Neabsco creek, the wind picked up considerably. I had forgotten the beach on the park is pretty protected from northeast winds and makes a good sheltered place to piddle around. The creek on the other hand was pretty windy, and I hugged the shore to take advantage of the natural buffer provided by the high shore.

I paddled the 3 miles up the creek through muddy water (it had rained the day before) and found almost no fish in the 'spot'. But I tried to fish anyhow and managed to catch two small throwbacks.

It was windy and difficult to hold position. I could stow my paddle fairly easily, but in a kayak there are about a billion things a hook can catch on. I was worried mostly about my dry suit, but deck lines and my sprayskirt seemed to be the hook magnets. I also found that in my cockpit between my feet is not the place to stow the tackle box. I had to hoist one leg out of the cockpit to get at my lures, so the box rode between my legs for the ride back.

Deciding to try again another day I headed back towards the park. A tugboat was docking a barge at the marina. I passed a hundred feet or so behind the tug and encountered quite a chop and muddy water. A large paddlewheel boat was docked in the marina.

Off shore of the park I practiced my newly learned Greenland brace several times. I had a headache when I launched this morning, and the cold water was making it worse, so I headed for home.