Kayak fishing clubs.

[Conquesthunter]

Was just wondering if there was any kayak fishing clubs or groups around here in Maryland?

[Conquesthunter]

Thanks for the quick reply, websites would be cool if you don't mind. Sorry, I got rid of FB a few years ago, just got tired of the BS and negativity. Not knocking other people's choices, just not for me.

[Mark]

The Free State Fly Fishers has an active kayak fleet that visits tidal waters and freshwater ponds (locally and distant) as a group frequently.

https://fs-ff.com/

And yes, most of them carry and use conventional gear too. The species they target in these waters are the same warm water fish that we often discuss here. Plus, the techniques they employ transfer nicely between conventional angling and fly fishing.

The club engages speakers at its general meetings from local fishing guides, authors, and conservation experts. And it schedules weekend seminars for much of the year on a variety of angling topics.

So, while it's not specifically a kayak fishing club, there are many kayakers and excellent all-around anglers among its members. I am constantly amazed at the angling talent within the FSFF membership, and I am most appreciative of their willingness to share their expertise.

I suspect that the FSFF is not unique. Given the popularity of kayak angling, I image other fishing clubs have subgroups of kayak anglers.

[Conquesthunter]

Thank you guys for your detailed response , truly appreciate it and will be looking into them. I have spent 75% of my hunting/fishing life going by myself. I am passionate about the outdoors and could never find anyone that committed. With that being said, I do enjoy company and always like to learn things the easy way from those with more experience.Never been in big water with a kayak, so if anyone ever wants some company and to educate an old man on kayaking bigger water let me know. I’m not interested in anyones hotspots, just good times in our great outdoors……..thanks again and safe travels.

[Mark]

Thank you guys for your detailed response , truly appreciate it and will be looking into them. I have spent 75% of my hunting/fishing life going by myself. I am passionate about the outdoors and could never find anyone that committed. With that being said, I do enjoy company and always like to learn things the easy way from those with more experience.Never been in big water with a kayak, so if anyone ever wants some company and to educate an old man on kayaking bigger water let me know. I’m not interested in anyones hotspots, just good times in our great outdoors……..thanks again and safe travels.

I rarely do solo trips in my kayak. I enjoy the company of others, comparing catches, sharing information on an outing, etc. Plus, there is safety on the water in numbers and in staying in touch with your fishing companions either by sight or VHF radio.

One of the best things about kayak fishing is that is frees us from shoreline fishing and allows us to negotiate deeper water that we cannot wade. Better yet, it takes us places where larger boats cannot go – into skinny water, over sandbars or muddy bottoms, through narrow channels into tidal ponds, and into waters choked with vegetation or downed wood. Big fish reside in those shallow waters.

I will occasionally take my kayak into the Chesapeake Bay itself, just the fringes, near the mouths of the Severn, Magothy or Patapsco, for example. I will kayak fish in Whitehall Bay and Eastern Bay. But by far, most of my tidal kayak fishing is done in the mid-Bay’s rivers and creeks. I do not go near the Bay Bridge in my kayak. Too much boat traffic and too many currents and large wakes to deal with for my liking.

And besides that, our fishing is seasonal. I will wait for the larger stripers to visit our creeks in the fall as they fatten up on bunker in preparation for the winter. I don’t need to bounce among the pilings of the Bay Bridge to catch legal sized stripers. They will come to me in the creeks in autumn.

Similarly, tidal pickerels keep me occupied in those same creeks in the winter. Come summer, white perch will take their place as routine catches. In between, channel cats, yellow perch and occasionally, snakeheads hit my lures in those same waters. And on it goes. That’s here in the mid-Bay. Kayak anglers just 60 or 70 miles south as the crow flies enjoy visits from speckled trout and occasionally redfish in their rivers and creeks in addition to stripers and white perch.

So, “big water” to me is not the open Chesapeake. It’s not the Bay Bridge. It’s the more protected waters of our rivers and creeks. They provide excellent habitat for the fish we commonly discuss here. A kayak is a great way to pursue them. I firmly believe that our plastic boats give us advantages accessing fish in those waters over anglers on foot and in motor boats.

If you include rivers and creeks in your definition of big water, I will share time on the water with you. PM me and we’ll see if we can arrange an outing at a mutually convenient time if the mid-Bay is your area of interest.

And finally, there are no hotspots in the above waters. There are areas where fish should be based on current and structure. Any experienced angler can recognize them. But fish have fins which allow them to move and moods that determine if they will bite. They keep us guessing on those counts, which of course, is why each of our catches is so personally rewarding.

[Conquesthunter]

Awesome, we will hook up for sure. I would really be down for a trip or two south……. Speckled trout and redfish are something I would be very interested in. Sheepshead and taug are on my list as well. I wanna get out but this darn wind is horrible, hope it goes away soon.

[Shoobs]

Mark that was such a helpful post. I would be grateful to hook up in the spirit described here as well.

[Mark]

Mark that was such a helpful post. I would be grateful to hook up in the spirit described here as well.

Of course. I would be glad to.

[admwndsr83]

I've tried recently to start up a group on the MeetUp App to get some kayak fishing events together, but I'm too cheap to pay the monthly fee, but I'm always looking for people to get out there with.