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It's been around a month since I posted about buying a new Native Falcon and had been thinking it's criminal that I've only made one short and uneventful trip in it. Swamped with work, family obligations, and just a general sense of inertia, I kept coming up with reasons not to hit the water. With the surprise announcement late yesterday of a new Federal holiday, I loaded up the boat last night and drove down to Annapolis this morning.
Absolutely gorgeous day, but I am just horribly out of practice. Took me maybe twice as long as usual to unload, rig, and launch. I had replaced the simple taco paddle holder on the Falcon with a similar one that had a security bungee but the bungee broke the second I went to latch it. Once on the water, I immediately wasn't a fan of my new paddle (it grew on me). Then I noticed that I did a poor job installing the new paddle holder, as one screw had already slipped through the hole, making it unusable and meaning I had to secure my paddle under the bungee of the main hatch. But I forgot my new paddle had a slot for lure retrieval and it kept getting hooked in the bungee. Simple enough solution - just bungee the other end of the paddle. But since I've spent years storing the paddle on the right side of the boat, muscle memory must have screwed me up a dozen times. And my casting was just awful. Spots between fallen branches I could hit easily last fall turned into snag city. I even accidentally casted on top of a dock twice.
But still...
All it takes is the first fish of the year to remind me why I love being out on the kayak. A white perch that was so fat I actually pulled out my hawg trough - almost 11". I fished for 3.5 hours - all in the back parts of the creek - and the first one was easily the biggest all day, but still had fun catching maybe 8-10 more at various spots on a mix of spinners and gulps. I was happy to watch a gorgeous osprey who let me know that I better not fish too close to her nest and also spotted a beaver and a few snakes swimming by the shore line. So even with the frustrations, it didn't take long to realize that fishing still beats the hell out of working or sitting at home. Now I just need to get out more to get my routine back down.
Absolutely gorgeous day, but I am just horribly out of practice. Took me maybe twice as long as usual to unload, rig, and launch. I had replaced the simple taco paddle holder on the Falcon with a similar one that had a security bungee but the bungee broke the second I went to latch it. Once on the water, I immediately wasn't a fan of my new paddle (it grew on me). Then I noticed that I did a poor job installing the new paddle holder, as one screw had already slipped through the hole, making it unusable and meaning I had to secure my paddle under the bungee of the main hatch. But I forgot my new paddle had a slot for lure retrieval and it kept getting hooked in the bungee. Simple enough solution - just bungee the other end of the paddle. But since I've spent years storing the paddle on the right side of the boat, muscle memory must have screwed me up a dozen times. And my casting was just awful. Spots between fallen branches I could hit easily last fall turned into snag city. I even accidentally casted on top of a dock twice.
But still...
All it takes is the first fish of the year to remind me why I love being out on the kayak. A white perch that was so fat I actually pulled out my hawg trough - almost 11". I fished for 3.5 hours - all in the back parts of the creek - and the first one was easily the biggest all day, but still had fun catching maybe 8-10 more at various spots on a mix of spinners and gulps. I was happy to watch a gorgeous osprey who let me know that I better not fish too close to her nest and also spotted a beaver and a few snakes swimming by the shore line. So even with the frustrations, it didn't take long to realize that fishing still beats the hell out of working or sitting at home. Now I just need to get out more to get my routine back down.
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