Lessons Learned From 19 Years of Kayak Fishing

C.S. Lewis is the origin of one of my favorite quotes about life: “It’s funny how day by day nothing changes. But when you look back, everything is different.” I’ve been doing a lot of “looking back” recently, having welcomed a son into the world and reached my mid-30s. I have to say, Lewis is spot on. In particular, I’ve been marinating on what I’ve learned over my nearly two-decade kayak fishing journey. 

I began kayak fishing sometime around my sophomore year of high school, roughly 2004. It’s still funny to think that the simple act of grabbing a spinning rod, a box of poppers, and my brother’s rarely used yellow kayak from its home in the barn would end up having ripple effects spanning multiple decades, a dozen states, and countless friendships and lessons learned along the way. That’s been my kayak fishing journey, and while it’s likely an impossible task to record each life lesson that fishing has taught me, my goal here is to offer a few pieces of advice which have served as guidelines along the way. If you’re new to the kayak fishing world, perhaps you will find them worthy; if you’re a salty veteran, maybe we share these threads of thinking and have run parallel paths. Regardless, as the sun begins to rise on a new season of kayak fishing, reflection is always a worthy exercise. With that in mind, here are some lessons I’ve learned in my journey as a kayak fisherman.

Use Your Kayak to Explore

The beauty of kayak fishing is that almost no water is off-limits, and fishing from a kayak allows you to bounce between ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans without doing much more than tying on different baits. I’ve had so many trips that end in the dreaded skunking, but they’re always worth the time spent on the water. Over the years I’ve learned to pick spots based on what piques my interest and sense of adventure, and not necessarily to go where everyone says the bite is hot. Don’t follow a report…make one! 

I think an underrated aspect of kayak fishing exploration is pre-trip planning. If you don’t already make a habit out of this, I’d encourage you to try. It’s a lot of fun! Typically, around Tuesday I’ll begin pondering my weekend trip, picking a target species, perusing wind and weather maps, checking tide charts, guiltily buying a new lure or two; it’s all part of the process. I find that this planning can help me survive the grinding slog of a workweek. It also sets you up to answer an important reflective question: Did you catch fish, or did you learn something? You likely did one, and hopefully both, of those things. So, ponder: Was it the right launch? How was the anticipated wind direction? Were you right to use natural colored baits, or would more contrasting patterns have yielded a better bite? Asking these questions will help you hone in on patterns and habits that inevitably make your trips more successful. Bottom line: don’t get locked into one routine, and keep exploring!

Accessorize Your Kayak... Or Not

Endless customization is one of the most intriguing aspects of kayak fishing. Internet groups are filled with photos of everyone’s rigs, setups, and homemade gadgets ranging from altered kayak carts to PVC rod holders and everything in between. It’s a fun world to dive into, especially if you’re a tinkerer or engineer-minded. Kayaks are a blank slate, and once you start modifying, you’re likely to get sucked into the realm of creating or buying fun new gizmos to add to your kayak. I have greatly enjoyed participating in this process, adding lights, homemade crates, stickers, and seat modifications to my past kayaks. Heck, I even built a kayak trailer and added synthetic turf to it. There’s something to be said about honing in your setup like this, and it engages a part of the brain that fishing itself might not.

As a counterpoint to the addition of gear and accessories, I offer this: every now and then, fish as a minimalist. A bad habit I get into is picturing a fishing trip that only involves all of my gear and a full 8-hour send. I mean, those are a blast! But in recent years, I’ve tried to occasionally change that mindset to avoid the dreaded “paralysis by analysis” feeling of imagining only big sends. It can be overwhelming, and I think over time this thought prevents trips from happening at all. This is especially rough because it stops you from enjoying something that at its core is simplistic. We all want more time on the water, so if the way to make that happen is by using limited time, and downsizing gear, then go for it. Take it even further- time yourself from the moment you begin packing up to the moment your first cast hits the water. You’ll be surprised at how useful an hour or two can be. Sometimes those spur-of-the-moment trips are when the magic happens! At best, a memory is made, at worst, time to breathe and relax was enjoyed.

Kayak for Love, Not For Clout

If you’re like many anglers, you document catches and adventures on a social media page. Admittedly, I love the kayak fishing social media community. There are some people out there doing some pretty awesome stuff from kayaks, and I’ve learned uncountable lessons from engaging with anglers who’ve got more talent in their pinky finger than I do in my whole body. I began my social media page four years ago, strictly to publish fishing pictures where they wouldn’t annoy my friends and family as they had on my personal page. Since then, I’ve been lucky to work and interact with some amazing companies and anglers. As a result, a common direct message I receive on social media is something along the lines of “How do I get sponsorships/pro staff?” My response is always to just keep spending time on the water, having fun, learning, conversing, and challenging yourself to accomplish personal goals. If you do that, some enjoyable partnerships might find their way to you. And if they don’t…who cares right? 

Originally, we all hopped in a kayak because it was intriguing or fun, not to gain followers. That should never change, no matter how long you fish for. Challenge yourself to “find your why.” That is, figure out what kayak fishing gives you, and hold on tight. Whether it’s dodging zipping dragonflies while gliding through a field of lilies in search of largemouth, navigating tannic backwaters with a popping cork on the hunt for redfish, or battling rolling swells in the salt as you pursue feisty stripers, above all else, do it for joy and a sense of adventure. 

Become Part of the Kayak Fishing Community

Kayak fishing is a niche hobby. It’s not soccer, painting, cycling, pickup basketball, or any of the other myriad options out there for personal entertainment. Due to the specialization of the hobby, those that are heavily into it are also very passionate. This passion has allowed a supportive, unique community to flourish, and if you haven’t tapped into it yet, you’re missing out. 

I’ll never forget going to my first kayak fishing meetup. It was on the southern Chesapeake Bay, organized by a popular Maryland-based kayak fishing messaging board. There were guys there ranging in age from 20 to 72! I was blown away, and the comradery and laughs that we enjoyed that day solidified for me that, while I am by nature a solo angler, there is always value in breaking out of one’s comfort zone. Now that kayak fishing is gaining national recognition on the tournament level, local and regional meetups and social media groups are sprouting like dandelions in April. I love it! Joining a local kayak fishing group can provide information on new launch locations, tactics for your regional waters, used gear at a discount, and best of all, a group of new friends to go on adventures with. Take a look and see what you find!

Overall, the kayak fishing community is a special one. The love of this hobby transcends politics, age, income, and gender. It’s an adventure in its purest form. With that in mind, the final but most important lesson I’ve learned from this sport is to be grateful for every second you spend on the water. If you kayak fish, you know: there’s just something special about this sport. So soak it up, have fun, make friends, and catch a fish or two along the way.