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[Dutch Uncle]

I kayak all the time as well, I'm in Calif so do lakes, small rivers & coastal sloughs & bays......

What part of California? I was out there in the early 80s in the Marine Corps (MCAS Tustin). I didn't fish except on the ocean and didn't do that very much, but the mountains are gorgeous.

What kind of kayak do you have?

My current kayak trailer project will be something like this:
View attachment 14591

 

[Bill]

What part of California? I was out there in the early 80s in the Marine Corps (MCAS Tustin). I didn't fish except on the ocean and didn't do that very much, but the mountains are gorgeous.

What kind of kayak do you have?

My current kayak trailer project will be something like this:
View attachment 14590

I am south of Sacramento, on the edge of the delta...

 

[Bill]

I have three kayaks, two shorter & one longer for distance & generally just carry them instead of using a little cart-part of the experience..

Yours is prob to heavy for that but I see a lot more of those out there now, & I like that some of them have a paddle so you can use your feet as well..

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I have three kayaks, two shorter & one longer for distance & generally just carry them instead of using a little cart-part of the experience..

Yours is prob to heavy for that but I see a lot more of those out there now, & I like that some of them have a paddle so you can use your feet as well..

Surprisingly, mine's only 56 pounds. Of course all the gear I carry is another 50 or so. https://oceankayak.johnsonoutdoors.com/fishing/solo-fishing/prowler-13-angler?id=10576

That said, I do have a portable kayak carrier cart which folds up and stores aboard the kayak: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072JXPQ1R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also made a gear crate from two "milk crates" as shown here:

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

Ouch on the anchor incident. I like the open top kayak even though they are wetter. As the saying goes, "Easier to fall out of, but easier to get into". For cold weather, I have a shorty wetsuit. In hot weather, I'll take a dip to cool off.

View attachment 14589

I'm west of Richardson and in a rural area north of Fort Worth. It used to be so rural I could walk outside naked, pee on the flowers and go pick up my newspaper, but now it's grown enough that I'd piss off the neighbors even though all of us have 2-5 acres.

My wife is on a "neighborhood" Facebook page. Last summer I was in my backyard shooting a .22 and .38 pistol into a metal target box. The next day someone posted on the FB page "Who was shooting about 5PM last night???" My wife knew, of course, but didn't say anything. Someone else posted "Welcome to Texas!"

LOL @ shooting. You sure can't do that in most suburban areas anymore! Like your selfie, you look like a nice young man.

We have the sea kayaks for large bodies of water. (We live near the shore of Lake Superior near Marquette.) We've kayaked from Alaska (PWS and Eklutna) to the great lakes to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. And inland lakes and small rivers as well. The spray skirts let you be out in waves that might swamp an open top, which is a huge amount of terrifying fun. lol

This was in Sitka a few years back.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

LOL @ shooting. You sure can't do that in most suburban areas anymore! Like your selfie, you look like a nice young man.

We have the sea kayaks for large bodies of water. (We live near the shore of Lake Superior near Marquette.) We've kayaked from Alaska (PWS and Eklutna) to the great lakes to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. And inland lakes and small rivers as well. The spray skirts let you be out in waves that might swamp an open top, which is a huge amount of terrifying fun. lol

This was in Sitka a few years back.

"Young" is relative: I turned 64 this year.

I'm only on lakes and usually go up a tributary to avoid the idiots in speed boats.

Gorgeous picture!

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

"Young" is relative: I turned 64 this year.

I'm only on lakes and usually go up a tributary to avoid the idiots in speed boats.

Gorgeous picture!

You don't look 64! Must be all that fresh air and clean living, eh? lol

I know what you mean about the speed boats. We avoided lakes that allowed motorized craft when we lived in Missouri. The rivers weren't too bad; for the most part ppl didn't speed too much because of all the floating debris. Do you guys have infestations of Asian carp down there? They are horrible in the Midwest. Motorized craft and sometimes even your kayak bumping into some debris would scare them into leaping out of the water. We got hit several times with the pests.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

You don't look 64! Must be all that fresh air and clean living, eh? lol

I know what you mean about the speed boats. We avoided lakes that allowed motorized craft when we lived in Missouri. The rivers weren't too bad; for the most part ppl didn't speed too much because of all the floating debris. Do you guys have infestations of Asian carp down there? They are horrible in the Midwest. Motorized craft and sometimes even your kayak bumping into some debris would scare them into leaping out of the water. We got hit several times with the pests.

Thanks!

I don't recall much new about Asian Carp here, but know they, among other invasive species, are a major problem.

Of course, even as far north as I am in Texas, sometimes a "log" is a gator. They're rare around here, but have been known to show up. I saw a lot when I lived in Florida. Most were under 5 feet long and skedaddled quickly away from me.

 

[Phantasmal]

Ouch on the anchor incident. I like the open top kayak even though they are wetter. As the saying goes, "Easier to fall out of, but easier to get into". For cold weather, I have a shorty wetsuit. In hot weather, I'll take a dip to cool off.

View attachment 14589

I'm west of Richardson and in a rural area north of Fort Worth. It used to be so rural I could walk outside naked, pee on the flowers and go pick up my newspaper, but now it's grown enough that I'd piss off the neighbors even though all of us have 2-5 acres.

My wife is on a "neighborhood" Facebook page. Last summer I was in my backyard shooting a .22 and .38 pistol into a metal target box. The next day someone posted on the FB page "Who was shooting about 5PM last night???" My wife knew, of course, but didn't say anything. Someone else posted "Welcome to Texas!"

I’m a Texan, too, although I’ll always be an Alaskan first.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

I’m a Texan, too, although I’ll always be an Alaskan first.

I've only passed through Alaska on the way to Okinawa. My brother was stationed there for 5 years with the Army (he's about to retire). It cost him a wife, but I think he liked Alaska better.

 

[Phantasmal]

I've only passed through Alaska on the way to Okinawa. My brother was stationed there for 5 years with the Army (he's about to retire). It cost him a wife, but I think he liked Alaska better.

Oh, dang, that’s sad. I can see why he likes Alaska better. Where will he retire?

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Oh, dang, that’s sad. I can see why he likes Alaska better. Where will he retire?

He's not sure yet. He's been bouncing back and forth between Ft. Campbell and Ft. Bragg since 2003 with overseas tours interspaced. He was a combat engineer in Alaska then became a CWO Blackhawk pilot. He'll retire wherever there's a decent job, probably Lifeflight-type job. I think he'd like to stay in Kentucky. He's an avid bow hunter and fisherman, mostly hunting. He'll sit in a tree stand for three days covered in camo and deer piss waiting for that "certain" buck. I'm lazier; I'll go to a stand near a feeder with an SKS, carrying a beer and wearing shorts and a t-shirt waiting for a sound of hogs to show up, pick out a couple and then have at it.

I'm similar with kayak fishing; I mostly like the water and the quiet. If I catch a few, fine, if not then nothing to clean.

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

Thanks!

I don't recall much new about Asian Carp here, but know they, among other invasive species, are a major problem.

Of course, even as far north as I am in Texas, sometimes a "log" is a gator. They're rare around here, but have been known to show up. I saw a lot when I lived in Florida. Most were under 5 feet long and skedaddled quickly away from me.

Oh yikes -- I can't even imagine encountering one of those. On the Missouri and Illinois rivers, no matter how hot the day was, we always kept the spray skirts on. Cottonmouths like to hide on tree limbs overhanging water, and drop off onto prey.

 

[Bill]

Surprisingly, mine's only 56 pounds. Of course all the gear I carry is another 50 or so. https://oceankayak.johnsonoutdoors.com/fishing/solo-fishing/prowler-13-angler?id=10576

That said, I do have a portable kayak carrier cart which folds up and stores aboard the kayak: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072JXPQ1R/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I also made a gear crate from two "milk crates" as shown here:

Wow, that is a lot of gear... I don't take much when I go out, don't need to..

I have seen those milk crates many times....

My usual spot has only recently been found by bass fisherman & occasionally we have a small salmon run & the wayward sea lion following up the strippers...

 

[Bill]

LOL @ shooting. You sure can't do that in most suburban areas anymore! Like your selfie, you look like a nice young man.

We have the sea kayaks for large bodies of water. (We live near the shore of Lake Superior near Marquette.) We've kayaked from Alaska (PWS and Eklutna) to the great lakes to the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers. And inland lakes and small rivers as well. The spray skirts let you be out in waves that might swamp an open top, which is a huge amount of terrifying fun. lol

This was in Sitka a few years back.

Beautiful view. Looks like about a 9-10 footer??

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

Beautiful view. Looks like about a 9-10 footer??

It was a rental sea kayak, probably 15-16 ft or so. There are some islands outside of that small boat harbor; we cruised among them for a few hours. It's a beautiful place, that Sitka. It has ginormous slugs though. lol

 

[Bill]

Looks pretty wide then??

We have banana slugs here that size, some are the color of a banana, some are greener.. Surprised it is out by the water?? Is that a lake?? Not salty or brackish?

 

[ThatOwlWoman]

Looks pretty wide then??

We have banana slugs here that size, some are the color of a banana, some are greener.. Surprised it is out by the water?? Is that a lake?? Not salty or brackish?

It was on the sidewalk of our rental, near the gardens. We did see another one that big that was yellow -- must be your banana slug? They're not toxic or anything, are they?

The water in the other photo is the small boat harbor in Sitka Sound, so ocean water.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Oh yikes -- I can't even imagine encountering one of those. On the Missouri and Illinois rivers, no matter how hot the day was, we always kept the spray skirts on. Cottonmouths like to hide on tree limbs overhanging water, and drop off onto prey.

A 3-5 footer is nothing. They'll run unless cornered or attacked. Even up to 10 feet most won't attack an adult although they've been known to take dogs right off an owner's leash or toddlers wading in the water.

Wow, I didn't know cottonmouths climbed trees. Copperheads are the most common around here, but we have our share of water moccasins/cottonmouths and rattlesnakes.

 

[Dutch Uncle]

Wow, that is a lot of gear... I don't take much when I go out, don't need to..

I have seen those milk crates many times....

My usual spot has only recently been found by bass fisherman & occasionally we have a small salmon run & the wayward sea lion following up the strippers...

It's nice to have the option to take as much or as little gear as possible especially if camping. Like you, mostly it's little except for lunch, water and a small tackle box. In my case, also an anchor.

This is my kayak crate:
View attachment 14594View attachment 14595