2016: An Odyssey To Remember

2016. My kayak and I moved into a small town, awaiting to explore what the many lakes and rivers will bring to us. I was new to Midwestern Wisconsin and was unfamiliar with the bodies of water in this area. However, I met many professional anglers that introduced me to many lakes and rivers as well as what techniques to use in different seasons. I became more aware of the bass fishing pattern from spawning season to feeding season, which made fishing for them easier as to use jigs, topwater, or chase-bait.

The start of the fishing season began early for me in in the beginning of March. Because bass season hasn’t opened yet and I was eager to fish, I headed to a local dam to see what was out there. Surprisingly, I caught a few brooke trout off a crank bait. A couple weeks after this and I started the kayak season with a great kayak angler, Tyler Thiede, as we went after crappies on a local lakes with other eager fishermen. As bass season approached, I began to plan out what I wanted to do for the rest of the season while I was in this small town; granted, I was fortunate enough to be surrounded by multiple bodies of water in all directions of where I was living within a 30-min radius. My first official kayak trip was on a local river that extended to approximately 5 miles. We, Tyler, another fishing buddy, and I, didn’t have enough luck and I ended up losing a rod that I have just purchased a month ago. Although this was a rough start to the fishing season, I stayed optimistic and continued heading out every weekend as often as I could.

Although I was a full-time student and part-time employee finishing college, I did not stop nor hesitated to stop doing what I was most passionate about: kayak fishing. As I promised myself, I went out almost every weekend to enjoy the outdoor as well as catch some bass or pikes. Some of the main highlights that I found achieving was self-teaching myself to kayak fly fish for bluegills, bass, trout, and lake whitefish. Kayak fly fishing was difficult especially because I had a sit-in kayak, which made giving slack to the fly rod 2x harder. Furthermore, I started to become more connected with social media by starting this blog website as well as starting an Instagram and a Facebook page for cxfishing. As 2017 slowly approached, I hope to be more active on social media for my viewers as well as a side hobby to do on my free time.

Lastly, my 2016 kayak journey ends with a great thank you and acknowledgment to Tyler Thiede, a blogger and an amazing kayak angler whom I was fortunate to meet. Tyler introduced me to many lakes where I’ve had huge success at and offered me great fishing techniques to use when topwater is slow. Tyler has also introduced me to many great opportunities with the fishing community, such as kayak bass tournaments on Tourneyx.com, Ardent Reels (where I’ve been accepted to be a part of Team Ardent), and the Feelfree Lure fishing kayak. 2016 would have been a pretty lonely fishing season had Tyler not been around; his presence have made 2016 kayak fishing a huge success. As 2017 rolls along, I’ve got many plans that I hope to put into action, which involves new gear, more social media activity, and more fishing!

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