Paddle & Rod

Discovering the beauty of an urban stream

2011-10-25T07:23:00.000-07:00

As if we don't paddle upstream enough every day, last Saturday, I decided to paddle against the current on the Wolf River in Memphis. The reasons were many. Anything to keep from having to shuttle, first of all. Second, I needed the exercise. And, third, I didn't have all day. That's what it takes to do a proper run on the Ghost River portion--a large investment of time and the logistical planning of shuttling cars. So, my wife and I put in at the Walnut Grove bridge at Shelby Farms where a very nice ramp, sadly, has been completely overtaken by deep, shifting dunes of sand.

The traffic overhead was steady and noisy. But the river beckoned with its primordial whisper. We found the current stiff but not overwhelming, and we began to make headway against it. To our immediate dismay, there was a lot of shoaling in this section, out in the middle. The lower water levels that come with the Fall season didn't help either. But we picked our way through the deepest parts, usually near shore, and once we passed under the Greenway footbridge, shoaling was no longer a problem.

The going was slow. Paddling this way isn't about covering great distances. It is about paddling until you are tired, then pulling up on one of the big sandy beaches and having lunch. We weren't going far, but we were a world away, surrounded by green water and a dense line of trees on either side.

At first we could hear the traffic on Humphrey's Blvd., but soon that fell away as the river hooked to the left. In its place we heard the warning cry of a hawk perched on a branch above us and the almost motorized call of a kingfisher getting ready to dive. We saw a pair of mallards keeping to themselves and a large pileated woodpecker flying in the blue shadows of the trees, it's white wing band flashing. And just before my wife could mutiny (the beatings will continue until morale improves), we turned about and floated effortlessly back down stream, the reward for our toil. It was beautiful. And it required no planning except to make a quick lunch, no shuttling, and no big commitment of time. In all, we were probably gone from the house about three hours. And that is the real beauty of an urban stream.

FLOATING THE BLACKWATER RIVER

2011-07-04T09:06:00.000-07:00

White sands and clear, clean waters make The Blackwater River in Northwest Florida a real canoeing and kayaking treat.

By Randy Parker

The water is stained by the tannin from decaying vegetation. In the shallows it takes on a tea color. In the deeper holes and where the current has carved channels beneath the overhanging branches of oak, tupelo and laurel, the river turns almost black. These shades contrast with the dazzling white Florida sandbars that jut out at every bend and give people perfect places to picnic and swim. Make no mistake, paddling is great here but swimming is the main attraction. You can find a deep place where you can submerge yourself up to your neck, or you can just sit on the sand bottom in the perfectly clear shallows, lie back with your feet floating in front of you, and let the 2 to 3 mile per hour current massage your body like a Jacuzzi®.

This is the Blackwater River, which get its name from the Choctaw. They called it oka-lusa or water black. It is one of the purest sand-bottomed rivers in the country, and it's a big draw for locals and vistors alike, especially within the Blackwater River State Park.

We rented our kayaks from Blackwater Canoe Rental and began our journey about 11 miles upstream from the park. That's the "long trip." Most people seem to take the four-mile "short trip," more interested in finding just the right swimming beach than covering territory. So once we put in, we found ourselves quite alone. We heard only the sounds of our own paddles, the trickle of rushing water through downed brush, and the birds of the surrounding forest, including turkey.

It was primitive and idyllic except for the glinting of discarded aluminum cans here and there along our journey. Why people leave their trash behind, especially in such a pristine natural environment, is a mystery to me.

We visited in late June. It was hot. But the answer was always right there, the cold river water. We could stop for a dip or merely dip our hats and cool our heads. Bugs were a minimal inconvenience, mostly a yellow horsefly of some sort. And we saw one of the largest mosquitoes we had ever seen. We were sure that, after dark, you might not get out alive.

After lunch on a secluded beach, the river became a bit deeper overall and the current seemed to help us less. Paddling became more work as we finally entered the state park. It was a Monday, but the park was loaded with families, canoes, and tubes (tubing is a popular way to float the river). As I paddled by one fisherman, I asked him about the fishing. He said he had good luck with bream and had pulled out some impressive bass over the years from the deep holes.

After carefully navigating through the other boats and the squealing children bouncing in the stream, we came to our take out, which was right by our car. We had only to beach our boats and drive away. We spent 4-5 hours on the river, and it was a great family experience.

Resources

As you can see from the Wikipedia map below, the river is accessible from both Pensacola and Navarre Beaches and not too far from Destin. It makes a great addition to the usual beach vacation. We used Blackwater Canoe Rental, and everything went smoothly. You can also camp along the river (when it's not so hot) or at designated campgrounds. Here are some useful websites about the Blackwater River:

A nice introduction
Wikipedia Entry
Blackwater Canoe Rental
Blackwater River Foundation
Blackwater River State Park

Flooding at Paris Landing TN

2011-05-06T19:22:00.000-07:00

Wanted to check on my sailboat at Paris Landing on the Tennessee River. Had to paddle my kayak to get to it! River is as high as it has ever been. The docks float but they are all they way up to the tops of the poles they ride on.

Light posts in the parking lot

That's a stop sign in the park

Swim up picnic?

Escatawpa river trip

2011-02-17T11:02:00.000-08:00

Here's a link (courtesy of Fox 10 TV) to some paddling and fishing down in Alabama on a blackwater stream near Mobile called the Escatawpa. Jason Smith took a 3 day, 40 mile journey along the river, fishing and encountering wildlife including a beaver. For all the episodes, check out fox10tv.com.

Episode 4

Web exclusive: Escatawpa River trip: fox10tv.com

For more information about the Escatawpa, check out this report on paddling.net

Caught!

2010-10-20T11:23:00.000-07:00

Fish: Redfish

Place: Near Brickyard Bayou, Gulf Breeze FL

Bait: Berkeley Gulp 3" shrimp "Penny"

Boat: Old Wilderness Systems "Pairadise" SOT tandem, not rigged for fishing

We want your photos (preferably with your canoe or kayak in view) stating your name, the species, place, bait and boat. Just hit the "contact" button on the menu bar and send us your photo.

Perception Caster 12.5 Review

2010-10-11T04:42:00.000-07:00

A PROVEN SPORT UTILITY KAYAK

by Randy Parker

I've had my Caster 12.5 for years and have enjoyed using it in a number of different ways: launching it from the beach in Pensacola, kayakfishing for redfish in the shallow flats of Santa Rosa Sound, paddling lakes, and running class I and II rivers, including the Current River in Missouri. The Caster has performed well. And now that it has been retired from Perception's main line and is produced solely for the big box retailers such as Dick's Sporting Goods, the Caster is a very good bargain. Fitted with the right seat (I use a premium high-back Ocean Kayak seat), the Caster can be a very comfortable ride. It paddles well and offers a lot of storage space for fishing or camping. And I have found the quality and durability of the Caster to be outstanding.

Fishing

With rodholders behind the seat, paddle parks that can easily be used to strap down an unused rod, ample room on the back deck including a molded in area for a round bait bucket, and a forward hatch, the Caster is an excellent fishing platform. It's plenty stable for just about anything short of stand-up casting. And because it is a sit-on-top with two smaller hatches in addition to the large forward one, mounting a transducer for a fish finder is relatively simple, if you think such a thing is necessary.

Camping

With some planning and the right gear, you can camp out of the Caster quite easily. I am able to store a small tent, air mattress, mattress pump and other gear in the forward hatch. I stow my clothes and sleeping bag in drybags on the rear deck. I keep non-perishable food and drink in net bags inside the hull, accessed through the 6" hatch directly behind the seat. Everything stays cool below the waterline. Just be sure to secure anything you put inside the hull or it can roll to places you may not be able to reach. You can read more about my camping here. As you'll see, it never hurts to invite a friend with a canoe along.

River Running

I have run some pretty small and tightly twisting rivers in the Caster. Thanks to my optional rudder, I am able to maintain control even through rapids that have other folks spinning sideways to the current. I highly recommend the Caster with rudder for Class I and II rivers because it offers just the right mix of maneuverability, stability and storage space. For a day trip, there's plenty of room for an ice chest, your jacket, GPS, map, tackle box, lunch, etc. Best of all, you can't swamp the Caster.

Staying Dry

On calm waters, with the scuppers plugged, the Caster is plenty dry. However in open, choppy waters, the low bow tends to allow water over it. Nothing serious. You might get a case of wetbutt, especially if you allow yourself to get sideways to a whitecap. In my Caster there is no drain in the seat area, itself. The low bow and lack of a seat drain are really my only complaints about the Caster, but neither should stop you from buying one. Originally retailing for around $800, the list price for the Angler model at Dick's is just $599 (Sometimes it's on sale with free shipping). So you might get damp but you won't get soaked. The non-angler model would be even cheaper, if it's still available, and recessed rod holders are easily added. It's one of the best yak values around.

How does it compare to the Search 13?

I would love to see how it's replacement in the Perception line-up, the Search 13, compares. Got one? Review it here. Just submit your review to wordnut@bellsouth.net, and I'll post it.

Perception Caster 12.5

• Dimensions: W 29.75" x L 12'6" x H 13"
• Weight: 58 lbs
• Weight Capacity: 400 lbs

PADDLING REELFOOT LAKE

2010-07-06T12:38:00.000-07:00

Picture Perfect

By Lily Greenleaf

The Grassy Island Unit of the Reelfoot Lake National Wildlife Refuge presents the perfect opportunity for paddlers to stretch their muscles in open water, needle through great stands of bald cypress, fish some of the best freshwater habitat in the country, and watch birds of all kinds, from ospreys and herons to northern flickers and yellow billed cuckoos. Even the redwing blackbird seems just a bit exotic here, flitting among the great yellow blooming water lilies. The duckweed, the minuscule lily pad-like floating plants that look like moss or algae in the picture, was fun to paddle through. It gave the place a primordial feeling, like we were paddling back in time.

Here are a few photos of a recent excursion in this unique Northwest Tennessee lake.

For more information about paddling this area check out a fellow Midsouth paddler's Midsouth Canoe and Kayak Guide .

Paddling the Berkeley Blueways

2010-05-26T08:26:00.000-07:00

Follow the Carolina Gypsy Paddlers through pristine trails

Thanks to Carolina Gypsy Paddler Archie Thompson for bringing this great paddling opportunity to our attention. (Photo: Gypsy Paddler on the Lower Wadboo).

The Berkeley County Blueways paddling trail system in South Carolina identifies over 175 miles of total water course from 23 trails and is a result of the vision and efforts of many individuals and organizations working in partnership. The Carolina Gypsy Paddlers assisted in the survey and brought to light the value that a paddling trail program would contribute to the area's recreational opportunities.

History's Natural Highways

Our rivers and waterways are history's natural highways. Before there were interstates or even dirt roads, our founders traveled them and moved produce and trade goods by canoe and pole boats. Just a short paddling trip can for all practical purposes create an experience much like those experienced by our forefathers. You can quickly whisk yourself away from the hustle and bustle of today's busy and complicated lifestyles to a much simpler time. A time often referred to as " the good old days " can be relived and shared with your family and friends. Berkeley County has an abundance of waters suitable for canoeing and kayaking that can provide wonderful back to nature experiences for the entire family. (photo: Al Kennedy on the Santee Canal)

Here is an overview of all the adventures you have to choose from:

Lake Moutrie

Lake Moultrie comprises 60,400 acres of prime warm water habitat in the western portion of Berkeley County with 116 miles of irregular shoreline. It is a man made impoundment completed in 1942 by the South Carolina Public Service Authority now known as Santee Cooper. Named after revolutionary war hero General William Moultrie, there are presently 16 boat launching facilities encircling the lake.

North Moultrie:

Santee Canal - 22 miles - Designed by competent engineers of the day including General George Washington, the Canal served as a primary system for transporting goods from midland South Carolina to Charleston. Today there remains a beautiful two and a half mile section of the canal that can be accessed by canoe or kayak. Bordered by moss laden cypress trees, it appears uniformly about 20 yards in width and maintains a depth of 4 to 5 feet. --Santee Canal Details (photo: Al Kennedy kayaks through duck weed.)

Sandy Beach Wildlife Refuge - While the back bay area of Sandy Beach offers a very pretty section for exploration, the front beach area provides for primitive camping as well as a good swimming beach and access to the wildlife viewing trails. --Sandy Beach Wildlife Refuge Details

Russellville Flats - This area varies from sparse cypress swamp with several types of flowering water lilies and plant life to heavily forested high ground. Many species of wading birds as well as alligators, whitetail deer and numerous species of small game and songbirds inhabit the area. For the paddling fisherman, this area offers some of the best bluegill and red eared sunfish (shell cracker) fishing to be found anywhere. --Russellville Flats Details

East Moultrie:

The "Jungle" - An enclosed tupelo swamp presenting an appearance much like the famed Okefenokee Swamp of Georgia, but on a smaller scale, offers a few hours to a full day of pleasant diversion for paddling with little chance of losing ones way. Fragrant water lilies in season and lotus plants as well as various grasses provide excellent habitat for summer ducks and numerous wading birds. --The "Jungle" Details

Dennis's Pasture - is fairly unique in that its density of islands and cypress groves offers good wind protection from most directions. This area can provide a pleasant day of paddling under conditions that would be prohibitive over much of Lake Moultrie. --Dennis's Pasture Details (photo: Archie Thompson in Dennis's Pasture)

Coon Island - an excellent location for primitive camping with a very nice beach front on its southern exposure as well as ample high ground. Excellent fishing for largemouth bass both early and late in the day during the warmer months. --Coon Island Details

The Hatchery:

Also known as Pinopolis Pool consists of 2,254 acres. This is a very popular and productive fishery for bluegills and speckled perch, provides an easily accessed and reasonably well protected area for paddlers. Alligators can be sighted over much of the area as well as a variety of wading birds, songbirds, and small game. --The Hatchery Details

The Duck Pond:

The initial large enclosed bay opens onto a somewhat smaller area of cypress swamp which contains abundant plant life, cypress trees and grasses and is home for numerous wading birds as well as osprey and American alligators. --The Duck Pond Details

Santee River

The Blueway includes 63 miles of the Santee River above major tidal influence and shows little sign of development. The upper section from Wilsons Landing to Highway 52 is among the prettiest waterways in the state. --Santee River Details

Wilson's Landing:

Miles: 25 - Too long for a day trip, but overall a very pleasant trip. There is very little sign of human habitation and wildlife is abundant. --Wilson's Landing Details

Highway 52:

Miles: 12.7 - About a 6 hour leisurely trip, wildlife viewing on this section of river is likely to include eagles, American egrets, and blue herons. A popular fishing area, you may see boats fishing for bluegills, crappie, bass and catfish. --Highway 52 Details

Santee Arrowhead:

Miles: 16.25 - Numerous sand bars and small islands suitable for lunch or rest spots. For the most part, wildlife will consist of numerous wading birds such as the American egret and the blue heron. --Santee Arrowhead Details

Jamestown to McConnels Landing:

Miles: 9.5 - Ranges from about 50 yards in width to over 100 yards in different sections. Much of it is bordered on the right side by the Francis Marion National Forest where primitive camping is permitted. You will commonly see deer, wild turkey, bald eagles, and numerous wading birds. Of particular interest on this trip is Battery Warren, a Confederate fort built to protect the railroad bridge at that location during the Civil War. --Jamestown to McConnels Landing Details

Goose Creek Reservoir

600 acres - While the South end of the reservoir is mostly open marsh lands, the North end of the impoundment has a goodly amount of high ground and housing. You will see many wading birds as well as small alligators throughout and above the landing on the eastern shore you will come to an area of small trees that provide nesting for a large rookery of snowy egrets and white ibis in season. --Goose Creek Reservoir Details

Wadboo Creek

Upper Wadboo Creek:

Challenging, particularly during periods of low water when it may become necessary to portage obstructions, but well worth the effort. This lovely cypress swamp is much as it was over two centuries ago when Francis Marion and his brigade of men frequented the area. Under the stewardship of Santee Cooper this corridor has been placed in a conservation trust to preserve its pristine beauty. --Upper Wadboo Creek Details

Lower Wadboo Creek:

Generally of a swampy nature, with much cypress and some tupelo growth evident. Most common wildlife seen on this section of Wadboo Creek will be small alligators, osprey, and numerous egrets and great blue herons. About a half mile below the Highway 402 bridge, on the left bank you will see an access stream back into a lovely small cypress swamp, much of it is shaded by heavy canopy. A bit of exploration is worth while. Good fishing includes redbreast and large bluegills. --Lower Wadboo Creek Details

Wambaw Creek

Many of the cypress trees along the banks are quite large and were there when Brigadier General Francis Marion and his Brigade roamed the area terrorizing the entire British Army in South Carolina.

The area is heavily populated with whitetail deer and black bear have been sighted as well as the illusive Carolina panther. A quiet paddler will greatly increase his odds for sighting some of the abundant wildlife in the area. --Wambaw Creek Details

Huger--Quimby Creek

Blackwater tidal creeks at the extreme end of the East Branch Cooper River, both offer excellent pan fish and bass fisheries for the fishermen. The creeks are lined with flowering lilly pads in the warmer months and wildlife consists mostly of wading birds, ducks, osprey and small alligators. --Huger - Quimby Creek Details

Echaw Creek

A small black water creek with tidal influence, contains some of the largest and oldest cypress trees you will see in Berkeley County. Wildlife is abundant in this area and in particular white tailed deer, and wood duck will be spotted frequently. Access also to Battery Warren, a picturesque stop with nice river views from the original earth mounds of the civil war fort as well as plaques which detail the forts history. --Echaw Creek Details

Chicken Creek

A lovely narrow meandering stream of water with lush thickly grown banks. Other than the occasional wood duck nesting boxes that have been placed in the area, it is easy to get the feeling that you are the first to ever lay eyes on this lovely stream. It certainly has not been marred by the hand of man. Alligators were common in the creek as were anhinga’s, the cormorant like fishing birds that frequent much of the low country waters. --Chicken Creek Details

Durham Creek--Back River

Two miles after entering the creek you will come to a well manicured clearing on your left with a floating dock. This is Medway Plantation. It consisted of 12,000 acres of land that passed to Mr. John D'Arssens by decree of the Governor in the 1680's. Portions of the original house exist today, created from bricks made from clay along the Cooper River. Forestation is a mixed bag of pine, cypress, sweet gum, hardwoods, red cedar and river birch. In summer you will see a lot of flowering water lilies and plants. The waterway is home to wood ducks, blue heron, American egrets, and osprey. On the upper reaches you may spot white tailed deer. Small alligators are quite common throughout the Back River section. --Durham Creek - Back River Details

Foster Creek

The banks are restricted access and while you may paddle through the area you are not to go ashore; however, the trip is a pretty one and a better opportunity for viewing and taking pictures of the numerous wading birds and alligators will be hard to find.

Foster Creek is also a popular fishing area and the tidal creek produces some nice catches of largemouth and bluegills. --Foster Creek Details

Old Santee Canal Park

A three mile loop on Biggin Creek, including a portion of the original Santee Canal, presents an excellent opportunity for beginning kayakers to enjoy a pleasant afternoon of paddling.

Rental canoes are provided for a modest fee. The area is forested primarily with cypress trees, has several species of flowering water plants and provides a home for many lovely wading birds. --Old Santee Canal Park Details

Spiers Landing

Numerous islands as well as several miles of inviting shoreline to paddle. One can easily paddle a half day, a full day or spend an overnight on one of the islands without becoming bored or seeing it all.

The cypress shoreline to the South of the landing provides some excellent fishing for bluegills and red eared sunfish. Numerous ospreys will be seen nesting in the area as well as an assortment of wading birds and the occasional alligator sunning on the sandy beaches. --Spiers Landing Details

The Berkeley Blueways Paddling Online Guide

A collection of graphic maps and aerial photographs are now available to guide you on your way, thanks to the staff of the GIS Department of Berkeley County working with the Carolina Gypsy Paddlers, who documented each waterway in the trail with details only a paddler can appreciate. Together, they contain information to help you plan various paddling trips throughout Berkeley County. Go to BurkeleyBlueways.com for more information.

This generous, free, online guide not only includes information and pictures to help you determine where to paddle but strives to maintain anticipation for what may lay around the next bend. This will allow you to dig down and study not only the trail you intend to travel but what lies beyond your field of vision from the banks. Maps are high resolution, resizeable and printable.

South Carolina Law regarding public use of waterways and waterfront property
- visitors take note:

As a canoe or kayak enthusiast in Berkeley County, your rights and privileges as a paddler are protected by the State of South Carolina. This is not true for all states. South Carolina has taken a positive stance to ensure that the waterways of the state will always be available for public use. The state of South Carolina has established law declaring “Navigable Waters” as public trust properties, protected by the State and held in trust for the use of the public. This includes all waters now navigable, or previously navigable, or those that would be rendered navigable by removal of accidental obstructions, by rafts of lumber or timber or by small pleasure or sport fishing boats. If the water will bear a canoe or kayak with paddler at normal water levels, it would be considered Navigable Waters by the intent of this law. In addition, those properties from the normal high water mark to the waters bottom are considered public property. In the case of some rivers such as the Santee River, the state’s ownership of these waters can provide properties for public use, including camping, swimming and fishing below the normal high water mark of the river. Generally these waters will be at their lower stages, providing sufficient areas for camping immediately along the banks during the summer months or any periods of lower water levels. That section of the Santee River from Wilsons Landing to Highway 52 would be considered ideal for an overnight camping trip on the river. Properties along this section of the river are privately owned. At the lower river stages there is more than ample “public properties” along the banks for camping. Keep in mind that you are not authorized to cross private properties to access these areas but you may access them via water craft from public access points on the rivers. As always, ensure you leave your camping area as you find it and respect private properties.

PFD Use:

Children under 12 are REQUIRED to wear their PFD's at all times while paddling or riding in a canoe or kayak! It's the Law!

Emergency phone numbers:

Moncks Corner Medical Center
(843) 761-5400
Roper St. Francis Medical Center
(843) 899-7700
Berkeley County Sheriffs Department
(843) 719-4465

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The Berkeley Blueways Group water-trails website and The Friends Of Berkeley Blueways on Facebook have more information for kayakers wanting to paddle through South Carolina's Berkeley County's beautiful landscapes. They also appreciate donations of used or new kayaks, paddles, and life vest as they are planning to offer ACA approved instruction & trips for children and adults. All donations are tax deductible. Please visit their website for current contact information.

The Wolf River

2010-05-19T17:08:00.000-07:00

Urban Stream of Consciousness

By Randy Parker

At our put-in, near the antebellum town of La Grange, Tennessee, the Wolf River looks more like a ditch than a river, its mud banks studded with exposed tree roots. The swift current, however, quickly takes our party, organized by the Wolf River Conservancy, deep into a hardwood bottomland forest. Catalpas, water oak, Tupelo gum, river birch, and sycamores canopy our watery avenue. Small brown water snakes swim out to meet us and then continue to the opposite shore. Large ones as big around as my arm lie coiled on fallen tree trunks. There are cottonmouths, too, we were told. But, thankfully, we never see one.

The Wolf is a 90-mile long shoestring of a stream that begins in the Holly Springs National Forest of North Mississippi and ends in downtown Memphis at the Mississippi River. While it looks extremely wild here in the upper end, this river is the same one whose lower end was once the dumping ground for dead horses and livestock, tannery waste and human slop in the early days of Memphis, and for industrial effluent, including meat packing waste, termiticides and a whole host of other toxic chemicals, more recently. It is the same river that, back in1960, stunk so bad the city diverted its mouth well north of downtown.

As fellow canoers and kayakers wash into strainers or bottom out on submerged logs, my wife and I pass to the front of the pack. We have our share of troubles too. The narrow Wolf has hairpin turns that make navigating a 14-foot tandem kayak seem like driving a tractor-trailer rig through the tight streets of the French Quarter. We thread our boat through slim passages and then back into broader water. Then we all stop and gather at an ominous sign: Ghost River Canoe Trail Entrance.

We enter the Ghost, the most popular section for paddlers, single file through tall grass. The landscape quickly becomes otherworldly, dark, primordial. Giant bald cypress trees tower around us in what appears to be an endless swamp. There is no longer a river to follow, and only the experience of our leader and some blue markers show us the way. We paddle like mad to coax our boat into impossible turns and between trees barely far enough apart to allow passage. I break down my kayak paddle and just used half so I can get between the trees and navigate the invisible knees just below the surface that constantly redirect our boat like a log flume ride. A shrub of some sort steals the sunglasses off my wife's head.

Finally we see bright sun, and we are spit out of the swamp and into Spirit Lake, a sunny and wider part of the river carpeted with fat green leaves and white blooms.

On this day, I realize what the Wolf River is— not just the muddy, channelized stream snaking through Memphis, but a trip through five distinct ecosystems as beautiful and wild as any. I had already heard that it was important, that it replenishes the aquifer from which Memphis draws its drinking water. I already knew of the work accomplished by an impassioned Wolf River Conservancy, quietly buying land along the shore, waging legal fights, organizing paddling trips and leading hikes to the Wolf’s origin at Baker’s Pond in the national forest. But until I actually came and experienced the river, I knew, perhaps, but I did not understand. And it wasn’t until I learned of this seemingly insignificant river’s history did I come to realize the immense role even small streams play.

This is the same Wolf the Chickasaw Indians fished in, the same river slave plantations plied to bring the harvest into town, the same river to which, as late as the 1940s, public swimming beaches attracted the locals, replete with concessions and bath houses.

This is a river worth preserving and protecting. There are urban streams like the Wolf winding through cities all over the country. Their stories run deep and their surfaces are a reflection of us.

As writers have noted for eons, rivers are like time, always running, passing us by. The Wolf is no exception, At the head of the stream, all is new. Water flows pristine out of the ground. Along the way and especially at its mouth, time collects and forms a delta of history comprised of everything from the ruins of a cotton gin to rusty old bedsprings to yesterday’s fast food wrappers.

What happens in between? Between a river’s origin and its confluence with something much bigger?

That’s where we stand. The occasional paddler, the fisherman, the conservationist, the environmentalist, the private landowner, the farmer, the factory owner, and last but not least, the resident who expects to get clean, good tasting water from his tap. We all stand in the gentle current of the present. The question is, what will we all do while we’re here?

I, for one, am going to paddle the entire Wolf. I know where it goes. But I can only guess where it will take me.

MORE ABOUT THE WOLF

A River runs through us An excellent overview of the river and its growing importance to the region.

Ghost River Rentals A good place to rent a boat.

Put-in information from Wolfriver.org:

The put-in for the Ghost River section in on Yager Drive south of LaGrange, TN. From Hwy. 57, turn south on Main Street at the flashing yellow light. This becomes Yager Dr. Drive one mile to the bridge over the river and look for the boat ramp and parking lot to the right. The take-out is 2 miles down Bateman Rd. at Bateman bridge, south of Hwy 57. Bateman Rd. is 2.5 miles east of the Hwy 57/Hwy 76 junction in Moscow, TN, or 6 miles west of Main St. in LaGrange.

The put-in for the Bateman-Moscow section (another popular section of river) is at the Bateman bridge boat ramp. The take-out is at Feemster bridge, where Hwy 57 crosses the Wolf River west of Moscow.

Popular canoe access points in Shelby County include:

Germantown Pkwy. (enter at Walnut Bend Rd. just north of the bridge), Walnut Grove Rd. (enter at the Shelby Farms soccer field parking lot), Kennedy park (park entrance is on Raleigh-LaGrange Rd. between Austin Peay and Covington Pike, canoe ramp 1 mile into the park), and at the north tip of Mud Island where the Wolf meets the Mississippi River.

Explore the Current River

2009-12-30T10:42:00.000-08:00

Here's a short but sweet view of my kayakcamping trip down the Current River, in the current issue of Sierra magazine.

Harpeth River

2009-06-17T14:49:00.000-07:00

Make a Narrow Escape from Shuttling

By Crystal Waters

The worst thing about paddling a river in your own boats is the shuttle. For those who would like a little break from that, there is the Harpeth River just outside of Nashville. It's a twisty little river cutting through scenic bluffs and flat agriculture. So twisty, in fact, there is a part called the Narrows where the river doubles back on itself, making a loop, and you can take out a mere 200 yards or so of where you put in. The only drawback is that the Narrows is only about 5 miles long, so the journey isn't a particularly long one. But, hey, no shuttle! Just come in one car, park it, and float right back to it.

When I visited in the fall, (we drove from Memphis and back the same day) the Harpeth was as clear as a mountain stream. And just as cold. We paddled the Narrows and got to see where Nineteenth Century industrialist Montgomery Bell constructed a 290-foot tunnel through solid rock to channel water for his iron forge. The water still roars through this tunnel.

In the spring, when my family met up with two other families to camp in Montgomery Bell State Park and float the river, the Harpeth was churned up and running fast due to rain. Think a small river doesn't have real power?
Take a look at this log pile that the Harpeth stacked up against a bridge support.

In fact, the Narrows was closed because of flooding, so we had to do the leg just upstream. At first we were disappointed but soon found that this section has its own delights, including a waterfall. We stopped for lunch at a park that overlooks the river where the women found restrooms.

Depending on what part of the river you paddle, you can see waterfalls, the amazing Bell tunnel, an ancient Indian ceremonial center called Mound Bottom, even a petroglyph. You might also see a rusted out old Ford, some turkey, and plenty of cows. And of course, you can smell the pastures. In all, the Harpeth offers up 150 miles of class I river. It's a relaxing and scenic river with some good fishing. And there are plenty of outfitters, should you want to rent boats, including Foggy Bottom Canoe, Canoe Music City, and Tip-A-Canoe.

Like most rivers, the Harpeth is threatened by agricultural runoff and urban pollution. But there are folks looking after it, and their efforts are making a difference.

Kayak Repair

2009-06-04T07:36:00.000-07:00

What do you do with a punctured kayak? Torch it!

On a recent trip down the Harpeth River near Nashville (story to come), my friends' Twin Otter suffered a major impaling. We think it happened at take out. The hull was punctured at about waterline level near the bow. It was a pretty good cut about an inch and a half long.

We looked into solutions like epoxy, but read that most patches to polyethylene aren't permanent, and they look pretty terrible. So then we got the bright idea to let the boat, in effect, heal itself with the help of a little heat.

"We need a torch of some kind," I murmured. That's when my wife pulled out a chef's torch from a kitchen cabinet, the kind you use to crisp up the top of your creme brulee. "Like this?"

It was perfect. It made a very small, focused flame, easy to control. I got inside the boat with my head up in the bow and heated the area just enough to make the plastic soft but not liquid (this is probably a good place for a "don't try this at home" disclaimer), and then I quickly used a small spackling blade to push the boat's own material over the cut. Next, my friend did the same on the outside. The bottom edge of the wound was pushed in slightly, so the top edge stuck out a bit. He heated both edges and then drug the top edge down over the bottom edge, closing the gash.

The scar is permanent, of course, but so is the repair. And making a bum boat useful again is pretty beautiful to us.

Otter XT Review

2009-05-26T08:15:00.000-07:00

One of the cheapest yaks just might be the Ultimate Microfishing Vessel

By Randy Parker

Imagine what it would be like to literally sit on the surface of the water with your feet in front of you and paddle yourself around. The closest thing in real life is paddling the Otter XT. There's barely any boat there. Yet it can take you on great adventures. This is a review of the venerable Old Town Otter XT as a casual paddling kayak and also as a fishing boat.

First, a warning

The Otter XT by Old Town is modest in every way, minimalist, even. That's why I like it. The standard Otter (sans XT), however, is too minimalist. It has no foot braces or paddle park. In order to paddle correctly, using your legs and torso, you must have foot braces. It is unfathomable to me that Old Town would sell a kayak without them. Also, the smaller the boat, the more necessary a paddle park becomes. You will want one on the Otter. So, if you think you'd like an Otter, make sure you buy the XT. Drilling holes in the side of your boat to add foot braces just isn't something you are going to want to do.

Performance

The Otter XT is fun. Everyone in my family likes to paddle it. It is light and maneuverable and responds to your every movement. Getting it up to speed and maintaining speed requires little effort. Of course, a boat's waterline determines its ultimate speed. A 9' 6" foot boat isn't going to break any speed records, although you may feel like you are flying. A short boat like this won't track very well, either. In other words, when you take a deep stroke on the left side, the nose of the boat turns right. So, every stroke has your boat waddling its way forward. You quickly learn to take quick, shallow strokes to minimize the zigzagging. On the plus side, a short boat like this is perfect for paddling rivers and streams that have tight turns. Also, the short length allows the boat to be transported inside many vans and SUVs. And at 39 lbs, it can be handled easily by just about anybody.

Stability

Like all kayaks of this type, stability under way is very high. It's when you are sitting still that you have to be careful. The bigger and taller you are, the more careful you have to be. I have flipped out of the Otter XT while trying to get out dockside. My teen-aged daughter, on the other hand, has never had a problem.

Fishing on a budget

As you can tell from the photos, my Otter XT has been converted to the Otter B Fishin'. It just might be the ultimate microfishing vessel. I added bungees fore and aft. Perfect for keeping things like my bilge pump and tackle box handy. I also added an Attwood removable rod holder. Fish usually go on the floor between my legs until I can get back to shore and an ice chest. Or you could use a stringer. Total bill for everything, including the boat? About $350. That was a few years ago, and the boat, itself, has gone up a bit. Still, pretty cheap for a fishing platform. One bungee kit from Harmony was enough to do both decks.

Reality check

Okay, so do I prefer my Otter B Fishin' to my Perception Caster 12.5 for fishing? Well, no, not for longer fishing excursions. A boat like the Otter XT is very stable when under way, but, sitting still, it is a bit tippy for someone six feet tall, 175 lbs. This is not a problem if I'm going out for a paddle. However, for fishing, staying centered in the boat is critical, and that takes constant vigilance. I can never fully relax in the Otter. That said, I don't mind using it for fishing in shorter periods of time, say an hour or two. There's something magical about a 40 lb. boat. The idea that something so small and light and portable can take you to where the fish are.

Doing more with less is always appealing to me. Less length, less bulk, less money. That's the Otter XT. Although the MSRP is $339, you can still find it on sale for $299.

For a little more about my experiences with the Otter XT, go here.

	Otter XT
Length	9' 6" / 2.9 m
Width	28.5" / 72.3 cm
Cockpit	19" x 38" / 48.2 x 96.5 cm
Depth	12" / 30.4 cm
Weight	39 lbs / 17.6 kg
Max Load Range	225 - 275 lbs / 102 - 124.7 kg
Suggested Retail	$339.00 US

South end of the Outer Banks is a small boater's paradise

2009-05-18T13:03:00.000-07:00

By Ima Beechnut

I have vacationed on the Outer Banks of North Carolina twice. Both times with extended family. The first time we rented a house at the northern end, around Duck and Corolla. It was very nice, but the area was also very crowded. And everything was focused on the beach. I like the beach. But anytime I am in a maritime environment, I have this persistent urge to be on the water, in a boat, away from shore.

So the next time we met family on this wind-swept crescent, I insisted we stay south, around Avon on Hatteras Island. Why? Because the island is so narrow there, you can walk from the sound to the ocean in just a few minutes. The best of both worlds. There is also a lot less development, thanks to the National Seashore. While the northern end is almost completely developed, with neighborhood after neighborhood of big beach houses, Food Lions, and retail centers, the southern end is still rugged and simple and looks much the way it did 100 years ago.

We rented a house right on the sound, with incredible views in every direction. We could still enjoy the Atlantic beachfront, but we could also sit on the deck and watch the boats go by, marvel as the kite boarders soared, and laugh as the windsurfers got tossed headlong into the drink.

This is a windsports paradise because the wind is almost always blowing and the sound stays shallow for a long way. When you fall off your board, you find yourself in waist-deep water. It makes for a safe place for kids to paddle, too.

And we could paddle. Anytime we wanted. I brought my kayak and we rented some as well. I paddled up and down the beautiful coast and into the inlets where the houses were. I did some fishing but didn't do well in these unfamiliar waters. Another kayak fisherman caught some nice weakfish, though. So, I think if you know what you are doing, this area can be a great place to fish.

Kayak rentals are easy as long as you reserve yours in advance. Just understand that these are used and have been treated unkindly be people who drag them across asphalt. Many have numerous epoxy patches.

When the weather is uncooperative, you can visit Kill Devil Hills and the Wright Brothers National Monument, Hatteras Lighthouse, and, just a short car ferry ride away, the charming town of Ocracoke.

At the end of the day, when you are tired of fighting the ocean waves or visiting historic sites, you can relax back at the house while dinner cooks. You can look west toward the mainland and still see a horizon and watch sunsets you can't find anyplace else. In fact, I am convinced that this is what the Outer Banks is really about. Seeing just how remote you really are under a vast, ever-changing sky, how distant you are from the rest of the country. And from your life back home.

Note: For some great information about key topics in this article, click on its highlighted links.

Is A Tandem Kayak Right For You?

2009-05-11T11:17:00.000-07:00

Double Duty, Double Trouble

By Haywood U. Splashless

They call tandem kayaks "divorce boats" because paddling together in the same boat can test any marriage. However, as long as your spouse is in the forward seat, you won't have any problem. You can make sure she is pulling her weight, and she can't see you slacking off. Perfect. Just tell her you are "ruddering," and, no, that wasn't the sound of a beer opening.

Seriously, tandem kayaking can work pretty well. My wife Leslie and I have enjoyed our Perception Acadia II on many occasions, paddling small lakes around Memphis, navigating the tight turns and unpredictable currents of the upper Wolf River in West Tennessee, even crossing the Intracoastal Waterway along the Florida Gulf Coast. It just takes some teamwork and a little patience.

It also takes a strong back. Tandem kayaks come in all lengths and weights, of course, but, by and large (mostly large), the full-featured polyethylene recreational versions most of us can afford are heavy. Ours is especially so, weighing in at 82 pounds. At 14 feet long, that's a cumbersome load for a guy to get on the roof of the van.

Another consideration is this: once paddlers become somewhat proficient at the sport, they clamor for their own boat. You just don't have the same sort of freedom in a tandem that you do in your own personal kayak. Tandem kayaking is a kind of marriage, remember.

That said, our Acadia is a dreamboat once it's in the water. At 33 inches wide, stability is outstanding. Its wide open cockpit has room for people and gear. There's a removable kid's seat in the middle in case you want to bean your child with your paddle. There's also a hatch in the stern in case you want to hide the evidence. It moves surprisingly well and has good glide for such a wide boat. And because it has a keel configuration at the stern as well as channels along the bottom, it tracks pretty well without a rudder. In waves, there is some flex–unavoidable with such a large cockpit. But the ride stays pretty dry, even in a good chop.

On occasion, I have slid the forward seat to the mid ship position and gone kayak fishing in it. It's a lot like having a canoe or even a small john boat. Plenty of room for your tackle box, ice chest, rods, the works. And, again, the stability is reassuring. I wouldn't want to single hand the Acadia II for long distances, but it's a great fishing boat near the docks.

Since buying the tandem, I have bought a fishing sit-on-top for my solo fishing/camping excursions. We also have an Old Town Otter that our daughter uses. So, I can just about guarantee that if a tandem is your first kayak purchase, others will follow. Don't be tricked into thinking that one boat will do simply because it's a tandem.

Tandems do come in handy. If you have three paddlers and only room on the rack for two kayaks, problem solved. If you want to take a passenger out, young or old, who can't or won't paddle, tandems are the answer.

I often wonder, if I had it to do over again, would I still buy a tandem? There's a wonderful freedom you get paddling solo. You are one with your boat. But there's something special about sharing a boat, too, with a child or grandchild, or perhaps your dog. And when it comes to your spouse, being in the same boat just seems right somehow. Especially when you've been married since 1984. And really, what would you rather be one with, a boat or a spouse?

Feeling the power of your shipmate move you physically through the water can move you in other ways. Relying on each other. Making small decisions together. Passing the camera back and forth. Letting her rest as you propel her along. Feeling the true weight of her being in the world. Seeing up close her reaction to the world around her. Knowing she is right there, safe with you. These are the pluses of tandem paddling. And if she packs a lunch, all the better.

You can find other opinions of the Acadia II and many other kayaks at paddling.net.

ACADIA II
Specifications

Length:	14' 3" / 434 cm
Width:	33.25" / 84 cm
Max Capacity:	650 lbs. / 295 kg
Deck Height:	13.75" / 35 cm
Weight:	82 lbs. / 37 kg
Cockpit Length:	86.75" / 220 cm
Cockpit Width:	24.5" / 62 cm

Heritage Redfish 12 Review

2009-05-04T13:23:00.000-07:00

Let's rename it the "Florida Trifecta 12"

An ad man as well as a fisherman, I always liked the Heritage Redfish ad that showed a close-up of a redfish tailing in shallow water and a headline that read, "Get closer to the ones you love." So I was delighted to be able to borrow a bright orange Heritage Redfish 12 Angler over Easter weekend and take it for spin. Would it live up to its name? Would the Redfish catch redfish?

In the two hour-long fishing jaunts I took in and around the mouth of a certain bayou, which shall go unnamed, I was able to catch not only a redfish but also a nice speckled trout and a flounder–the trifecta, the Florida inshore slam! The redfish, by the way, was as big a 27-incher as I ever caught (see photo above). The other two fish would each fill a plate nicely.

So, was it the kayak? Well, it was certainly a better haul than I usually get. So why not give the boat some credit? Just the name alone probably adds some good karma.

The keys to the catch, though, were:

The water: the tide was in, which often means the fish are too.

The bait: I used Berkley Gulp 3-inch shrimp in "penny" to catch all three fish.

The retrieve: The water in early April is still very chilly, and the fish move slowly. So I used a slow retrieve with some wrist twitches to keep things interesting. I learned about the slow winter retrieve from Eric Holstman's blog. Eric is a fishing guide out of Pensacola who never seems to miss his objective–finding and catching redfish.

The luck: good.

You'd think the most exciting moment would be catching the redfish, but the trout won this category, hands down. Sure, redfish fight better than trout, while they are underwater. Once you get a trout into the boat, though, all bets are off. My trout got out of my hand and flipped all over that boat. I grabbed it, started to dehook it, and lost it again overboard. So I reeled it in a second time and just managed to subdue it as the hook fell out by itself. Whew!

Redfish, in contrast, seem to be pretty much done by the time you get them aboard. No fish strikes or fights better. But as long as you keep a little pressure on them, they can be downright gentlemanly on board.

But, I digress.

The Redfish 12 is very similar to my Perception Caster 12.5 (recently replaced in the Perception line-up by the Search 13). There's a nice bow hatch forward and the standard cargo deck in the back. The model I borrowed didn't have the six-inch hatch on the bridge behind the seat, but I would recommend you getting it. There is an amazing amount of room inside the hull of a sit-on-top, and I use this location on my Caster to store bottles of water and some food when I go kayak camping. Just secure mesh bags to hold your stores so they don't go rolling to places you can't get to.

My Caster has an additional hatch in front of the seat, which is a great place to stow a camera, a snack, etc. The Heritage doesn't have this but there seems to be more flat cockpit floor, which helps in other ways, such as allowing you to keep a fairly large tackle box where it's handy.

The paddling characteristics are pretty good for a fishing platform, and the boat, again, felt very much like my own. I think the bow rode a bit higher, which is good. One of the few complaints I have about the Caster is, the low bow lets chop come right over it.

The only quality problem I saw with the Heritage was that the tracks for the foot pegs were riveted at the ends but not in the middle, so the tracks we're bowed a bit and didn't lie flush against the walls of the cockpit. This didn't cause a problem, but it looked as if there could be undue stress on the rivets over time. Perhaps this was simply a peculiarity of this particular boat.

The real star of the Redfish was the seat–quite simply the most comfortable SOT seat I have ever used. They call it the DVC Seating System. The letters stand for Drains, Vents, and Cushions, and it seemed to do all three. The part that got the highest marks from me, though, was the high, supportive back. If you are looking at the Heritage, which comes with the seat, and something else that doesn't come with a seat, be sure you understand that this seat is probably worth $100 all by itself.

The Heritage Redfish 12 Angler seems to list for about $900 although I found it online for $735. If you want to use this boat for distance paddling, you'll want to add the optional rudder. It'll come in handy for running twisty rivers, too. A rudder is a great aid in navigating the rapids and turns which can so often spin a rudderless boat sideways to the current.

You also have the option of spending less on a non-angler version of the Redfish and simply adding rod holders, yourself. As long as you've got that six inch hatch for access, installing the flush holders is easy using stainless screws and nuts. I did it on my Caster. If you don't have the hatch, you'll need to use rivets. Just be sure you use holders that are sealed at the bottom or seal them yourself with epoxy putty.

Over all, I think the Redfish 12 is a very good choice. And, as I proved, it can live up to its name.

HERITAGE REDFISH 12
Specs
Length: 12' 3" (368cm)
Width: 30" (76cm)
Depth: 12” (30cm)
Kayak Weight: 65 lbs. (29kg)
Cockpit Length: 53” (135cm)
Cockpit Width: 18.5” (47cm)
Bow Hatch Length: 16” (41cm)
Bow Hatch Width: 11.25” (29cm)
Stern Well Length: 33” (84cm)
Stern Well Width: 18” (46cm)
Capacity: 350 lbs. (159kg)

Canoe and Kayak Racing on the Mississippi

2009-05-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

It was raining and about 64 degrees in Downtown Memphis. Not the best weather for a 5 kilometer race down the mighty Mississippi River, but, from what I understand, typical for the Outdoors, Inc. Canoe and Kayak Race. This annual race, billed as the largest in the Southeast United States, attracts more than 500 paddlers from around the world, including some former Olympians, such as USA double Olympic Gold medalist Greg Barton, who once again won top honors in the unlimited racing division.

There are a lot of serious paddlers at this competition, now in its 28th year. But, the great thing about a race like this is, anyone can participate. There are all kinds of categories that take into account boat length and paddler age.

The one thing they don't take into account is your lardbutt quotient. Which meant that my friend Tim and I didn't stand a chance in our tandem kayak (the only category that doesn't have an age bracket!). We are both 47 years old. We don't exercise much. Tim is not a light load, and when he took a quick paddling break, I could feel it at once. The blades of my paddle seemed to shrink to nothing. The rain water collecting in the cockpit didn't help either.

So we wore ourselves out in short order out on that river, in the rain, with the pain creeping into our shoulders. There was the incessant sound of a galley drum on one of the long dragon boats at the head of the pack being pounded in rhythm. It was a bit fast, more like our heartbeats than our paddle strokes.

There were three other tandem kayaks right ahead of us (and a few more way ahead of us). We never overtook the three within striking distance and they never left us behind. We just stayed in the same relative position. A lesson learned: how you start has a lot to do with how you finish.

Our father-and-son buddies, Ben and Will, did much better, placing 7th in their combined age group in the cruising canoe division. They got some trinkets that in any other context would just seem like clutter, but, here, they were the spoils of war on the high seas.

All I know is the Fat Tire beer served at the finish line tasted very good. And regardless of finish, everybody had a great time in the rain. I'll be back next year, and maybe I'll even try going solo if I actually get around to training a little. Being a rec kayaker who likes to fish and camp, I don't have any speedy craft. But I figure there's plenty of room for improvement in the paddler before I ever have to worry about upgrading the boat.

For a bit more about the race, go here.

Before "Deadliest Catch" there was Men's Lives

2009-04-27T08:51:00.000-07:00

Book Review: Men's Lives by Peter Matthiessen

Peter Matthiessen, a multiple National Book Award winner, novelist, and naturalist who is now in his 80s, has written more than 30 books. Men's Lives is one of his quieter books, perhaps overlooked on a shelf that includes The Snow Leopard, In the Spirit of Crazy Horse, and, most recently, Shadow Country. However, I think it is one of his most important. It may be close to 25 years old, but its subject matter is more relevant than ever.

Matthiessen writes of the plight of small time commercial fishermen on the South Fork of Long Island. We meet the men and the families. We learn how to longline and haul-seine with beach trucks and skiffs. We know what it is like to be born into a profession that spans generations. We see first hand how fish populations--and prices--rise and fall like the tide, but mostly fall. We see how the rise of sportfishing and its powerful lobbies brings suffering and loss. And we finally discover, along with the characters in the book, that the biggest threat to the fisheries isn't in the sea at all, but inland; it is the factories and plants that pollute the rivers and streams that empty into the bays.

Matthiessen spent a lot of time with the fishing families, worked full time as a fisherman there, and even had his own boat. As is his style, there are many long passages in the book that are direct quotes from the characters he comes to love. For example:

"Another time there I come into Montauk Seafood with a pretty good load of bass from Gardiners island, and Ted said, 'Where'd you get them fish?' and so I told him; he was fishin the ocean and I was fishin the bay, and I didn't think nothin bout it. But by jesus, that evenin, when I went out there from Bonac Creek, I found Ted on my spot with some of his haul-seine crew, and when I said somethin about it, Ted let me know I never owned the bay. Well, I told him to hell with him, knowin he planned to make his set at sunset; to get those bass, you had to fish the tides. So he makes his set, don't get a single fish, and the next mornin I come in with a thousand pounds. Old Ted had a fit; said I had told him the wrong place to go, said I had lied to him!" Milt laughed. "But most of the time, Cap'n Ted and me, we got on good."

The book is full of compelling and telling stories that showcase the surprising good nature and sense of humor of the men, as well as their fears and sorrows.

Although this book isn't about paddling, it can't help but give us a greater appreciation for our role as riverkeepers and inspire us to help make our waterways cleaner. And if you love all things maritime and fishing in particular, you'll find this book rewarding.

It offers a gritty, human, inspirational, and ultimately sad account of the slow death of one of America's greatest and oldest professions. Even so, it offers a glimmer of hope. If there's one thing about these fishermen, it is that they never really give up hope that next year will be better somehow. Or, at least, that the next time out, their luck will change.

The Current River

2009-04-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

PLAID PURSUITS: Tips for creating an old-fashioned wilderness experience on a National Scenic River

By Randy Parker

We each have our own idea of the ideal wilderness experience. I got mine from a wall calendar I had last year, which featured vintage illustrations from 1940’s outdoor magazines. Each month, there was a different idyllic or humorous view of outdoor life. Rugged men in canoes on afternoon glass, thirst-inducing whitewater roaring past a camp, a fat guy hooking himself with his fly rod–each illustration made me want to be there, to be that guy with the rolled up red plaid sleeves, to live the low-tech life of aluminum bait buckets, wooden paddles, and trout in the frying pan.

These images are the stuff of old magazine illustrations. But they are also a part of our collective imagination and our dreams as outdoorsmen and women. They are what I hope for every time I plan an adventure.

My favorite image in the whole calendar is of three guys at their riverside campsite. This is not the campground so many of us settle for, teeming with people, loud with somebody’s stereo blaring over and over “you got to kiss an angel good morning and love her like the devil when you get back home.” This is a wilderness camp. Yet it is luxurious. It has everything: a fine tent (you can just see the cots inside!), a big pot hanging from stout sticks over a fire, a canoe on the edge of a fast river, and of course three hearty men dressed smartly in khaki and plaid. One is carrying firewood while the other is getting the pan ready for the fire. The third is coming up the bank from the river with a huge trout, just in time for dinner. This is it, I thought. This is what I want to create.

And so I did on the Current River in Southern Missouri with the help of two kindred spirits, my friends Tim and Ben. Here’s what I learned and how you, too, can have an experience right out of a 1948 cover of Outdoor Life.

Tip #1: You can’t have a wilderness experience if you aren’t really in the wild.

Forget the family campground. Similar to the Buffalo in Arkansas, the Current is a National Scenic Riverway, which means almost all the shoreline is parkland, yours to explore and camp on. You can launch your boats on the upper Current, as we did, on a Friday afternoon, knowing that when you are ready to stop and make camp, there will be a wonderful bar or beach waiting for you with nobody else around. There are very few places like that left in the world.

Tip #2: Rednecks are not considered wildlife.

I know there are plenty of folks that live near the Ozark rivers who are resepectful of nature and the other people who are trying to enjoy it. But be warned. You can’t have a wilderness experience on the Current or the Buffalo (or the Spring or any other Ozark river) on a weekend in the summer due to the number of locals who float gunwale to gunwale, guzzling beer and Jell-o shooters and playing their favorite classics from .38 Special and Foghat. You might have a fleeting attraction for the drunken young women who bare their breasts. That is a sort of wildness, I guess. But, no, it’s not a wilderness experience or anything you’d want to bring the family to. And it’s not the sort of calendar picture I was thinking of. Come in the spring or on a weekday or in October, as we did and you’ll fine the solace you are looking for.

Tip #3: Camp out of your boat.

Who knows, those guys in my ideal scene may have had a couple of woodie station wagons just out of frame. But the idea is to keep it real. Once you are on the river, you stay there. No roads, no houses, no civilization, no base camp to get back to. Camping as you float gives you a lot of flexibility and you only have to shuttle once the whole trip. Best of all, you get the feeling that the entirety of the wilderness is your home, your shelter. And if the weather is as perfect as ours was, you begin to question the need for “civilization” at all.

Tip #4: If you are a kayaker, adopt a canoer.

Tim and I, both kayakers, wanted Ben to come along, with or without his canoe. Right after college, he hiked the entire Appalachian Trail. Who wouldn’t want to camp with him? Now in his forties (like the rest of us), even Ben was content with our weekend plans, and we were proud to share them with him. The fact that he had a great 17-foot Wenonah had nothing to do with it. Really. But it sure was nice having a supply barge for an ice chest, a big iron Dutch oven, most anything we wanted, except maybe those cots.

Tip #5: If your camping buddy is using the same tent he carried on the AT 23 years ago, be sure you pitch yours upwind.

Ben’s antique Kelty stunk. We couldn’t believe he could crawl into it and sleep. It was like crawling into the bowels of a cow. In fact, we called it the House of Cheese. There’s something hardcore about an old, vomit-inducing tent, but in my calendar scene, everything smells like pine.

Tim and I both carried cheap “3-man” tents that were small enough to stow on our boats, yet roomy enough for our blow-up mattresses and any gear we didn’t want to get wet with dew. They were closeout priced at only $19.99 each. Tim had used his a few times before and the zipper broke on this excursion. Mine was brand new. So, after two nights, my “lodging” cost was $10 a night. If the tent lasts me three weekends, that’s just $2.50 per night. No doubt, my zipper will break or a pole will snap soon. But that’s fine because I’ll get a fresh, new tent. The moral of this story is, cheap tents never stink.

Tip #6: Spare the rod.

On our trip, the beauty was breathtaking. Trees of red and gold reflected in clear water that raced past sheer cliffs. I could look down in the deep parts and see fish as if I were looking into an aquarium. Tempting to this fisherman, for sure. However, I quickly realized that fishing on a running river is frustrating at best. Two casts and my buddies (who weren’t fishing) had left me behind. Two casts and the current had me in the brush. And if I left my rod in the rod holder, it got hung up in overhanging tree branches. I really didn’t want to be the guy in the calendar who hooked himself. So my advice is to save the fishing for campside. Try to camp near a deep hole with plenty of brush or logs. That’s where the smallmouth are.

Tip #7: Don’t take firewood for granted.

Stinky tent aside, far aside, we were able to set up a camp just as I had envisioned, a real Calendar Camp where we could see the fading light on the water, where Ben caught crawfish from under rocks and fished with them in the rapids, where we were totally by ourselves. It was a calendar moment, minus the big trout. Fortunately, we brought dinner with us. And we found enough wood for a fire. Not always an easy task on such a well used river.
If you don’t like traipsing deep into the woods to find dead and down, bring a folding saw. It’s very hard to find small sticks after a season of heavy camping. We were glad to have Tim’s saw because most of the deadwood we found was ten feet long. Another less calendarific option, if you have a canoe, is to bring some firewood or at least some kindling with you.

Tip #8: There’s plenty of time for sleep in the grave.

Lying in my tent beside the rushing stream in the dark, I couldn’t see much of anything, and my hearing became acute. For the first time, I heard a whole family of coyotes come out of their warm den and into the frosty night, whooping it up, laughing and howling like, well, like summertime locals, at the prospect of another romp in the wind-rustled woods. I heard a barred owl, with a cry not unlike a howling wolf, so loud it sounded as if it were perched right on my tent. I heard the scurrying of a raccoon rummaging through our stuff. I could hear Tim snoring as if he were in the tent with me and not 10 yards away in his own tent. Talk about wild. I wondered how he could go to sleep so fast with all the racket going on. And although I envied him at first, I realized this was exactly what I had come for.

Tip #9: Too many miles spoil the smiles.

Obviously, when you can camp anywhere, your day’s paddle is flexible. At the end of your journey, however, you need to be where you left your shuttle car. The worst thing is to have to hurry. On Friday afternoon, we put in at Cedargrove at about river mile 8. We finished up on Sunday at Round Spring, mile 34.2. That’s just over 26 miles total. This gave us time to stop and see the sights, enjoy lunch and talk to folks we ran into.

On Saturday, for example, we passed a young woman wading in the cold river. I waved. Tim waved. She looked at us with a strange longing. I thought it was because I looked so rugged in my kayak loaded with drybags. Tim and I rounded a bend and looked behind us. No Ben. We waited for a while and still no Ben. Finally, here comes his green canoe with the young lady in the bow! I immediately took a picture so I could show his wife. Turns out she was an a pare from Germany who had walked up the path from the old hospital ruins at Welsh Spring and wanted a ride back down to meet up with her host family, and that was why she was looking so hopefully at me, trying to determine if there was any way of catching a ride.

We explored the ruins of the Welsh Hospital. We paddled straight into Cave Spring where the water looked like the Baths of Virgin Gorda, blue-green and so clear. We hiked back to Pulltite Spring and found an old abandoned cabin awaiting restoration by the park service, and we imagined what it was like to live in such a beautiful place with your own endless supply of clean water.

Saturday night, we camped where someone had camped the night before. There was still some smoldering firewood, which we restarted, imagining that this was a fire from the beginning of time, the eternal flame kept burning night after night, eon after eon, by fire sentinels like ourselves. Even forty-somethings think silly stuff like that out here. That night, I slept like a rock. The next morning, of course, we made sure our fire was out completely. After we loaded the boats, I poured water over it and clouds of white smoke rose up in the cold air, dream-like wisps that we followed downstream.

Tip #10: Don’t give up.

All too often, we imagine what a paddling adventure might be like and we go for it only to be met with two inches of rain, thick clouds of mosquitoes, or even sickness or injury. My last tip, however, is don’t give up. Go to a National Scenic River in the fall, when the weather tends to be dry, the bugs gone, the leaves chromatic, and the river free from crowds, and you’ll increase your chances of having not just a perfect day, but enough calendar moments to last you all year.

Randy Parker is a sailor, kayakfisherman, paddler, poet, and wearer of classic plaid shirts. He works as an advertising writer in Memphis.

Small car, small boat, big fish!

2009-04-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

I first experienced the joys of kayak fishing about five years ago. I took my kids’ little Old Town Otter XT out into the Santa Rosa Sound near my parents’ house in Gulf Breeze, Florida. The Otter, at 9.5 feet, is barely big enough for me. The footrests have to be pushed forward as far as they will go. And I have to be careful not to lean over to look at something in the water. But the Otter is the ultimate in small boat efficiency. You can carry it with one hand. Yet it can carry you to where the fish are. It is like a concise bit of writing, the turn of phrase, the call to action, everything you need in a boat boiled down to a single statement.

That first morning out, I took several shrimp, which had already died in the bucket, and fished them over the grass flats—shallow water where sea grass grows in large areas interspersed with barren bright spots of pure sand. Bam! I caught three redfish just like that.

Here, just inches from the surface of the Sound, I enjoyed a whole new perspective. Much different than I get from the cockpit of my 25-foot sailboat. Different than you can get from just about any other kind of boat. From time to time, I could see the subtle churning of a fish. Baitfish made the surface sizzle in quick bursts, like tiny rain showers. If I saw some commotion beyond my casting range, a few quick strokes of the paddle put me right on the spot. Fish swam by as if I were just one of them. I could actually smell them.

Back at home in Memphis, I decided to turn the Otter into the ultimate micro-fishing vessel. I added deck rigging fore and aft. I bought a folding landing net, which could be held at the ready under the paddle park already on the boat. I invested in a kayak anchor to keep me from drifting. I mounted a receptacle on the foredeck for a removable rod holder. I was ready. I re-christened the Otter the Oughter-B-Fishin. And, as soon as I could swing it, I kissed the family good-bye and headed south once again to Gulf Breeze.

Believe it or not, I was able to transport the boat inside my ’97 CR-V. When I say inside, I don’t mean it stuck out the back window. (That’s how I transport my 14-foot tandem kayak). No, I mean after folding seats this way and that, I was able to coax the little boat all the way in with all the doors and windows closed. No worrying about a rack (the car doesn’t have one), no tie-downs to check, and no wind-noise to suffer through. Another inch of boat length, and it wouldn’t have been possible. Good things come in small packages.

The next morning, back on the Santa Rosa Sound, the sun was just coming up. Across the way I could see the Gulf Islands National Seashore, a stretch of beautiful, undeveloped beach between Pensacola Beach and Navarre Beach, miles of untainted sand and sea oats, water and sky. When the weather whips up, you can hear the Gulf surf from here, but on this day all was quiet.

I made my first cast, a gold spoon, my preferred lure for coastal fishing, in front of what was left of a dock dispersed by Hurricane Ivan. One cast was all it took. I pulled in a 23” spotted sea trout from 18” of water. I know of fishermen who catch tarpon and sharks in their kayaks but, for me, this was a good fish. Good eating, too.

I also caught a 24” redfish in waters well beyond the range of shore-bound anglers. In Florida, the keeper slot for redfish is 18-27 inches. Everything smaller or larger must be released. Getting one within the slot is difficult, especially where so many juveniles hide out in the shallows. Go out to Pensacola Pass, the gulf entrance to Pensacola Bay, and you have the opposite problem. Plenty of big bull reds three feet long, but none in the slot. That’s actually a pretty good problem to have, I suppose, but that’s another story.

By this time, I was really into kayak fishing. I loved the minimalism—the small boat, the extremely short distance I had to paddle (about 100 yards), the shallow water bigger boats couldn't enter, and the low cost. After all, the Otter is one of the least expensive kayaks you can buy. The power is free, too. Dad and I had gone out on many fishing excursions in his Boston Whaler and hadn’t been any more successful.

Of course, the catching is only part of it. There is the cleaning. The throwing of red and yellow streamers to the gulls. The decorating of the dock with the confetti the fish brought with him. A fish always looks smaller dead. Something is lost and given up. Smaller still, once the head is gone. But it's greatness comes back in the eating. Especially if its a redfish.

How could it get any better? Well, you never know unless you try. The one drawback to the Otter is that I had to exert a bit of effort to stay upright while fishing. Sit-in kayaks are very stable underway, but just sitting there, they can be a bit tippy. Especially if you are grown man sitting in what was supposed to be your kids’ kayak.

I soon began shopping for a “real” fishing kayak, the sit-on-top variety with the built-in rod holders, a place for your bait bucket and more stability. On the Internet I found a good deal on a Perception Caster 12.5 with a rudder. In the meantime, I had relinquished the CR-V to my now-driving teenage son and bought a new Mini Cooper. I bought the hardtop with the sunroof, and not the convertible, so I could fit it for a rack. Caster and rack were delivered the same week, and I was ready for another road trip to Gulf Breeze.

I was optimistic, and I knew I had raised the stakes substantially costwise. But kayak fishing had been good to me so far. I loaded the kayak on the Mini (they were just about the same length) and headed down the highway. People smiled and pointed, waved and honked. I was smug. I knew what they were thinking. What an adventurer! Hey, that guy’s got it going on. Can any one person be that much fun?

I had the small car. I had the small boat. But I didn’t get the big fish. Not this time. The seasons were changing. Fall was pouring in and the water was cooling down. More than a year after its visit, there were still reminders of Ivan’s wrath all around me. I saw clean-swept concrete foundations with million-dollar views and dock pilings leaning like wading fishermen in the water. A few storm-demolished houses that no one had bothered to haul away sat inside-out on the shore. This part of Florida took a beating from both Ivan and Dennis. On the upside, however, inshore fishing had never been better.

That is, until this trip. The weather was changing my big fish plans. The fish, if they were there, were in a funk. I caught some redfish, but they were all too small to be keepers. Time ran out, and I had to return to the real world in Memphis.

No big fish. Unless you count me. I’m the one who’s hooked on finding the big fun in small things, hooked on kayak fishing. I’m the one whose fin-like paddles cut through the water as I look for food. I’m the one flipping around on the land, desperately doing everything I can to get back to the water.