Countdown to Men's Trip

The countdown has started! I'm 3 weeks away from a men's fishing trip down in Corpus Christi, TX.  I can't wait!! I haven't gone bay fishing in a while now. I will definitely be taking the kayak on this trip.  There will be several other kayaks in our group so I'm sure we'll all get some good kayak fishing in.  We are staying right on the water so I can easily launch whenever I want, I'm pretty excited about that.  I want to dedicate a whole day or two on the kayak rather than going out in the bay boats the whole time. I rarely go fishing in Corpus so I would love to make the best of it; although I'm sure it will be 100°! I want to put a milk crate behind the seat, find a tiny cooler (My Yeti 65 would sink the boat!) and a new mount for the GoPro then I think I would be pretty much set.  Of course there are a ton of accessories I want to add eventually (like a trolling motor :p), but for now I think I'll be ok with the basics. I just hope my small rods hold up when I catch the big one.  So what do you have on your kayak?

Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 Smartwatch

As smartwatches and wearable tech continue to grow, I have to give credit to my trusty old Galaxy Gear 2.  I got it back in December of 2014 and it has proven to be quite reliable.  I've been asked a million times if it's the Apple watch even though it looks nothing like it! Remember when I wrote about my kayak accident where I had to swim backwards pulling the kayak onto land? Well I always wear my watch on kayak rides and sure enough I had it during the accident. The watch is only water resistant but it definitely showed its toughness as I swam for 15 minutes with it almost completely submerged under water! The picture quality of the camera isn't that bad either and it sure comes in handy when your phone isn't within reach. I like using it for kayaking because I can track distances, control music playing on my phone, and take pictures quickly. #builtforthewild

 Lake Fishing

A year ago, Texas Parks & Wildlife added 204,000 largemouth bass fingerlings to Medina Lake.  I was able to catch a couple about a month ago. Although they aren't full grown yet, it was cool to see them growing nicely.  As I go from a kayak noob to a novice, I plan to get in a ton of fishing at this lake.  Most of my posts will be about Medina Lake since it's so close to me and its finally filled with water again! The drought lasted too long..

#builtforthewild

Kayak Noob

It wasn't until last year that i got to try a kayak for the first time.  We were on a men's fishing trip in Rockport, TX and a few of the guys there had kayaks. They were being used the entire time so it wasn't until the last day that I got to try one out.  I immediately fell in love with it.  It was fun in so many ways.  The first pleasure i got was crashing into the waves in the ocean. I've never been one to get seasick or anything from rough waters, I actually like the rocking of the water so it was fun.  After a few minutes I felt like I was getting a good workout in so I kept going and next thing I know I'm half a mile out.  I knew after the trip I wanted to get a kayak and pursue the hobby.  A couple months later I got a kayak! I knew very little about the sport, I just knew i wanted to get into it.  The first kayak I got was an Old Town.  I thought I was set until I had my first accident.  The water was pretty rough one day and I flipped the kayak over and thought I was going to lose it! Because the kayak was a bowl shape with no holes on the bottom, it quickly took in a ton of water and started to sink.  I had to scoop most of it out by hand once i flipped it back just to get it to float again, then I had to swim about a quarter mile pulling the kayak so I could get to land and empty it out completely.  It was crazy! Then I realized i would be better off with a different model, something better designed for what I wanted to get into.  So luckily after a couple months I was still able to exchange it for a different kayak.  I am very happy with the choice I made getting a Perception kayak. I now go to the lake almost every week and enjoy every minute of kayaking!