The Mother Ship

Dean is a great friend. Dean also has a problem. He is addicted. Like the rest of our small crew of die-hards, he is addicted to kayak fishing. However, unlike the common image conjured when one mentions kayak fishing, Dean and a close number of us are pushing the edges of the envelope. Yeah, we do the everyday skinny water stuff chasing tailing reds and sunning speckled trout on the flats but we are also hitting the deep stuff on a consistent basis. That's right; the deep stuff measured in leagues rather than inches or feet. We are catching tarpon, shark, kingfish, and yes, even tuna from the seat of kayak.

Through necessity and trial and error, we have turned the center console into a mother ship. We have relegated the center console to a mere tool to deliver our kayaks and ourselves to the fishing grounds. The center console is a versatile tool and with the ever-climbing cost of gas, increasing prop-protected seagrass flats, and the sheer drive to do something no one else has ever attempted more and more anglers are turning to the oldest form of boat known to man.

For the Purist Going Green

Captain Sally Moffett is one of those anglers. Captain Sally is also an anomaly. No, she is not a strange alien from a different world. She is a woman of firsts. Not only was Captain Sally the first successful female guide on the Texas coast, she was the first guide period to tout the benefits of kayak fishing the skinny water flats that surround her home waters of Port Aransas. Captain Sally loves the benefits fishing from a kayak in the backwater bays of Texas affords.

"Loading and unloading your kayaks and rigging them off the side of your center console boat can be time consuming and labor intensive, but the payoff is tremendous as you paddle back to find no one else fishing these pristine waters" Captain Sally says.

On a recent trip with her, I could not agree more. She took me deep into the interior of Brown & Root, a very popular sight casting and kayakers' destination, and the views and fishing were simply rewarding-aesthetically and piscatorially. We fished ankle deep water for the majority of the morning without seeing another boat or angler. Captain Sally guided me from pod to pod of tailing redfish to the rising glimmer of a burning south Texas sun. After what seemed like the 100th redfish, we climbed into the kayaks and paddled the three miles back to the mother ship. Her mother ship is a seventeen foot New Water Curlew decked out with a nifty little kayak-transporting cradle. Long gone are the days she had to manhandle the kayaks into her 25-foot Carolina Skiff.

I was amazed the amount of water we had covered in four hours. To cover that much water poling or wading would have taken me a few long, tiring hours. Captain Sally and I chatted on the return to the dock and we outlined the benefits of kayak fishing. Texas Parks and Wildlife has designated a number of Texas bays with seagrass beds as no prop zones. A kayak allows an angler to fish these areas along with other environmentally sensitive areas with a low impact vehicle. I do not have to mention either that paddling your boat rather than idling a gas guzzling outboard not only protects the environment but also protects the green in our wallets.

Going Hard, Going Deep

As I mentioned before, my friend Dean and I have a hardcore group of idiots that are pushing the edges of kayak sanity. The concept is rather simple and came about like all hair-brained schemes. The concept first is simply catching the largest fish possible from a kayak. The idea came across like most Darwin Award winners' ideas. The first step usually starts with the instruction, "Here hold my beer; I have an idea." Ours did not come across quite that simply; it grew more organically from a hard night of adult beverages on the safety of a dry deck and many what-ifs. We were not even sure if we could catch pelagic fishes from a kayak but who were we not to try.

The day we attempted our first maiden voyage was a learning experience. We had three kayaks, five anglers, and 28-foot center console Cobia. That doesn't sound like much; however, try running across thirty-five miles of open ocean with flying paddles and bouncing plastic kayaks. We soon learned it maybe smarter to transport two kayaks and the requisite tackle and safety equipment. We also quickly learned it was easier to monitor two kayaks disappearing on plane towards the nearest horizon than three.

The first fish made the efforts worth the work though. Dean paddle behind an anchored shrimp boat and threw in an EP Fiber fly.

"WHHHHEEEEEE!"

Dean shot across the water doing what we affectionately call the Blue Water Sleigh Ride. The forty-pound ling quickly spun him and literally put the 8-foot kayak on plane. Dean, looking like a cartoon likening of himself, had his size thirteen feet dangling over each side of the kayak to balance himself like outriggers. We in the mother ship shouted encouragement and advice as the ling peeled line and pulled kayak. The ling tired quickly and we realized the kayak was an advantage; it added extra weight to the fight and whipped the fish quicker than average. We were on to something. The center console is not where the action happens but nearer the water in the low rise kayak.

Safety First

Every boat is required to have a first aid kit, flares, noise making device, and extra water. The same holds true with a kayak. Although not required if you are launching from a mother ship, prudence says, "Do it anyway." I like to throw in a handheld GPS/UHF Radio. I also always pack an extra set of batteries still in the store package so I know they are fresh. The batteries go in a waterproof stuff bag with an extra set of dry clothes, insulated underwear, and a flashlight. I learned this lesson quickly on a late evening excursion that ended with a horrible, un-forecasted lightening storm that left me stranded on a spoil island overnight. Since that cold, windy night, I go over prepared whether offshore or inshore. When offshore, we always have a spotter and captain on the boat and a stand-by kayaker in the water with the actual angler. If the angler hooks into an oversizer that threatens to take him or her to France, the kayakers can link up and add extra weight to the battle.

Regardless of your mother ship, either a small no gunwale, flats boat like Captain Sally's, or a forty-eight foot sports fisherman I can only wish to own, kayaks can make your next fishing trip more than a mere outing but an adventure. Get out and really get in touch and don't wait for Christmas to go on a sleigh ride.