Roaming the Marsh

Fishing is much more than setting the hook. Although that's the goal, I enjoy many things that go along with the hunt. My favorite has to be searching for the redfish in marshy waters. Nothing quite beats the quietness of the morning and to hear a redfish busting bait just between a small strip of marsh and yourself. I quickly get to the other side just to realize it's more than one. As I paddle onward, lined up with the grass, every few minutes or so one darts out from beneath the darkness of the blades.  Neither of us know exactly what to do, I watch in amazement. Sometimes, all for me to see is the cloudy trail of boils left behind. If I'm lucky, I'll get a glance of the painted blue tail. On a few rare occasions, I've had a few play bumper boats and unintentionally run into the hull of my plastic fish finder. Just last Saturday, I had this happen, and I was thrilled, scared, and upset that I had missed the opportunity for the time being. Yes, it scared  the crap out of me momentarily. Frustration goes away quickly, as this is the game I play; a sense of joy overcomes me, and I'm thankful he chose to play bumper boats with me. Quickly, back into ninja-stealth mode, I head toward an opening that leads me to a stagnant canal followed up by a small maze of marsh. I don't get far into it when I spook another red; this was a brute. It darts passed me with a swift quickness. I turn around and see the torpedo-like wake at top speed in get-away mode. Once again, fishing-wise I had failed. But, for me, the feeling of failure is  brief. What I experienced, I can not explain in words, and the way it makes me feel is what will keep me fishing in the marsh for many years to come. I'm still learning the ins and outs of the marsh. Sometimes, I stay confined in a smaller area focusing on drains, openings, anything that I think may be suitable for a red. Other times, I'll allow myself to go deep into the marsh system and just go with the flow to get caught up in its magic. I was paddling down a canal which led to three separate canals. I chose the middle one, as most of this day, I witnessed bait jumping, small mud boils, signs of a flounder. Birds, crabs, etc, etc. Marsh life. Was not sure if this canal was a dead end or not, but I headed on my way. About halfway down I saw what looked like a wave. A wake, it seemed very big. I paddled closer and could see the backs of two reds which almost seemed locked together. They passed without noticing me and allowed me to follow. I tried to cast but couldn't land it where I wanted. I got pretty close as I followed them. They were working as a team feasting on tiny shrimp. I noticed a couple of the times that the shrimp jumped into the marsh trying to avoid being an afternoon lunch. This continued all the way to the end of the grass line. Then, I didn't see them. I was hoping they made the sharp turn and were  going to do the exact same thing going down the opposite side of grass line. Nope, they were gone. Nonetheless, this was watching redfish doing what they do. Amazing, beautiful. A few more hours later, few more red sightings and my time had run out. This was a tournament day for me and yet I'm ok with not landing them. For now. I was to blessed with what the marsh had to offer me on this day. I'll be back, I'll try a few things differently and I'll do some things the same. Regardless of any future outcome, you will always finding me roaming the marsh. 

Sunrise with the Ride 135's

Gone mudding 

Tarpon 140

Promote What You Love

“Promote what you love instead of bashing what you hate.” - David A. Wolfe

With all of the dissension over rights lately, the one thing we all should feel compelled to do is to promote what we love.  I’ve decided to do just that.

Earlier this year, a fellow teacher came to me expressing that her son is an avid angler.  She explained that this 12-year-old would rush home each day from school in order to quickly exchange his book bag for his Shimano backpack filled with his fishing gear.  He would then hop on his bicycle with his rod in his hand and ride over to one of the few ponds in his neighborhood to spend as many minutes with his line in the water before heading home to begin the nightly ritual of hours of homework--- only to repeat this process each week day.  If her son was lucky enough to have been assigned minimal homework, he would talk his parents into helping him wheel his kayak into the water.  On evenings when the weather didn’t permit fishing, he would stay home to watch “how-to” videos on YouTube to learn new methods for knot tying or walking-the-dog with topwaters.  In class, during the day, he’d often find it difficult to concentrate on the task at hand--- sporadically distracted by the science of fishing.  

His parents, I’ve observed, have been very supportive of his angling interests.  There have been multiple trips to tackle stores for the best lures, line, and rods.  He’s got an inflatable PFD and a kayak.  Even Santa left him a GoPro under the tree last year! My fellow teacher explained that she just knows that this will likely be the career path he chooses.  He will fish.  And he will promote what he loves.  Unfortunately, she continued to explain, “it is difficult to find tournaments for his age group, and there are almost no youth teams in this area for a 12-year-old.”  As an English teacher, and someone relatively new to the fishing world, I simply suggested more research.

I must have been too swept up in whatever piece of classic literature I had to teach that week because, admittedly, I didn’t put much thought into what she was truly asking.  I briskly told her that the next time we took the kayaks out, we would be more than happy to take him with us.  I almost completely dismissed the fact that a parent was asking for help for a child who needed support.

Luckily, for this kid, his parents do NOT give up.  This fellow teacher of mine continued vetting me for a few months.  In April, she decided that I was the one who was going to be able to help her find a way to fill a need for the students in our school who were born and raised on the water, the ones who are desperately looking for a place in which to fit… a place to do what they love now- instead of having to wait to hone their angling skills.  She had done her research and introduced me to the Student Angler Federation and its program to support kids earning their way to college through competitive fishing.  She concluded by pointedly asking, “Well?”

Well- my response was, “Let’s do this.  How can we not?  See a need, fill a need.”  I am so thankful for her drive and inspiration, as helping to build this team has been an amazingly positive experience for me.  And we are just getting started.

I guess neither of us realized the tsunami-sized response that would occur within days of putting up five 8 ½ by 11 inch “posters”.  We had 47 students submit paperwork to sign-up.  We had close to 70 students and parents attend the first informational meeting.  Not only did we underestimate how many students would be interested; we grossly overestimated how many parents would have boats to captain during the tournaments.  Add to that how many lures, rods, and PFDs we DON’T have.  (Now, I don’t teach math for a reason, so I will let you run all of these numbers.  I’m sure you’ll swiftly find out that we need some serious help.)

We are very grateful for the community support we have received thus far.   Wade Bullard, at Hook Spit, in League City stepped up to create a tournament circuit (Hook Spit Junior Anglers Association) that will boast three freshwater tournaments and three saltwater tournaments for the 2015-2016 school year.  Jenai Marek, host of the YouTube show “Momma Shark & the Hook-Up”, is sponsoring a summer challenge for the kids that has proven to educate and motivate our student anglers and angling parents.  The summer challenge even attracted the attention of The Galveston Daily Newspaper, as the kids were featured in Saturday’s sports section.  Calypso Trading Company is donating to the team $2 for every Sun Series shirt purchased from their website through the month of July.  A big thank you to Mike at Down South Lures for his support.  Furthermore, there was a box of Fish Grips sitting on my porch last Thursday that was sent and donated by this amazing company.  And my ever-so-supportive husband, Tony Keill, will be donating his time, as an ACA certified instructor, to teach them kayak safety and proper paddling techniques.

Photo Courtesy of The Daily News

This post isn’t meant to brag about personal or team accomplishments since we haven’t truly accomplished anything at this point.  Conversely, it is a call to action.  It is meant to give kayak anglers and readers like you a chance to promote what you love.  88% of our kids expressed a strong interest in kayak angling, yet the amount of kayak tournaments for student anglers is almost non-existent.  Even when we do find a few in our area, we still have to round up kayaks, paddles, and a way to haul all of that gear with our current budget of $0. (Again--- you do the math.)

If you, at all, are interested in helping to share the passion of kayak fishing with these kids, promote what you love by emailing me at ckeill@ccisd.net with any ideas that you have about how we can build a strong foundation for the next angling generation.

Let the Games Begin

There comes a point in your angling career when you must decide whether you will go the tournament route.  This is a decision that I’ve been considering for about a year, and I can’t escape the question:  Are tournaments for me?

For some people, competition is a natural course.  For others, it seems that competition brings out an ugly side to something that is otherwise a peaceful outlet.  When you enter a tournament, your otherwise private skunk becomes embarrassingly public within moments after the weigh-in begins.  Instead of just a slow day on the water, you begin to wonder if all those who have supported or sponsored you will doubt their faith in you.

Fact of the matter is- if you want to be a pro, you have to prove that you are a pro in a public forum.  No longer does it matter if you are your mom’s favorite angler.  

I had been signed up for my first Lone Star Kayak Series Tournament for several months. The first event out of four was to be on April 18th. I was more than anxious on several levels. Before the 18th came around, I got the opportunity to fish in a local benefit tournament for Lance Linthicum . I was excited to be able to compete for a good cause, and this was also a great way to pre-fish for the LSKS.  I had my Hook 1 jersey ready for the winner’s stand and my new T-bone bed extender  was going to get my Wildy Ride 135  there in good condition.

 

It took me until about 10 pm the night before to rig up my HookSpit Performance Rods and finally decide on a spot to fish. I wanted to be close to the weigh-in located in Sunny San Leon, but at the last minute, I decided to fish a familiar spot in Galveston. Since this tourney allowed bait or artificial, I decided to use both.

 

This proved to be a fun mistake on my part. I know live shrimp can be a great choice, but I usually go with dead shrimp if I'm using bait. I was confident I'd catch some reds on it. Instead of a beautiful red, I ended up catching the following (on dead shrimp):

- Two stingrays

- a 22" gafftop

- several hardhead catfish

- one small black drum,

- a whiting

- a  couple of croakers

I knew I had back-tracked into a pattern of fishing I had started out with years ago and although I don't discourage it because it can be fun for some, it’s just not my style anymore. Too many unwanted fish caught and precious minutes with my line out of the water while releasing them. Running out of time, I found a familiar deeper channel in the marsh and started throwing a popping cork with a Vudu shrimp. A few minutes later, I felt that hit and knew I had a redfish. 17" was not going to cut it, but I was relieved it was not a stingray. My buddy, Jose, joined me in my spot and he, too, quickly got a smaller redfish. He was smarter and using live shrimp. Sadly our time was running out, and we both ended up with an empty stringer. Later on in the day, I found out that only four kayakers had signed up and out of the four of us- only one caught some tourney-grade fish. One keeper redfish, flounder, or trout would have put me in second place. I'm sure I won’t get that opportunity again.  This is likely something that will haunt me for quite a while, as my Hook 1 jersey will have to wait for another day in the sun.

The weigh-in was a blast as this tournament had a boat division as well, and I loved watching the fish being brought in, especially when so many were released to fight another day. Most importantly, they raised quite a bit of money to help Lance and his family out. I met lots of new people and saw some friendly, familiar faces. I'll be back, better and with no dead shrimp. Add in that I missed a couple of flounder and had a nice trout get off at the boat somewhere.

After getting a few high-fives and hand shakes from the wonderful Pier Pressure Girls and Mike Bishop (the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner - he and his lady are cool as a fan) in my first-ever tournament, it was good to learn that most people in the angling world are still supportive and understanding when a day on the water doesn’t turn out as expected.  It was also important to learn that the only expectations I have to live up to are the ones I set for myself. No bad days on the water... only lessons learned.

40th Annual Houston Fishing Show

Today marks the end of the 40th Annual Houston Fishing Show at George R. Brown Convention Center.  Tony and I were both able to attend; unfortunately, due to our schedules, we had to attend separately.  We also had different approaches:

Tony = work

Crystal = play

This was Tony’s view of the show, as he arrived the day before in order to help set-up the Hook Spit booth.   There wasn’t much booth shopping for him in his two days at the show.  As a matter of fact, he didn’t even get to see everything since he was busy assembling shelves and such.  This is how Tony is.  He would rather move an entire house full of furniture than sit still.  Because of this, most of his time off work (when he isn’t fishing) is spent helping somebody else.  Don’t worry- he managed to make it home with a few packages of lures from Michael Bosse at Down South Lures.

He was also able to grab the much-talked-about Line Cutterz Ring .  He won’t have to bite off the line with his teeth anymore, so I view that as a plus.  I, too, planned on getting a Line Cutterz Ring, but I will be waiting until they release the colored rings.  I believe they have talked about releasing the product in bright green, blaze orange, cobalt blue, steel gray, and pink.

 

I was jealous that he got to check out the show before it even opened, so I texted him from work and asked him to bring me something fancy.  That, he did!  Later that evening, I spent a good 10 minutes practicing my casting skills while lying in bed with my brand new Hook Spit  Hot Stix Rod.  I can’t wait to put this rod to work on the water.  Again, Tony didn’t walk away empty handed, as he was finally able to get Hook Spit's TNT rod that he has been eyeballing for over a year.

I finally was able to get to the show on Saturday afternoon with our friends Josh and Jenai.  Jenai is responsible for the amazingness that occurs at MommaShark.com. 

My goal was to snag some lures and jigheads while checking out the new Wilderness Systems ATAK . No such luck on sneaking a peek at the ATAK.  I guess I will have to live vicariously through the short video clips and pictures on the Wilderness Kayak Fishing Facebook page.  I was also hoping to be able to get some Hook 1 accessories for my yak - specifically wanted to check out the Conseal Kits and bungee cording, but Hook 1 didn't have a booth at the show this year. No worries since I can order online.

Plugging away, MommaShark introduced me to Reel 'em In Lures, and I promptly grabbed four bags when I found out they were made in TEXAS! The owner and creator, Clint, of Reel 'em In Lures assured me that I couldn’t go wrong with anything remotely close to chartreuse.   

I made my way to Down South Lures to meet Michael and stock up on more lures (just in case Tony isn’t in the mood to share).  Michael was a super nice guy - he even returned the utility knife Tony had left in his booth earlier in the week, so it’s really good to know that there is no thievery going on over at Down South Lures.

On to the next stop- I had to meet Vance and the rest of the Line Cutterz crew.  Even though they didn’t have the colored rings yet, we couldn’t leave without doing the signature Line Cutterz pose.  They had some great decals that will look great on the yaks, marine-grade and everything!  We also learned that this little-line-cutting phenom has sparked more than a local interest.  Apparently, even people in Japan have heard about and are interested in getting this sucker in their hands. (I promised myself I would not insert a cliched Beyonce ring comment here- you’re welcome.) These guys were awesome, and I can’t wait to see how this product explodes (globally, not literally).

There were so many booths, I was overwhelmed; however, it was clear who was the star of the show.  The Hook Spit booth was so packed, you could barely reach for a shirt without bumping somebody else.  I was extra-appreciative that everyone there seemed to be wearing deodorant.  Here, I took advantage of the sale on hats and performance wear.  I even salivated over a few rods (sorry about that).  Wade, the owner of Hook Spit, even took the time to pose with us for cheesy pics and answered some of our questions about the Deep Sea Divas fishing tournament this summer.  I’m really glad they did so well at the show and can’t wait to visit their store in League City next week to get a new reel for my Hot Stix rod.

Who knows? Maybe you’ll see a Coastie Culture booth at the show in the next year or so.