Sorry Can't Fish Here

One of the greatest things about fishing from a kayak is, we can fish almost any body of water we see. Almost. Sometimes that fact can lead us into to trouble though.

There is nothing better than dragging your kayak to a secluded pond, that few people know about, and landing a monster Bass. That's exactly what lured some of us into this sport in the first place. Just make sure you can fish there first.

Most bodies of water with a boat launch are public use areas, but as kayak anglers, we can fish areas without boat access.  That fact makes it more difficult to know where you can and can't fish. Which means you must do your research first.

The first thing I like to do when researching a new lake is to simply Google it. You can find out if it's public or private most of the time, and even find the location of boat launches if applicable. There might even be reviews from other anglers telling you where the fish are. On a large lake that can be very helpful.

The next thing I do is get on Google Earth. It enables you to scout possible launch points, parking locations and areas of vegetation on the water. You can even use the ruler tool to estimate how far certain areas are from different launch points. This is extremely helpful to get you as close as possible to where you want to fish. Less paddle time means more fishing time, and that means more fish in the boat.

As responsible kayak anglers, it's our job to make sure we follow all the rules. If you are unsure whether or not you can fish a particular body of water, don't fish it, ask someone first! Also, please help keep public waters open, by practicing "Pack It In Pack It Out."

D.S