Kayak Koz

Maybe in about 2 years after the hotel transformation and renovations are complete. I'm lucky if I get a few hours a week to go fish on my own. Labor shortages and supply chain issues have been brutal.

Yes they do. And the hotel owner loves that I came up with this and other guest events. He even called me first thing this morning to see how the weekend events went. Next I need to convince him we need a bass boat ?

We had our second Fishing with the GM event this past Saturday morning at my hotel. Both kids, parents, and one grandmother fished that day and everyone except grandma caught something. I set up early and got some pre-fishing in because I wanted to try out my new St. Croix Mojo Yak rod (7' M). It seemed decent fishing off the dock, but the real reason I bought it was the shorter handle so it doesn't hang up in my PFD when I'm sitting in the kayak. Unfortunately, I have not had time to test it out on the water, and when I had time on Sunday it was windy and raining all day. Pre-fishing was a total loss, however. No bites in the 20 minutes I fished and then snagged a Z-Man Jackhammer and snapped the line when trying to free it. Once the fishing lesson with the kids ended and the fishing began I was too busy baiting hooks and unbuttoning little bluegills to get in any fishing of my own. But that's OK. The kids and parents had a blast. But one day I hope one of the kids lands a nice 2 pound bass. Here's a few photos from the event.

I stopped following as soon as South Carolina was eliminated. Following teh Gamecocks this year was like riding a roller coaster. That being said, Vanderbilt is going to be tough with Leiter and Rocker at the top of the rotation.

I wear a ballcap with a gaiter and some lightweight fishing finger gloves with UPF50 protection. The gloves also have rubber beads on the palms to help with grip. I like to wear shorts in the summer, especially when I'm out on the kayak. But I cover my legs, feet, and exposed parts of my arms with sunscreen. Not all sunscreen is greasy, so I don't mind it. I also wear UPF50 short sleeve shirts. I've picked up a bunch at Sam's Club over the years, but this year I bought some Columbia shirts. I had my hotel logo embroidered on them and use them not only when I fish, but also at our hotel event nights down at the lake like Fishing with the GM, S'Mores Night, and Hot Dog Roast night. As a bonus, because I use them for those events I got to expense them.

That is funny. But there's no way I would put up a Wall of Shame like that.

Try live bait and see if anything bites. If you cover most of the water with live bait and still nothing bites then find another place to fish.

These are all actually tame compared to other things I have encountered. I have run hotels for over 20 years, but the stupidity and lack of respect or values of some people still amazes me. I joke that for some people, once they put their key card in the slot it shorts out their brain.

I have, Rates are $50 higher than when I got there, closing in on $200 a night. But when 2 or 4 people pitch in and get a room...

I can fit a milk crate and a cooler in the stern and I use the space between my seat and that storage for my kayak cart and net. I can store plano boxes under the seat as well. At just over 12 feet it has plenty of room for me, but then again I’m out there on day trips and not camping.

I think the best piece of advice is to try as many different kayaks as you can before you buy. Rent them out and go to demo days. That being said, I got lucky when I bought my Seastream Angler 120 pedal kayak. I had never tried a pedal kayak before purchasing one, but I knew I disliked trying to fish bigger bodies of water in paddle kayaks.

I would go with barbless treble hooks. In fact, that will be my next rainy day project.

I had heard about that happening in my hotel before I took it over. That's why I have building a fish cleaning station down by the lake on my list of projects for this fall or next spring.

This morning one of my room attendants found a large, styrofoam bucket full of dead minnows in one of our corridors. It stunk up the entire second floor. Why do people do things like that? The fricking lake is 100 feet from the back of the hotel. Even if they were already dead, throw them out in the lake for the birds and turtles. I didn't have time to do it today, but tomorrow I'm going to review the security camera footage. Someone on my team will recognize them, and that guest will get a call or letter from me telling them not to return. For the third time in three months someone ripped a stairwell railing out of the wall. Unfortunately, there are no security camera there - yet. I built a great new fire pit down at the lake and some jokers smashed beer bottle in and around the fire pit. Those guys were caught on camera and banned from the hotel. Their boss also told me he fired them. Good. Then there's the people that smoke cigarettes or weed in the hotel rooms. Those folks don't get off easy. There's a $500 cleaning fee for that. I simply don't understand why some people feel the need to destroy other people's property. We're putting in a ton of work trying to fix and turn around the hotel and these idiots ruin things for my team and the other guests. If you're ever at a hotel and see some clown doing something stupid or doing damage, do us GM's a favor and take their picture and bring it to us. We'd love to be able to catch people and press charges.

I ended up buying a reconditioned Hook2 5 Tripleshot directly from Lowrance. After everyone's comments I wanted a unit with sidescan, and because it is a reconditioned unit the price was palatable. It's supposed to arrive today along with the battery. All the mounting equipment and the arm arrived yesterday. With any luck I can get it all on the water after work today.

I agreed with that when I first tried the C-Tug, but after thinking about it I know why it's that way. The kickstand was designed to support the weight of the C-Tug only and keep it in the upright position until the unit bears the weight of the kayak and then the kickstand collapses. This is done so it doesn't get snagged and snap off. Of course, if you don't seat the kayak properly the unit either goes cockeyed or tips over, and that's when our first thought probably goes to, "Why doesn't the kick stand support this thing so it doesn't tip over?" Again, it's just to put the cart into the correct position until it bears the load, that way the kickstand won't get snapped off.

A few months ago when I purchased my kayak I posted here on BR asking what type of kayak cart I should get. Some suggested a homemade cart, while others suggested the C-TUG. I chose my own path. That was a mistake. I bought a so called "universal" kayak carrier for about half the cost of a C-Tug so I could save a few bucks. Well, this narrow universal cart left my 12' 3", pontoon hull, 100+ pound Seastream Angler 120 PD wobbling all over the place despite my best attempts to steady it with pool noodles or rolled up towels. It tipped over more than once going up a and down a steep, winding sidewalk from my hotel to the water. I got tired of fighting it and bought the C-Tug. Holy Cow, what a difference! Not only was it easy to strap the kayak down, but it also made it a breeze to move. Despite hauling the same kayak and gear, it made the kayak feel lighter when pulling it around, especially up the hill. I'm sure my universal cart would have worked fine on a smaller, standard hull kayak. But if you have a larger kayak or just don't want to take the chance that the universal cart is not so universal, DON'T do what I did and ignore the advice of other folks on BR. Buy the dang C-Tug first and don't mess with the other carts. Lesson learned.

Call me a sissy, but this is why I almost always use a fish gripper and pliers when I catch something with a treble hook bait.

Yesterday was my first full day off in months but I did not go fishing. The problem is that I store my kayak at my hotel, and if I went there to go fishing I'd get sucked into something for at least 5 or 6 hours. So last night I went to bed early and set my alarm for 5:30 to get up and go fishing. But after more than 24 hours of not getting an emergency call for one thing or another at the hotel I could not find the motivation to fish and cross paths with the hotel. I need the time away. It's now two in the afternoon and I'm still debating whether or not to head there and go out on my kayak, but I still lack the motivation. The wind has picked up, so that's my current excuse. I think I want to fish, but lugging the kayak and possibly getting caught up in work is a huge deterrent. That should change later this week as I have new electronics and gear coming in by Wednesday, plus some new baits and a new St. Croix rod arriving. That should be plenty of motivation.

When I'm fishing on the bank or dock my dog will lie down a few feet away from me and just hang out. But I do still have him on his leash and the leash tied on to something. He doesn't really care about the fish, although occasionally he likes to sniff them. Of course, he hasn't been tail slapped yet. That might change everything.

You're in some great bass fishing country from Savannah up to SC in the Bluffton / Hilton Head / Beaufort area. The best part is you don't need a boat. There are literally thousands of lagoons (ponds) in that area and they all hold bass - and lot's of big 5-10+ pound bass. Where I used to live and fish in Bluffton, the average bass I pulled out was 2+ pounds and 4 and 5 pounders were common. The only caveat is that you need to be smart out there because it is alligator country. Most alligators are not aggressive, but they will swim over to where you are fishing either to let you know who the boss is or to try and ****** something you catch. But there are most definitely some alligators that are aggressive - and stealthy, so you need to pay attention when you are fishing. Below is a link to some information on fishing with gators:

I didn't just get roughed up by the bait monkey this week - his entire dang family roughed my up! C-Tug Kayak cart (because I thought I would save money by buying a less expensive universal cart). Lowrance Hook2 5 Tripleshot unit with US inland maps (this includes sidescan) plus the protective cover Dakota Lithium battery Two track adapters YakAttack CellBlok YakAttack Switchblade Transducer Mount YakAttack Fishfinder mount NOCO Smart charger for the battery St. Croix Mojo Yak Rod Rapala Ike's Custom DT crankbait Four packages of various Senkos Strike King KVD Double Willow Spinnerbait Sexy Shad Two Beetle Spins Four packages of Touch Lok snaps I was going to add another KVD reel, Curado, or Tatula to the order but I slapped that pack of monkeys down before hitting the Buy Now button. I blame the kayak that I bought a few months ago. Previously, I was happy just fishing the banks with limited tackle. But that kayak opened up more possibilities - and my wallet. But I'm glad I bought the kayak when I did - the price has gone up $300 in just a few months.

Smaller hooks. Those bites may not be bass.

Well, if you ever come to GA my hotel has boat trailer parking with water and electric hookups. We also have eight boat slips with electric hookups.

Pony up a few more dollars and get the Lew's KVD reel. I bought the 6.2:1 earlier this year and I'm about to buy the 7.5:1. If you have an Academy Sports near you they carry it and you can check it out. I've never seen them at Dick's or even BPS. You can also get them at TW.