2014 Recap

Well, it has been a great fishing year for me, and it is time to reminisce on all of the great times I had out on the water. Even though this year was cut short due to another deployment, the limited amount of time I had was put to good use. My fishing season started off after returning from deployment in April. The entire 9 months I was away, I researched the latest and greatest boats debuting onto the scene and planned to pickup a new boat when I returned. I was torn between paddle vs. pedal and like so many other things, the decision was coming down to money.  I really do enjoy paddling, but the benefits of a pedal drive watercraft intrigued me and I wanted to give it a shot. Now, I just had to butter my wife up to allow me to spend the extra dough. She was a big supporter of me getting the boat I wanted and actually pushed me to get the pedal drive. With the decision made, I called my local kayak shop looking for a new Native Slayer Propel 13. Unfortunately, the two closest locations were out of the Slayer Propel completely. I had to call ACK San Antonio to locate one and they only had one left on the showroom floor in Lime Green. Not the color I wanted, but beggars can't be choosers. After paying for the boat, I made arrangements to pick it up. Again, my loving wife, supported my hobby by enduring the additional 2+ hour drive to get the boat I wanted.

With the Slayer Propel in my possession and after completing the long drive home, it was onto rigging. You can see my article on my rigging process (Slayer Propel Rigging) as well as viewing my walk-through and rigging video.

Rigging complete, it was now only a matter of getting on the water. Lake Stillhouse Hollow is only a 15 min drive from my home, so I spent my first several outings there. After gaining some confidence and having some decent success I expanded my waters. Belton Lake was the next logical stop being only 30 mins from the house. A similar lake to Stillhouse, the same tactics I used before worked on Belton as well. As I gained confidence I looked for some new areas. Another Lake that is relatively close to me is Lake Georgetown. I had heard mixed reviews on the fishing on this Lake, but decided to give it a shot anyway. The reviews seemed to be true and I had a tough time only getting one bite. I was all over the bait fish, but nothing wanted to play. A little demoralized, I looked for a lake with a hot bite. Lake Walter E. Long (formerly Lake Decker) sounded like the place to be. I researched the fishing reports for a while and decided to make a trip. About a hour and half cruise on the turnpike got me to the lake. After paying the crazy $10 entrance fee I launched and worked my way up the western side to the power plant. Sure enough I encountered a lot of activity and some good fish.

Thats pretty much my 2014 Fishing season, I can't wait for what 2015 has in store as I plan to fish new waters and get onto the tournament scene. Stay tuned.