It is hard to believe we have finished shooting for our seventh season on the air and are days away form the start of shooting for season eight.
We visited some amazing places and fished with wonderful people in 2015. In all honesty it was one of our tougher years fishing and weather wise but we pulled together and I think we got some great footage that will make for some real fun shows.
Our first stop in 2015 was a return trip to Panama with Paddle Panama, this was actually a shoot for our last airing season. We had a fantastic trip with some good fish and lots of fun kayak surfing.
One of many great fish in Panama
Charging the Surf
Fun little Roosterfish
One of the coolest parts of this trip was hanging with these kids
After Panama we went directly to Florida for the kayak fishing Boondoggle and to explore the everglades.
Coming from Panama I was expecting Florida to be just as warm, big surprise it gets freezing in Florida. Even with that we had a great time hanging with friends and getting on some fish.
The next trip was a road trip with my daughter Kirstin, Jarrod Mcgehee and my good friend Sean White. We hit up Mag bay and one of my favorite places Cedros Island with Cedros Outdoor Adventures.
This was another trip where we got our butts kicked by weather but we kept at it and got some real good fish for our efforts. The highlight of the trip for me was Kirstin catching the biggest Yellowtail on the trip.
Kirstin with her big YT
I was so stoked for her
Seans bass rod Yellowtail
A beast of a Halibut for Jarrod
A decent one for me
A nice Grouper caught and released in Mag Bay
We didn’t release everything we caught
For our next trip it was back on a plane for a flight down the Costa Rica, this time to the remote Drakes bay and the awesome Aguila de Osa Lodge. Our good buddy Esteban from Black Beard fishing charters set up the trip for us and brought along his partner Drei for some great fishing action on BIG Roosterfish and Dorado.
A big AJ for Esteban
Drei supplying this bid Dorado for dinner.
A beast of a Rooster for Esteban
My big Rooster for the trip going around sixty pounds
Of course it is always fun during our shooting seasons to explore new places and this year we were able to visit a couple places we had never been before. First off was a trip to the Caribbean country of Curacao. On the trip with me were my wife Allene and by buddy Wes Seigler from Truth Reels.
This was one of our toughest trips of the year when it came to the fishing and the weather. Very high winds every day kept us from doing some of the things we would have liked but that didn’t diminish the great time we had in this beautiful country with its wonderful inhabitants. The water here is warm and the most wonderful color of blue you will ever see and the people were amazingly friendly. We worked hard on this trip putting in so many paddling miles in the wind, but because of the great company we spent most of that time laughing and enjoying the beautiful scenery.
Our arrival in Curacao
Wes getting his game face on.
Just look at that water
A beautiful place to paddle
I did catch some fish
After Curacao we continued on to another new destination for us and that was Belize. This time we were joined by one of our very good friends Jeff Herman. He set us up at the historic Belize River Lodge for a great stay. Of course once again the weather just killed us, wind and driving rain kept us off the flats for the target species of bonefish and permit. Thankfully we had the fallback species of Tarpon to keep us entertained.
Here is a little video I put together of a few of the Tarpon I caught.
Because of the incredible fishing we have had here in San Diego, thanks to El Nino, we decided to do a shoot here in my home town this year. There was a tournament going on in honor of James Lebowitz so we decided to shoot that too. The weather and fishing for the tournament was fantastic and some incredible catches were made. Of course when it came time for me to fish, the weather went sideways and took away some of the things we had planned. Still some great catches were made and we had a great time fishing with our friend John Jackson from Ram mounts.
A couple great fish from the tournament including the biggest yellowtail
A couple great fish from the tournament
Johns first yellowtail
Our one keeper yellowtail from the trip
Paul in his custom Jackson Kayak Kraken JAL edition.
Filleted up and ready for the smoker
Nothing like a Ballast Point Sculpin to go with that smoked fish
Our final shoot of the year was a return trip to Florida to do a couple of things. First off was meeting up with Chad Hoover who had challenged me to a bass fish off, and second was to meet up with some of our Jackson Kayak teammates to go after some trout and redfish.
The first order of business was kicking Chads butt. Honestly I was pretty lucky, while I went after any fish to put on the boat, Chad went after big fish. Lucky for me the small ones bit and the big ones didn’t that day.
Our Entourage on the day of the battle.
It isn’t much but it is a bass and I am on the board
And another
And your winner is !!!!!!!
After the fresh water bass beating I met up in the salt for some reds and trout with team Jackson.
fun little red in chilly Florida
and a red
headed back in for a hot meal with the guys
And farewell from Florida
We had some tough trips but nothing for me was as tough as losing one of my best friends, my father in law Bob Williams. Many years ago he is the one who bought me my first kayak and introduced me to paddling. He was a wonderful man and will be missed by anyone who ever met him.
One of the greatest guys you would ever have a chance to meet. RIP
Though it was a tough year personally and for shooting as I look back on it, it was still a pretty incredible year spent at amazing places and time spent with so many great people. I sure love my job and hope I can continue at it for some time.
Many thanks to all of our sponsors who make it possible, and our fans who keep us inspired.
Kayak Fishing Tales 