On September 18, 2021, the Greater Seattle area paddling community gathered at Lake Sammamish to share our passion for paddle sports with community members. The fun and free paddling skills day was designed to introduce Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) to whitewater paddling skills. Participants were able to take lessons in kayaking, canoeing, stand-up paddle boarding, and rafting with experience instructors and volunteers. No experience or equipment was required to participate. Participants were expected to wear non-cotton quick dry layers and rain gear (and of course a smile). The ..read more

Unlikely Paddlefest is an unofficial paddling festival, organized by paddlers for paddlers. Really – it’s more like a gathering of friends, old and new, for an amazing four days at the end of the paddling season. It is based out of the Quesnel Forks campground, just outside the tiny town of Likely, BC. No cell service and more wildlife / livestock than people make for a scenic but remote area. The event runs the third weekend of September, with informal organization of paddling on the Quesnel and Cariboo rivers Friday, Saturday and Sunday. “Informal” means walking laps around the campground t ..read more

The Colorado Kayak Fishing Club (CKFC) held their fourth bass tournament of the year on Boyd Lake in Loveland, CO on August 21. The dog days of summer can prove to be quite difficult when it comes to catching fish in Colorado. Not only do you have to deal with the heat, but the pleasure boaters come in crowds making things difficult for kayak anglers. Also throw in the fact that water levels begin dropping rapidly due to irrigation this time of year and you’re in for a tough day. This proved to be the case on tournament day as well, as of the 34 anglers signed up, only 4 anglers caught a 5 bas ..read more

In the summers, I work and paddle on the Yough River. Since I only live 10-15 minutes from the Lower Yough put-in and I’m usually too busy with work on the weekends, I spend a lot of time paddling that section. It can sometimes get a bit boring running the same few rapids every day, especially since they aren’t all too challenging for me anymore. Since it’s so close by and runs every day of the year, I’ve spent a lot of time on that section, making it all the less exciting. I’m always searching to find new lines and new moves to keep it fun, but recently I realized that I’ve begun to unintenti ..read more

Hurricane weather has dumped lots of rain and produced huge swell off the East Coast this summer and fall. Earlier this month, a magical convergence of two hurricanes and some luck produced some gentle(ish) giant waves off the Maine coast. Coincidentally, Alex Nicks of “Wicked Liquid” and “Jehovah’s Wetness” fame, happened to be in town and had his favorite play boat in tow. After the skies cleared and before the wind picked up, 8-10 foot giant rollers hit Bowden’s ledge right outside the harbor here and produced perfect sets of waves – all afternoon long. The tide didn’t seem to matter becau ..read more

2021 was an interesting year to say the least. I made the choice early in the year to scale back on my tournament rig, going from a BigRig FD in 2020 to the brand new YuPIK in 2021. The transition had its issues for sure. I found myself asking “now, where do I put these?” quite often. Having to choose which of my 5 rods would make the trip to the lake with me, instead of powering on with about 15 onboard. And last but not least, waking up my “paddle muscles”. All of these aspects had a major impact on my year. But I am so happy I did it, and truly believe everyone can benefit from going back t ..read more

Submitted by Mylo Nicholas In September when the rivers are low, there can still be sections left to explore. The Arc River, in the Maurienne Valley (French Alps), is not frequently paddled, due to restricted sections and dam controls, but can offer some incredible whitewater, and portaging… Our friend Lou gave us some beta on the gorge, as he went to explore it by Packraft the week before. He showed us some photos, and told us there was a possible unrunnable rapid in the gorge, he had gotten out before this. After a day of scouting, we thought the gorge was all good to go, so we dived in. We ..read more

Keep it Simple When Rigging Your Fishing Kayak Just the other day a friend who had just purchased two sit-on-top fishing kayaks mentioned it wasn’t as easy as he and his sons thought it would be. I told him I totally understood and then gave him a few tips that I hope will help. I’m a believer in the KISS method. Keep It Simple Schultz. That’s how I’ve approached my kayak fishing for 12 years now. Yes, there are many bells and whistles that can be added to a fishing kayak, but many times they are not needed, or you should wait until you’ve been out fishing several times before simply adding so ..read more

Join Scott Brands as he takes his BigRig FD out on scenic Georgetown Lake in the mountains of Colorado in search of pre-spawn Brown Trout! https://youtu.be/FF9CrkJtbyI The post Brown Trout Mountain Kayak Fishing appeared first on Jackson Adventures ..read more

Inner City Kids Camp 2022 Inner City Kids Camp or Jessie’s Kids Camp are the two names for one week of my year depending on who you ask, they represent a week of kayaking for kids from disadvantaged homes. Through the years, since 2002 to be exact, Jessie Stone, my family, my parents, Margie and Hayden, CT locals and whoever we’ve sucked in to help us, spend one week a year working with teenagers from different programs to teach them about the outdoors and MOST importantly- whitewater kayaking. Jessie Stone grew up in NYC and being an avid kayaker and multi time US Team Paddler, she LOVES padd ..read more