Kayaking popularity rises

Kayaking popularity rises

By Joe Kay
Associated Press

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The bright red paddlewheel smacks the Ohio River in a rolling cadence, churning
a path through the mud-hued water. Trailing the riverboat is a solitary blue
kayak, riding the waves.

Steering with a double-ended paddle, a mustachioed man in a weathered baseball
cap darts through the froth. Passengers on the paddlewheeler are intrigued by
this meeting of Mark Twain-era transportation and jet-age recreation.

"You can get on one of those big waves, and it is unbelievable in terms of the
thrill of the ride," said Brewster Rhoads, a political consultant who kayaks the
river most days. "You can just surf it like with a surfboard. My record is 43
minutes on the same wave."

There aren't many waves like it around these parts. Paddlers in the Midwest have
to be inventive to enjoy one of the country's fastest-growing recreational
activities. They are.

Wherever there's water - pristine or polluted, in the heart of a city or out in
the hinterlands - there's likely to be a paddle stirring it. The Outdoor
Industry Foundation has tracked the popularity of bicycling, hiking, skiing,
kayaking and 18 other recreational activities over the last eight years, looking
for trends.

The paddlers have impressive numbers. Annual surveys indicate that kayaking has
doubled in popularity since 1998. The foundation, which encourages outdoor
activities, estimates that 12.6 million people got into a kayak last year. About
2 million of them kayak regularly.

In the Midwest, part of the fun is finding unusual places to test the limits.

The 28-mile Mill Creek, an industrial dumping spot for generations, got so
polluted that the conservation group American Rivers in 1997 designated it North
America's most endangered urban river. Bruce Koehler, an environmental planner,
sat through dozens of meetings about the roiled creek and heard the horror
stories. "I wanted to go down and see what we were talking about," he said.

In 1994, he first dipped a keel into the witches' brew of sewage and industrial
waste. As he paddled along, he saw a construction company bulldozing material
into the creek. An abandoned easy chair jutted from the middle of the channel.

Since then, he has taken more than 300 people on the creek for a firsthand look
at work that needs to be done. He dubs this hardy group the "Mill Creek Yacht
Club."

http://news.cincypost.com/apps/pbcs....WS01/606170374

Funny you should post that, have been spending a lot of time at the local
reserviour and noticed a lot of Kyakers lately. In those yellow plastic Sams
Club specials.

JeffinMS wrote:
Funny you should post that, have been spending a lot of time at the local
reserviour and noticed a lot of Kyakers lately. In those yellow plastic Sams
Club specials.




You should try one of those outback by Hobby,, I hate to admit this but
I have not ut my bass boat in the water for 15 months. My outback is a
fishing kayak fully rigged for fishing from the factory. I have a photo
of mine on the front page of my web site, holding up a nice cat in it :-)

--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

Rodney Long wrote:
JeffinMS wrote:
Funny you should post that, have been spending a lot of time at the local
reserviour and noticed a lot of Kyakers lately. In those yellow plastic Sams
Club specials.




You should try one of those outback by Hobby,, I hate to admit this but
I have not ut my bass boat in the water for 15 months. My outback is a
fishing kayak fully rigged for fishing from the factory. I have a photo
of mine on the front page of my web site, holding up a nice cat in it :-)

Here's my Pungo that I rigged myself. Didn't buy it for fishing, but
one thing led to another and now it's really coming along.

http://i6.tinypic.com/1567ode.jpg


http://i6.tinypic.com/1567or6.jpg


http://i6.tinypic.com/1567p85.jpg


http://i5.tinypic.com/1567s4m.jpg

Sees-koo-wee-hah-nay wrote:


Here's my Pungo that I rigged myself. Didn't buy it for fishing, but
one thing led to another and now it's really coming along.

http://i6.tinypic.com/1567ode.jpg

Nice set up you got,, I'm about to put a fish finder on mine, I just
have not decided which one
--
Rodney Long,
Inventor of the Mojo SpecTastic "WIGGLE" rig, SpecTastic Thread,
Boomerang Fishing Pro. ,Stand Out Hooks ,Stand Out Lures,
Mojo's Rock Hopper & Rig Saver weights, and the EZKnot
http://www.ezknot.com

Rodney Long wrote:
Sees-koo-wee-hah-nay wrote:


Here's my Pungo that I rigged myself. Didn't buy it for fishing, but
one thing led to another and now it's really coming along.

http://i6.tinypic.com/1567ode.jpg

Nice set up you got,, I'm about to put a fish finder on mine, I just
have not decided which one

Thanks.

I've been looking at the Humminbird PiranhaMAX 15 mainly because of the
price.
I know nothing about them, but am starting to do a little research.
I've got all my local lake hot spots in my GPS and do alright but I
need to start spreading out.

How's that peddle drive work? Looks like it would be very convenient.
Can you use it to turn by using just one peddle?

"Sees-koo-wee-hah-nay" wrote in message
ups.com...

Rodney Long wrote:
JeffinMS wrote:
Funny you should post that, have been spending a lot of time at the
local
reserviour and noticed a lot of Kyakers lately. In those yellow plastic
Sams
Club specials.




You should try one of those outback by Hobby,, I hate to admit this but
I have not ut my bass boat in the water for 15 months. My outback is a
fishing kayak fully rigged for fishing from the factory. I have a photo
of mine on the front page of my web site, holding up a nice cat in it :-)

Here's my Pungo that I rigged myself. Didn't buy it for fishing, but
one thing led to another and now it's really coming along.

http://i6.tinypic.com/1567ode.jpg


http://i6.tinypic.com/1567or6.jpg


http://i6.tinypic.com/1567p85.jpg


http://i5.tinypic.com/1567s4m.jpg


Very very nice. I wouldnt mind getting one but the only issue I have is our
Alligator population. We havent had a gator attack but there's plenty of big
ones out here. Wouldnt want to be trapped in a Kayak in a small inlet with
no way out. KWIM.

JeffinMS wrote:


Very very nice. I wouldnt mind getting one but the only issue I have is our
Alligator population. We havent had a gator attack but there's plenty of big
ones out here. Wouldnt want to be trapped in a Kayak in a small inlet with
no way out. KWIM.

Thanks Jeff. I hear you about the gators. I lived in Florida when I was
younger and we had one small gator in our local lake but that was
nothing compared to what you have to deal with I'm sure. A 37" pike
thrashing around in a canoe was bad enough for me.