Kayak fishing the Huron River
Two friends and I spent a wonderful afternoon kayak fishing down the Huron River in Washtenaw County, MI. It was an slightly cool, overcast day, and felt like it was going to be good fishing when we launched our kayaks at the Hudson Mills Metropark. Fishing with olive colored plastic “tubes” and circle hooks, we all caught and released smallmouth and rock bass the entire way to the Dexter Mills Metropark, where we had spotted a car for the take-out. I’m sure we caught more fish than we do when wading or floating in a drift boat. The kayak is sneaky. Paddle dips are shallow, sometimes just for steering, and they produce no surface waves to alarm fish. Many of my short casts took fish when I didn’t expect them to. I also saw more wildlife than when I wade, or take a driftboat. You just seem to fit in better.
I suppose we fished for 4 hours. Yes, we did get wet from paddle drips, etc., but not uncomfortably; we knew kayaking was a wet sport. Also, I did pull off to the side a couple of times and get out to stretch, etc., but I would do that if I sat anywhere for that long.
I sort of felt like Tom Sawyer or Huck Finn the whole way, plastered right on the water, I mean it is 6″ away from your hands as you rest from paddle strokes, and 2 feet away from your face! The river was so clear at times I felt like I was floating over an aquarium, seeing small fish, crayfish, aquatic insects…what a whole new world.
How simple, too, at the end of our float, to simply drag the kayaks across the grass to the cars, load them up, tie down, load up gear and leave. It took 3 people all of 15 minutes to get all packed up and head for drinks and dinner. What a ball.
