This week on the boys had tree drop next to their house nearly catching it on fire and blocking them from getting to the river. Bryar Skinner shows up, cuts the boys out of a tight spot, and send it on to the river for a warm lap on Manns Creek.
By: Corey Lilly – Boof & Destroy
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The post House Fire, Kinda – The River Log Ep 6 appeared first on Kayak Session Magazine.
Follow the SEND crew on a 35 km paddle down the White salmon river all the way to the bar in Hood river… » Turns out the whiskey tastes even better when you earned your way there. »
By: Dane Jackson, Adrian Mattern and Bren Orton / Send
The post 39 km Paddle on the White Salmon River to the Bar! appeared first on Kayak Session Magazine.
The Rockstar 4.0 is very different than Jackson’s past playboats. The Rockstar 4.0 features more volume, higher knee placement, more leg room, and a narrower haul, resulting in bigger tricks and infinite amounts of river play!
When I first sat in the Small Rockstar 4.0, it was a dramatic change from the 2016 Rockstar specifically, in the knee placement and volume. I am 5’ 6” and weigh 130 pounds. I outfitted my Rockstar 4.0 with one and a half inch foam pads, one 100 bean count sweet cheeks, two hip pads, and I moved the seat forward to the furthest setting. I have a short torso and generally prefer to sit higher. Outfitting the boat best suited to you, can make a huge difference in your performance.
The change in volume wasn’t as challenging as I would have thought. It took a little while for me to figure it out, but after just a day on the river, I could bowstall, sternstall, cartwheel, and flatwater loop as easily as I had with my previous boat. This boat is slightly less stable than past boats, probably because of the narrow haul and higher knee placement. As far as downriver tricks go, they are just as easy to maneuver, except you go way bigger!
When surfing holes, you can literally fly whether you do a loop or even a fly squirrel! After going from a boat with less volume to the 4.0, I discovered that being patient on your tricks, and focusing on your technique made a world of a difference. The Rockstar 4.0 isn’t the type of boat you can just throw around. However, it is easy to control the edges compared to the 2016 Rockstar. Overall, focusing on the basics of the tricks, improves your paddling and will help you master your tricks.
The biggest complaints from past boats was the little foot room. The Rockstar 4.0 provides just enough space for your feet, maximizing your comfort. My feet have not fallen asleep ever in the Rockstar 4.0.
The narrower haul makes the boat less stable than the past playboat, the 2016 Rockstar. It forces you to use better technique on your roll and with some practice, its a piece of cake. If you are in need of more stability, I recommend lowering your seat to give yourself a lower center of gravity.
All in all, the Rockstar 4.0 has a cutting edge design best suited for you to perform your best. Depending on the way you outfit the boat, it can affect the stability. If you are a beginner at whitewater, this may not be the boat for you, as it is slightly unstable. I recommend trying it out for yourself at your nearest Jackson Kayak dealer!
Always be prepared when paddling in cold water. Best investment ever made is a drysuit.
As in the last years, we worked together with Zoli (@kajakpeca.hu) on the “evangelisation” of kayak fishing here in Hungary.
The show was held from 1st to 3rd March. This is the biggest fishing show of the year, took place in a sports hall with fishing brands from almost all fishing segments, tons of fishing tackle and full of people in the whole 3 days.
I walked through the whole exhibition during the 3 days, but to be honest the most interesting part and the most extravagant place was the Kajakpeca stand with the Jackson kayaks and YakAttack gears showing the pure Bite and the fully equipped Coosa FD in the middle. Both kayaks were introduced on the water too. (There was a pool in the middle of the exhibition with a lot of programs and demos.)
I stop writing so enjoy the pictures.
One of the yearly highlights for the French kayaking community is the SPBriverfest.
Usually this is one of the earlier competitions for most paddlers, the kayaking community is awakening out of its yearly winter sleep and sets off to compete in Saint Pierre De Boeuf.
As every year No Pasa Nada did an amazing job at organizing the competition. They managed to make the perfect blend between fun, excitement, rivalry and friendship during this event.
Due to the huge success the last few years, the competition could count on a good number of paddlers ready to tackle the different kayaking competitions. There were over 80 freestylers present to battle for the medals in the different categories and many more to participate in the other events. As every year there were a couple of brave internationals ready to try and take the medals away from the Frenchies. Belgium, Ireland, England and Catalonia were all fired up to take on the challenge.
This year the weather wasn’t so kind on the competitors, a cold wind and some spats of rain made it a rather chilly weekend, but that couldn’t temper the paddlers motivation.
During the weekend there were loads of different events running such as:
⁃ Freestyle
⁃ Mix Master Contest
⁃ BoaterX (in sit-on tops)
⁃ Dynamic Duo BoaterX
As this event was sponsored by Jackson Kayak our team manager Adrian Durrant was present to inform the paddlers about the newest models Jackson Kayak has to offer. Everyone could try out one of the new Rockstar 4.0’s, Antixes and the new MixMasters.
To add something different to event, there was a MixMaster contest this year. It basically meant you had to do as many cartwheels in a minute and your best mystery move. The winner managed to do !52! cartwheels in a minute. Very impressive! It was good fun watching the event and seeing the paddlers disappear under water doing some sick mysteries!
One of the other events that’s always fun to watch is the boaterX, because the boaterX is performed on sit-on tops there is a lot of carnage of people flipping over, crashing into each other and someone even committed to swimming the course with her boat!
Now the highlight of the event, the freestyle competition!
The freestyle competition is a little different than most other competitions as you can use 2 holes to perform your tricks in. The first hole is a deep but flushy hole, great for aerial moves, but harder to stick the more advanced moves. That’s were the second hole comes into play, it’s pretty shallow but nice and retentive.
As usual the well-known names as Quim Fontané Maso & Seb Devred were dominating the K1 men division. They were absolutely killing it! Tom Dolle my fellow JK team member and first year senior! Decided to do something about that, he absolutely killed it in finals and came in close second behind Seb Devred and Quim took third.
Very impressive to see Tom throwing down so hard in his first senior competition! The seniors are warned and know who to look out for in the coming events!
In the women K1 my fellow JK team member Marlène Devillez, absolutely dominated the women’s class.
She won with over 600 points, very impressive! Marine Izac became second followed by Marie Helye in third.
In C1 maestro Seb was almighty and won with a comfortable point gap, Tom Lay became second and our own Tom Dolle managed to grab the third spot with a very nice ride.
Yet again a great year of SPBriverfest.
Thank you to No Pasa Nada for organizing and running the event so smoothly, it’s always a pleasure to come and compete.
Thank you to Jackson Kayak for providing the support to No Pasa Nada to run the event.
Thank you to Kina Photo & Valentin Parasme for the awesome pictures!
I have been giving kayak fishing talks for 10 years and in each one I suggest to those in the audience that they don’t scrimp on their paddle. I tell them to buy the most expensive, lightest paddle they can afford. A heavy paddle will make a day on the water less fun. The formula is for every ounce heavier your paddle is, it’s like paddling an extra 100 pound around per hour. Wow! So, if your paddle is 35 ounces and mine’s 26 ounces, you’re working a lot harder than I am.
The Redesign
I’ve been fortunate over the past 10 years to use some very nice, light, oversized blade paddles to push my fishing kayaks. This past year I’ve had the pleasure of paddling the best kayak paddle I’ve ever used, the Bending Branches Angler Pro Carbon Plus. Several years ago, Bending Branches, Osceola, Wisconsin came out with the Angler Pro, voted top kayak fishing paddle four years in a row. Last year, working with their design pros and several top kayak anglers around the country, they made a great paddle even better. With the redesign of the Angler Pro, Bending Branches stepped it up a notch higher and introduced the Angler Pro Carbon and Angler Pro Carbon Plus. The Angler Pro Carbon has the same extremely light carbon shaft as the Angler Pro, but, uses very durable multi-laminate carbon blades dropping the weight to an amazing 25.5 ounces.
The Blades
All oversized blades are not created equal. Even if the square inches per blade are the same, the shape is critical. A shorter taller blade will push a good deal of water, however, can add unwanted stress to a person’s shoulder. I’ve felt this first-hand with an oversized blade that was too short and tall. The dimensions of the Angler Pro Carbon are 7.25” by 18”. This gives plenty of blade to push those heavier fishing kayaks, but, without adding extra stress to your shoulder. Bottom-line, when I’m out chasing smallmouth bass, I don’t even want to think about my paddle. I want it to just seem like it’s part of me. At 25.5 ounces and the amazing feel while paddling, the Angler Pro Carbon simply gets a big “wow” each time I finish on the water.
The Carbon Shaft
Adding to the “wow” factor with the Angler Pro Carbon, Bending Branches designed into its light carbon shaft an ovalized shape for comfort, which I can attest to. Also, for those big smallmouth bass I catch, there’s a 40” ruler on the paddle’s shaft. The Angler Pro Carbon comes with the snap-button closure that allows for adjustable feathering options. However, my choice is the versatile telescoping ferrule. This offers infinite feathering options and depending on water and wind conditions has a 15 cm range for expanding the length. It comes in a 230 – 245cm version and a 240-255cm, which, is what I use. This is also a great feature if you have more than one kayak, or, sharing with a friend.
It’s interesting how many people will buy a high-end fishing kayak, and then go cheap on the paddle. Investing in a great paddle that is going to be with you enjoying your time on the water and fishing for years, is a very wise investment!
