Kayaking, canoeing good way to spend hot summer days

Kayaking and canoeing on the Eleven Point river.

With the hot days of July — having fun in the outdoors means being on, in, and around the water.

More-and-more people are discovering that type of fun in a canoe or kayak. The canoe, and now, the kayak are the most versatile small craft available today. Both are well adapted to travel the inland waters as well as in open water. Both are unmatched for wilderness, and you can travel with them to the outback. They are light, so it makes a good car-top craft for the fishing family.

Ben Sullivan, of Rolla, is a veteran canoeist who bought his first canoe 30 years ago.

“It was the best investment I ever made,” noted Sullivan, who used the canoe for fishing, hunting, camping, photography, sightseeing — and just for floating down a quiet stream.

Last year Sullivan purchased his first kayak and now utilized both his canoe and kayak. Sullivan added that when he started with a canoe he was a real novice. He didn’t know much about canoeing, except that it looked like a lot of fun. He started out in a small lake until he got the hang of handling it. Since then, he has used the canoe for duck hunting and even started turkey and squirrel hunting in Missouri — as well as taking the canoe or kayak when he goes fishing in the north country.

His four grandchildren, who took to canoeing and kayaking, have their own. Two of the kids own canoes, while the other two have kayaks, as canoeing and kayaking are a big part of Sullivan’s summers.

“After I bought the kayak, I didn’t have any trouble using it because I was so used to the canoe,” said the veteran floater and fisherman said. “Today, I use them both about equal time. They both let me get into places I couldn’t get to in my bass boat.”

For first- time canoers or kaykers selecting one should be made by the way you will be using it. More importantly, selecting the right one will add immeasurably in your appreciation of these amazing craft.

Today’s canoes and kayaks are better because of their versatility. Canoeing and kayaking in Missouri, especially in the Ozarks, is growing fast. There are clubs to help newcomers get started. Many Ozark streams are filled on weekends with canoes and kayaks, on streams like the Niangua and Current. It’s a good way to beat the heat of summer and have a lot of fun too.

A word of caution — when moving in a canoe or kayak, always wear a life jacket, as there have been several accidents involving these small water craft this summer.

Paul Parker has been on float fishing trips in his canoe for the past 23 years, and said he sold his bass boat because he was mainly using the canoe when going fishing. He recalled a short, but successful trip to Stockton Lake on his very first visit to the lake.

“I had planned on floating the Sac River, but when I passed over the dam at Stockton, the lake looked like a mirror,” recalled Parker. “It made it ideal for a canoe.

Added Parker: “With a white 1/16 ounce jig on my ultra light rod, I made a cast and my line straightened out. I knew it had to be a big fish on the end of my four-pound test line. After a short battle, I was surprised I had caught a four pound channel catfish.”

Moving on to a good looking point, Parker hooked a smallmouth bass that gave him a good fight. It measured 14 inches, so back in the lake it went. The smallmouths seemed to be holed-up and he caught three more, all under 15 inches — but a lot of fight in them. After he rounded the point, he hooked a 16-inch walleye and then a 17-incher.

“When I looked around, I never saw another angler, only a couple of sailboats moving slowly because of the lack of wind,” he said.

After two hours drifting around this one point, Parker had caught several species of fish, including drum, both large and smallmouth bass along with several crappie.

“It was one of those rare days when you could put a canoe on that lake, and an even rarer day when you catch as many fish as I did in such a short time,” explained Parker. “That day helped make up for all those times when the fish or weather (didn’t) cooperate. It proved that you never know what you might or might not catch when you hit a Missouri lake or stream in a canoe or kayak.”