A friend of mine were out paddling yesterday. He fished, I paddled and took pictures.
http://tinyurl.com/PatapscoRiverKayakFishing
I was paddling a Dirigo 140 and he was in a Tempest 160.
Nice!
I’ve never been on the Patapsco, but now I know to put it on my list. Very pretty spot, and holds smallies too!
If you ever want to fish the upper Potomac or Shenandoah, let me know.
Here are some pictures from my trip on Saturday the 8th. Full trip report is elsewhere on this forum.
http://picasaweb.google.com/HalfFastPaddler/FishingWithRogerNov2008#
- Big D
Nice loooking trip!
How do you like that Dirigo? I got one last summer and didn’t use it as much as I would have liked to. It’s my first kayak so I don’t have much to compare it to and I haven’t found a lot of other folks paddling dirigos and NO ONE else with a 14! Should have gotten more of your boat into the pictures.
The Dirigo is a good boat.
It’s not great, but it’s a good boat. I’ve paddled it and a bunch of others since owning it. I’ve paddled a few different rec. boats and a handful of sea kayaks.
My biggest complaint about the Dirigo is it’s weight. It’s bugger-all heavy lifting it onto and off of the car. But, once we’re on the water - it’s fine. Speed wise, my buddy killed me in his Tempest (@ 16.5’ and 22"-wide I think). His leisure paddle was much more effort for me. But, for fishing- his isn’t the typical boat you’d see.
I am pretty impressed with the amount of control I can get out of contact on the sides with my legs. Fooling around- I’m able to j-lean the boat to the point that the outer edge of the coaming is underwater.
I’ve found that tracking is not great. But, that’s a product of the wide flat bottom. I’ve found that turning can be improved by a strong sweep stroke and edging the boat.
The long cockpit is a blessing and a cursing. It renders the front bungees almost completely useless. They’re good for gear storage, but a royal pain to get to once you’re on the water. But, it’s a blessing for when I have my daughter with me - she has plenty of room and can get to all of that stuff.
If I’m anchored in some way- I’m able to turn around and reach the stern hatch. It’s a stretch, but I can do it.
And finally, I do have a sprayskirt for it. It’s useful for keeping water drips out of the boat. My paddle seems to hold a LOT of water that it happily dumps into the boat. I have to stop fairly regularly to sponge it out. And- that water sure can be cold in late October. However, I would NOT trust it if waves or wakes were breaking over the boat. This just isn’t the boat for that. (Though, I took it into the bay behind Ocean City, MD and had fun:
http://columbiakayaker.blogspot.com/2008/06/paddling-trip-sinepuxent-bay-in-ocean.html
)
Anyway- any more questions? I’m full of (err…) answers.
launch location
What part of the patapsco? where did you launch?
Just above Daniel’s Dam
Here’s my lastest trip out w/ a map of where we put in and paddled:
http://columbiakayaker.blogspot.com/2009/03/trip-report-on-patapsco-river-above.html
-Doug