A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Where are you and where are you going?
Gilberto de Piento
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

Thule hullavator and yakima showdown are meant to address the kayak lifting issue but are expensive and complicated.

Yakima also sells a kayak roof rack with rollers that is supposed to make it easier to slide the boat on from the back.

I think solo loading from the back instead of side will be easier.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

shaz wrote:
Thu May 26, 2022 1:41 pm
...
If you are feeling very handy and can use a welder you might be able to build your own trailer for hauling over short/non-highway distances. People around here frequently base homemade trailers on an axle and truck bed pulled off a junked vehicle. Do I know how to do this myself? No. I know people do it because every time I ask to borrow a trailer, I am informed that I could build one myself using this method.
I might look into that route down the road, but in my state it's reputedly very difficult to get a "homemade" trailer registered, and I lack the skill to be confident in anything that would require me to learn to weld. What I've decided for now is to just stick with vehicle-top transport for this season and reevaluate. If I don't work out a system this summer I'm content with maybe getting a trailer will be a project for next season.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Gilberto de Piento wrote:
Thu May 26, 2022 2:11 pm
Thule hullavator and yakima showdown are meant to address the kayak lifting issue but are expensive and complicated.

Yakima also sells a kayak roof rack with rollers that is supposed to make it easier to slide the boat on from the back.

I think solo loading from the back instead of side will be easier.
Unfortunately my kayak is too wide for both systems, and iirc too heavy as well. I've cut up and painted a couple pool noodles that I'm going to wrap around my cross rails, then wind some grip tape around the outer edges on both sides to provide enough friction the boat won't slide around when I push it up from the rear--a problem I had the first time I tried loading from the back. The vehicle was parked on a relatively moderate left-right incline and came closer than I'd like to sliding off. If this doesn't add so much friction to push it forward it should alleviate the potential of side slip. The lingering challenge will still be figuring out a way to a reliable hold on the stern while pushing it up.

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jennypenny
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by jennypenny »

My neighbor (who was 70yo at the time) built something to lift his kayak up onto his lowtop Roadtrek. I was a triangular piece that he anchored into the hitch. It had a next on the point to hold one end of the kayak. He rans ropes up through the roof rack in a way that would pull the nose of the boat down while lifting the back point holding the end of the boat. He used what looked like pool noodles on the roof rack to help the boat slide along the roof.

Once the boat was nested in the triangular thing and the ropes run through the roof rack, he just pulled until the whole thing was on the roof. Running the ropes over the boat while doing it seemed to keep it steady during the maneuver. It was easy, inventive, and fun to watch every time he was loading up for a trip.

He passed away so the van is long gone or I'd take a pic for you. The triangle piece looked like a musical triangle, only about 4-5' on each side, with piece to slip into the hitch that was attached with a simple plumbing piece. It's wasn't complicated and nothing looked welded. I do remember he used marine rope.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

jennypenny wrote:
Fri May 27, 2022 12:35 pm
My neighbor (who was 70yo at the time) built something to lift his kayak up onto his lowtop Roadtrek. I was a triangular piece that he anchored into the hitch. It had a next on the point to hold one end of the kayak. He rans ropes up through the roof rack in a way that would pull the nose of the boat down while lifting the back point holding the end of the boat. He used what looked like pool noodles on the roof rack to help the boat slide along the roof...
That sounds like an interesting solution, though I have to admit I am having trouble envisioning it. I don't have too much trouble with brute forcing mine up on top from the back once I get the bow high enough. Lifting the bow is a little bit of a pain with the kayak upside down because its tricky to balance. I cut up a couple pool noodles and fixed them to my cross rails with some outdoor duct tape, then added a little grip tape outside where the gunwales sit. Works well to stop lateral sliding during the main lift, and makes the kayak a little more secure seat when strapped down. I'm just going to roll with that this season. But I'm going to contemplate what you described and maybe experiment over the winter. I've got plenty of leftover PVC :oops:

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Well, another month has gone by. By the end of next month Phase III will be a year old. Spending was not my strong suit in May. Totals are still pending but excluding "kayak spending" I overspent my income by $200-$300 (had been averaging about $1000 below). Most of that was due to having to get new tires for the Pilot unexpectedly, had one blow out and the others were worn enough a new set made the most sense. I also made a rookie mistake and went to the dealer because as soon as the tire went I was bombarded by warnings that all my safety systems were inoperable. I'd had to drive about 200 ft to find a side street pull onto to change the tire safely (driver's side). I was worried I'd damaged some of the sensors built into the wheel and with my inaugural kayak-toting interstate road trip less than 2 weeks off I didn't trust the Walmart Auto Center or Discount Tire to get me completely up to par. Turns out the wheel was fine and I have a much higher quality set of tires than I'd have normally bought, but have peace of mind. And a $920 dollar hole in my wallet. I also spent a couple hundred bucks refreshing my fishing gear, something I haven't done since 2007.

I spent a lot on what I've bucketed into "kayak spending", some of which overlaps a lot with fishing. I had a line item in my long term budget for this, so in that sense it was expected and the money came from proceeds from selling my old house. I did wind up spending more than planned though. Seems kind of stupid to do while the stash is declining in turbulent markets but this setup (although really conceived with a real boat instead of a kayak) is something I've had on the dream list since the 1980s, so I'm guilty of YOLO-ing. The total cost was probably about 25% of what it would have been had I sprung for even a pretty basic 16' aluminum boat.

I did the last bit of my integration testing this week. I set up a small scale NMEA 2000 network so my chart plotter/sonar can talk to the electric trolling motor. It was a driveway test, but on the water it should allow me to use autopilot functionality in the chart plotter to control the kayak. The respective manufacturers seem to have done a pretty good job designing their compatibility because insofar as I could tell in the driveway, the integration on my end was pretty seamless.

It's eerie how similar outfitting the yak has been to some aspects of my former salaryman career. And its been fun.

The acid test comes Sunday. If all goes to plan I should have the yak up to the hideout around noon, and should be on the water by late afternoon.

The foundation and roof work is all delayed due to spring from a contractor's perspective arriving 3-4 weeks later than normal. So I'm a little bit frustrated about that. Things up there happen on Northwoods time. Planning on being up 4-5 weeks for the first segment before coming back to the real world to check in on my dad and such. I'm getting bored with watching kayak fishing porn on Youtube--bout time to get the paddle and lines wet.

shaz
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by shaz »

I can't wait to hear how it goes. The kayak has the potential to be so much more fun than a bigger boat so it is a double win for frugality.

Campitor
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by Campitor »

IlliniDave wrote:
Fri Jun 10, 2022 5:24 am
That sounds like an interesting solution, though I have to admit I am having trouble envisioning it. I don't have too much trouble with brute forcing mine up on top from the back once I get the bow high enough. Lifting the bow is a little bit of a pain with the kayak upside down because its tricky to balance. I cut up a couple pool noodles and fixed them to my cross rails with some outdoor duct tape, then added a little grip tape outside where the gunwales sit. Works well to stop lateral sliding during the main lift, and makes the kayak a little more secure seat when strapped down. I'm just going to roll with that this season. But I'm going to contemplate what you described and maybe experiment over the winter. I've got plenty of leftover PVC :oops:

https://youtu.be/ffqGlmK6tUg?t=2130

Hope this helps. :D

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jennypenny
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by jennypenny »

That video is pretty close, except he didn't have to climb up on the vehicle .. he looped the ropes so that he could pull it up from the back. (I remember him leaning way back while pulling the boat up, to the point it made me nervous.)

shaz
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by shaz »

@IlliniDave I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman using a fishing kayak at the lake today. He was very enthusiastic about his setup and I came away with a couple of interesting ideas to share with you. You may already be aware of these but if not, then I think they are worth filing away for the future.

The first thing is that he said it is a good idea to keep your anchor on a quick release with a float attached. If you can't release your anchor quickly you can get swamped if a large boat comes too close, and the float makes it easy to retrieve the anchor afterward.

He used a t-bone hitch attachment like this one to load and stabilize the kayak in the bed of his pickup. https://www.boonedoxusa.com/product-page/classic-t-bone I could see it was easy for him to load his kayak. He said it was stable at highway speeds unless he forgot to fold down the seat of the kayak in which case it would get squirrelly. If you get tired of loading your kayak on the roof, you could trade in the SUV for a pickup. Or maybe it is possible to use a hitch attachment to carry a kayak in your SUV with the back open. I don't think you would want to do that on the highway but maybe on the back roads between your cabin and the lake.

I hope you are having fun fishing and it is all going well.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Campitor wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 12:00 pm
https://youtu.be/ffqGlmK6tUg?t=2130

Hope this helps. :D
Looks like a key to that is having a second person on the ground making sure things don't get out of whack laterally. What I do is about the same thing except I have to manhandle the thing until its ready to shove up from the stern. I'm getting better at it with repetition--fortunately I think I'm dealing with much less weight than he is.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

jennypenny wrote:
Mon Jun 13, 2022 6:53 pm
That video is pretty close, except he didn't have to climb up on the vehicle .. he looped the ropes so that he could pull it up from the back. (I remember him leaning way back while pulling the boat up, to the point it made me nervous.)
I'm starting to envision what you are talking about but its still not clear enough unfortunately for me to work out a specific system.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

shaz wrote:
Sat Jun 18, 2022 10:20 pm
@IlliniDave I struck up a conversation with an older gentleman using a fishing kayak at the lake today. He was very enthusiastic about his setup and I came away with a couple of interesting ideas to share with you. You may already be aware of these but if not, then I think they are worth filing away for the future.

The first thing is that he said it is a good idea to keep your anchor on a quick release with a float attached. If you can't release your anchor quickly you can get swamped if a large boat comes too close, and the float makes it easy to retrieve the anchor afterward.

He used a t-bone hitch attachment like this one to load and stabilize the kayak in the bed of his pickup. https://www.boonedoxusa.com/product-page/classic-t-bone I could see it was easy for him to load his kayak. He said it was stable at highway speeds unless he forgot to fold down the seat of the kayak in which case it would get squirrelly. If you get tired of loading your kayak on the roof, you could trade in the SUV for a pickup. Or maybe it is possible to use a hitch attachment to carry a kayak in your SUV with the back open. I don't think you would want to do that on the highway but maybe on the back roads between your cabin and the lake.

I hope you are having fun fishing and it is all going well.
I cheated--my little electric motor has built in GPS so I only virtually anchor. Unless in shallow water and using a pole anchor, I don't think I'd ever try to anchor the kayak with a rope (lessons learned from trying to fish out of a canoe).

When it is time to switch vehicles a pickup might make sense. My boat is 12' long so I'm not even sure I'd need an extender with good tie down points and a truck without an extended cab. I can get 8' of 12' in the back of my Pilot which is probably enough for a short transport, but I wouldn't want to do that for the 400+ mile jaunt to the cabin.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Well June has come and gone. I've been up in the north for 31 or 32 days now so can't really comment much on the overall state of finances and spending. Food up here is crazy expensive. A week from today I'll be heading back to Illinois for a week or so to check on my dad so maybe I can get caught up then. I'll definitely load up on foodstuffs while there--my "support local" impulse only goes so far.

Things have worked out pretty well with the kayak although I've got less on-water time than I hoped. There's been a lot of days windy enough I chickened out. I suspect the boat could handle it well enough, but once I see whitecaps I let discretion override valor. I'll probably ease into windy day yaking to see what my tolerance is. Fishing has been okay. I got totally skunked the first 3-4 times out although I was playing with the boat as much or more than focusing on fishing. Since then I've done better--as of this morning I think 42 decent fish have crossed the gunwale (except for one little snot rocket pike I unhooked at the side of the boat because I didn't want all his goobery slime on me or in the boat. Sadly, only 1 walleye so far, but the best walleye fishing on these clear lakes is on the windiest days so I'm self selecting for failure on that so far. To this point I've not ventured off to another lake yet, and probably won't until the next leg of the summer which will probably be mid-July through mid-August. Except for 3-4 isolated hot days the weather has been on the cool side. The water temp at this lake touched 70 after three days where the temp was upper 80s, upper 80s, mid-90s. Then we had a hellacious storm one night that knocked the power out for 5 days. Since then it's been generally in the upper 60s/low 70s and frequently in the mid-to-low 40s overnight. This morning the water temp was about 67. That's sort of a transition temperature which makes it tough to predict what the fish will be up to. Once it gets into the 70s and stabilizes the fish will get into their summer behavior, meaning I'll have to fish deeper, but I'll know better what they'll be doing.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Another quick check in (two days in a row with connectivity!)> The permethrin-impregnated socks do not deter stable flies--they appeared for the first time yesterday. Next time out I'll try spraying them down with some of the non-DEET repellent I bought. The socks seem to do reasonably well for mosquitos and maybe ticks (haven't found any on me this year yet). They don't completely repel chiggers but seem to mitigate them somewhat.

When my neighbors fish out of their boats they tend to wear jeans and boots (water proof work boot style). I wear light "quick dry" pants and lightweight water mocs (basically, hiking shoes designed for wet, sloppy conditions). Being the overplanner I can be I'm always trying to balance protection from elements and bugs with the possibility of ending up in the water unexpectedly. So I try to avoid wearing clothes that would turn into anchors when wet, and footwear I could kick off easily if need be, although with the mocs they're designed not to absorb any water so probably wouldn't be much of an impediment to swimming. Now that I'm in a kayak 80% of my on-water time, I've gone to a flotation vest on/zipped/buckled at all times, even when I'm out in my neighbors' real boats, so worries about getting weighed down by clothes is a level of redundancy--that's just how I roll. Anyway, I'm going to revisit the topic of so-called "kayak shoes", and maybe try being extra good this year to see if Santa might bring me a pair. The ones I've seen are thin and light, and I thought I saw some that extend above the ankle by a few inches which should work for the flies, just need to ensure I can find some that wont just fill up with water and hold it, or that can be easily kicked off; and that have tough enough soles I could hike out of a situation in them if need be.

Today's forecast is for a rain out so I'll probably head into town to call my dad and check in with him. One nice thing about a small town that caters to visitors is most places should be open despite the holiday and I can do some window shopping while I'm there to see what the outfitters with store fronts sell for canoers (similar situation but with more emphasis on walking/portaging).

I've seen more kayaks on the lake here than in any prior years, but so far I'm the only one in a "proper" fishing kayak. One of my neighbors does fish out of his touring kayak when he goes out paddling with his SO (she just likes to paddle around for enjoyment). It sort of defies logic, but being out on the water in a semi-wilderness area in a small craft is a much more immersive experience than being in a boat, even when I'm cheating and using the little trolling motor to get around. I still feel slightly cramped when it comes to the business of fishing compared to a normal boat, and traveling is much slower, but it's leading me to try fishing new spots simply because they are close to where I am rather than buzzing all over the place in an outboard to all the usual spots. The lake here is a tough nut to crack even though the fish population and size demographics are both respectable per DNR survey data. Although I've had some success, overall I'm still pretty much humbled by it. Later this week I might get to tag along with my neighbors further into the wilderness area to a lake that is bursting with fish including trophy size fish of every gamefish species in the lake. Going there always boosts my self confidence a little.

shaz
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by shaz »

I know what you mean about the experience being so much more immersive in a small craft. It's good to hear you are enjoying the kayak even if the fishing is challenging.

I wear Chaco sandals for just about everything. For cold days on the water I wear them over a pair of waterproof socks. I expect flies couldn't bite through the waterproof socks so that could be something to try although the socks might be uncomfortably warm on very hot days.

If you decide to try sandals I highly recommend Chaco. I've worn my pair for 20+ years now although I guess there could be some debate about whether they are the same pair as I have had the soles and the webbing replaced at different times. The Chaco repair/replace policy is good if you like to wear your shoes more or less forever.

I have some neoprene kayak booties that I wear for serious whitewater because the sandals can be kind of clunky if you need to use your feet to brace inside the boat. The booties are terrible for walking, even just for carrying the boat to the water, so I mostly leave them in a box in the basement.

Good luck with finding the perfect solution!

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

shaz wrote:
Mon Jul 04, 2022 12:16 pm
... I wear them over a pair of waterproof socks. I expect flies couldn't bite through the waterproof socks so that could be something to try although the socks might be uncomfortably warm on very hot days.
...
I have some neoprene kayak booties that I wear for serious whitewater because the sandals can be kind of clunky if you need to use your feet to brace inside the boat. The booties are terrible for walking, even just for carrying the boat to the water, so I mostly leave them in a box in the basement.

Good luck with finding the perfect solution!
Yeah, the waterproof socks sound like a good thing to look into. Unfortunately the flies are the worst on the hottest days (which honesty, there aren't a whole lot of in NE MN), and fortunately I'm one of those people who doesn't suffer a lot of discomfort from my feet being too hot nor do mine sweat overly much.

Just as a for instance, this is the type of "kayak boot" I was thinking about

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001NDSIZM?ta ... th=1&psc=1

This style is popular back in Illinois where almost all the kayaking is done on rivers where sadly there has been enough human activity over time that while wading there's always a chance you'll step on a broken bottle or an old rusty metal object. The downside re my specs is that if I ever had to swim, I'd have to keep them on. But since I always wear a high quality flotation vest they won't cause me to drown, just add a small pita factor to a really bad day.

The other option is to see if I can find some water moccasin-style footwear that are ankle or mid-calf height. I really like the breathability and although I don't relish wet feet, they really do dry quickly when paired with smart wool style socks so I don't have to worry about feeling like I'm about to get trench foot. Those would also add some impediment to swimming but are probably lighter than a neoprene equivalent.

Looks like I'll get a chance to get on the water today, then tomorrow take a trip with some neighbors deeper into the wilderness area to fish a lake that's amazingly productive that I might have mentioned upthread. Then I'll have one more potential day to take the kayak out Thursday before my temporary IL registration expires and I'll have to take the boat out of the water in MN until all that gets straightened out. That's another reason I'm heading back next week. My registration was finally approved on 6/27 (submitted 5/9) and they said within 14 business days they'll have my card and stickers in the mail. So I should get it next week or the week after. Then I have to get the registration number affixed to the boat (bit of a pain with a kayak but doable) and the decal on and I'm again compliant with MN. The kayak has a sorta rough finish on the plastic (versus smooth like a boat hull) so that people that like to stand when they fish in them have a little traction, and for ease of manufacturing the finish is uniform on the side and under the boat.. Most marine decals anticipate a smooth hull finish so I had to hunt around for some specialty ones with extra high tack. I don't know how well the state-issued decal will stick so I got some 2000-4000 grit sand paper to smooth the spots where it will go. Always something it seems--we're indeed slaves to our toys.

shaz
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by shaz »

The kayak boots you linked to have a lot more structure than my kayak booties so they might be less awful for walking. Please post a review if you end up getting them.

I'm surprised you have to register a kayak. Is it because it has a motor?

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

shaz wrote:
Tue Jul 05, 2022 2:13 pm
The kayak boots you linked to have a lot more structure than my kayak booties so they might be less awful for walking. Please post a review if you end up getting them.

I'm surprised you have to register a kayak. Is it because it has a motor?
Sure, if I wind up getting them I'll let everyone know how they work out. For right now I've got them on the "think about it over the winter" list.

Yes, the registration/titling requirement is do to the motor.

IlliniDave
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Re: A Journey of Mindfulness--the Remaking of Life in Midstream.

Post by IlliniDave »

Well, I'm back in Illinois, halfway through a 2-week vacation from vacation or whatever you'd call it.

I had a chance to get caught up on my bookkeeping. For the first time since the first two months that were weird due to the various transitions, my May spending (which excludes a number of one-off expenses for getting/outfitting the kayak) exceeded my annuity income by $99, and I spent all but $70 of it in June. That's largely due to having to spring for a new set of tires I hadn't planned for, revamping my aging collection of fishing gear, and to a lesser extent travel costs and other vacationy things during those two months. At the midpoint, July projects to be back towards my prior spending profile that was averaging about 23% below income. Including May and June I was down to about 17% below cumulative. With inflation high and expecting a jump in expenses whenever I'm able to become a homeowner again It's modestly concerning when I look forward.

Combined with that is Q2 2022 being my worst (measured in absolute, nominal dollars) quarter on record for my net worth, down $203K (which includes all the costs related to the kayak). Guess I'm glad I played a coupla OMY cards.

I mentioned above I'm enjoying the kayak, and despite having picked arguably the worst possible time to indulge myself, I don't regret it yet. After only 6 days in civilization I'm already anxious to get back, get all the decals on, and get back on the water with it. Even when I'm not doing a lot of paddling I'm more active than I might otherwise be, out getting fresh air and building my vitamin D stores at minimum. I got 49 fish over the gunwale I consider worth counting in 8 outings where I focused on fishing, including a new PB for largemouth bass at 20" (a respectable size at that lattitude, but not really noteworthy). Had i kept them all, I estimate the yield would be about 50 lbs of fillets, maybe a little more. An equivalent weight of the cheaper bulk/commercially harvested ocean fish bought in the grocery store would be about $400 I think, so it would take many years eating everything I caught to recoup the cost of the boat and outfitting. It took about 3 weeks of casual fishing to get them, the lake I fished is not especially productive, and my skills are still pretty far down the learning curve. So it does seem viable that, disregarding possession limits, I could get a year's worth of protein in a 4-5 month open-water season. Worth noting that in 2 trips with neighbors in their boats I got another 50 or so countable fish on a highly productive connected lake that's a bit too far of a commute for a day trip in the yak (roughly 20 miles round trip on the water, plus a good amount of moving around on the lake).

That's my justification for spending so much time goofing off with a fishing pole in my hand, haha.

The only real fail has been that out of ~100 fish, only one was a walleye. :oops: :x

In 13 days I'll be celebrating the 1-year anniversary of pulling the plug. Time flies.

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