Just a little Q/A regarding Kayak-related stuff

If you want to learn to catch more fish,.then fish with Racinrob.
If you want to feel better about the fish your not catching now,.then fish with me.

Try asking at the marina on what tactic is working at the time when your there.

Hire a local guide for one day. For a couple hundred bucks you can shorten the learning curve and have a great day on the water.

Hire a local guide for one day. For a couple hundred bucks you can shorten the learning curve and have a great day on the water.

+1 I've had my share of frustrations not catching fish, that changes when I hire a local guide showed me some ropes. It was worth it!

Hire a local guide for one day. For a couple hundred bucks you can shorten the learning curve and have a great day on the water.

This, absolutely, and pepper him with as many questions as you can. It may sound funny, but bring a notepad or something, a guide can give a lit of information that the brain can fart away in seconds. Also, keep a log of your fishing trips, techniques, depth, what worked, etc.

As for the questions:
 
6-8 hours is typical, 10.5 was my longest and thats a long time to be sitting.

I generally carry a comfortable speed of 4.5-5mphs on a stealth pro fisha. In a wicked current at the cove i still managed over 4. 

I kindof view the skunk thing my own way after targeting steelhead with a fly (its freakin hard). If Im targeting a specific fish and manage to get a hookup I consider it a success. At the same time if I catch a load of lings and rockies on my salmon gear I consider it a skunk, but catching fish is better than not so its still fun.

Hook up with bmb at Shadow Cliffs, he always catches trout there.

Unfortunately I think interacting with a guide while on the water would be fairly difficult for Ryan unless they work something out due to his impairment.

But Ryan I'm always willing to show someone the ropes and I live like 5 minutes from Shadow Cliffs.  But its not exactly the best time of year to fish for trout there.  Their last plant will be this week and its gonna be all catfish until fall.  I've never targeted the catfish there and am not sure if I'm planning to.  I do think i'll be chasing fish on both the boat and the kayak and am always happy to have company, especially if you teach me some sign.

Feel free to send me a PM anytime with questions.

but to answer the questions:

1) How many hours do you spend on the water?

From 2-15 hours depending on where I am and how interested I am in fishing.  I've had a few days in the past where I've launched by 5am and haven't gotten off the water until 8-9pm, but with the kids at home I'm more like launch at a leisurely 7am and off by 10 at shadow cliffs.

2) If you have a way to measure it, how fast do you typically paddle (you can answer pedal if you want to indicate that as well) upwind and downwind. Both on average, and when you're hustling. And what model kayak do you have?

I typically pedal from 1.1 to 3mph while trolling.  But my favorite speeds are between 1.7-2.2 mph depending on what lures i'm pulling.  When I hustle I could probably get to 4-4.5mph at a burst on my slayer propel, but it's not built for speed.

3) How many trips do you catch fish (regardless of #) vs leaving without catching anything? Feel free to indicate based on location (i.e. River, Lake, Ocean).

I skunk on occasion but its pretty rare.  Because I get to fish so rarely I plan out pretty heavily what I'm going to do when I go fishing so I generally can get at least one of my target species.  I also tend to fish for species where I can catch a lot of fish rather than one large fish - I don't have any interest in trophy hunting and am only interested in catching fish for fun.