It's cold up here

Not much fishing going on. It's been below freezing for about 5 days now. All the creeks are all frozen over and we've had snow the last two days.

via: Angling Addict: RELENTLESS

Angling Addict: RELENTLESS: A dizzying array of fast paced kayak fishing titillation compiled from the relentless pursuits of 2012.... Go HD and full screen

Thank you Rob Choi for this awesome video compilation and for all you do for the sport of kayak fishing!

Severn pickerel, slim picking

The fish were not extremely active today. I had a good amount of follows but they just wouldn't bite. All caught on minnows and a chartreuse 1/8oz jig head.

Settles Bridge Supply House

I'd like to thank SBSH for adding me to their pro staff for 2013! Got my swag pack in the mail yesterday and I'm super pumped to represent SBSH this year on the tournament circuit! Be sure to head over to their site for all your kayak fishing supplies.

Goals for 2013

This year is sure to be an exciting year for myself and The Hobie Life Blog not only in the fishing world but in normal everyday life as well.

Unfortunately, I will probably lose a little time on the water this year, but in the end it will surely be a positive. Starting the end of January I will begin the 1st of four semesters of Nursing School. I've already completed 4 years of college with a Bachelor's Degree in Biochemistry and then a year of pre-requisites for the RN program so I sure am ready to get this show on the road, so after 2 years I can be finished with school for a little while and focus more on my career and of course fishing.

So my goals for 2013 are as follows:

1. First and Foremost, pass both semesters of the RN program with flying colors.

2.  Fish with my family more; Mom, Dad, and Elaina.

3. Successfully launch my Mid-Atlantic Kayak Fishing Series and I'm gonna try my best to win it too.

4. Reach the 100 participant level for the CBKA Tournament I help direct.

5. Fish as much as I can, getting out fishing helps me relieve the stress from school and work in the end helping me perform better.

6. New Species and Big Fish Citations..... Any Type, Any Where

7. Be a good teammate for Kayak Wars and also I would like to place in all the tournaments I fish in.

Finally, I would like to thank all my sponsors for their continued support this coming year in 2013. I will be representing your guys hard this year and I'm very proud to be apart of your teams.

I wish all of you a great 2013 and hopefully you can fulfill all your goals as well.

via Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman: Pickerel in the Severn

Here is Morgan's report from our pickerel trip last week.

Tight Lined Tales of a Fly Fisherman: Pickerel in the Severn:
So the Chain Pickerel move into the rivers of the Bay every year at some point in between Thanksgiving and Christmas, becoming most active around the first or second week of December. I had the privilege of fishing with one of my good buddies Matt, author of The Hobie Life, on the back of his Hobie Pro Angler last week.

Not only was the wind strong (too strong to attempt to toss a fly), but the bite was too. After the last three fishing trips ending in a big old skunk, I was pretty discouraged and really wasn't ready to cast a line again. Fortunately, Matt got to talking about the Pickerel and got me pretty stoked.

With the air temp sitting around 45F, the water temp around 48F, and the wind gusts up to 35 mph, I threw on my neoprene waders and met Matt at one of the local boat ramps on Weems Creek where he had his beautiful and fully rigged Pro Angler in the water, ready to go. I had stopped at Angler's and picked up a pint of minnows and I brought along a few fly rods but decided to leave them in the car when the gusts became continuous. I grabbed my 6' Daiwa bass pole (fortunately the wind blew all the dust off it for me), and Matt supplied the 1/8 Jig Heads to hook the minnows on.

I hopped on the back of the 14' 'yak and we were off, minnows in the water right away. At the first shoreline, I rigged up and tossed my line and within the first 5 casts had hooked up on a fish. Unfortunately, the first 3 hookups turned into lost fish. I've caught many-a-pickerel in my day but never understood why they are so easily lost. The way Matt explained it to me, is that, due to their softer jaws, they need to be able to run a bit so the hook set is solid enough to allow you to bring the fish to hand. After working the shoreline for a bit and me losing about half a dozen of Matts jig heads on snags, we finally started to bring in fish. I was able to catch some footage on the GoPro before it broke (its being sent back this week for an exchange) and for those of you who follow us on Instagram andFacebook, you were able to see the photos I snapped of a few fish.

The largest of the day was about 21" and the smallest measured out at around 17.5". The Maryland citation size is 24" and one of the fish Matt lost by the boat was definitely going to be close to that two foot mark. With over a dozen fish brought in between the two of us, it made for an awesome outing and a great break of the huge skunk run I had going for me.

If you don't already follow Matt over at The Hobie Life, you should be, even if your not a 'yak kinda person, the man catches fish, there's no doubt about that.

Boom...Morgan

Show them some love and you can also follow me on instagram @thehobielife

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year

Thank you to all the readers out there and I wish you a happy holiday season.

If you need any pointers on how to make a stellar Gingerbread House let me know....

Even has a kayak and paddle in the front yard!!!

And here are some of my awesome Christmas gifts from Elaina, check out Skinny Water Culture