Hard lessonS learned on the river I
by jody cussins
n 2013, I suffered a “widowmaker” heart attack. That was a life altering event that caused me to rethink everything I did and how I did it. I needed an exercise regimen and a means of getting on the water to enjoy my favorite sport that wouldn’t require another person to help with my equipment. A friend advised that I look into getting a fishing kayak. He insisted that I would love it. So in November of 2016 , after a lot of research and discussion with my wife and Dr. about the benefits of using the kayak for exercise, I bought a Jackson Big Rig. It was reputed to be one of the most stable kayaks on the market. That was one of my wife’s stipulations before the purchase!
On our first float we hadn’t been on the water 20 minutes when I got a hook stuck in my thumb after catching a 15” smallmouth! Talk about feeling like a noobie and being embarrassed that on our first float, I had to ask for help with hook removal. I was totally embarrassed! But he overlooked my kayaking inexperience and we just hit it off. The rest of that Fall and part of Winter we hit the rivers every chance we got.
The next Spring we had nothing but high water so we couldn’t float as early in the year as we wanted. Finally by mid April, we had a few good days of mid 50’s temperatures and we were back on the water. The North Fork was still running about 3 feet above Not long after getting the Big Rig I met Thomas Horsch online and after messaging back and forth a normal but we couldn’t stand it any longer and decided few times, I invited him over to float the river with me. to give it a try. Now the North fork Holston is a skinny, crystal clear river that at the nearest gauge runs I explained to him that I was totally new to kayaking about 2’ in depth on average but on that day, it was at and discovered that he was more than willing to help and teach me, not an easy task since I was 55 years old the 5’ mark and water temp was about 50 degrees. Initially, all was going well with a few fish being caught and still not 100% since the heart attack 2 1/2 years and both of us enjoying the early Spring sunshine. prior. Kayak Fishing Quarterly
