I first met Terry when she purchased a kayak from me when I was a retailer.  I got to know her on the Florida forums and we fished together when I hooked up with the derelicts (the name the KFS Florida forum calls themselves) in Flamingo for a few days of fishing in February of 2007.  We’ve stayed in touch and we fished again at the 2008 Everglades City Paddle-In.  Terry is an enthusiastic kayak fisherwoman and a very nice person.  Here’s some questions I asked her and don’t forget to read the ‘Ray’ story (in this  issue) as it’s an amazing account.

I was trying to find something to do on the water (fresh and salt) that would be fun and provide good exercise.  When I went poking around on the Internet, I ran across kayak fishing and started reading everything I could on KayakFishingStuff.com and Paddle-Fishing.com.  Fishing was something I had been doing off and on all of my life. The idea of being able to easily get out on the water by myself to catch fish, find shells, get exercise, and enjoy the outdoors for under $2000 was a sure bet. (Hah!  Six kayaks later with multiple accessories and too many rods and reels; I am a tad over $2000 now. )

I bought my first kayak at the beginning of 2004 and immediately started saltwater fishing in it.  At first I went out by myself on very calm Gulf of Mexico days and in the shallow flats along Anna Maria Island, Florida.  Then I took a kayak fishing lesson and joined two local kayak fishing clubs and started meeting people to fish with.

 

 

Hobie Outback.  When I wanted something a bit longer, I bought the Revolution.  Then I decided I wanted a fast paddling kayak and bought a used Kaskazi Pelican.  (It’s fast, but I just don’t enjoy strictly paddling.)  I bought a sixteen foot Hobie Adventure last yare and purchased a second one this year.

 

 

I do most of my fishing in the flats around Tampa and Sarasota Bays, with some side trips to other saltwater locales in Florida like Pine Island/Cayo Costa, Chokoloskee and the Mosquito Lagoon.  I am almost always targeting snook, redfish and trout.
Occasionally I’ll head out into the Gulf and am looking forward to getting back out there for the fall kingfish run this year.  But, truly, flat fishing for snook, reds, and trout is what I love to do in the kayak.
My all time favorite fish to catch is the bonefish and I’d love to try bone fishing from a Hobie in the Bahamas.

 

I keep trying to fly fish but I don’t have the patience to hone my skills and so I tend to keep grabbing the light spinning tackle.

 

Most definitely, luckily it’s not every day that I look up to see a huge ray flying right at my head and then get knocked into the water where a nearby boat was catching sharks.
There are plenty of other memorable moments like catching my largest snook and redfish from the kayak on artificial lures.  I won’t forget those two trips, but too date; the ray incident is “the one.”