So, this new guy moves to town. Miles Burghoff. He goes to our local shop, the Kayak Connection in Santa Cruz, CA and arranges for his first kayak, an Old Town Predator XL to be shipped to the shop. 

KC owner Dave Grigsby connected us via email saying, “Miles wandered into the shop yesterday and introduced himself. He's definitely got the fishing part down (he's a past national champ and has hosted a TV show) but he's yet to fish from a kayak. I figured I needed to get him in your camp right away. I've copied you both on this email. More about Miles at sonarfishing.com and sweetwaterfishingtv.com. He's not just a badass angler, he's a really nice guy, too.”

Grigsby was correct on both counts. Burghoff coincidentally had just registered on our Kayak Fishing Forum, NCKA.org using his longtime handle, “Sonar.” I was already set to take this guy out for a first kayak fishing adventure and was only more intrigued to learn that he is a real “By God Bass Pro.” 

Besides being on the tournament trail, Sonar has plenty other fishing creds. On the Sweetwater site his bio mentions ““Though Sonar is passionate about tournament bass fishing, his love for other types of fishing hasn’t faded over the years. Since graduating from high school in 2005, he has spent his summers in Southeast Alaska as a fishing guide for the Baranof Wilderness Lodge. He also enjoys spending time exploring rivers and streams in search of various species of trout and salmon. Oh, and if you wondering why his nickname is Sonar- it’s a title his friends gave him because his father, Gary Burghoff, played the character “Radar” on the popular television series MASH.”

No one has ever accused me of being able to catch Largemouth Bass, so I figured a favor might work both ways. I could show him a promising local LMB spot, and maybe he could show me how to catch one. We met at a local pond, a semi-tidal slough that rarely gets fished. One of my charter boat deckhand friends whose real passion is for bass told me years ago "there's fish there." After setting up Sonar’s new Predator, we headed out and worked the Tule reed and pennywort edges of the small lake.

Sonar hooked up his first kayak fish before too long. We were both surprised and pleased to see a big, healthy three-pound largemouth take his bait from the Tule edge. Having moved to Santa Cruz for other family reasons, Sonar was overjoyed to learn of a quality fishing spot to keep his chops up was so close to home. He lives about a block away.

A couple more hours produced a couple more fish for Sonar, but none for me. But hey, he’s a Pro! And, my wacky-rigged Senko was more like a “Jack-Assey” rig, I guess. Needless to say, I consider the go-out a total success. Sonar took to the kayak like he was made for it, standing and casting from his Predator XL like, well, a pro. I’m looking forward to springtime when I can get him out on the salt for some bigger game, fishing in “my world.” And, I admit I’m going to take my Senko lesson back to this little urban lake soon. Gonna get me one of those big bucketmouths.

Even the most humble little local pond can provide kayak fishing adventure.