Quick Answer: Yes, kayaks can sink, but most modern designs resist it. Sit-on-top kayaks are nearly unsinkable due to sealed hulls. Sit-inside kayaks can sink without proper bulkheads or float bags. Sinking typically happens from overloading, hull damage, missing drain plugs, or failed hatch seals. With proper maintenance and safety gear, sinking is extremely rare. […]

There is a moment every kayak angler faces when their drag starts screaming and they realize the fight is on. A few minutes later, they find themselves staring at something unexpected: a wide, wing-shaped creature with a whip-like tail that could land them in the emergency room. That was me fifteen years ago in Galveston […]

That moment when you pull your favorite fishing shirt from the washer three times and it still smells like you dragged it through a baitwell? I have been there more times than I care to admit. After two decades of chasing bass, catfish, and everything in between across rivers and lakes from Texas to Florida, […]

Last April, I was paddling across Lake Fork in Texas just as the sun cracked the horizon. The water temp had just hit 62°F, and I knew the big females would be moving up. Twenty minutes later, my drop shot got crushed by a 7-pound largemouth in 8 feet of water. That's when the light […]

There's a moment every angler knows—that sinking feeling when you've thrown everything in your tackle box and the fish just won't cooperate. I was drifting along a break line on a high-pressure summer day when I finally caved and tied on a dropshot rig I'd been avoiding. Twenty minutes later, I'd put five solid bass […]

Last July, I watched the sunrise paint the limestone cliffs of the St. Croix River gold while paddling my fishing kayak through glass-calm water near Taylors Falls. A bald eagle swooped down 20 feet from my bow, snatching a smallmouth bass from the surface. That moment reminded me why Minnesota offers some of the most […]

There's a moment on the Kansas River when the morning sun hits the water just right, turning the prairie sky into a canvas of gold and rose. That was the moment I knew Kansas had been keeping secrets from outsiders. Three years and hundreds of paddling miles later, I'm still discovering new sandbars, hidden coves, […]

Last summer, I watched my paddle slice through water so clear I could count individual rocks 20 feet below. The Wood River's turquoise current pushed my kayak through a corridor of aspens while Mt. McLoughlin loomed in the distance. After paddling in 15 states, I can honestly say Oregon spoiled me – and it'll spoil […]

The first time I portaged around a low-head dam on the Maquoketa River, I had no idea what I had avoided. A local paddler later told me that particular dam had claimed three lives in the preceding decade. That moment changed how I approach every Iowa river. After 20 years of paddling the Hawkeye State's […]

The prairie wind carries a different kind of paddling promise. When I first loaded my kayak for a North Dakota adventure, I expected flat farmland and not much else. What I discovered changed everything I thought I knew about Great Plains paddling. Over the past few seasons, I've explored more than 40 distinct waterways across […]