Carp: The Illinois Manatee

I set the alarm early for Friday morning and was on the water at about 5.30 am. It was a great way to start the day. The birds were up, the sun was just starting to come over the trees, and the water was smooth. It was so peaceful on the Fox River. I put in at Lyons Park in Fox River Grove and headed north. This is the smoothest I have ever seen the water in this section. The last few times I have been out there, I was joined by boats or wind, so this was a nice surprise.

Around the second bend I was joined with a beaver paddling through the water. I was about 15 feet from him as we paddled north, side by side. Nature has a good way of dodging the camera. I was with the beaver for maybe a quarter mile and saw him the whole way....except when I pulled the camera out. Maybe he didn't want me to share our experience, you had to be there.

The fish were the ones that took the limelight on this trip. When I came into the big bend of the river just south of the public boat launch, the water was full of ripples. There were fish jumping everywhere. Bubbles and splashes surrounded the canoe. I could not see what type of fish were jumping, but there was no question that the active ones at the waters surface were carp. They were HUGE. I had a flash back of my Weeki Wachee Srings paddle with the manatees. This was the Illinois version of that paddle..lol.

I paddled about 3 1/2 hours before work Friday morning. It was a peaceful paddle and a great work out. This was also the furthest that I have made it in this section. Time seems to always be a factor for me. I dream of being able to get up and hit the river without having any time constraints. It will happen, but until then, I will take these mini escapes once in a while.

Skokie Lagoons (Family Trip)

I have heard many great things about the Skokie Lagoons in Winnetka, IL.... so I had to check them out. The weather was going to be great, so we made a family trip out of it. We all packed into the truck and made the hour trip east to the lagoons. We launched at at the Tower rd launch. There was a slew of kayaks and canoes out on the water. I see that they rent boats from this location and also the launch a little further East on Tower rd.

It was cool to be surrounded by other paddlers. Usually, I am the only one out on the lakes and rivers that I hit. Once in a while, I will see another paddler, but it is rare. I liked seeing the variety of boats at the lagoons. You had everything from rec kayaks, to high end kevlar canoes. Everyone was friendly also!

There were a lot of birds at the lagoons. While I didn't see anything new, we did get very close to a heron. He didn't seem to care as we floated right past him. There was also a bunch of ducklings out and about.

We headed north from the launch and made our way up to the northern dam. It was about a half hour paddle to the dam. We were cruising pretty good. There were a lot of cool fallen trees to look at. Once at the dam, we turned around and slowly made our way back down.

This was the longest trip for my 15 month old. She loves the water, but she was got a little "cabin fever" standing in the bow for an hour. All she wanted to do was hang over the side and touch the water. That turned into wanting to get IN the water.

We got to see about a mile stretch of the Lagoons. I will definitely be back to paddle the rest. There is so much to explore at these lagoons that you could make a few trips out of it. The dam's looked passable too. There were stairs and low seawalls. I would be interested in portaging around them and paddling other sections of the area.

Long Lake

I decided to hit Long Lake in Ingleside, IL. This was my first time paddling this lake. There were not many power boats out there, so that was nice. There was some wind gusts, but I am getting used to guiding the canoe into the wind.

As usual, I was so excited to get out on the water, I forgot something....MY CAMERA! I keep all my gear in my truck so I am ready to paddle at any moment. My camera is another story. I brought my GoPro, but after portaging to the lake from the parking lot, I discovered that I left it in the car. So, I was stuck with a shitty camera phone. So this is now a "you had to be there" trip! I snapped some pics of the sections that I though were pretty cool.

The lake is lined with houses of all types. I launched on the North Side of the lake off Rollins Rd. Lake County has a parking lot for Grant Woods that has a sidewalk to the lake. You do have to portage across a rd, but it isn't bad at all. There is a cement launch and a sandy beach area that is perfect for getting ready. At the far West Side of the lake there is a channel that bends around to a small marina (Swany's). Past that there is a small dam that can be portaged around and you can paddle to the Chain of Lakes from there.

At the South East corner of the lake, there are a bunch of little channels to explore. There is a low walking bridge that I was just able to make it under and that channel opens up into a cat tail section. Looking at the map, there is a channel that goes pretty deep through that section too. I will have to check it out next time.

There were a lot of fish jumping in this lake. About a month ago I saw a fish jump out of the water and actually watched the breach from the moment he came out of the water. That was the first time I had seen the whole jump. Now I see it all the time! There was a first this trip though. I had a fish jump out RIGHT along the side of the canoe. He hit the side when he was in the air. Now, I would hope that I am not the only one that would have been startled when a fish hits the boat in a calm, quite cove...lol.

This was a great lake to paddle and I will be out there again this season.

Product Review: Lifetime 'Wave' SOT

Well the weather has finally become warm enough to start paddling the mini yak. I bought my daughter the Lifetime Wave sit on top kayak. This is her first kayak and I was a little uneasy about buying one. I wasn't sure if she would like paddling her own boat and due to her age, I wasn't sure if she would change her 'passion'.

The Wave is a great size for kids and young adults. It is 6 feet long and 2 feet wide. The hull has a tri-hull design for added stability. There are 2 built in rudders in the back for tracking and molded handles on each side for easy carrying. The rear of the kayak is sloped for easy entry from the rear. There are also eyelets to mount a padded seat.

I was very surprised at how stable this kayak is. We dropped it in the pool for a couple reasons; a controlled environment, comfort, and it was the only place my daughter would let me flip her. That was really what I wanted her to get used to. I would let her paddle around the pool, then tip the kayak when she was not expecting it. The first few times she did not fall out of the boat. It really took some effort to tip the kayak enough to where she would slide out of it. That was really good to see. I let her paddle around in the pool with no PFD because she was in a controlled environment and she is a good swimmer. On the lakes, she will be wearing a vest. She is not ready to hit anything with a current yet.

I think I am going to be holding on to this kayak for a while cause my youngest liked it just as much! She liked it so much, it was hard to get her out of it.

So far, I am very happy with the Wave. It has canceled all the concerns that I had with it. I bought it for $150 shipped online, but I have seen them for as low as $100 at local sporting stores. Once in a while, I have seen them for less than that on-line. If you have a little paddler in your life, I think this would be a great first boat for them.