Boondoggle Cuda Style

I had the opportunity to make the voyage to Titusville, Florida for the Merritt Island/ Kars Park Boondoggle over the President’s Day holiday weekend. The Boondoggle, hosted by Yakangler.com and Kayak Fishing Radio, is a low key get together of kayak anglers for the enjoyment of kayak fishing and socializing. The Merritt Island Boondoggle raged with over 200 kayak anglers from all over the US. The weather wasn’t very welcoming, but a great time was had by all. Despite the rain, wind, and cold temperatures kayak anglers enjoyed fishing, camping, grilling, talking, and eating. Jackson Kayak Fishing Team member Charles “Redfish Chuck” Levi MC’d the event and did a great job at ensuring that everyone was safe and having fun.

I was able to get out on the water a couple of times in my JK Cuda 14. Even in the windy conditions, the Cuda cut right through the water and maintained a stable platform for me to fish. I had a great time fishing a protected portion of the Mosquito Lagoon and managed to wrestle with a couple nice redfish. The highlight of my trip was noticing a big fish near a mangrove bank. I glided over to check it out and found a large speckled trout struggling to down a 15 mullet. I reached down a grabbed the trout and hoisted it into the kayak. The trout measured 30″ in length. It appeared that the meal was just too big for the trout and fearing that it wouldn’t recover, I pulled the snack from it’s throat and spent the next 30-40 minutes reviving it. Finally the trout regained it’s strength and slowly swam off into the distance.

Jackson Kayak kayaks made a great showing at the Boondoggle with the Cuda 14, Cuda 12, Big Tuna, and even a SUPerFISHal. There was a dinner and raffle on Saturday evening that boasted giveaways from a number of industry sponsors. One lucky winner received a brand new Jackson Kayak Cruise. Jackson Kayak Fishing Team member’s Charles and Melita Ganoe made an impact on the Boondoggle with awesome home baked treats and a monster redfish catch.

Be sure to check out the whole line of Jackson Kayaks at jacksonkayak.com and see when the next Boondoggle is at yakangler.com.

-Trey Leggett