Kayaking the Kaskaskia River, Randoph County, Illinois August 21st, 2011

Kayaking the Kaskaskia River Illinois

This put in spot for the Kaskaskia River is right next to Baldwin Lake in Randoph County.  I had set out on this trip not only to get some miles in, but also to get some fishing in as well.  The river has been channelized (I believe they did that in 1969) so there is the main channel, and a ton of old river channel going in all directions.  My friend Ray and I had made an attempt in the winter to access the river at this point, but this area was frozen over at the time, so I was grateful to finally have a chance to paddle this spot.
The main channel has a ton of ski boat/ pleasure boat traffic on the weekends.  I was able to navigate through this with the kayak.  It was fortunate that the put in area of the river is a no wake area.  I paddled across the main channel and followed the original channel until the end of it.  The place is TEEMING with asian carp.  If you watch the Youtube video below, watch very carefully when the jon boat goes by.....you can see a couple of them jumping out of the water on the back end of the boat.  I had one jump out right by the kayak (I was throwing a rat-l-trap lure real fast in hopes of snagging one of them- I scared one right by the yak)
This is an interesting river....I would say that the attributes are more like the Mississippi River than a small stream (same kind of river fare in regards to the fishing).


This would be a river I would like to continue to explore.  I think we could do some major miles on this going into the fall and winter.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Lake Kincaid, Jackson County, Illinois May 29th 2011: Beautiful lake in the heart of the "Illinois Ozarks"

The weather in this part of the country has been so unusual.  We were just up at Coffeen Lake a couple of days ago and had a light windbreaker due to the temperatures and lack of sun.  On this trip, it got in the 90's and was very windy.


I put in at the boat launch at the National Forest Service area off Hwy 151.  If you keep going (coming in from the south) there is another boat launch that is all run down and delapidated.  I think next time I go, I am going to launch from there and see how far I can run up Kincaid Creek.  The launch traffic was fairly high due to the holiday weekend.  The one thing I do not like to do is rush getting into my kayak or getting out of my kayak..so that part was a little challenging.


Paddled from the boat launch into the creek and went about 3/4 of a mile up in the creek.  It was fun to paddle this and fish it as well.  After about an hour or so of that, I got back on the main lake.  The wind was gusty, but only provided for a couple of challenges.  Water color was brown, and I am thinking the lake is still a little high based on how the local rivers look right now.  I look forward to coming back to this lake to paddle some more in the future.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Windy kayaking adventure at Lake Kincaid, Illinois

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Coffeen Lake, Illinois Montgomery County, Ilinois: Great gem of a lake in the heart of Illinois

Kayaking Coffeen Lake, Illinois

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This was a nice paddle for the day!  I only did about 2 miles or so....started to fish and lost track of the actual kayaking.  Nice gem of a lake right in the heart of south-central Illinois.  It is interesting, Illinois is one of those states that is overlooked sometimes in regards for great places to paddle and fish, but it has some nice opportunities.  I live in the St. Louis area, so a lot of these lakes are in actuality closer than the same kind of lakes on the Missouri end.
I look forward to coming back to this lake.  This is a long, narrow power plant lake, so a person could do quite a few miles on it if they wanted to.  I may have to come back for an overnight trip sometime.  We put in on the north access, but there is another access point in the middle that has either a picnic area or a campground right on the water.

Paddle ON!

Mike

Surf Illinois! Kayaking Horseshoe Lake, Madison County, Illinois, March 17th, 2011

If you get a chance, watch this short clip all the way towards the last few minutes.  All I have to say is that there is a reason we paddle against the wind to start.  The waves started to wip up and white cap with some incredible waves (at least for Illinois) and we rode the kayaks all the way in.
Landing at the dock was a challenge, but we were able to get it done.  This lake is REALLY influenced by the effects of wind shear.  Great time kayaking!

Paddle ON!

MLT

Urban Kayaking! Nameoki Slough, Horseshoe Lake, Illinois: Urban exploring with kayaks!

This is the first of (2) videos shot at Horseshoe Lake, Illinois in Madison County, Illinois.  The first half of the kayak trip was dedicated to exploring the Nameoki Slough that empties into Horseshoe Lake.  I always wanted to know what it would be like going under roads and railroad tracks with a kayak....now I know!
Horseshoe Lake is a very urban paddle.  You can see the skyline for metro St. Louis, as well as see, hear and smell the U.S.Steel- Granite City Foundry.  The main part of the slough is very shallow (I would guess 2 feet or less), so this would not work with a traditional boat. 
The second half of the paddle we explored the main lake.  It was INCREDIBLY windy, and so when you watch that video, you will see us almost surfing the kayaks back to shore.

Paddle ON!

MLT

Horseshoe Lake, Monroe County, Illinois: Great urban kayak trip- wind made paddle very interesting!

Urban Kayaking-Surf Illinois! Horseshoe Lake Illinois

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This was a great trip...I am producing (2) film clips.  One is of us kayaking under road and railroad tracks in the Nameoki Slough, the other film is kayaking the main lake and then the "surf" we road coming back to shore.  Very, very enjoyable trip with my good friend, Ray Schroeder.

Paddle ON!

MLT

Baldwin Lake, Kaskaskia River Wildlife Area, Randolph County, IL: First Kayak trip of year- lake not frozen due to power plant

Baldwin Lake, Kaskaskia River Wildlife area, Illinois

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Great first kayak trip of the new year. Really, really enjoyed getting out and re-acquainting myself with the sea kayak.  Ray Schroeder came by with his kayak trailer and we hit it.  Originally, we were trying to find a ramp to get on the main channel of the Kaskaskia River, but all the access points were in sloughs, and thus the water was frozen.

Life is better in a kayak!

Mike