Paddling

The new year is shaping up to be busy, busy, busy.

A little less than a year ago I started talking with the editors at Texas Sporting Journal about writing a series on coastal kayak fishing. That led to a regular paddling column in the magazine and March 2 – Texas Independence Day – we’ll launch the Texas Kayak Safari.

Over the course of the spring and summer – on weekends, holidays and whatever vacation days I can scrounge – I’ll paddle the nearly 400 miles between the Rio Grande and Sabine Pass.

There will be lots of fishing involved, but I’ll also make time to talk about some of the challenges facing the Texas Gulf Coast in the 21st Century.

It’s a trip I’ve been wanting to take since about the beginning of the decade.

While the coastal voyage was taking shape I was fortunate enough to land a deal to write FalconGuide’s “Paddling Texas,” an inland paddling guide book. So whatever time I’m not on the salt, I’ll be somewhere on a river or stream.

Industry response, to the coastal project, in particular, has been overwhelmingly positive. I’m getting help from my friends at Hobie, Wilderness Systems, Ocean Kayak and Malibu Kayaks. Cabela’s, TFO, Pflueger-Shakespeare and GSI Outdoors Cookware also have signed-on.

Friends in the paddling community have been generous with their offers of information, company, shuttle services and places to crash and get a hot shower.

To help keep track of my busy schedule – and to let folks know where I’ll be any given weekend – I’ve added a calendar feature to this blog. You can find it at the bottom of the sidebar column to the right.

Both projects are going to be mighty interesting, and I’m looking forward to what the next 12 months brings.

If you see a trip that fits your schedule and you’d like to come along, give me a shout.

This weekend I'm headed to the tropical tip of Texas to chase snook out of a kayak with my buddy Danny.

Over the last 10 years we've spent New Year's Eve together in San Salvador, Tuzla and Houston, but I think this will be the first one we've spent fishing.

Not a bad way to cap 2006 and ring in the New Year ....