Katie Siber of The New York Times explores the paddling opportunities on the Colorado River above Lee’s Ferry (“sandwiched between Lake Powell and the Grand Canyon” in northern Arizona), where river permits are much easier to come by, the water is flatter, and the couple-day kayaking legs are perfect for beginners.

“One of the remarkable things about the Colorado is that no matter how many people have traveled it and no matter how many have tried to plunder it, from railroad builders to miners and even Hollywood movie crews (parts of “The Greatest Story Ever Told,” “Broken Arrow” and “Charlie’s Angels: Full Throttle” were filmed here), it retains a palpable sense of wildness.

River trips on peaceful stretches like this invite laziness and lingering, so the next morning we lounged about and sipped coffee, did some cursory yoga and inspected the tracks of ringtails and centipedes circling our tents and the bushes.”

photo credit: Wolfgang Staudt

Executive Pursuits: Harry Hurt III of The New York Times writes about running the “boiling cauldron” that is the Nantahala River (the “Natty”) in western North Carolina, as he learns to kayak for the first time with whitewater kayaking instructor Jon Clark of Nantahala Outdoor Center.

“Over the preceding 24 hours, Jon and his colleagues at the Nantahala Outdoor Center had given me a crash course in the basics of whitewater kayaking. I’d practiced on a flat-water section of the Chattooga River, where the movie ‘Deliverance’ was shot, and I’d run some Class II rapids on the Nantahala River. But Nantahala Falls was a full-fledged Class III rapids, and I was still a rank novice.”

photo credit: Fredde Cooney Ahlstrom

• New York Times video: Harry Hurt III learns to run whitewater
• Kayak Waterfall Record: National Geographic Adventure
• Kayaking the Port of Redwood City, CA: San Jose Mercury News
• Kayaker Rush Sturges on breaking his back: The Adventure Life

Matt Shepard of Virginia Beach, Virginia, landed a 166-pound bluefin tuna, fishing 40 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina–and all of this from a 13-foot sea kayak.

“During his 90-minute fight with the fish, Shepard and his 13-foot ocean kayak were towed three miles, at times sideways and backwards, at speeds of up to 7 knots,” Field & Stream.

Paddle to Seattle is documentary featuring J.J. Kelley, a television producer for National Geographic, and Josh Thomas, a carpenter from Seward, Alaska, as they decide to build sea kayaks from pygmy wooden kits and paddle 1,200 miles from Juneau, Alaska to Seattle–96 days of exploration and adventure along the North American Inside Passage.

“…[W]hen you have three months at eight hours a day, you get to know yourself very well. And that’s huge just to go inside your brain to try to make yourself a better person. You learn just to be yourself,” says Josh Thomas in a National Geographic Traveler interview.

Produced by Ben Gottfried

Bryan Smith, kayaker/filmmaker of Reel Water Productions and the 22-episode outdoor series The Season, scouts Dipper Creek –a tributary of British Columbia’s Upper Squamish River–along with Chris Trentwold, Shane Robinson, and Todd Gillman. Rope-work, rappelling, rock climbing, and creative portaging required…

Produced by Reel Water Productions

Crystal Gorge: Roaring Fork Valley kayakers Fred Norquist and Jake Sakson take on the Crystal River’s short, two-mile run above Marble, Colorado–4-wheel drives required. This footage is part of Forge Motion Pictures’ WildWater–a kayaking movie chronicling destinations throughout the Rocky Mountains, Grand Canyon, and Ecuador.

Produced by Forge Motion Pictures

Edward Nickens of Popular Mechanics spends a few days paddling Louisiana’s salt marsh in search of sea trout and redfish and writes about the new breed of fishing kayaks: stable casting platforms, easy to paddle and maneuver, relatively indestructible, light and portable, and most of all, comfortable.

“These new fishing-friendly designs have ushered in a golden age of small-craft angling. According to the Paddlesports Industry Association, kayak fishing is the fastest growing segment of human-powered water recreation. These boats are introducing outdoor enthusiasts who might never have considered themselves paddlers to a new kind of fishing adventure.”

Native’s Ultimate Hybrid and Hobie’s Mirage Pro Angler are loosely reviewed.

Yes, “skyaking” is what it sounds like: skydiving with a kayak. Miles Daisher, a resident of Twin Falls, Idaho and a longtime BASE jumper and skydiver, tells The Daily Telegraph how he came up with the idea of throwing himself and plastic boats out of planes and helicopters.

“‘It took us nearly a year before we could get our wish to come true as no one was really looking to throw a kayak out of an aeroplane. To begin with we did it off a 600ft bridge on a static line, and landed in Feather River, California,’” says Daisher. “‘A year later I got permission to jump out of an aeroplane and so since that time I have jumped out of four different aircraft, including a helicopter.’”

In the last few years, thousands of Texas anglers have begun utilizing kayaks to explore everything from Hill Country rivers to coastal estuaries in search freshwater bass and saltwater redfish and sea trout. Shannon Tompkins of the Houston Chronicle writes about the advantages of these nimble and cost effective fishing solutions.

“Kayaks are relatively inexpensive (certainly when compared to power boats); can be easily transported without a trailer; allow anglers to access places such as narrow, shallow, rocky Hill Country rivers or knee-deep, back-bay flats that powerboats can’t; and, perhaps most importantly, can be a tremendously effective way to fish.”

Important options to consider for any quality fishing kayak: comfortable seat, durable rod holders and leashes, carrying weight, dry storage, and soft cooler storage.

photo credit: paddling