2019 has been a difficult year, and we are still trying to come to terms with the tragic loss of two of my family members taken well before their time. It has made me realise that life is precious, and we need to make the most of the short time we have, and treasure those close to us. It has also made me realise that throughout my life, my fishing has been a constant source of enjoyment. With this in mind, I tried to create as many kayak fishing highs as possible in 2019. I made epic kayak fishing trips to Panama, Florida, China and Scotland amongst others. I visited the iCast fishing show and witnessed the launch of the Hobie 360 live. During the year I tangled with sharks, giant skate, and a plethora of exotic species, somehow notching up 57 species from the kayak along the way. I hope you enjoy reading this, and take something from it.

Looking ahead to 2020, I wish you all the best. It’s shaping up to be an exciting year, with a limited print run my new kayak fishing book released early in the year, its been 5 years in the making and I’ve put my heart and soul into it. I truly hope you guys will support it.

January

The year started off with my good friend Charlie “Fishwish” Halliday organising a charity fishing match on our local river. It raised a load of money, and it was great to meet up with everyone. Lola Marchant (below) certainly had a good day.

One of the perks of travelling, is that you get to make friends with some cool fishing dudes from around the world. I met Australian Chesney Fung a few years back, and he was working in the UK and keen to get out and catch an English trout on the fly. The conditions were not great, but Chesney managed to catch one, and we celebrated in a proper local pub afterwards.

I love to catch rays from the kayak, and the blonde ray has to be one of my favourites. Nathan Evans has a knack of catching the good fish, and I looked forward to travelling to Wales to fish with him and Stu Evans. It didn’t disappoint, and a succession of rays, including this cracking blonde ray fought all the way to the kayak in the strong tide.

February

When I saw a report from Mark Radcliffe showing a kayak full of herring and mackerel in February, I was a little surprised. But after speaking to him, I decided to high tail it down to Brixham and see if I could top up the bait freezer. I met up with some of my old fishing buddies, including Marcus Ward. It was a great day on the water, and the kayak was soon full of fish. A great way to chrisian the new Hobie Outback 19.

Time for some freshwater action, and a trip to Llangorse lake in Wales. Mark “Hewy” Hewitson phoned me whilst I was on the water. He always seems to ring when I am into a big fish. It was a case of right place at the right time. The screen on my new Lowrance HDS 9 Live sounder was showing big pike directly beneath the kayak. I dropped the lure onto their heads, picking out individual fish to double figures. Very cool! Also tried out the new Bone lures, and my trusty Bone Voyage Travel rod – a top bit of kit.

March

March saw my return to the Llangorse European freshwater kayak fishing championiship.

I was the pre-fish princess, as is usualy the case. I caught some decent pike in practice, but failed to come up with the goods in the competition. The well deserved win going to Mark Radcliffe.

The weather was starting to kick-start the fishing. I travelled down to the South Hams in Devon for a kayak fishing weekend, staying in a B&B and fishing one day at Salcombe and the next day going to the Skerries.

Salcombe is one of my favourite launches. It was a red letter day, including a double hookup of plaice, wrasse and one of my bogey species red mulet… what a top day out!

Next day, and the skerries. A few small plaice, but then this big old huss crashed the party!

The Big One Show at Farnborough, and the Hobie fishing stand was looking stylish. Kris and the crew had done a great job, and this year all of the lure fishing exhibitors were grouped in the same area.

April

First visit of the year to Swanage, and again, I was lucky enough to hit it at its peak. After a couple of seasons where thebream fishing was not at its best, my expectations were low. How wrong I was. I have never caught so many bream. It seemed like they were everywhere. I was catching them 3 at a time! And some decent ones mixed in too. Then I switched tactics and added some rays to the mix, including small eyed and spotted. Definitely a day to remember – incredible.

Mark Underhill has transformed Wimbleball Trout Fishery. It was always a beautiful place to visit, but now it is home to some fantastic quality hard fighting trout. I always look forward to visiting Wimbleball with the kayak, and this year was no exception. What a stunning venue.

May

I had been looking forward to my Panama trip for a long time. I couldn’t have wished for a better bunch of guys to share it with. Ben Wallis, Ed Jane and Kieren Faisey were my companions for the kayak fishing dream trip to Panama Kayak Fishing Adventure’s lodge with Sam Wadman, Pascal and Barbera. I had met Sam a few years back during the auditions for the BBC’s The Big Fish. Sam had his brother Jamie over to share the trip with us. First off was a stay in Panama City, that was a mini advenure in itself.

We happened to be in Panama City during the run up to their election, so we joined in the party. Well, it would have been rude not to!

Kayak fishing in Panama really was amazing. The scenery, the fishing, the food and the company. I never managed to catch a decent cubera, but that box was ticked on a later trip (see below). The myriad of other fish slamming into our lures, more than made up for it. We caught some amazing fish. Kieren is simply a fishing machine, even watching him was exhausting, and I thought I was keen… I must be getting old! I will never forget some of the encounters I had. Catching a large bluefin trevelly on a rapala lure was pretty awesome, these fish simply do not give up.

Catching tuna on a surface popper was another memorable moment. The water was boiling with them, and at one stage myself, Ed, Kieraen and Ben were all into 20lb+ tuna. These fish go like stink. An unforgettable experience, and I caught 13 species on the lures.

Catching this African Pompano whilst vertical jigging was another highlight.

All to soon, it was time to return from the Panamanian jungle. And straight back to Salcombe with my buddy Alistair Cole. Each time we visit, we learn a little bit more about this venue. Catching live sandeel, bass and wrasse has become routine. My Bone Voyage travel rod has taken one heck of a beating here.

The Swanage Classic is another highlight of the kayak fishing calendar. This year’s event was to be the last time my good friend David Morris organised the event, and it was won by Liam Faisey.

June

Flaming June saw my first visit to Blue Anchor. The slip had been closed due to a land slide, and this was the first chance I had fished it in a while. The place was carpeted in rays, and double hook ups were common place. A couple of the rays were a decent size, with one going into double figures.

This was the first time I had been to the Poole boat show. The Hobie crew were there under the banner of their new name Shore Thing. Still showing off their fleet of Hobie fishing kayaks, but also displaying some cool eBikes on the stand, and a range of small inflatable craft.

Back to Salcombe again, on my own this time, and on a mission to try to catch one of the bigger wrasse which had smashed me up in the past. After a few missed hookups, I finally landed a bruiser. This type of lure fishing is very visual, literally peering over the side of the kayak to spot likely looking hiding places.

Mixing it up, and back to freshwater. Summer light tackle lure fishing for chub is immensely rewarding. I really do get a kick out of this style of fishing. There is alot of subtlety involved, and some of the fish are huge. This trip accounted for a 5lb+ chub and a bonus brown trout which made my day.

July

Another international trip. This time to Florida, and first off I have to say a massive thank you to my good friend and Kayak Fishing guide Brian Nelli of Pushin Water Kayak fishing charters. Brian managed to knock off several bucket list items in one hit on my trip. Firstly, I had always wanted to go to the iCast fishing show.

iCast was simply awesome. It was literally a who’s who of fishing celebrities and tackle companies. I met so many fishing heroes you would not believe. Plus it was the launch day for one of the most innovative kayak fishing inventions of the year. The Hobie 360 was unveiled, and I got to watch it all live, and chat to the inventor Philip Dow. I also got to meet a number of my other Hobie bros, including Herve…

…and my good buddy Radek….

… and bass megastar Mike “Ike” Laconelli…

…. and the Hobie dark lord himself Steve Fields and the awesome Morgan and Kev…

Then Brian fixed it for me to catch some bucket list fish from the kayak. I had always wanted to catch a peacock bass, and ever since I learned that you could catch them in Florida’s canal systems, I was excited. That and the bizarre looking clown knife fish. Well Brian sorted both, including this trophy peacock which came aboard after a series of mishaps on my part, Sometimes you need alot of luck, and someone was definitely smiling at me that day. I will never forget sight casting to that fish. Simply incredible…

Then the clown knifefish. A crazy looking beast which fought like a daemon, and all topped largemouth bass to complete my slam for the day.

Then it was on to the salt, with Brian leading me out on the Hobie Outback kayak from the beach following a thunderstorm. Dolphins accompanied us as we paddled out to towards the drop-off where the gulf stream comes in very close to the shore. We started trolling livebaits, and almost immediately the drag on the reel started to sing as a kingfish grabbed the unfortunate livebait.

More kingfish soon followed. The action was hectic.

Then a toothy barracuda bent the rod in half. The fish still had a big circle hook from a previous encounter, which we removed before releasing it.

The action was non-stop, but soon bonito started to grab everything. Some of the bonito were a good size.

The downside to catching the bonito, was the taxman. If you didn’t get the bonito to the kayak quickly, then a shark would grab them. I managed to land a shark of about 150lbs which Brian referred to as “a small one”. Shortly afterwards, I hooked “a big one” which Brian estimated at about 400lbs. Luckily, the line snapped. I was quite relieved.

If you are looking at a kayak fishing trip to Florida, I would highly recommend Brian and Pushin Water Kayak fishing charters.

Next, in a bizarre turn of events, we said goodbye to Brian and moved to the Florida keys for a few days. The house we were staying in had a very small kayak which I decided to paddle out into a big saltwater lagoon. With the help of the Navionics app on my phone, I made my way to a likely looking spot. I cast out a weedless soft plastic lure to a fish I had spotted chasing fry. The fish smashed the lure, and after a short but brutal fight, I managed to land it. It looked suspiciously like a cubera snapper, and a passing fishing boat confirmed my suspicion. What an awesome day out. I caught it using an Eagle Claw Blair Wiggins travel rod I had purchased from Andrew Race at Reuben Heaton. Bizarely, I had met Capt Blair Wiggins a few days earlier at iCast!

August

Another one of my favourite launches in North Devon. The Hobie Outback 19 was looking good. After catching some livebait, my first cast produced a brilliant hard fighting tope.

Back to freshwater and more chub and perch action. Some clonking great fish.

September

Time for a road trip. My buddy Alistair drove us up to Scotland for another crack at the common skate. Liam, Ben, Martin, Stu, Mark and John were in good spirits, and the weather was much better than last year. All of the guys caught skate, including a double hookup with Alistair and Mark being towed by fish at the same time. What a stunning location.

I broke another 50lb class rod on a fish, and my leader knot had snapped on another. Then on the final day, everything came good, with spurdogs, black mouthed dogfish and…

Finally everything went right, and I caught my common skate.

I was pretty chuffed. That’s 2 years of hurt!

October

I had not visited China for a few years. So when I was invited to a new kayak fishing tournament in a new location, I jumped at the opportunity. I traveled with my Hobie team mate David Morris.

We were fortunate to have some time to explore Beijing, and visited Tiananmen square, the forbidden city and the Great Wall of China with our international friends and competitors.

The opening ceremony for the kayak fishing competition was stunning. Thousands of people crammed into a stadium. An amazing experience

So many old friends and some really cool new faces in the international kayak fishing team.

The competition lake had never been fished before. The backdrop was amazing, but the fishing was tough.

Miguel and Andre got amongst the prize money, with a fantastic performance.

All to soon, it was time to return home, but what an experience. China never disappoints.

November

A small weather window, and a quick message to Nathan and Stu, and hours later we were all fishing together in Wales. The fishing was tough, but a short feeding frenzy saw me catch a few thornback rays and a nice blonde ray.

December

Its that time of year when the weather usually puts pay to kayak fishing. The rivers are in flood, and the wind stops me getting offshore. But I managed to sneak out for a day midweek to fish the Bristol channel. It was a fish fest, with loads of rays, whiting, conger eels and dogfish.

The last competition of the year, the Ben Saville memorial flounder meet at Poole Harbour. Great weather, but the fishing was rock hard. Mark Radcliffe won the comp on a tough day.

Even Santa put in an appearance… well it was almost Christmas!

As the year was coming to an end, Hobie Outdoor Adventures produced a video which brought back happy memories for me. I was lucky enough to join Hobie’s Morgan and Keeton, and Gero for a writers conference in Sweden. I had a great time and it was a fitting way on which to end my kayak fishing year…

All that remains is for me to wish everyone all the best for 2020. If you are interested in purchasing my new Kayak Fishing Book, drop me a line at ian@dizzyfish.plus.com

Finally, I need to thank the following for their continued support of my kayak fishing adventures:

Hobie : Kris, Steve, and Hazel at The Shore Thing in Poole, supported by Hobie Europe – Gero, Tim and the crew. Simply the best fishing kayaks in the world.

Lowrance : Craig & Dulcie providing advice and support for some of the best marine electronics in the world

Navionics : Lance, Emma and the team provide the best nautical charts and mapping software for your fish finder and phone

Reuben Heaton, Eagle Claw and Trokar : Andrew and the team provide the best hooks and scales available

American Tackle Company : Gary and the team produce some of the best rod building components, and rod blanks available

Rebelcel : High end lightweight performance batteries specifically designed for small boats and kayaks

Bone Fishing World : Bone, Max and the team produce some incredible lure fishing equipment. Top notch hi-tec lure rods and innovative lures. If you haven’t heard of them, I really suggest you check them out. You will not be disappointed.