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Kayaking 2026!
The 2026 kayaking / kayak fishing season is well underway as is the hiking and nature photography season. I recently updated the blog on that front as far as the many nature walks at Fort Gratiot Nature Pond as well as walks at Stony Creek Metropark and Pine River Nature Center. Now is time to update the kayak fishing stats for the season. 2026 adventures so far have included a couple of times out on The Black River out of Port Huron, Michigan, Kent Lake within Kensington Metropark in Milford, Michigan, Anchor Bay of Lake St Clair out of Ira Township, Lake St Clair out of what is popularly known as Metro Beach aka Lake St Clair Metropark now and the Pine River out of St Clair, Michigan, St Clair Harbor.
The Black river last year was not good to me as far as fishing goes relative to previous years and this year that streak continues. The first adventure of the season there was on 23 April 2026 for a total 1.2 Mile paddle and drift fish on an evening and fished under and around the bridge over the Canal. The dam at the mouth of the canal at Lake Huron is broken and it is stuck closed. This I feel has really adversely affected the fishery there and in the Canal itself. "The AquaPoeticka" joined me on this adventure. Another time I ventured on the Black River I headed upriver to the oxbow which is about a mile paddle up river. Last year there was a large tree fallen across it which prevented me from venturing up into the canal. This year that is cleared out and, although shallow, one can venture up the canal. I am not sure how far. Years ago I adventured with another paddler who was not into fishing just paddling as far as we could go up the oxbow and we could almost get to where it reconnects with the river, but it was blocked by brush and thick marsh growth so had to turn back. I am looking forward to exploring further up the oxbow soon to see how far one can get up it now. I only went about a 1/4 of a mile and fished there. It was beautiful and saw a beaver doing beaver things, a blue heron fishing and of course ducks and turtles. Of memorable note during that adventure was on the way upriver I found a lady and her dog standing by and showing compassion to a coyote who appeared to be dying along the shore of the river. The lady texted me the next morning to advise that the coyote must have lived as it was gone in the morning at about 9am. Hopefully that is the case. Brave Coyote Carry On! That coyote also made it into the most recent song I wrote.
At Kensington Metropark, "The AquaPoeticka" joined me as well. We fished out of the boat launch area where one can rent big peddalboats shaped like swans or rubber duckies and other boats and kayaks as well are available to rent. We fished the by just to the north and adjacent to the launch to fish more / paddle less. On that adventure I landed a 14" Northern Pike and "The AquaPoeticka" landed a 6" perch. This was a total of a 1.7 Mile Paddle and Drift Fish Adventure on 17 May 2026. I used "The Happy Frog" on this adventure which was a nice change up!
I fished also out of the DNR launch in Ira Township on Anchor Bay of Lake St. Clair. "The AquaPoeticka" also joined me on this adventure. This produced a personal best. A 22" Freshwater Drum! Historically this has been a great area for smallmouth bass and rock bass which I used to catch in plenty; however, last year it was not so good in that regard. I was happy with the Freshwater Drum. It fought like crazy and made 3 runs before tiring itself out.
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I also have fished out of Lake St Clair Metropark day sail area for an extended 1/2 day of fishing. I launched at about 4pm and fished until 8:30pm. The first half of the time I spent in front of the beach itself. And it produced as it has in years past: two smallmouth bass 12" and 16". Those were caught on the first two drifts. Then a couple of other hits for the rest of the day but nothing landed. The second half of the adventure, I was joined by "The AquaPoeticka" and we fished closer to the day sail launch. Again had a couple of hits but nothing landed. For my kayak this was a total of a 3.16 Mile paddle and drift fish adventure on 3 June 2026.
Also adventured on the Pine River out of St Clair, Michigan / St Clair Harbor boat launch. It is free to launch kayaks there and they have a nice kayak launch set-up as well. "The AquaPoeticka" joined me on that adventure. We paddled up 2.5 miles making some stops along the way to fish. The most notable experience on this adventure was about 1/3 of the way up in our adventure there was a school of Gar fish which were hovering just under the surface. I had a coupld of hits but they are difficult to catch with the lures in my arsenal at that time because the hooks are too big for their pointy long mouths which are riddled with teeth! I should have photo'd their teeth! How was I able to photo one? Because "The AquaPoeticka" landed a PERSONAL BEST during this adventure. The biggest fish she had ever caught. So happy the captain of The AquaPoeticka landed a nice fish! a 24" Gar! ! ! Way to Go! Both Kayaks underwent a thorough Coast Guard Inspection and passed thanks to my 1990 Field Commander Whistle which I provided to "The AquaPoeticka"! Kayaks on navigable waters are required to carry a sound device such as an airhorn or whistle.
2026 Fish Stats:
- Smallmouth Bass: 12" and 16"
- Freshwater Drum: 22" (New Personal Best)
- Northern Pike: 14"
6 June 2026 view looking upriver at the farthest point we made/fished, the AYSO park buildings are vieable in the upper right of picture.
On 6 June 2026 visited The Black River again. This time joined by The Aquapoeticka as well as Capt'n V. We put in about 5pm at the North River Road Park launch and then paddled upriver. We fished just before geting to the oxbow in the shade for a while before heading upriver a couple more bends and fished in and around that bend for a bit before heading upriver another bend or two and fished that area (just downriver from the AYSO park) for about 40 minutes before starting to paddle back to the launch at 740pm. We arrived at the launch and loaded up at 8:45 and it was then off to Culver's for ice cream to round out the trip. No fish were caught, although Capt'n V reported some hits, she collected a goose feather as a specimen from the adventure. We didn't make it to the point because of running out of time, but just upriver from the AYSO park is where I caught my previous Freshwater Drum personal best (20") however as you read here, that personal best was outdone this year with a 22" Freshwater Drum caught in Anchor Bay of Lake St Clair. The total adventure was 4.5 Miles of mostly paddling because where we fished there was no wind or current to notably take us anywhere. Other than no fish it was quite an enjoyable adventure on The Black River.
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