‘Coosa' kayak is easy for anglers to turn, navigate & fish

[Slack lines]

‘Coosa' kayak is easy for anglers to turn, navigate & fish

BUENA VISTA — While Colorado's central location and diverse terrain place it on the forefront of many an outdoor endeavor, the increasingly popular trend of fishing from a kayak is not one of them.

 

Fishing? Top-notch. Kayaking? World-class. But the combination of the two? Not so much. At least not yet, anyway.

 

The kayak traces its origins to the original Eskimo fishing vessel, a stealthy saltwater craft proven effective on the hunt for seal skins and whale blubber. Through the course of evolution, it's proven its worth on the sportfishing flats as coastal anglers prowl the sand and mangrove-lined marshes and estuaries in pursuit of bonefish, redfish, tarpon and the like.

 

Last we checked, none of those scenarios bore much resemblance to Colorado's landlocked, freshwater fishing grounds. In a state known for cold, freestone rivers tumbling down from the Rocky Mountains between impoundment pools, the modern kayak fishing model was a tough sell.

 

That was before four-time freestyle kayak world champion Eric Jackson got involved.

 

“We make whitewater boats,” said Jackson, a former Olympic athlete and founder of Tennessee-based Jackson Kayaks. “When we started looking into making a fishing kayak, we learned that all the existing designs are for offshore fishing. No one made a boat for fishing the rivers, so we did.”...............