Any Kayakers?

[phylodog]

Myself, my wife and our boys have gotten into kayaking lately. We have purchased kayaks for the three of them and I'll be buying one for myself this weekend. Anyone know of some decent places to put them in the water around the central part of the state?

 

[indyjoe]

Are they sea or white water kayaks? I too my sea kayak out quite a lot at Monroe, when I worked in Bloomington.

 

[phylodog]

I don't think they're technically either but I could be wrong. They're all 9.5' long and sit in rather than sit on. I think they're flat water/recreational kayaks.

 

[bwframe]

I own a Dagger Blackwater. It has not seen much water lately though. Thanks for the kick in the but. I need to fix that soon.

There are loads of places to paddle down in my area. Brown and Monroe county.

 

[indyjoe]

I have a tandem hybrid style. I had the space for it in Bloomington (8 years ago), but didn't until the new house. My brother in law has been enjoying it. I need to get it back. The White River south of Indy would be a decent place to putt around.

 

[obijohn]

sugar creek is a good paddle, say from darlington to turkey run. or from crawfordsville. been awhile, but i spent a bunch of time on that creek when i was a kid. the fishing seems to be pretty good these days, too.

 

[drnorris]

It sounds like you have recreational kayaks.
I have 2 also.
We use them on easier whitewater, lakes for sightseeing, and I just came back from a weekend fishing trip where i used them.
They are not great whitewater boats or great flat water boats, but they are fun.
There are numerous resources on the web that will give you locations to try.
I live near Cincinnati, and if you get down this way, there are lots of places to kayak.

 

[Zoub]

Wildcat creek north of Indy is an old favorite of mine but I would avoid it for now if the water level is way up. Same goes for any creeks or small rivers.

 

[seedubs1]

Used to paddle class 4 whitewater. I don't paddle anymore. There's some good whitewater down south, but not much in IN.

Check out:
American Whitewater - AW Homepage

It's got a lot of information regarding current water level, class of rapids, etc... So you can check to see if the river is running or dried up before you go. It'll also show you a bunch of spots you wouldn't have otherwise known. It's also nice to know if there's some crazy dangerous hazard or something beyond your skill level (you can always walk a kayak around a rapid instead of running it).

Couple of suggestions:
-Don't use a skirt until you've done wet exits in a controlled environment. You could legitimately drown if you get flipped, have a skirt on, and can't figure out how to get it off the boat.
-There was a group in Indy that had open pool time to practice and learn rolls, wet exits, etc... in a controlled environment. You might look them up if you're wanting to learn more about safe river navigation and kayaking. It'd also be good if you're wanting to get involved with the whole kayaking scene.

 

[blackterror]

I kayaked sugar creek for a few years. Started in Darlington and would go as far as I liked. Lately, its been too shallow except for right after a decent rain.

 

[snorko]

Sugar Creek is nice, used to paddle it in college. Cave Country Canoes in Marengo is cool too. Blue ariver is fun, especially when the water is up. Their run north of the dam is pretty sedate, south of the dam with 3'or more water on the gauge has some fun rapids.

 

[SigFan07]

Oh yeah! All I do is bank fish and fish from my sit-on-top kayak.

https://youtu.be/7Dc8f3TKroc

 

[Nazgul]

Spend 200 hrs each summer in my Perception 11.5 foot kayak. Mostly Deam Lake.

Don

 

[bradrob]

I float/fish the White River north & south of Noblesville out of my Native Ultimate 12 kayak. Off the top of my head I can think of 7 put-in/take out points within 10 minutes of downtown Noblesville. If interested, look up Friends of White River; they have maps of access points on their website.

 

[terrehautian]

sugar creek is a good paddle, say from darlington to turkey run. or from crawfordsville. been awhile, but i spent a bunch of time on that creek when i was a kid. the fishing seems to be pretty good these days, too.

I kayaked sugar creek for a few years. Started in Darlington and would go as far as I liked. Lately, its been too shallow except for right after a decent rain.

Sugar Creek is nice in spring, look at Indiana's Premier Outdoor Information Website - www.IndianaOutfitters.com - Indiana's Online Guide to Outdoor Recreation and if it says the creek is around 1.5'-2' at the dam in Crawfordsville, it will be okay. I have a Old Town Loon I have taken down that creek quite a bit and it is 14' long. Towards summer, it tends to get low when the rains stop. If you are new to kayaking, don't go when it is really high. There has been a few drownings and deaths in that creek. I recommend going with a company that already services that creek. They will transport your yak to and from their place and provide a safe area to kayak. I have yaked Sugar around 2-2.5' and it is fast and there isn't many sand bars that you can rest on. The bad thing about Sugar Creek is even if the water is higher, you will have to walk at some point. There is tree jams and other things that make it best to carry your yak over sand bars or through shallow waters. When around 2', Sugar Creek is great to paddle.

Wildcat creek north of Indy is an old favorite of mine but I would avoid it for now if the water level is way up. Same goes for any creeks or small rivers.

I haven't paddled Wildcat, but heard it is good also. If you want to learn more about paddling, look up Hoosier Canoe Club (either via their forum or their facebook group). They have experience paddlers of both canoes and kayaks. They have weekly pool sessions where you can learn from them or just paddle around in an indoor pool (even in winter). The first thing we did when my wife bought her kayak was take it to a session. Sadly, with how things happened last year, that is the only time it has hit the water. I just enjoyed being in the pool swimming that day.

 

[jerrob]

Geist Park in SW Hamilton County.
Nice park, you can put into Fall Creek and float/paddle down into Geist Reservoir.

Atterbury FWA has several lakes, marshes and the local canoe livery will accomadate a drop off/pick up for ya on the stream that flows through. (Big Blue?)

Eagle Creek Park on the NW side of Indy.

 

[CindyE]

We just picked up a tandem fishing kayak. Got it out on the water today between storms. First time for both of us. The rivers nearby are too high/fast right now, we took it to Kokomo Reservoir. Are there any other good fishing lakes nearby? We live in Cass County. Prefer a spot where there are non-motorized boats only. France Park is close to us, but rarely catch fish there! I am mainly interested in fitness and recreation, but husband wants to fish, so I probably will, too.

 

[Zoub]

CindyE, do you know Rich & Barrie McClain? I use to live on Ridgeview Lake and there is nothing better in Cass then that lake. It's private but if you can make a connection there it's worth it.

The weird thing about this thread, when I posted to it a few months ago I thought it was a current thread! No clue what happened.

 

[CindyE]

No, I don't know anyone at Ridgeview, it looks nice, though.

 

[pjcalla]

My fleet. Just got the 'toon a couple weeks ago, and this was taken on its maiden voyage. We floated from Noblesville to 146th street on the White River. Fishing sucked, but the float was nice.