Award-winning angler Garrett Morgan made a splash with his Kayak Fishing 101 seminar at H2:4 Outdoors in downtown Conway.
Rick Wisniewski, a Cabot resident, said his favorite part about the seminar was Morgan breaking up a diagram of a lake.
Morgan divided the lake diagram into zones one, two and three. He said zone one is shallow waters that heat up and cool down the fastest; zone two is secondary points, great for fishing during the spawning season when fish lay their eggs. Zone three is the deepest yet most stable waters that are good for fishing during the summer and winter.
Wisniewski said the depictions of the zones would help him figure out where to go fishing.
“I mainly fish in Greers Ferry; that’s the only place I’ve fished and I plan on fishing more,” he said.
Morgan mentioned several baits for kayak fishing, such as lipless crankbaits, jerk baits and square bills — all sold at H2:4 Outdoors.
Morgan advised on where to splurge when it comes to kayak fishing equipment.
“What I’ve learned is that kayaks are like tires,” he said. “You can pay for a cheaper tire and you’re paying for less material, essentially. You take a cheap tire out and run up on a sharp rock, you might punch a hole in it. Pay a little bit more for an eight-ply tire, probably not going to have that happen — the same thing with kayaks.”
Morgan said that a part of competitive kayak fishing, or even just fishing in general, is mental toughness.
“When you lose a fish in a tournament or if it flops off board, you have to be able to let it go. Take a breath, reset and keep going,” he said.
Morgan said for kayak fishing tournaments, it’s important to have more than one measuring board, in case one falls into the water.
He said it is also important to invest in a life jacket with pockets and a phone leash.
“I’ve never lost my phone in six years of kayak fishing and I think I might be one of the only people I know to never have lost the phone,” he said.
James Whited, owner of H2:4 Outdoors, said he started kayak fishing after getting rid of his motorboat when he moved to Arkansas from Oklahoma.
“I just started fishing out of a kayak because it was different. I could access water that I didn’t normally access on my boat,” Whited said. “ I kind of fell in love with the kayak thing and started with a little-bitty kayak that I got from a friend of mine who outfitted it for fishing. This was way before the modern fishing kayaks that we have today.”
Whited said kayak fishing is “a great way to get out on the water. It’s a great way to get exercise.”
He said H2:4 Outdoors is “a locally owned and operated business. We’ve seen competitors come and go and the biggest thing about this business is everybody sees the kayaks, but they don’t realize we have such a large tackle selection as well.”
Morgan and Whited said anyone is welcome to the friendly competitions, yak pots, they host at Lake Beaverfork in Conway.
Morgan said they do a range of competitions, whether it be the best three fish or the biggest bass.
“We’ll all meet up at one ramp and it’s more of a meet and greet get to know each other kind of everybody throws in $5 for the big bass and $10 for the three fish deal,” Morgan said.
More information can be found on Facebook at H2:4 Outdoors or the business’s website, h24outdoors.com.
H2:4 Outdoors, located at 804 Front St., is open Tuesday-Friday 12-6 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
