PADDLING PIONEERS CONVERSATIONS WITH KAYAK FISHING’S MOST INFLUENTIAL INNOVATORS
MSALLY BLACK OTH E R O F I N V E NTI O N
One of the first professional fishing guides to embrace kayak fishing, Sally Black’s seminars and articles have brought count- less anglers into the sport.
Kayak Angler: What were you doing before you started kayak fishing?
Captain Sally Black: When I became a full-time professional fishing guide in the late ‘90s, nearly all local guides did one thing: fish live mullet in potholes for reds and trout. At first, I went along with the flow. Then, at the 2000 Shallow Water Fishing Expo in Houston, Texas, I met Lefty Kreh, Stu Apte, Captain Chuck Scates and Jose Wejebe. I was sure that shallow water sight casting was my future. I was new in the business, so a fancy poling skiff wasn’t in the budget. After the show, Captain Scates introduced me to fly casting and shallow water fishing around Rockport.
KA: How did you get into kayak fishing?
SB: A good friend of mine showed up with an Ocean Kayak Scrambler that he bought for $50. He asked me to check it out so I tossed it on my boat and ran to the entrance of a weed and mud choked marshy lake. I launched the kayak and paddled into the marsh and entered another world. A pod of tailing redfish was working the edge of the marsh. I made a backcast and laid my fly in front of the fish. At that moment a light bulb went off in my head.
56 …KAYAK ANGLER SUMMER/FALL 2013 KA: What are you doing, now?
SB: Three years ago, I married another fishing guide, Captain Aubrey Black, and moved from Rockport to Baffin Bay. Now, I’m pioneering fly fishing and kayak fishing in a new place perfectly suited for both pur- suits. Baffin Bay is famous for big sea trout and I’ve discovered the fish in shallow water with my kayak and fly rod. As the first female fly fishing guide in Texas and a kayak fishing pioneer, it is exciting to once again trailblaze a new style of fishing in a different place.
KA: How did you make kayak fishing part of your business?
“The other fishing guides had a great time making fun of me. The old-timers insisted our clients wouldn’t fly fish, let alone paddle their own boats!” —Sally Black
SB: In 2002, I outfitted six Ocean Kayak Drifters for flats fishing and threw them in my mothership, a 24-foot Carolina Skiff. It wasn’t hard to convince my clients to paddle with me into the shallows. The other fishing guides had a great time making fun of me. The old-timers in- sisted our clients wouldn’t fly fish, let alone paddle their own boats! Of course, the old-timers were wrong. Soon, I had a good business with kayak fishing. But it didn’t come over- night. I taught seminars to fishermen on the value of kayak fishing, before long I became known as Capt. Sally, Queen of Kayaks. Kayak fishing made up at least half of my trips. It was clear to me that it was time to publish a book to teach beginners everything they should know. The result was Kayak Fishing—The Tex- as Way. Today, at least 3,000 copies are in the hands of kayak anglers.
PHOTO: COURTESY SALLY BLACK
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