My first boat was a canoe that my dad purchased when I was young — or perhaps even before I was born, I can’t quite recall. I do remember it nearly fell from the top of our minivan going to the lake while driving on the interstate and I only recollect using it once as a kid, sitting between my dad and my mom. Falling into disuse thereafter until I truly got into fishing, it became the way my buddy and I piled up walleyes and smallmouth bass on my home river the first summer back from college.

My latest watercraft was an end-of-season sale purchase a couple of summers back, and like my first way of accessing those small, fishable places, the 10-foot kayak puts me back where I began, though this time the surface is of the waters surrounding my in-laws’ residence in northeastern Minnesota, fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass in the local lakes.

While it likely spooks fish and other aquatic creatures as much as my small boat, I like to think I’m a bit more stealthy as I lock the paddle in the elastic cord and drift along the rocky breaks, firing tubes and trick worms into the depths and working them back up the reef edges. Sitting still, I’ve been able to sneak within camera-phone distance of a wary loon, and at just a few inches above the water, have found some great new angles for photographing various aquatic plants and animals.

Best of all though is the fishing, as each mid-summer trip up to the Iron Range reminds me upon my first hookset. The indicative thump of a largemouth bass results in a sweep of the rod that, with a positive connection, turns the bow of the kayak in the direction of the fish, and if the bass is big enough — say 16 inches or more — the battle may take the craft several feet from the point of where things started adding a fun tug-of-war element to the fight. While my seven-and-a-half foot spinning rod clears the pointed tip of the kayak nicely, when the battle gets within a few yards of its end, things get exciting as the bass dive under and run around my green plastic perch on the surface.

Fishing from the kayak has also reinforced my desire to keep angling simple. A bag or two of go-to soft plastics, a few worm hooks and a package of bullet sinkers are really all I need for a few hours of successful angling in the watercraft. At the very most, I bring my bass bait binder, and have way more than I’d ever need without taking up too much space. Either locking the binder in the elastic clip cords behind me or tucking the small selection into the flip-open storage console in front of me makes sure everything is secure and within reach. Changing up baits is a rarity for me once I find the one that’s working in general, so oftentimes, there’s not even much of a need on a morning trip to make any modifications, and fishing, paddling and observing nature are the focus.

It’s a changed perspective that is always welcomed and harkens back to how my exploration of my favorite fishing waters began more than 20 years ago when I started angling in earnest. Being closer to the water and the fish and adjusting to make the most of our great opportunities to access the water in such a small craft, including shallow spaces where bigger boats might not be able to go, provides unique chances to tangle with hard-charging fish on their level. This in turn delivers a new perspective of the world around me both above and below the surface … in our outdoors.