CanoeSport Fireside Adventures
Presented online each week!
All Firesides will be virtual this spring. You are welcome to watch a live stream in-person at our store. Presentations will be held on Facebook Live, Zoom, or Google Meet. Links for presentations will be posted on Facebook. If you have an idea or would like to share a trip or experience related to paddling please let us know, we're always looking for new topics! Thank you for joining us and happy paddling!
Overview of Lake Red Rock
Date: Saturday Feb. 13 at 1pm
Explore the scenery, seasons, and special features of Lake Red Rock, Iowa’s “inland sea”, including sandstone cliffs, ancient tree fossils, pioneer history, and wildlife sightings. Learn the location of accesses, day trip destinations, overnight camping options, rules for night paddling, and opportunities for kayaking tours and instruction offered by CanoeSport Outfitters.
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Presenting via Google Meet: meet.google.com/djk-ugkh-yrb
Speaker Bio:
John is a regular participant in project AWARE, organizes natural history tours of forest and prairie preserves, and leads eco tours on Lake Red Rock for CanoeSport Outfitters. He has acquired his Level 3 ACA Coastal Sea Kayak Instructor certification. He also recently started his own outdoor blog. John has paddled the Ozarks, the Okeefenokee Swamp, Isle Royale, Puget Sound, Yellowstone Lake, the Everglades, and the Texas Coast among many others.
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Midwest River and Lake Features - How to Manage "Water Encounters"
Date: Saturday Feb. 20 at 1pm
This presentation features common and not-so-common Iowa river and lake features plus useful paddling skills for a variety of kayak styles and lengths, solo and tandem canoes, and SUPs. Learn to look for, recognize, and enjoy or manage paddling encounters with features found in Iowa rivers/lakes. The features will include currents, cold water, eddies, livestock, overhanging branches, drops, strainers, fences, dams, riffles, and rapids. There will be pictures and illustrative video footage.
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Presenting via Google Meet: meet.google.com/smk-tucu-nxt
Speaker Bio:
Dave is a longtime Iowa paddlesport enthusiast and has been growing paddling gills since 1977. He is an ACA Level 4 Whitewater Kayaking Instructor and the Iowa Games Summer Kayaking & Canoeing Venue commissioner. His paddling activities include flatwater racing, whitewater kayaking and dragon boating. His paddling adventures have taken him to Australia, South America, Europe and all over the USA. Dave is the current president of the Iowa Whitewater Coalition.
The Wabakimi Wilderness
Date: Saturday Feb. 27 at 1pm
The Wabakimi Area is a vast, virtually-roadless wilderness that includes almost 10,000 square miles of land in northwest Ontario. Sandwiched between the cascading falls of the Albany River and the Ottertooth Creek Canyon, the area includes five Provincial Parks, two Conservation Reserves and Crown Lands in parts of five forest management units. More than 4,000 miles of historically and culturally significant canoe routes criss-cross this boreal forest. The gateway to this huge wilderness complex is Armstrong, Ontario which is about a three hour drive north of Thunder Bay, Ontario. In other words, it is possible to drive to this canoeing wilderness.
Because of its sheer size and complexity, the Wabakimi Area is a daunting area to explore. Fewer than 700 paddlers enter this wilderness annually. It is rare to even seen another canoe during the entire length of a trip. Currently there are no guide books and Fisher and McKenzie do not sell maps for this region. Planning a trip may be more challenging then portaging the remote and rugged Ottertooth Canyon.
The Friends of Wabakimi is an international organization that was created in 2014 to advocate for the protection of this wilderness complex. We want the Wabakimi Area to become an exceptional wilderness recreation destination. To do this we offer a detailed planning map and five map volumes that provide portage and campsite details for this wilderness. We are also sponsoring the Wabakimi Canoe Route Guide, the first guide book for this area.
Speaker Bio:
Vern is the former Executive Director of the Black Hawk County Conservation Board in Waterloo, Iowa. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Iowa Natural Heritage Foundation Board and the Conservation Corps of Iowa/Minnesota. He is the president of the Black Hawk Creek Water & Soil Coalition and the Friends of Wabakimi Provincial Park. As an advocate for clean water, he also serves as the co-chair of the Cedar River Watershed Coalition and as an assistant commissioner for the Black Hawk County Soil and Water Conservation District. A passionate paddler he has run wild rivers from the Mexican border to Hudson Bay and north to the Arctic Circle.
Capturing that Amazing Image
Date: Saturday March 6 at 1pm
Have you ever seen a scene on the water that you want to remember? Scott will present some of his ideas and rules of nature photography along with the very popular Macro photography. Find out what items are needed and what will make capturing those images special for you.
Presenting via Facebook Live. Like CanoeSport Outfitters on Facebook to view
Speaker Bio:
Scott Shrader is a native Iowan, is President and founder of Iowa Kayak Anglers and a native Watercraft Pro Staff Angler. He uses his passion for kayak angling to help get others into the sport and to develop his own skills in the local kayak tournament scene. He also has a passion for the outdoors and photography and is the owner of Scott Shrader Photography.
Natural Navigation
Date: Saturday March 13 at 1pm
Natural navigation is the ancient art of finding your way with directional cues from the land and sky. Use the sun, moon, and stars to orient yourself without a GPS unit or compass. Estimate distance with your fingers, hands, and feet. Beyond the practical value of remaining unloose in the wilderness or finding your way back to safety if disoriented, these observational skills will build a deeper awareness of the natural world.
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Presenting via Goggle Meet: https://meet.google.com/mnp-hggh-ite
Please plan on joining a few minutes prior to 1pm to allow John to give you access.
Speaker Bio:
John is a regular participant in project AWARE, organizes natural history tours of forest and prairie preserves, and leads eco tours on Lake Red Rock for CanoeSport Outfitters. He has acquired his Level 3 ACA Coastal Sea Kayak Instructor certification. He also recently started his own outdoor blog. John has paddled the Ozarks, the Okeefenokee Swamp, Isle Royale, Puget Sound, Yellowstone Lake, the Everglades, and the Texas Coast among many others.
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CanoeSport Update
Date: Saturday March 20 at 1pm
Join the staff of CaneoSport Outfitters for a look at what's in store for the 2021 season. We'll update everyone on the difficulties we're experiencing getting product delivered and what we expect availability of boats, paddles, and other accessories to be in 2021. There will be a discussion of what is planned for Demoefst this spring and the likely future of Expo. Information will be provided on our trips and instruction courses and we'll discuss what's planned for Lake Ahquabi and Raccoon River Park this summer.
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Presenting via Facebook Live. Like CanoeSport Outfitters on Facebook to view
Speaker Bio:
Jeff Holmes began publishing Canoeing Iowa Magazine in the fall of 1988 and started CanoeSport Outfitters in the spring of 1992. He discontinued the magazine in 1996, to focus on the retail business and the rental business at Lake Ahquabi State Park. Jeff has been certified as a seas kayaking coach with the British Canoe Union, a Level 4 ACA Coastal Sea Kayak instructor, is an adjunct instructor for the University of Iowa, and is a Level 2 Kayak Instructor Trainer Trainer. He's solo kayaked the Everglades and circumnavigated the North Core Bank in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In addition, he's kayaked the coast of Texas, Mississippi, Vancouver Island, and Georgia along with numerous trips on Lake Superior. He's canoed the Boundary Waters and most rivers in Iowa and whitewater kayaked on the St. Louis River, Kettle River, Nahntahala River, and Green River in North Carolina.
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Getting Started in Kayak Fishing
Date: Saturday March 27 at 1pm
Do you have an interest in both fishing and kayaking? Do you want to fish out of your kayak? Scott will go over basic setups along with good lure and bait choices. And also what species you want to succeed in catching. He'll also tell you a little about Iowa Kayak Anglers; how to get involved and how to register for their summer tournaments.
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Presenting via Facebook Live. Like CanoeSport Outfitters on Facebook to view
Speaker Bio:
Scott Shrader is a native Iowan, is President and founder of Iowa Kayak Anglers and a native Watercraft Pro Staff Angler. He uses his passion for kayak angling to help get others into the sport and to develop his own skills in the local kayak tournament scene. He also has a passion for the outdoors and photography and is the owner of Scott Shrader Photography.
Our spring session of Firesides has ended
Date: Fall 2021
Thanks's for following along for our virtual Fireside series this spring. We have concluded our spring session and will resume Fireside Adventures December 2021. We'll post updates regarding schedule and speakers on this page as well as on our Facebook page.
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Thanks and happy paddling!
See ya on the water!