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Christmas In A Kayak! We wish you a Merry Christmas, we wish you a Merry Christmas... What more can we say? We're now in our fourth year at A-Crystal River Kayak Company. We've been so blessed in our business. We've been able to expand our sales, service, and rentals each year. We're now in a new building that's unique in itself, we have our own themed kayak launch, the largest fleet of rentals in the area, and still able to maintain direct personal service to all our friends and family which is YOU. What's great about a mom and pop store over the "box" stores? Personal service, knowledge of the product, great deals, and fun. We also have coffee and hot cocoa, so stop in and say hi.
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INSIDE THIS ISSUE (click on a photo to be redirected)
Holiday Cheer Recipe's Holiday Specials Holiday Ideas
Check out our Holiday Recipes Gift Ideas, Savings and Specials Plan some fun during Christmas
Manatees Are Here Fishing in Winter Tip of the Paddle
Manatees Are Back Captain Ken's Fishing Tips What Should I Get?
Here's some ideas for the Christmas Season:
There will be a special paddle trip on December 9th. Kathy will take us down Bennett's Creek and the Withlacoochee River. An absolutely beautiful paddle trip. Free with your own boat, $25 rental fee. On New Years Day we will sponsor a Welcome World to the New Year paddle trip. Leaving our launch at 7:00 am we start a new day and a new year with an early morning paddle trip. Leave from our kayak launch at daybreak. Listen to the birds as they sing their morning songs. See how calm and still the water is in the early morning. Smell the freshness of the air around us. We expect to see plenty of manatees as they begin their day eating and frolicking in the warm springs. As the sun rises, the sky will change its colors, things become brighter and clearer, and we'll feel the warmth of of the sun's rays upon us. Join us for a new beginning this day. Cost is $20 with your own boat, $30 with rental. 352-795-2255 for reservations.
SAVINGS And DISCOUNTS Cut out and bring in the three snowflakes on the bottom of this newsletter and say "Merry Christmas" to us to receive this offer. Now till December 24th, noon, save
IMPORTANT: Offer not valid on used items or items already on sale or discounted. Offer can not be combined with any club discounts. Sorry, no "Double Dipping."
HOLIDAY RECIPES
PEA SALAD Serves 6 In a large bowl mix by hand slowly:
1 can water chestnuts, drained and sliced MONKEY BREAD Serves 6
1/2 cup butter While oven is preheating to 375, coat a tube pan with cooking spray. Melt the butter in a small bowl, then mix the sugar, nuts, and cinnamon in a separate bowl. Open 1 of the cans of biscuits separating each of the biscuits and cutting each of those into four sections. Roll each into a ball and put into the sugar mix and roll them around to give each a good coating. Put the balls in the pan, single layering, and brush a little melted butter over the top. Repeat with the other remaining cans of biscuits. With the rest of the sugar mix, sprinkle over the top of the entire pan of balls. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes. Take out and let cool for 2 minutes. Turn the bread over onto a large plate and remove the pan. ROCKY ROAD BROWNIE PIZZA Serves 6 (or just me)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
For the Topping: 1/4 cup chopped mixed nuts Preheat oven to 350. Spray a 9 inch pie plate with cooking spray. Combine flour and salt; set aside. Melt chocolate in a double boiler over hot water; remove from heat. Mix in butter and sugar. Add egg and extract to chocolate mix in pan; mix until smooth. Stir in flour mix into chocolate mix. Spread batter in prepared pie plate. Bake until set, (about 15 minutes). For the topping, mix nuts, chips and coconut. Sprinkle evenly over the brownie layer. Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool before cutting. TRIPPLE CHOCOLATE FUDGE makes 45 squares
4 squares (4 ounces), unsweetened chocolate
Line an 8 inch square pan with waxed paper or foil; set aside. melt chocolate in a saucepan over low heat, stirring often. Remove from heat; cool slightly. Beat cream cheese until creamy. Add vanilla and salt. Gradually add confectioners' sugar, beating continually, until smooth. Beat melted chocolate into the cream cheese mix. Add nuts and mix well. Pour fudge into prepared pan. Refrigerate until firm, (usually an hour). Cut into squares. CRANBERRY-ALMOND BISCOTTI makes 45 cookies
2 3/4 cups flour Preheat oven to 350. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Combine flour, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Whisk together 5 tbs orange juice and cornstarch in bowl and set aside. Beat 1 cup sugar and remaining 1/2 cup orange juice, oil and extracts until fluffy. Beat in cornstarch mix then the flour mix. Fold in cranberries and almonds. Shape into 2 logs on a prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle remaining sugar. Bake 35 minutes or until light brown. Cool 15 minutes on a baking sheet. Slice into 1/2 thick slices. Return slices to baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes more or until browned and crisp.
4 medium sweet potatoes Preheat oven to 375. Lightly grease or spray a 13 x 9 inch baking dish. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet. Bake for 1 hour or until done. Cool. Peel and mash. Reduce oven to 350. combine sweet potatoes and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Beat until smooth. Spoon into baking dish. Combine panko and remaining ingredients. Sprinkle crumb mix over top of casserole. Bake for 1 hour or until casserole is thoroughly heated.
1 cup light cream Combine all ingredients in a blender and mix at high speed for 20 seconds. Transfer to clean bottle with tight fitting cap or cork. Store cold. Shake well before pouring.
TIP OF THE PADDLE With so many different types, brands, and manufacturer's of kayaks, trying to decide which boat to buy or even where to start can be overwhelming. I hope to pass on some information, offer some advice, and hopefully help you make the best choice based upon the type of paddling you wish to do. First I must clarify there's no ONE boat that is an "all around" kayak. Many people have two, three or more, based on the type of paddling they wish to do. For example if I want to go out to the mangroves and narrow channels to do some fishing, I won't want to take my 18' sea kayak. Naturally the same goes if I'm going to go out into big water and make a large crossing, or go out for a week, I'm not going to use a short, wide sit-on -top. So let's first ask ourselves what type of paddling are we mainly going to do? That is primary purpose. If you want to fish, but 80% of your paddling is going to be touring, then concentrate on a touring boat. One that is stable enough to do some fishing, outfit it with rod holders, and so on. You can do both, but you now have your monies into a boat your going use most often. Later on you can ask Santa for another kayak... a fishing boat! CLICK HERE and get more useful information as to boat designs, materials, paddles, etc. to help you choose the right boat for you.
Captain Ken's Fishing Tips
Cold weather kayaking requires a little more preparation than we have to do on warmer days. The first and foremost consideration in all kayak fishing must be safety. While I sometimes fish without my PFD in the summer time, I wear an inflatable PFD at all times when the water is cold. Please don’t wear an inflatable PFD inside your jacket. Dress for the conditions you expect to encounter and carry a change of clothes in a dry bag, just in case. I strongly suggest a pair of “Frog Tog” pants. They keep you dry, no matter how bad you drip water into your lap. If you paddle a Sit on Top like most fishermen do, don’t forget your scupper plugs. I hate sitting in water in the summer and it has gotta be 100 times worse in winter. Don’t forget the sun screen. In winter, sun burn slips up on you and you are fried before you know it. LET’S GO FISHIN’. Where you are going to fish and the species you want to catch determines the bait you should use. If you are fishing in salt or brackish water, a lively shrimp is mighty hard to beat. Shrimp are on the diet of all inshore sport fish species. Bluegills and Bass feed heavily on Shrimp also. There have been volumes on how to use Shrimp so I’ll not address it here.
If I had to pick a few artificial lures to use in winter, my first pick would be the Mann’s HARDNOSE SwimShad. In Crystal River, the good old original Rapala catches almost anything including grass. Floating grass can be a serious problem with the Rapala some days. Early on calm mornings, the Zara Spook is a hot lure. King’s Bay on Crystal River is a great place to fish. In fact, there aren’t a lot of better places in Florida to fish in the winter. Water in the bay is moderated by dozens, maybe even hundreds of springs, large and small. Further down Crystal River the water gets cooler than but never nearly as cold as the Gulf. The first cold snap brings lots of species
of Salt Water fish into the river. Ladyfish, Jack Crevalle, Speckled Trout, Mangrove Snapper, Redfish, Sheepshead and an occasional Flounder are caught all the way up to Pete’s Pier. More exciting species like Tarpon and Snook are available too but aren’t always easy to catch. WHERE TO FISH IN CRYSTAL RIVER. Get out of boat traffic and start casting. If your yak has a rod holder, fish a lively Shrimp about 2’ beneath a float while drifting and casting lures over the grass. Almost any grassy area of Kings Bay is good at one time or another. Fish the docks just west of King’s Bay by casting the Mann’s HARDNOSE SwimShad or Shrimp underneath them. You will catch Bass, Redfish and an occasional Snook under the docks. The north bank of Crystal River west of the Crystal River Yacht Club is deep and rocky. Fish a live Shrimp or small piece of fresh Shrimp on the bottom there for Mangrove Snapper and an occasional Trout and Redfish. All of the residential canals are loaded with Bass. Plastic worms are the lure of choice for most Bass fishermen. Almost every day there will be schools of Jack Crevalle and Ladyfish blasting baitfish in King’s Bay and down stream a mile or so. Some days, they attract literally hundreds of birds. This is fun fishing. They readily eat the Rapala and the HARDNOSE SwimShad. Catching the larger Bass and Snook in Crystal River as well as anywhere else requires stealth. Keep noise to a minimum, paddling to a minimum and cast well away from your yak. GOOD THINGS ABOUT FISHING IN CRYSTAL RIVER. There are plenty of good places to launch your yak as well as several kayak rental facilities on Crystal River. You can always find a protected area to fish. If you get hungry, there are several restaurants on the water. Oh yeah, there are a whole lot of fish to catch.
MANATEE FACTS The Manatee Refuge buoys are back up in King's Bay and the Homosassa River. That means idle speed, slow speed for boaters. It also means remember your manatee manners. As long ago as 1893, Florida passed a law to protect this marine mammal. Since 1907, there has been a $500 fine for any person who kills or harms a manatee. In 1978, Florida designated the entire State as a "refuge and sanctuary for manatees" through the Florida Manatee Sanctuary Act. This law allows the State to designate manatee sanctuaries and establish speed zones for boats. Federal manatee sanctuaries are areas where boats, (ALL boats), are seasonally prohibited, and Federal manatee refuges are areas where boating activity is restricted. One example of a Federal manatee refuge is Crystal River National Wildlife Refuge, established in 1983 on Florida’s west coast specifically for the protection of manatees. In 1967, under a law that preceded the Endangered Species Act of 1973, the manatee was listed as an endangered species, meaning it is considered in danger of extinction throughout all or a significant portion of its range. The manatee also is protected at the Federal level under the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972. A vital component of the Service’s recovery efforts is increasing public awareness and cooperation among boaters, skin divers, fishermen, the power industry, and anyone else using the rivers and coastal waters where manatees live. With growing awareness and positive action, the manatee can be saved for generations to come.
CLICK HERE FOR THE MANATEE MANNERS VIDEO
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