It feels as though it was an eternity ago, but I recall an assignment from my college literature class, one that seemed simple enough: select a poem, analyze it. The choices were nothing more than titles—famous names without context—until one caught my eye: “Fishing on the Susquehanna in July” by Billy Collins. Perfect! A college assignment about fishing? How often does that happen? Without a second thought, I hastily claimed it.
That evening, I read the poem with eager anticipation. The first stanza hit me with an unexpected twist:
"I have never been fishing on the Susquehanna
or on any river for that matter,
to be perfectly honest."
Well, so much for that. Disappointed, I read on. Collins went on to describe how, though he had never fished the Susquehanna, he could experience it indirectly—by gazing at a painting in a museum, where a lone figure cast his line into a winding river.
When Words & Pictures Don't Do Justice
As an art lover myself, I understood what Collins was getting at. Art, indeed, has the power to immerse us in places and experiences we might never actually encounter. But as someone who has fished the Susquehanna in July, often from a kayak, I know that there are some experiences that words and paintings cannot capture.
I cannot count how many times I’ve drifted through the shallow, winding, rocky currents of the Susquehanna at dusk. The fading sunlight spills an amber glow over the water’s surface, painting the river with a warm, golden hue. Each bend in the Susquehanna promises a new experience, a new encounter with life: a doe and her fawn, wading through the river’s ankle-deep shallows, a sight made all the more astonishing by the river’s vastness — sometimes more than a mile wide. Or perhaps a family of raccoons, their paws sifting through the mud in search of crustaceans, or a mink, its sleek form darting playfully along the bank. Each twist in the river brings something fresh, something alive. And in my kayak, moving silently, I draw near to these creatures, only an arm’s reach away from the wild.
But kayak fishing on the Susquehanna is far from uninterrupted nature and quiet. The stillness is often broken by the sharp tick tick tick of a smallmouth bass striking my bait, and in an instant, the serene moment erupts into a fierce, heart-racing battle with one of the hardest-fighting fish in existence. Or perhaps my lure is seized by the river’s apex predator, the Musky—a toothy creature that keeps even the most experienced kayak fisherman on edge. The rhythm of fishing here is a delicate dance, where tranquil beauty is interrupted by the rush of adrenaline from the catch. It’s a unique fusion of quiet reflection and raw, untamed action—a balance that only the Susquehanna can offer.
Billy Collins tricked me all those years ago, drawing me into an analysis of a poem that wasn’t truly about fishing. Yet, in a way, he was right: art has the power to transport us, to make us experience things we might never otherwise know. Still, let me assure you: fishing on the Susquehanna in July, drifting quietly in a kayak, is an experience no art can replicate. No brushstroke, no canvas, no verse can ever bring you as close to the pulse of the river as being there yourself. It is something that must be lived.
It is easy to get wide eyes when dreaming of your perfect kayak setup. We see some of the craziest setups around in our line of work. But, those kinds of advanced setups with all the bells & whistles are not necessary for everyone. Sometimes, it is easier to take fellow kayakers' word for it rather than a retailers. That's why we created the Kayak Anglers Resource - a community of kayak anglers who share their experiences, ask questions and give honest reviews and assessments of kayaks and accessories. We can share our expertise until we are blue in the face, but a fellow anglers words often mean more.
Here a few great examples of how kayak anglers are helping other kayak anglers make better decisions on their purchases:
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