Melinda Parnell quickly went from kayak fishing newbie to old salt. Three years ago, Parnell and her husband Michael bought their first kayaks and started inshore fishing. Before long, the Pensacola, Florida, resident got a taste of offshore fishing out of Navarre Beach. Last summer, Melinda caught a 36-pound, 49-inch king mackerel to set a high mark in her pursuit for trophy pelagic fish. According to Parnell, she’s setting her sights even bigger.

I was one of those people who thought fishing without a motor was stupid. Fast forward a year, after my husband and I lost a combined 300 pounds, and some friends introduced us to kayak fishing.

A month later, we were pedaling our own fishing kayaks and exploring local inshore fishing. Eventually, we hit the offshore scene pretty hard, and this king mackerel was the result. I don’t really care much for inshore fishing anymore.

man reels in fish from Old Town Sportsman BigWater PDL 132 Best Ocean Fishing Kayaks For 2026

One Last Cast Snags a Smoker King

I wasn’t specifically targeting king mackerel, but I definitely wasn’t opposed to catching one. I was really hoping for a king or cobia. I hadn’t caught either, so they were on my bucket list.

Beginner’s luck? Not likely. | Photo: Courtesy Melinda Parnell
Beginner’s luck? Not likely. | Feature photo: Courtesy of Melinda Parnell

After a long day fishing, I was trolling an Overcast Lure Company Squid Fish lure back to the beach. I decided to drop on one last reef before calling it a day.

About the time I picked up my bottom fishing rod, the drag on my trolling rig started screaming and kept screaming. I got nervous. The weekend before, I lost two big kings because I tried to horse the fish to the boat. So, I babied this one.

When I got the fish close enough to see color, I couldn’t believe how big it was. Then, it took off again, pulling drag and taking me on a ride. As I worked the king close to the boat, I realized something: I had forgotten my gaff. I called my husband and he brought me his gaff so I could land the fish.

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Pro Tips On Fishing For Smoker King Mackerel

Looking to the Next Achievement

I was already pumped about offshore fishing, but this fish fueled the fire. I couldn’t wait to get back out and the excitement still hasn’t gone away. When the pictures hit social media, my catch got a lot of attention. Most people are surprised to see a woman kayak fishing offshore.

I’m not trying to be a one-hit wonder, so I’ve got to step up my game. I’m hoping for a cobia or even a grouper and, of course, I’d welcome another king mackerel any time.

Send your fish tale to cpr@kayakanglermag.com or use #kayakangler or @kayakanglermag on social media. We’ll choose the best, and maybe worst, stories to publish in the next issues of Kayak Angler.

This article was first published in Kayak Angler Issue 45. Subscribe to Kayak Angler and get the magazine delivered to your front door. Download the Kayak Angler Magazine+ app to seamlessly glide between the digital archives, the latest articles and videos.

 

Beginner’s luck? Not likely. | Feature photo: Courtesy of Melinda Parnell

 

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Ric Burnley
Kayak Angler editor Ric Burnley has been kayak fishing since the dawn of the sport. In 2007, Burnley wrote The Complete Kayak Fisherman, with chapters on how-to make a PVC rod holder and glue a fish finder transducer to the hull. In 2013, he landed his dream job as editor of Kayak Angler magazine. Burnley is a regular contributor to Salt Water Sportsman, Sport Fishing, Outdoor Life, In the Bite and other print and online publications. Burnley lives in Virginia Beach with his wife, adult daughter, daughter’s boyfriend and daughter’s two cats. Experience In 2004, Ric Burnley stole his first milk crate from behind a 7-Eleven and fashioned it into a gear crate for his Ocean Kayak Prowler 15. Many years and many milk crates later, Burnley has witnessed the rise of kayak fishing from a bastardized fringe element to a legitimate industry with millions of devotees. The journey to becoming an angler started early in Burnley’s life. His father, Eric Burnley, is a renowned outdoor writer and former fishing guide, so the boy grew up in the cockpit of a charter boat and in the pages of national magazines. After college, Burnley lost easy access to his father’s boat, but not his passion for fishing. Once he had exhausted the limits of land-based angling, Burnley decided to try out a new thing called kayak fishing. About the same time, Burnley was looking for extra work to pay for his expensive addiction. His father, editor of the Mid-Atlantic Fisherman Magazine, offered him freelance assignments for the weekly publication. That led to a position as regional editor at Salt Water Sportsman, publication of The Complete Kayak Fisherman and editorship of Kayak Angler. Meanwhile, Burnley and his partner-in-crime, “Kayak Kevin” Whitley were exploring the boundaries of kayak fishing. With the bountiful Chesapeake Bay and Atlantic Ocean as their playground, the two anglers were the first to target big red drum, cobia, trophy striped bass, monster black drum, sheepshead and many other species. Once inshore species were exhausted, Burnley loaded his kayak onto motorboats and fished for bluefin tuna, blackfin tuna, king mackerel and amberjack. All the while, Burnley shared his experiences and knowledge with anglers through print, photos, video, radio, seminars and online. Almost 20 years later, Burnley continues to fish obsessively and share the stories. His recent projects for Kayak Angler cover the latest trends in forward-facing sonar and remote-controlled electric motors. Over the past two decades, kayak fishing and Ric Burnley have come a long way from PVC rod holders and stolen milkcrates. Education ● Radford University: BA English; Virginia Teacher’s License. Highlights ● Other Interests: Mountain biking, traveling, hiking, surfing and skateboarding ● Day Job: High School English teacher at an alternative school for at-risk students Fun Fact Ric’s name is a contraction of Eric. Ric is named after his father, Eric Sr. To differentiate between the two Erics, Mrs. Burnley removed her son’s E. To this day, she writes the boy’s name ‘Ric, with an apostrophe replacing the E.

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