NorCal Kayak Anglers
Kayak Fishing Zone => Hookups and Fishing Reports (Viewable by Public) => Topic started by: Davey Jones on May 07, 2006, 01:34:30 PM
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Thanks to the people that put on the Mendocino gig. Alot of people and since it was my first yak trip of the year, Thanks. Won't say more, but some people have to post, dam all those fish and no post yet?
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I am sure others will chime in, but all in all it was an EPIC weekend. About 15 yaks showed up, and and 4 yakkers made it to the top ten in the derby, with Mooch being 4th...just a few ounces out of 3rd. I fished Fri and Sat. and zero'd both days, but really enjoyed watching everyone get into fish.
We had a super fun potluck the night of the derby as well. As usual tons of food, we had abalone, tri-tip, shrimp, chicken, and of course STRIPER! Guitarzan played awesome tunes for part of the night...plain awesome!
Friday was a smaller crowd, but Mickfish smacked this nice 10# unit...
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nice fish
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It was a great weekend and even though this made me 0-4 at Mendo for stipers it was still a great weekend. Mooch made the kayakers proud with a nice healthy 9 lb 4oz fish. Only beaten by a pair of 9 lb 10oz fish and one 10lb 6oz fish. Guitarzan had a solid 9lb'er I did not catch Bob's fish weight.
The White family was amazing for not only letting me and my family crash at his place all weekend but for putting on a mean pot-luck Saturda night. I will fill in more details later I am a bit fried after the drive home.
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Great weekend! Kayaks out in force. Many thanx to Scwafish and family for a fine evening and great food - wonderful family, truly a rich man. Im hooked on the mendo striper now, and its only 100 miles away. I placed 6th in the turny, with a 9 lber, but on sunday, I landed one that would have won it. Maybe... Mooch would have probably betterd me though. Anita loved the weekend also, had tons of fun and was more than a bit amused by Mooches apron! Sorry, dont think this website is the right forum for THAT pic! Ben
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The standings.
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3 of the winners
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JDs fish
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Sundays monster
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Thanks again Sean for letting us know about the Tourney, and thank Leah for having all of us over for such a good time. To use the new catch phrase all the food was "off the hook" :smt038. Again I am amazed by the great people this site brings together,great to see you all again nice to meet the NKGs.
If you haven't been to Mendo with the water up go now the lake is full, very beautiful and the spring weather NICE :toothy4:.
JD and I got there about 8am on Friday looked at the lake from the launch and the first thing we saw were Stripers busting all over the place and Fishhunter trolling back and forth across the Island, we rushed to get bait and couldn't tie the hooks on fast enough. After launching we saw Sean and a few other kayaks. The fish would bust we would paddle towards them never really got into a bust as we would have liked. Sean sent Fishhunter towards the island and he got some newbie love and landed and released a nice 28"fish Nice Job Adam.I followed Sean and JD around and listened to their reports on how deep the fish and water were as I am "Blue Kayak Impaired" I would slow my speed when the water and fish were deeper and picked it up when they were shallow, I was rewarded by a fat 29"fish :fishing1. We trolled around for a few more hours Nada as we were paddling in we saw a huge bust all the way across the lake we sped across as soon as we got there it was gone and Sean said see you later I gotta go get some WAF. I trolled in hugging the buoys and was rewarded with another nice fish in the 28-29 10lb range. I felt great about fishing in the tourney the next day.
Ha I was fooled again :smt013 I trolled and cast my ass off Sat got one short drive by that was it.Saw a ton of busts some right behind my boat Nada!
I think the totals for the day were Adam 2 fish 1 early 1 late, Joel 1, Juan 1, Ben 1 and Bob 1. 13 fish caught in the tourney out of 65 fishermen we caught 4 of the 13 all which were in the top 10. Adam didn't enter he was just fishing for fun and outfished us all. Thanks to the SBA for the great tourney, lunch and raffle. I think all the NCKAnglers that bought tickets won some prizes, I won a nice rod. After lunch we had a Siesta and then had a great time at Casa Blanco to Celebrate Cinco De Mendo.
After a late start Sun Joel, John and I set out again toward crappie Cove as soon as I entered the cove both my rods went off I grabbed 1 set the hook backed off the drag put back in the holder and grabbed the other and landed a smaller 25" fish which fought great spitting shad all over, the other fish got off. We chased a couple of more bust for nada then trolled towards the dam bout half way JD hooked up with a nice fat female fish 2 minutes later my rod got buried as soon as I grabbed it it came off. Ben paddled out to meet us and got a nice 28"fish on the way out. Trolled till about 1 and called it a day. Ben's fiancee Anita was waiting for us back at the launch,all weekend we were all teasing her with "Anita fish" Anita Break" Anita Kayak" as you can figure the variations are endless. Anyway Joel showed her his apron and I think "Anita &$#@##" I know Joel was happy :smt007, pictures to follow.
Anyway Thanks everyone I had a Great Time can't wait to do it again, I think Bendo@Mendo II will be unbelievable. Thanks for the ride JD.
Kudos to Adam and Ben Newbie Love at it's finest 5 fish beetween them out of 11 or 12 fish caught Great Job Honey Moon is over.
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NCKAs calender girls, Anita and Michelle, AND they fish!
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Here they are!
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Sean must be beside himself having the kayak crowd show so well. Congrats Mooch et al........... :smt023
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Allmost forgot to measure todays fish- just shy of 30".
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Todays fish
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I wish I could have made it. You guys look like you did well! congrats. I spent 4 hours in church today for baptisms and worked 10 hrs in my yard yesterday. However I think I got the nod for Oyster!! see you then.
Jason
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Glad everyone had a great time, we had a blast too. Thanks for making the drive, glad the fishys cooperated this time.
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Congrats to everyone that represented. Good to hear that my fellow kayakers placed so well in the derby. Especially to Mooch for his 4th place finish. Ben... day late and a dollar short. Maybe next time. Sounds like everybody had a great time regardless... that's the most important thing.
Freddie
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Sorry I didn't get to say goodbye to everyone. My bed sounded WAY more tempting than the back of my 4Runner last night! After hearing you guys hooked up again this morning I'm kinda kicking myself now!
Good to see everyone and meet some new peeps.
See you guys at O.P.
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Oh Yeah!
Bob placed 13th in the pool with the smallest fish weighed...but he still outfished 40+ other fisherman!
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way 2 go guys
:beer3
i could not make it the boss dad was in town :smt013
oh well there op next week
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Looks like a really fun time. I missed out this time, but will be there for Bendo II.
Stuart
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A big WTG to all the ncka guys who caught fish! :smt023 To all the others, looks like you guys had a great time, wish I could of been there but prior engagements for my evenings kept me away, :occasion16: I still managed to get out on the bay myself. :toothy9: JTF..
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One of the many highlights of the weekend was watching Juan (Mako1) do his stuff. This guy is an animal!! I was drifting with Jelly when we see a boil going off about 500 yards away. Jelly and I start paddling like crazy towards the boil and I see Juan is already closing in on the boil. The sun is somewhat behind him making it look like he is bathed it light. In one fluid motion Juan takes a last stroke, picks up his rod and fires his lure into the boil. A split second later he has fish on! His rod arcs in the sun as he fights the fish. I have to break away from my trace to get to the boil.
It was an amazing scene and reconfirmed why I love kayak fishing. No loud motors , no yelling just Juan hustling his butt off and hitting a perfect cast.
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Tom and I left San Jo around 3. Got up to Mendo a little before 6. Short story even shorter ... no bites, no fish. Lots of small bust going off. We did manage to be around when fishunter pulled a nice one in. He wasn't in the derby and he release this pig. It would have been another top 10 fish as well.
We didn't stick around after the fishing as we needed to be back in San Jo that afternoon. Long day ...
-Allen
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Derby Standings:
Jim - thank you so much for registering me! (even though you got my last name wrong :smt002)
4th place = Joel/Mooch - 9.4
6th place = Ben/Guitarzan - 9.0
8th place = Juan/Mako - 8.10
13th place = Bob - 6.10
Thanks to all who participated and showed support to the SBA of Lake Mendocino :smt023
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Chris/Jelly fish with raffle prize....
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Anita,Ben/Guitarzan,Michelle and Davey Jones at the SBA BBQ...
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The NCKA President, The First Lady and the little princess....
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Sean/Scwafish managed to catch one BIG small mouth from shore - I believe it was 18 inches long!
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...while Sean was busy landing a SMB....Mooch mooched Sean's lovely wife (Leah) for a "Prom Photo" op.....
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My 4th place striper = 9 pounds 4 oz. 29 1/2 inches
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.....after the epic BBQ at the White residence, we were all treated to some fine guitar playing by Ben/Guitarzan :smt035
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....not only can Ben play the guitar...but he can sing too :smt034
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Bob did not get his truck stuck in the Lake Mendo mud this time around....but some other unfortunate soul did :smt011.....
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On Sunday, John/jdyak hooked up on a slow trolled minnow just outside of crappie cove....
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John with fish on the deck..
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Mike/Mickfish gets one just by the point off Crappie Cove.....
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Ben/Guitarzan gets a big female right next to the Island...
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Once again had a great time at lake mendo. Friday the weather was overcast in the morning and the fish were busting everywhere. We tried to get into them but were always just to far away. As said, Mike managed two that day and fishhunter caught his first. Friday night Mike cooked up a mean steak with salad and french bread which was the bomb.
Sat night at Sean and Leah's, the food was excellent, fresh striper, abalone, then barbequed shrimp with a tri tip and chicken. After Dinner Ben/Guitarzan entertained us with his guitar skills, and had Bill's daughter busting a couple of moves.
Thanks again to everyone for making this a great trip.
John
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Folks;
I had a great time as well. I think I will hit it again this Sunday AM as I have to return to Uk for mothers day. Congrats to Joel Vasqeuz....sorry Joel. Also, not going to make Oyster Pt. I have to go get abs for mothers day.
InSeine
P.S.
Joel still owes me $10
and Mikfish owes me $5
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Thanks Jim PM me you address Mike
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Thanks to ALL and double-thanxs to Sqawfish.I attribute my (3) fish to reading,studying the Mendo/Stripper instructs. by Sean in the site and paddled SLOWLY around the 40ft.-20ft. ledge. :book1: can't wait to continue to HONNYMOON NEWBIE LOVE @MENDO-BENDO. :smt003
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Your welcome and hope the newb luck lasts for ya!
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so guitarzan, what'd you use for knots and tackle in the end?
looks like whatever you used, you used well, congrats on all the fish.
mooch congrats on your fourth place fish!
J
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I was just looking at that pic of you guys at the table and was thinking how much this smiley :smoke comes to mind. Or, maybe :hippy2: this one.
But really, that pic really says alot about the weather you guys fished in. Sunday at oyster point I got baked(by the sun). I forgot my cover and paid the price.
I know this woman who is putting out a line of clothing inspired by her husband who passed away from skin cancer. Its supposed to be action sport oriented. I cant handle too many more days getting scorched. My main concern is when I cover myself up completely I overheat and dehydrate(kinda like last year at lime kiln). You guys look fried in that pic also. What was the temp that day? JTF..
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The temp was ideal about 80 degrees at the hottest. I don't think anyone actually got burnt, we were all pretty good about the sunscreen. I look dark in the pic because I generally get dark in the summer as pops is hawaiian.
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thanks to all for the "congratulations" on my 4th place finish!
Special thanks to Sean for sharing his "How to" Article on Lake Mendo :smt023 I'll make sure you have a cold Fosters beer on your kayak at the OP derby...instead of a banana :smt002 You da man bradah!
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So I have a soon-to-be-classic story to tell. I needed to get a picture of me holding a fish on an Ocean Kayak for this ... http://www.oceankayak.com/fishing/crew/allen_sansano.html
I thought for sure I'd get a fish and then borrow a Mooch's Ocean Kayak to get some pics on it. Well ... no fish for me. So here I am back at the ramp and Bob has a fish and a Drifter. So I went up to him and said, "I know this is going to sound weird, but can I take a picture of your fish ... with me holding it ... on YOUR kayak". So I get into Bob's kayak and he's taking pictures of me, and I go to reposition for a better picture and his fish slides right off my lap and into the water. D'oh!!! I was about to jump in and go diving for it. But I got lucky. The striper floated!
-Allen
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Allen,
How did you mange to get on the OK fishing crew without having an OK kayak? Are they going to give you one?
I'm really confused now, shouldn't you be really be on the Cobra Triple fishing Crew?
I would not go the Triple route unless you're planning on fishing with a partner regularly. I have a Triple and I have an XFactor. I'll take the XFactor any day for single use. I'm 215# and 6'3, so slightly different dimensions than you, but I probably still qualify for the "big dude" group. I find the XFactor much faster than the FND and drifter, although I've only demo'd those a couple times. It's not quite as fast as the "wet butt" boats (Prowler and T160). But it's plenty fast enough. It's every bit as stable as any other kayak I've tried.
-Allen
Brian
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:dontknow: Ummm ... what Triple? I don't paddle no stinking Triple!!! :smt001
As my kayak fishing style evolves, so too does my choice in kayaks. OK offers a quality product that I'll proudly paddle!! :smt004
-Allen
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speechless in at least five directions...
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Well Allen in that case, welcome to team "wet butt" (the unofficial OK kayak fishing club)
Brian
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J - I used 20 lb spectra with a 14 lb low-vis tip of 30 feet or so, uni to uni knot, to a small high-quality swivel, 5 more feet of low-viz to a tiny split ring on a small live bait hook and followed the scwafish "how to". The tackle and knots all thanx to mooch, thanx mooch. Man, do those fish SLAM a minnow!
Correction - Mooch uses much lighter line, I was to scared of a line break, being my 1st turny and all.
I used my new shimano corvalus from western sports at $116, great mooching set-up, I highly recomend it. Ben
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my set was 20# power pro for main line and 10 ft. of 8# flourocarbon line tied to it (uni to uni). I used a small gamakatsu hook that had a split ring on the eye of the hook. I actually used my Perch Rod (lamiglass) with a 400 Shimano Spirex spinning reel - had a blast fighting the fish with this light set-up. I also had another rod with a spinning reel loaded with 6# mono with a little cleo spoon for the "striper boils".
Ben, I just got a Corvalus myself - definitely much better than my Abus :smt045
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That big Skipjack that was out there was trolling 4# outfits off the downriggers set 10-15' deep. They had spinning rods tied on flyrod blanks and were having a blast on the ultralight. They were killing them. I believe they said they had landed 4-5 fish and lost at least that many. I saw them stopped up multiple times.
-Allen
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so no mainline doubling then?
mooch, I hate to tell you this, but better doesn't matter, only coolness. especially with reels.
and abus are the coolest. :smt004.
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Abu's are cool but clunky. I only use them with 15lb test or more with lighter line I prefer the morrum, shimano 100s or calcuttas.
I used straight 12lb Sufix no leader tied my hook with a uni didn't pull all the way down forming a little loop at the hook, then use a split shot as a sinker stop. Fast to re-tie just slide the split up cut off a little line and re-tie. I prefer to use as few knots as I can since they are usually the weak link.
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how much weight was everyone using? It seems to be that the trick is finding the right weight, amount of line out and paddling speed combo...in other words getting the bait down to the proper depth while trolling. Something I can't seem to get right for Mendo.
Brian
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1/4 oz...slow (0.9-1.2 mph)...100ft will run between 9 and 15 feet down.
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I got my big one last Sunday using a 1/2oz weight and letting lots of line out.
Same thing with the B@M one.
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anybody use a line counter to measure line out?
if not, are you guesstimating or do you measure somehow?
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and abus are the coolest. .
hate to break your heart J....but my abus will be replaced by Shimano Corvalus :smt002 What I don't ike about the Abu - is that the thumb bar release is located on the very top of the reel - when IT SHOULD BE right by the spool - just ike every other bait casting reel :smt002
...and I agree with Mike, Calcuttas ARE THE COOLEST (expensive but worth every dime)
Just my 2 cents.....
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The thumbar on the nicer Abus is the best in the biz, you just gotta buy better Abus. I agree the little push button is LAME. I have several Shimano Cardiffs (the nicer version of the Corvalus) and they work great for freshwater but they don't look like they would be all that durable in salt. They also have a dead level wind in freespool (except the 400s) which make Spectra a no-no.
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I had a corvalus for about 10 years and it finally died.... it finally died from a stripped screw hole after constant cleanings in Baja. They're great low end reels. I've since upgraded to the Cardiff which is much better built, but not nearly as expensive as the Calcutta.
Brian
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, you just gotta buy better Abus
Sean, unfortunately- being a left-hand-retrieve guy, I don't have a wide selection to play with :smt011
if not, are you guesstimating or do you measure somehow?
J, I measure by using the length of my rod. Say, If my rod was 7 ft., I'd start out by pointing my rod to the bow and release my line out as I point the rod back to the Stearn of my yak = that would be 7 ft of line on the first sweep. I repeat the process and add on another 7 ft - which is now 14 ft behind the yak.....I do this while my yak is gliding of course...you get the picture. I do the same when I'm stripping line when mooching down for salmon.
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mooch, I have left handed abus with thumbar. several of them in fact.
look for 5601 C4's, but also reels like the royal express (basically a graphite footed 560X C4). they all
have thumbars and usually clickers too. the 4601 C3's all have thumbars.
ebay is a good source of used abus for those who enjoy the occaisional bargain.
sometimes I like the pushbutton like when I'm trolling, I don't hit it accidentally when I grab the rod from
the holder like I do with the thumbar.
mooch, I'm trying to understand if it's really a rod length on each sweep? sounds good tho. works for
both spinning and casting reels?
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mooch, I'm trying to understand if it's really a rod length on each sweep? sounds good tho. works for
both spinning and casting reels?
Yes it is....and it does work for both spinning and casting reels - I'll have to show it to you sometime. I find this a lot easier than counting a foot at a time - like many do when sending bait down to specific depth - when mooching :smt002
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:smt002 BINGO!Thats his story and i am sticking to it!I was using a 20.00$ Quantum/rear-drag w/powerpro 8lb.dia@approx.30lb.line and speed was no more than .09 mph.on the GPS and stuck to the 40ft - 20ft. drop
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finally got John to send me my pic......
Thanks John!
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just got back pics/underwater shots :smt003 of the SBA Tourney.Wanted to share(I know its late) :smt010
top 2 pics=friday pre-fish 28" C&R /picture taken by friend of Sqawfish
3rd pic= My second 28"of the day. C&R at 3:oo not a vessel on the lake(all@weigh-in) :smt005
4th pic= My first 28" of the day C&R /picture taken by front-paddler of Allans' tandom yak(right -on man!)
5th+ pic= Underwater shot of the above 28" with disposable cam.
Last pic= shot of me taking the above underwater shots :smt012