My friend and I went up to Ocean Cove last weekend to test the waters!  It was my friend's first time up there and I think he had a great time because he was not interested in diving at first but now he is!  This is great because I don't have any close friends who are remotely interested in freediving, but I may have my first convert now!

First day got practically skunked save for a greenling which we shared for lunch.  Later that afternoon I went diving while he spotted me from the yak and got a haul of ab and uni right near the cliff where the houses are in the cove.  There was a ton of kelp there a month ago but it's almost all gone now.  The uni were fat and delicious.  I "did my part" and got a whole bunch of large purple ones too, and they were delicious as well.  I'm not sure why they don't have more commercial value, they seemed as good if not better than the red/black ones.  I also took my Riffe E90 down and speared my first fish ever!!!  I was very excited and am getting a lot more comfortable with all the gear, breathing up, spotting fish, marking spots, learning my comfort zone, etc.  It was quite a feast that night and got us ready for the next day.

Next day we went out around 7:30AM and got to work.  Right away I got a decent size ling, but then nothing for the next hour.  My battery for the sonar also went kaput so we were fishing blind.  Luckily I remembered a spot from the day before that felt especially fishy and we immediately got several rockfish.  By 10:30 I was getting cold and we decided to drift one more time... and BOOM a small tug followed by what I thought was the fish getting totally wrapped in kelp.  I haven't felt a fish fight hard since a trip to Alaska 5 years ago, so I must have forgotten what a big ling feels like.  At the surface I see a beast swimming in the water and immediately know things are either going to go really well or really bad!  My friend missed with the net the first time but got it on the second and threw it in the yak!  The thrashing was intense and I had to trap him between the seat and my knees so I kneeled down on him while trying not to get bit.  Cut the gills, more wild thrashing, and success!  What a way to end our trip. 

It was a trip of many firsts for my friend (seeing what freediving was all about, eating abalone and uni straight from the water, and seeing his first ling cod).  He already asked me where he can get a diving wesuit

Credit to Kris for his Fii class, without his instruction I would have never learned how to dive and none of this would have been possible.

Tried with a friend for the first time today.  We went to SWS to avoid the strong NW swell that came in today.  Both of us took Kris's class a few weeks ago.  But it seems like experience makes a big difference.  All the new gear, tangled lines, breathing up, picking the right spot, fogging masks, made for a difficult day for a couple of noobs!  But we still had a good time getting down to 25 or so feet, just weren't in the right spot and our bottom time needs work. 

Definitely have a lot to learn!  How long did it take you guys to "figure it out" and feel comfortable / shoot your first fish?

I noticed the regulations changed to allow kayak fishing starting early this year.  Anyone have luck in HMB? 

I was going to try from HMB old pier on 4/26.  Got some new gear and eager to try it out.

Hi guys!  Anyone going to be at HMB old pier 9/20 AM? 

My friend and I will be going out for our 2nd trip in our tandem Frontier 12 to explore and hopefully find a rockfish/ling cod honey hole.  The first time we went out we only went just beyond the harbor mouth and caught some croakers.  We'd like to venture further out to get rockfish and lingcod but could use some guidance.

I have a lowrance elite4 and could navigate to a general spot if anyone has a suggestion!  Thanks guys and hope to see some friendly faces out there!  Herb, maybe we'll see you?

Hi everyone,
I'm a newbie to kayak fishing and am amazed by all the great catches I see on some of your posts.  I originally got my nucanoe frontier 12 for duck hunting (which was a great success) but I also love fishing and am trying to learn the ropes of fishing the coast. 

My first kayak launch attempt at bean hollow 2 weeks ago basically did not happen because the waves were huge and the wind was just too much.  I'm quite aware of the frigidness of the water as I also enjoy open water swimming, but swimming and fishing are two different things!!!  I appreciate any advice for a safer place to launch if there are any.  I hope to learn a lot from everyone and eventually contribute some knowledge of my own. 

Also name is Bobby.  See ya out there!