The FJ is similar to a set of waders in that it will act like a wetsuit (as far as being wet & warm) for your lower half.  Waders will keep the water out and rely on underlayers for the warmth.  The FJ relies on the body heat you keep your lower half warm when wet.  Doesn;t do anything for upper body protection in either case; FJ or Waders.

OK, but now I'm more confused than ever. According to rule #2 (rule #1 is, of course, wear a PFD) on the excellent "safety first" posting on this website, I'm supposed to "dress for immersion". But, if I wear an FJ wetsuit with, say, a jacket and PFD over the top, I'm definitely not dressed for immersion. Yet, from what I can gather, this seems to be the way that a lot of people (probably most) go.

So, is there any reasonable way to be truly "dressed for immersion" wearing an FJ wetsuit? It seems to me that I'd need a drysuit top or something similar and that's going to be a) very expensive and b) virtually impossible to swim in, if it ever comes to that.

Interesting Article in regards to Shark Attacks in New Zealand:

http://www.fishing.net.nz/index.cfm/pageid/56/view/yes/editorialID/983

 

That's an excellent article. I find this part particularly interesting: "However, this is not to say that we should disregard the implications of tourist cage diving with great white sharks, as practiced in the Chathams, and some DoC research methods employed on them here. Both operations use copious quantities of berley and large decoys to attract sharks close up. In my book this creates a dangerous association with food and people. If goldfish can be trained to respond to a finger tap on the aquarium prior to food being dropped into the water, then who is to say great white sharks can’t be conditioned in a similar way? When we then consider their capacity to memorise what they have learnt, we should not be surprised if they start taking an unhealthy interest in boats, and the smaller kayaks in particular."

When I read this, I thought about the recently-released study of the Shark Shield:

http://www.waundersea.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/Huveneers-et-al-2012-Shark-Shield-testing_SafeWork-SA-1.pdf

In this study, the Shark Shield seemed to work well in certain cases, and not all in others. For the "not at all" cases, the results of this study differ significantly from a previous study. The authors' state that "Future studies should focus on testing ... in locations not frequented by cage-diving operators". They are implying that one possible explanation for the poor results is that sharks were conditioned (via tourist activities) to a similar type of feeding as used in the study and, because of this conditioning, the Shark Shield became useless in similar situations.

The video is good too:
http://www.santacruzkayaks.com/

Good Morning.
I am relatively new to kayak angling.  I reside in the central valley near Fresno.  I am interested in both fresh and Saltwater fishing.  Currently I ride a Tarpon 120.  With eyes on a larger WS boat for the ocean.  However.....I am considering MBK on 8/5/12 in the 120- crazy?

Dreaming of ling and halibut.....
SD

I'm new to this too, and also dreaming of halibut, (keeper-sized) ling, white sea bass, salmon, .... In any case, why would you think that you're any crazier than any of those other crazy kayaker fishermen?

I'm in the Los Gatos mountains and my indoor thermometer says 77, but there's no breeze whatsoever, and it already seems way too hot. I can't believe I spent my first 20 years living in Iowa, including football practice in 100+ temps with off-the-chart humidity. Today is going to be a beach day (unfortunately, no fishing).

I'm not looking for any TOP SECRET info---I was just hoping to get some general guidelines...

I'm new to kayak fishing, so I probably won't be much help in finding fish... In any case, I always launch from New Brighton, so let me know when and where you plan to launch from.  I'm sure I'll be there at least one of those days.

So, where is "TC"?