Hat Trick:
this was a great fishing year, lots of fish and new friends. linda mar's salmon bite was epic this year, i landed 17 in a 5 week window. and it was good to have company out there for a change. i am currently remodelling my kitchen, so i will not be on the water for a while, but i look forward to seeing you guys early next year.
mooch:
I totally agree Chris :smt023 This year was definitely my personal best. Caught my first Salmon (ever) in Moss Landing, caught my first Halibut (ever) at Davenport, caught my first striper (on a yak) at China Camp. Caught my first green sturgeon (ever - undersize - caught & released) at San Pablo....however, I never caught the 30 inch Ling.... :smt011 oh well.
I have fished more than ever since I got my first kayak 4 years ago. I have fished almost every weekend - and at one point, I fished Linda Mar FOUR DAYS IN A ROW - looking for salmon. It turned out that I was fishing the area too early :smt087 . But as soon as the salmon were in - all hell broke loose and I fished weekdays and weekends for the mighty king! IT WAS AN EXPERIENCE! (hope the season will repeat itself - so the rest of you can experinence what some us did)
And because of the fishing forums that were popping up everywhere, I met more cool cats and got to fish new water. Lake Mendocino, San Pablo Bay, The Forebay, Moss Landing.....
I mainly fished fresh water my first year with the yak until I met Stu,Fred and Kevin - these guys put some salt in my blood. Fishing the ocean with a smaller kayak always made me uncomfortable until I upgraded to a longer and more stable kayak. Now, with what I have learned this past year fishing with a great group of guys - I can now go further, deeper and launch (and land) against the worse possible surf conditions. This year was definitely the year I pushed my yak to the limit (Linda Mar experience) I can now truly say that I feel "at home" with my kayak.
More importantly, with the birth of our own Norcal Site (thanks to Bill) we can learn more local-know-how from each other. And because our site does not sell any products, we do not compete with other sites - we can share more info with other sites without conflict of business interest. We can now post with more freedom. We can freely recomend other kayaks,gear, and more importantly, we can copy links from other sites and share the info. with our fellow yakers with out it being deleted by the powers.
I hope the new year brings more fish on our decks and I hope to meet and fish with the rest of you. :party
HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL! :smt111
Bill:
This year has been amazing for me. Even though I joined the party late I got in a lot of fishing. No Halibut or Salmon but a legal ling, plenty of Cabs and rockies. My first ever striper and rainbow.
I have met a ton of great people and learned a tremendous about from everyone. I am looking forward to a great 2005!!
:groupwave
jdyak:
I agree 100 percent. Bought my Kayak in March of 2004 and then met Ken and Joel at Stevens Creek. I had a great time with them, exchanged numbers and then we started Fishing together. Ken mentioned to me, you need to get that kayak in the salt water. I thought he was crazy but the prowler has done well for me in the Ocean. As Joel said, its been a very seaworthy kayak.
The Board has been a great way for kayak fisherman to post and hookup for new kayak/fishing adventures.
Looking forward to new adventures in 05
SBD:
2004 was amazing for me. I have fished all my life but the last few years lots of stuff from babies to work kept it as a once in a while activity. 04 was different! I moved fishing back to the front where it belongs! I did more fishing and ab diving this year than any in recent memory.
The yak really made it easy, fun, and PRODUCTIVE. Our dinky enterprise even made a little money too!
Best of all was all of the super nice people I met. EVERY person on this BBS I fished with was super nice and a good angler too.
2005 is going to be insane and I can't wait for the action to begin.