I agree that you should tether things on a kayak but I still believe that you should not buy a VHF if it doesn't float.  You never know if the tether can come loose and then you will be glad that it floats.  I've had two HX300's.  The only reason I bought a second one is because I made a mistake when packing up my stuff on an inshore trip awhile back.  I left my first HX300 attached to my PFD on a boat ramp by accident.  When I returned to get it, someone picked up both the PFD and VHF and took off with it.  The mistake was all mine but I bought another one.  I've had my second radio for several years and it hasn't failed me yet.  I just got back last Saturday from an offshore trip launching from the beach along Padre Island National Seashore (PINS) and going out into the Gulf of Mexico for a total of around 25 miles and my radio battery life lasted all day with no problems.  I launched around 7:00 am and was not off of the water until 7:30 pm.  I spoke on my radio several times throughout the day and the radio served me well.

I'm not saying that the HX400 is not a good choice but I certainly would not pass judgement on the HX300.  It is an amazing radio!!  I know many people here in Texas that use the HX300.  If you have any questions on this radio, you can certainly post on here or hit me up and I will be happy to discuss.  832-588-7091

Tight lines! 

Many people try to buy the Cobra VHF radios and many times, not always, it's because of the low price. The Cobra brand is commonly sold at Academy. That is how I find that many find out about these radios. There are other cheap brands out there, not just Cobra. The problem is that you get what you pay for many times with these brands. Because of the lower price, you sacrifice something for the cheaper brands out there. I have explained in the past the five things to look for in a quality VHF radio but I have now found a sixth thing I have added to my list. Here are the six things you should look for in purchasing a quality VHF radio:

1) floats
2) water proof
3) it should have NOAA weather radio
4) at least a 5-mile radius
5) good battery life (if you are going to be on the water all day, make sure your battery will last)
6) Make sure your radio has a channel 16 emergency button so that you can reach coast guard immediately

The sixth item is the newest I have added to the list. The reason for this is that a common station that many are allowed to be on are the upper channels. Us kayakers choose channel 69 many times. Even though we use the radio for fishing talk, it's important to remember that this radio's primary purpose is for emergencies. What happens if you are on channel 69 and there is an emergency. On a cheaper radio, you will have to push through all the stations to get from channel 69 to channel 16 (channel 16 is the coast guard station). That is a lot of channels to thumb through. My radio has a button that has "9/16" on it (this is a common feature on some radios). Once I hit this button, it immediately takes me where I need to be without going through other less important channels.

Another thing that is not necessarily needed but is a nice feature, is a channel lock feature. I'm almost definite this lock feature I am about to talk about will be the seventh thing on the list before long. On my radio, there is a button that has a key pic on the top of the button. Once I hold this down for a few seconds, it locks all of my keys. To reverse the process, repeat the same thing and it will disengage this feature. If the feature is active, a small pic of a key will present itself on the electronic screen. Once disabled, the key pic goes away. This feature is useful because as kayakers, we are limited in space. Constantly you will find that your radio buttons will get pressed somehow during the day taking you off of the channel you are trying to be on. If you are fishing with friends and you don't hear them the entire time, you will think their radio is off or has gone down in battery juice. In reality, your radio channel is on the wrong station. Also, when you are talking to the coast guard, you will want to make sure you stay on the designated channel and not accidentally get switched.

Some of the brands that many use on the water that are considered reliable are (in no particular order):

1) Standard Horizon
2) ICOM
3) Uniden

I personally roll with the Standard Horizon HX300. For the value of this radio, it's hard to beat the quality and price. All of these radio brands are good that I just listed. If you search on the internet, sometimes you will find that there are mail-in rebates. My radio had at one time a $20.00 mail-in rebate. The average going price on the Standard Horizon HX300 is $110.00. That is a great price for a quality VHF radio. I have heard people talk about the HX290. It has everything the HX300 has except one thing. The HX300 has a longer battery life. For a few bucks more, I am more than happy to buy the HX300 to have a longer battery life. If you find that you are the kind of person that is only going to be on the water for about half a day, then I could see buying the HX290.  Chet, I have had the problem of not being able to hear on my radio but that is only because I just got through the surf and water is blocking the way.  I just blow into it for a sec and that seems to fix the problem.  As far as battery is concerned, I just got done fishing all day (12.5 hrs offshore in the kayak) and my battery was with plenty of juice at the end of the day.  However, the HX400 is not a bad choice either.  You really can't go wrong with either.  I had thought about buying an extra radio for when I take friends out.  If I do, I may try the HX400.

One last thing I would like to mention. Sometimes I like to use TV's in relation to VHF radios. I consider buying a Cobra in relation to a RCA. Buying one of the better brands is like buying a Toshiba. By buying a RCA, is that what your life is worth? We take a VHF radio for granted because we hit the water never suspecting anything will ever happen to us. If that time ever comes when you need a radio and you bought a RCA, I can only pray that it works for you. I know my Cadillac will as it has on a few occasions that I have needed it.

I hope this helps. If you have any other questions, please don't hesitate to post on here, PM me, or even give me a call. I'm always happy to chat with people on kayaking. 832-588-7091

Tight lines!

Yakety.

Sometimes they just do that.... I dlete them from the post, spin them all the way around a couple times in the photo app, then repost right side up.  Always worked so far.

Glad to help.  You a friend of bill's?  bill Pennington that is?

Bushy

I tried rotating them a couple of times but it didn't work.  I'm about to head out to run errands so I will give it a try again later.  Also, I know a few Bill's but nobody with the last name of Pennington.  If he kayak fishes, have him give me a call 832-588-7091.  I'd love to hook up to do some kayak fishing. 

Quote from: Yakety_Yak on July 06, 2019, 07:03:12 AM

Quote from: JohnnyAb on July 06, 2019, 01:00:28 AM

Cool!
Your Pics are really big, or maybe that's just the bag

Yeah, I just noticed that.  I am not sure how to fix those two big pics.  I know that at the bottom of the post you can scroll the pic over.  If you know how I can fix this, let me know.  I'll be happy to give it a try.  I posted the exact same thread in another forum and it came out just fine.  I am not sure why it's different in here.

Click on "modify" upper right hand above your post.  Delete your photos from the post. Open originals in any photo app on your computer.  REsize the photos.  (currently over 60-inches).  then re-add the photos to your post.  In the future, resize them before you post them.  I use 12X9 inches.  6X4.5 will work even better.



Bushy

Bushy, thanks for the follow up.  I added the way you said and it worked perfectly with the exception of one thing (as you probably noticed, lol).  All my pics are right side up but for some reason the software flipped it upside down.  Is there a way I can fix this or is this something a mod will have to do?

https://www.delawarepaddlesports.com/delaware-paddlesports-insulated-storage-bag-large/

I want to let you guys know of something I have been looking at for awhile and pulled the trigger on it a few seasons ago.  Every since then, I have been completely happy with it.  What I am referring to is a fish bag.  I have owned two fish bags before this current one I now own.  Both bags are the Native fish bag.  Both bags are now in the garbage as they don't hold up very well for very long.  I remember when I got both Native fish bags, they were both damaged after the first trip on the water.  Each time I placed a fish in the bag, the fish would cut up the interior of the bag.  Furthermore, the zipper would eventually rust.  These bags are $150.00 each.  I don't know what they are worth now but I do know to buy a quality bag it runs around $150 - $200 (sometimes more).  The pricing on these things are just absolutely ridiculous! 

One day at one of my BHP outings, I met this guy that had a fish bag that I had never seen before on his Native Slayer Propel (thanks Angel for the info on this bag).  I inquired about it.  After that trip, I immediately went home and found the bag online.  After a little research, I purchased it.  I have not been disappointed with this bag yet.  Some of the points of this bag are:

1)  The inside of the bag is much more durable than the Native bag and will still insulate your ice
2)  The exterior of the bag is durable as well
3)  There are two zippers instead of one  (just in case, I always put a coat of WD-40 on the zippers to keep them lubricated)
4)  The price is absolutely awesome!  (I'll explain below)
5)  The bag is larger than most bags

The cost of this bag is $90.00 and the shipping is a flat rate of $15.00.  There is no tax as Delaware is a tax free state.  Here is another cool thing about this price.  If you put "TKF" in the promo section, you will get an additional 10% off.  According to my calculations, the total cost of the bag with shipping would be $96.00.  That's a great price for a awesome fish bag.

One last thing on this bag.  There is a place you can put carabiners on to secure the bag to the yak (I have pad eyes to secure the carabiner to it from the bag) or it has a strap.  There are plenty of options to choose from.  Just to give you an idea of how big this bag is, I have had three king mackerel and four red snapper in this bag and it has held up.  That is a lot of fish!  If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask or you can call me.  832-588-7091

 In addition to the pics on Delaware Paddlesports web page, here are some others of the bag on the kayak:

Okay gentlemen, for those of you that are interested in this outing, here is what I'm going to do moving forward.  Because this outing is in Texas, the bulk of the kayakers are from Texas.  Please see my post in there and the updates so that you are kept informed on things.  The last thing I want to happen is that someone from California goes all the way down to Texas only to find out that the outing had been rescheduled to a better weekend but because that person didn't read the updates, he/she never knew.  All my updates moving forward will be posted on here:

http://www.texaskayakfisherman.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=58&t=249410

You can always call me if you have any questions.  832-588-7091  We are two weeks out, therefore, it's too early to see how the conditions, winds, weather will be.  I have posted this in many other coastal states so to make things easier on me, I am having everyone check the Texas forum (TKF).  Hopefully things will be awesome for June 8th.  If so, I will see you guys then.  Tight lines!!

I hear ya.  I'm just crazy like that when I fish.  I will travel to try different places.  I didn't know if there was anybody like that, that would be interested in trying this out.  Also, you never know if someone in Cali would be already traveling to Texas.  This would be perfect for that person(s). 

To answer a question, some of the fish we catch offshore here are:
red snapper (few other types of snapper species)
grouper
mahi
sailfish
AJ (very rare to catch that close to shore but within the last few years, someone has done it)
king
spanish
ling (aka:  cobia)
sharks (obviously)
bonita
jacks
tripple tail
etc....

The big thing everyone wants to hit here are the big kings.  It's not unusual to find a 50+ inch king.  Three summers ago three of us were on my Hobie TI and we landed a 62" king.  The state record is 58" but that one was heavier than ours.  No worries, we still had fun catching it.  The kings here have some size to them.  Another challenge fishing in a kayak here in Texas is launching through our surf.  The surf zone can be a challenge sometimes and it's quite a ways to get through it before you get past it. 

If anyone here does end up going, be sure to reach me before coming out to make sure weather/conditions are good.  832-588-7091

Hello to all my fellow kayaking friends. Just like last summer, 2018, I wanted to do something for this summer 2019 in regards to BTB kayak fishing for new people (of course intermediate and advanced kayakers are welcome). Five years ago in July I put together a BTB trip for anyone that wanted to get out to do BTB at Surfside. This included kayakers of all levels. It was awesome! We had a total of 34 kayakers that made it out that day. Many just went to the buoys while others went to the 5-mile rig. It was really cool to see that many yaks out on the water. Some of the people that fished off of the jettys at Surfside thought that there was a tournament going on with that many kayaks launching, lol. Four years ago in July I ran another one of these events except it was run out of Corpus Christi instead of Surfside. We had many more show up than the previous year. This trip was a huge success! I believe all the new kayakers caught kings that day and I would say around 70% of the new kayakers limited out on kings. On top of it all, even some of the new kayakers caught cobia. What an amazing day on the water it was!! As each year has gone by, this outing has gotten larger and larger.  This has turned out to be a great way for new kayakers to learn how to go BTB and hopefully to catch some fish while out there on the water.

Since Corpus Christi was such a huge success as in years past, I’m going to continue to do it at Corpus Christi again out at Bob Hall. The way it works is we all meet just south of Ball Hall Pier on the beach and make our way on out to the standpipe to try our luck at smacks, kings, and anything else that we can get into. If you are new to BTB, this would be a great trip to try out. The standpipe is not far offshore (maybe a mile) and there will be plenty of support out on the water with all the kayakers that will be fishing with us. This is not a tournament or an event (this is merely an open invite to anyone that wants to attend). It's just a way to get all levels of kayakers out on the water and to have fun hanging out while fishing. In addition to things, PACK (Paddling Anglers in Canoes and Kayaks) will be doing this trip as well. PACK is a kayak organization that has been around in Houston for a very long time. For more details on this organization, here is the link: http://www.packtx.org

The game plan is for everyone to meet just south of Bob Hall Pier on the beach at 6:00am Saturday, June 8th. We will launch around 7:00am. There will be a short meeting before hand to answer any questions by anyone. There will be plenty of experienced kayakers there that can answer anything as well.

The exact location we will meet at and where quite a few will be camping at is as such. Once you get to Bob Hall Pier, go south on to the beach. Once on the beach, continue for a brief moment until you see Access Rd 6 on the right. We used to camp out about 100 to 200 yards past Access Rd 6 on the left (beach side).  If there is new sand out there making it difficult for 2wd vehicles to get through and the tides have been coming up fairly high making it tough to camp on the beach side, what we will do then is we will be camping on the right up along the dune side right after you pass Access Rd 6.

*****In regards to a backup date, here is how that works. The backup date will fall to the following weekend until we have a good weekend to have this activity. Hopefully the weather will be good and we can all get out on June 8th. If interested, post your name on here and I will add you to the list.*****

OKAY.... WHO'S INTERESTING IN GOING?

01 Blake Colburn – tkf: Yakety_Yak
02 Al – TKF: bigtrout
03 Aldo
04 Alton Williams
05 Domingo Lucius
06 Eric Grace – TKF: Gotem
07 Bryce
08 Angel – TKF: yakano
09 Danny
10 Cliff Johnson – TKF: forager
11 Han – TKF: vg30et
12 Jason
13 Joe Arroyo – TKF: boricualouie
14 Joel
15 Jeff Echols – TKF: jeffechols
16 Mario Sciarra
17 Duy – TKF: duweezy
18 Randy – TKF: Outbackhunter
19 Jon Dancel – TKF: Acidcool6000
20 Frank
21 Scott Wiland – TKF: Punchingclowns
22 Kenny – TKF: WestEndTroutAssassin
23 Steve Marxer – TKF: fishinmachine
24 Thomas Kent – TKF: teen Yaker
25 Roger – TKF: Salty Coyote
26 Tim Payne
27 Juan-Carlos
28 Shawn Faris – TKF: 5x5
29 Steve
30 Keith – TKF: Chubs
31 Travis
32 Wayne Ferguson – TKF: reelmn
33 Bruce Bennett – TKF: Brucell
34 Jude Lopez
35 Fei – TKF: karyuu
36 Troy Guffy
37 David LaHaie – TKF: lahai1dj
38 Jeremy – TKF: El Gato Diablo
39 Matt – TKF: Datchew
40 Walter Gonzalez – TKF: Walteezy
41 Salvador
42 Charlie – TKF: kickingback
43 Mike Flores – TKF: fishin Ninja
44 Ben Watson – TKF: Volkswatson
45 Esteban – TKF: M5yakin
46 Collin
47 Blesson – TKF: flykool25
48 Odis – TKF: on a mission
49 Joel McLeod – TKF: jwmcleod
50 Steve – TKF: Crazy Yak
51 Josh
52 Justin – TKF: Poolio
53 Frank – TKF: fpatino
54 Karl Brindell – TKF: NOLA Yakker
55 Dan
56 Mike Smalley
57 Mike – TKF: Yakntx
58 Terrell
59 Tommy Mitchell – TKF: Cityfisher
60 Wyatt
61 Terry Howard - TKF: sanantonioyak
62 Edward - TKF: Ghostrider9920
63 Mike Williams
64 Brad - TKF: Bradw693
65 Michael Watson - TKF: mwatson71
66 Hosam Yacoub - TKF: hosam.yacoub
67 Tuan Nguyen - TKF: texastuan
68 Russell Fox - TKF: rfox123
69 Bow_Yak
70 GregO722
71 Adrian - TKF: Poseidon01
72 Adrian's son
73 Steven Unrue - TKF: SteveRetrieve
74 Milton Wilson - TKF: Dred
75 Ron White - TKF: TX-Kayaker
76 Cody L. - TKF: Codemann95
77 Chris Williams - TKF: Moken14
78 Mitchell Nowak
79 Nate - TKF: narmour12b
80 Rick Tussing - TKF: DerRikker
81 Rick’s son
82 Michael Tomberlin - TKF: MTSringer8
83 Rod Boyce - TKF: Longliner
84 Alex Aguirre
85 Jian - TKF: yangjianhunt
86 Mike Edgar - TKF: Mhedgar
87 Daniel Gomez - TKF: FishNinja87
88 Handle:  Sailfish


So far we have 88 kayakers going. These are people that are going or are a maybe. Who else wants to go. Post up on this thread and I will be happy to add you to the list.

The address to Bob Hall Pier is.....
15820 Park Rd 22
Corpus Christi, TX 78418
(361) 949-0499

PS: As it gets closer to the date, I will make a post on here a few days before (the morning of Thursday, June 6th) to let everyone know if conditions/weather is good or not so that nobody makes a trip for nothing. PLEASE MAKE SURE YOU ARE CHECKING THE THREAD FOR UPDATES AS IT GETS CLOSER SO THAT YOU KNOW WHAT’S GOING ON. SOMETIMES IT COULD COME DOWN TO THE FINAL DAY BEFORE THE OUTING BEFORE THINGS COULD CHANGE. If things look debatable, I will cancel to be on the safe side. As stated above if the trip gets canceled, I will reschedule on the date mentioned in this thread.

If you are new to BTB and this is your first trip out or if you have gone out but not very much and still fairly new to BTB, please read. A few things you may need to know before hitting the water. First and foremost, please make sure you have your PFD on you at all times. The law states that you must have a PFD in the vessel at all times with you if you are 17 years of age and older (if under 17, you are required to have it on) but if you flip over and the PFD is not on your body, what good is it doing you? It would be worth your time to buy a good quality PFD and not the $9.99 version at Academy.

Another thing I would recommend investing into is a quality VHF radio. There are so many reasons as to why you should have a radio on you when you are on the water BTB kayak fishing of which I will not get into. If you need to figure out a good radio to purchase, please feel free to call (832-588-7091)/PM me or even post up in the forum. There is a lot of good kayak fishermen on here that can help with that. If you do not have a radio, of which I hope everyone does, stay with a group of people while on the water. Safety is in numbers and the more people you can be fishing close to, the better.

Just a few items that people mentioned that were new in years past that said they needed to get the most but they didn’t already have were (in no particular order but I would hope the radio was at the top, lol) 1) radio 2) gaff 3) fish bag.

When we arrive in the morning during the meeting, a few ground rules will be covered to make sure all the new people are on the same page. For the intermediate and advanced fishermen, you guys are good to go but while we are explaining things if there is anything left out, please feel free to chime in. I also would like to say that when you show up to fish, please make sure you have enough tackle. There is nothing worse than showing up and not having the correct tackle or hardly any tackle and asking everyone to borrow their stuff. It's one thing if you need a swivel but to borrow someone's $20 Waxwing lure, only to have a break-off and lose it, that's not good. Unless you plan on paying for that lure, it's better to show up with your own tackle. If you are not sure what to show up with, please ask on this thread. I can tell you for sure to make or buy king fish leaders (the key bait for these is ribbon fish or even live bait). If you want to make king fish leaders, check out Prof. Salt's YouTube channel (click on the link I have provided). He has a video in there that explains how to make king fish leaders and it’s really good. http://tiny.cc/3zdxby

If you do camp on the beach, make sure you purchase a beach pass which can be purchased at any Stripes Gas Station. From what I have been told, if you camp on the beach past Access Road 6, no beach pass is necessary (I will be getting a beach pass just in case). I know I will be back again quite a few times and I will get my money’s worth out of it. The beach pass is $12.00 which is good for the entire year. Hopefully we can all get out there, have a great time, and catch some fish!

If you would like to read up on the reports from a few years ago and last year, here are the links:  https://bit.ly/2GR5K9K and https://tinyurl.com/yxzjfho4

For those of you that have any questions, please feel free to post on this thread, PM me on TKF, or give me a call. 832-588-7091

One last thing..... BHP sells frozen bait but not ribbon fish. If you want frozen ribbon fish for your king leaders, you will need to call the local bait shops in the area to see who carries it. Always call before going up to see if the shops have plenty of ribbon fish. Some suggestions for bait shops that carry ribbon fish are:

Red Dot Pier
11801 S. Padre Island Dr.
Corpus Christi, TX 78418
361-937-5347

Roy’s Bait & Tackle Outfitters
7613 S. Padre Island Dr.
Corpus Christi, TX 78412
361-992-2960

Billings Bait Stand
13428 S. Padre Island Dr.
Corpus Christi, TX 78418
361-949-8692

Fisherman's Bait & Seafood
1101 Laguna Shores Rd.
Corpus Christi, TX  78418
361-239-4648