"The ABC's of Kayak Fishing"

Kayak Fishing Guide, Allen Bushnell, will present "The ABC's of Kayak
Fishing" Saturday, March 21 from 1:00pm - 3:00pm at Monterey Bay Kayaks Monterey location on Del Monte Blvd. at Figueroa Street. (Wharf #2 entrance)

Having attended these free sessions in the past, I can highly recommend to any angler, especially if your new to kayak fishing or considering giving it a try. Rockfish season opens on May 1st. You will leave this session knowing what it takes to catch fish from your kayak.   

For those of you who don't know Allen Bushnell, he goes by "scallen" on this board, and is a highly respected NCKA member. Allen is a member of the Ocean Kayak Fishing Crew, co-host of the Let's Go Fishing Radio Show, and world's record co-holder of the biggest fish caught from a kayak, a 400+ pound Salmon Shark in Alaska

Warning! Participation in this session may spark the "madness"

Good Luck
Ben

Ben,

Thanks for the info. I will have to check it out. This will help cool my wife off with her "I know how you get" line when I want to get out and go fishing or ........ Will this be on the water or land? Either way I think it will be fun and good way to learn more. I'll be there.

Phil

Hi Yakers:

          Look like a good time to pick up some good advice for Free!
          When I first moved from Albion to SunnyVale, I book a trip with Allen and ,shortly after I hookup a 27.Lb Butt in Santa Cruz.
                                                                     Sea-ya at MBK
                                                                     Ernie
                                              
 

P.S. There are no fish in SC!  

Wow, thanks Ben!  I almost forgot I was doing this next weekend.  I have a general talk and Powerpoint I do that covers the basics, but I'll also bring a couple cool videos including the shark video (long version)

Best for me is the Q and A with experienced guys and newbies.  It's that time of year again, time to get stoked and ready for the big blue again.  Love to see as many NCKA'ers as possible.

Thanks again Ben for the mention and the kind words,.  Modesty often prohibits me from "tooting my own horn"  (......also it was more like 450lbs.......haha)

Allen

Modesty often prohibits me from "tooting

Man that can't be good....sometimes you just gotta let it out! 

I received the email from MBK stating that Allen was going to present The ABC's of Kayak Fishing and logged on to send you a PM asking about it...when I noticed Ben already posted it. Beat me to the punch!
Hopefully the presentation goes well, with plenty of NCKAers in da house!
Unfortunately, it's the same day as the Del Valle Fish & Chill event so I won't be able to attend. And I guess that also means you won't be able to make the Fish & Chill....man Frank is gonna be bummed.

Yeah, I will call him tonight.

Allen

Hello Ladies and Gents
This is my first post. Too bad I just found out about the seminar last Sat.  I would love to have attend any more that may be coming up.
A couple of other questions.  How and where do you usually launch in the santa cruz Capitola area. Other than the harbor of course. I know a lot of spots are not leagal launch areas. I am not concerened with that. I don't believe they really crack down on that do they?  Do you need a sand dolly witht he big rubber tires to get from the parking are in capitola to the water? Will regular tires make it across the sand. Do I just slide the kayak down and up the stairs at 38th.  Thats a lot of gear?  Do you leash every rod and reel to the boat?  Do you use a stringer to keep fish after catching or just put them in the boat. How does that work with a decent size halibut. Is a gaff neceessary and what kind and length is best? What is your feeling on upgrading the stock seats with one of those contoured well padded ones. Thanks all.
Lee

Patience grasshopper....haha!
Hi Lee.
Good to see you on this site. I'll try to answer some of your questions.
-Search for "capitola launch" and "santa cruz launch" for launch info, or check the Places to Launch forum
-I've heard of a few instances in SC Co where people were told they couldn't launch (both were near Seacliff/RDM)
-Sand cart not necessary. I actually just grab the bow and drag it across the sand.
-At Cap, just unload your gear in the 5-minute zone at the foot of the wharf, then repark your car. Launch from beach beside the wharf.
-At 38th you gotta carry your yak overheard or on your shoulder. Or team-up.
-I only leash during launch and landing.
-Most people fishing the ocean use a big metal stringer called a game clip and it works great (available at most dive shops).
-With big 'buts, the order of operations is: gaff, place on game clip, then dispatch the beast. Then either toss it in the rear tankwell or strap it to the bow.
-Gaff is optional, but I like to bring one just in case--they are helpful for lings and 'buts. The regs require a 18 inch diameter net though. Kayak gaffs are inherently shorter than boat gaffs. Mine is about 24 inches, I think. (There's a guy on here who builds badass custom gaffs--E Kunz and that's where I got mine.)
-The seats that come w/new Ocean Kayak brand yaks are OK. But the old ones sucked.....especially the yellow foam ones.

WElcome Lee:

all good questions, and great answers from your friend and mine, Patrick!

Yeah, you shoulda been tehe, we covered just about all that stuff.

No worries, though.  this is the place to get all that and more.

I might do some REI seminars this Spring.  Surely will be at the REI paddle demo days at Mt View and at San pablo.  Look on their website for dates.

And/or, give me a call or pm we can get together for coffee or fishing....(you buy the coffee)  haha

Unless you live across the street, 38th is probably not the best place to launch.  Try 26th, or go to Captiola.

Allen

Hi Allen,

Let me know the next time you put on one of these seminars and I can assist with setting-up a virtual meeting where by we can record voice, video and slides all together for archiving and later playback for any of those that weren't able to make it. That said... I don't suppose the last session you did at MBK was recorded, was it?

Any chance you could post your PowerPoint materials to the forum? Let me know if you need help converting them to .pdf

Fish on,
Jeff "Steelerhead" Achtzehn

Hey jeff.  Most of the photos in that seminar are already up here in the galleries, just put together in a little package.  Might be a fun project for next winter when the fishing slows down, though. 

You might want to pester Bill to post the ABC's article I sent him that is pretty comprehensive.  (I think he's busy these days, but a little goose might not hurt)

The seminar is fun and informative, and pretty interactive.  Most everything I talk about has been covered here on the site, no secrets or anything, just an opportunity to talk directly with people that are interested, just starting out, or looking for specific tips.  No one of us knows more than all of us, and all of us are here already.

Allen