Linda Mar 07/21

Sonny

That looked like a lot of fun.  Way to make do with what mother nature gave you.

Nice surf dudes! Cowa-bunga!

Great pic of Sailfish riding one in!

One thing I noticed is the tendency to hold the paddle up at eye level when puching through a wave. If you take a good one over the bow it can slam that paddle into your face. When I am punching through, I always try my best to swing the paddle 'round so that it is parallel to the boat as the bow hits the wave.

Not meant to criticize at at all, just armchair quarterbacking!

Great job out there, you can't catch fish if you're not trying! Plus you even got Da Mooch out of his Aquan lair!

Thank you Sonny for taking put together a great picture of me and NCKA brothers. I had a ton of funs at the beach although not doing any fishing. This reminds me when I was a kid spent all day in the beach playing with the wave. This is my first rough surf launch attempt and eager to try again.

Ty

Nice surf dudes! Cowa-bunga!
Great pic of Sailfish riding one in!
One thing I noticed is the tendency to hold the paddle up at eye level when puching through a wave. If you take a good one over the bow it can slam that paddle into your face. When I am punching through, I always try my best to swing the paddle 'round so that it is parallel to the boat as the bow hits the wave.
Not meant to criticize at at all, just armchair quarterbacking!
Great job out there, you can't catch fish if you're not trying! Plus you even got Da Mooch out of his Aquan lair!

I usally hold the paddle up high when "punching" through the waves.  I'll try your way (parallel to the boat) next time, also will try the "back paddling" (facing the wave and paddle backward) surf landing.  Thanks for the tip Sean.

Very nice report, Sailfish. I love the well documented pics. Now I more or less know what to expect if planning on ever trying LM. Thanks. Too bad about the slow fishing, but at least you now have a little more surf launch/re-entry skills acquired. Those basketball boulders look nasty!

Thanks for posting the report, Sailfish.  

My first launch into the ocean was incredible.  Crashing through the waves was exhilarating, leaving me with an adrenaline pumping high as I passed the breakers.  For me, it was comparable to the rush of racing my DH bike or clearing a double on my 250X.  Remember your first?  Don't know what else I can say about that.  

Once on the water, I paddled out to Mooch and JDyak where I primarily focused on the their advice and technique.  I tried to get my pole out of the rod pod, but my line was tangled up on my second reel.  After 5 minutes trying to untangle the line, I cut the it and pulled out the rod.  Trying to rig up while keeping pointed toward the swells reminded me of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day, so I put my rod away to break the cycle.  I took Mooch and JD's advice to learn to kayak first, fish second.  Good advice.  I'll figure out rod storage another time.

Following them around and learning to dance the swells was a good workout, and the adrenaline was still pumping.  Seeing the horizon disappear between swells was awesome and I couldn't believe the feeling of oneness with the water. Though I remained ever vigilant.

I noticed that as I kept my bow toward the ocean, I would end up farther out than Mooch and JD.  I remember thinking, "How the hell do you ever get back in?"  A few radio calls to Mooch encouraged me to test the waters, turn the boat, let the hips roll - be the water.  With all my gear stowed, and removing any fear of getting soaked, I practiced taking some swells sideways.  Adrenaline still pumping.  "How cool is this?" I thought.  No falls.

When Mooch and JD were ready to go in, they showed me how to help each other put their equipment away - the yak 69.  Uh, nevermind.  We headed into shore, one at a time, with our drives in reverse.  After all the advice so far, the one thing Mooch didn't tell me was when to dismount the yak.  As you see from Sailfish's pics, I found out when, and Daviator helped me clear out of the water.

All in all, spectacular first outing.  Thanks to Mooch, JDyak, Ty_SuperFishMan, Sailfish and Daviator for helping make my first ocean trip so positive.

The water calls.  See you out there.

Tom

Very Good Sony!!
This will help ALL and EVERYONE who has never been or wanted to know what iy looks and feels like when in the surf. Even though a Real_Surf&Safety Class would be IDEAL, this is the next best thing to it. (MINUS THE BOULDERS on the SHORE)

WTGet On It, fellas!   nothing like knowing your not gonna loose a darn thing and have the frame of mind that it is WHAT I NEED.

NOT A THREAD JACK! just a couple of comparision shots of what it looks like when the WX are 4ft swell and less wind, same exact spots.....big difference!
ALWAYS BE WISE and CAREFUL,     Live To Fish Another Day  

Hey Sonny, Great post, making Lemonade outta lemons, good to see all having fun,

Great report. Even looks like fun...except for the rocks..

Please be careful if you plan to land at the very South end of the beach.  Tom got some bruises when crashed landing due to the rocks.

So I'm looking at the up-side-down yaks, the surf, the rocks ... are helmets not a good idea in situations like this?

Ben

Interesting report to say the least guys.  I really enjoy all the launch and landing pics.  Timing is everything.  It looks like in those pics you guys didn't have much of a window to launch in.

"So I'm looking at the up-side-down yaks, the surf, the rocks ... are helmets not a good idea in situations like this?"

Ben,

Depend on the landing spots, a little further North where I launched/landed it's sandy beach.  I guess it's more of a personal choice about the helmet but it's not a bad idea if you know ahead that the landing spot will be rocky area!

Interesting report to say the least guys.  I really enjoy all the launch and landing pics.  Timing is everything.  It looks like in those pics you guys didn't have much of a window to launch in.

John,

Early in the morning, it's about 15 second interval for a big set of waves but later on the wave kept coming one after the other as the wind started to pick up!

Thanks Fellas, it was great to get on the water.  Mooch and I busted through the surf, having to clear about 4 waves. Once on the outside it was evident that swell and winds were up and it was going to be tough fishing.  We made bait, finding some big surf smelt, and then trolled near there surf zone from South to the North end.  Had some good swells come through, which made it fun!  No Fish again but will keep trying.

John

I'm simply glad that no one was seriously hurt during the surf landing. This was not an ideal day to fish but like one great kayak fisherman friend of mine once said "you gotta strike while the iron is hot" (Stuart). The stripers were no where to be found which simply states the fact that you gotta be there at the right time...and this time was not the time BUT, it still beats going to work

The swells were BIG. JD and I couldn't get close enough to at least 8 FOW because the surf was breaking in about 15 to 20 FOW (in some parts at least) We both had close calls of being engulfed by a few sets that simply came out of no where I think the funniest moment was when I was trying to untangle some smelt that I had caught on the sabiki and JD was right next to me - keeping an eye out for some rogue waves....then I hear him calmly say "gotta paddle out of here now" And since he said it so calmly, I didn't think anything of it until he had already paddle forward and cleard the wave that was about to pick me up and slam me  I quickly dropped my rod and got my yak pointed to the swell JUST IN TIME  I paddle to the peak of the wave just in time before broke....yes, I was lucky JD and I laughed about it later on but I warned him to be a little more on the vocal side     the next time around

Anyway, it was nice fishing with you again JD = just like old times Tom, congrats on your first ocean journey. Sonny and Ty, glad you guys got to see first hand what a bad day in Linda Mar looks like. The pictures don't really do it any justice. I kinda knew that it wasn't a day to be out there but the call of the 40 inch stripers were too hard to ignore.....and this is why we call it madness 

Do any of you surf launchers use or recommend thigh straps for stability?  or are these considered a hazard during surf launches?

hey..good to meet you guys on the Linda Mar beach that morning.
I shore fished from North of the pier from 6am that morning.
the beach was pretty much deserted except for 2 other guys. we kept plugging away then decided to take a break and head south to Linda Mar..
So the stripers departed the scene...at least for that day..

but enjoyed learning rigging techniques from you sonny, as well as learning from old hands like Mooch over lunch in the Hawaiin BBQ joint.

I took the surf entry /exit rescue course in MBK back on the 11th...but conditions on the surf were a lot more benign..
way to go Tom on embracing the challenge that day..everytime I am on or near the water has been a great learning op. for me.
thanks soony again for the pics you posted..