The life of a newb and the growth of a kayak angler.

I might as well share my experience as a noob.

I use to do a lot of cat-fishing, but other priorities took over and I didn't fish for nearly 5 years!  I got back into fishing 1.5 years ago and started going to lake chabot a lot. Got tired of the hit and miss bite so I decided to try fishing from the piers about a year ago and that's when I came across this site.  I had been away from fishing for so long at that point and when I learned that you could fish from a kayak, it was similar to learning that you could catch crab using snares... what a shock!

Before getting my trident 13 in march, I read as much as I could since I was already addicted and wanted to be prepared.  My first 3 trips were to HMB, Baker beach and ARW without much success.  RF season kicked off and I caught my first fish - 2 small grass RF.  I was switching between RF and ARW but the fish were few and far between.  At one point I did something miraculous that I doubt others could accomplish even if they tried - I fished a 1/2 day at SWS without a single nibble!

After getting blown out a few times at ARW, I convinced my wife that a hobie would actually help me land something. She agreed since she was already skeptical about whether or not I could fish and she probably felt sorry for me.  At one point, my fishing buddy, lost anchovy, asked me how I could continue fishing when I kept on getting skunked week after week.

I had absorbed a lot of knowledge but didn't have any tangible results yet.  So July rolls around and that's when my fishing mojo finally kicked in!  I was finally catching lings, cabs and verms.  I had a few hali bites but I kept missing the landing part - although they inched closer to the boat with each miss.

In August, I went to Big Sur and that's when I landed 2 halis on back to back days - of all places!  Being wary of fishing SMC at that point, I switched to WSB-ing.  It was frustrating at first to watch all of the PBs land them and wondering what they were doing differently.  I researched techniques and was able to finally land one after 5 or so attempts. 

BTW, safety always came first and I'm just glad that the fish finally started cooperating.

That's the rundown of my noob experience and I can't wait to add a trophy dungy to that story!

Also, the knee slappers that you laugh at are the ones that will make you open your wallet.  Don't underestimate them. 

A farmer john w/relief zipper and a big cup comes in handy too.

A farmer john w/relief zipper and a big cup comes in handy too.

There is no way I could yak fsh the ocean without these items,   

Thanks for sharing your story.  I love the inspiration.   

I might as well share my experience as a noob.

I use to do a lot of cat-fishing, but other priorities took over and I didn't fish for nearly 5 years!  I got back into fishing 1.5 years ago and started going to lake chabot a lot. Got tired of the hit and miss bite so I decided to try fishing from the piers about a year ago and that's when I came across this site.  I had been away from fishing for so long at that point and when I learned that you could fish from a kayak, it was similar to learning that you could catch crab using snares... what a shock!

Before getting my trident 13 in march, I read as much as I could since I was already addicted and wanted to be prepared.  My first 3 trips were to HMB, Baker beach and ARW without much success.  RF season kicked off and I caught my first fish - 2 small grass RF.  I was switching between RF and ARW but the fish were few and far between.  At one point I did something miraculous that I doubt others could accomplish even if they tried - I fished a 1/2 day at SWS without a single nibble!

After getting blown out a few times at ARW, I convinced my wife that a hobie would actually help me land something. She agreed since she was already skeptical about whether or not I could fish and she probably felt sorry for me.  At one point, my fishing buddy, lost anchovy, asked me how I could continue fishing when I kept on getting skunked week after week.

I had absorbed a lot of knowledge but didn't have any tangible results yet.  So July rolls around and that's when my fishing mojo finally kicked in!  I was finally catching lings, cabs and verms.  I had a few hali bites but I kept missing the landing part - although they inched closer to the boat with each miss.

In August, I went to Big Sur and that's when I landed 2 halis on back to back days - of all places!  Being wary of fishing SMC at that point, I switched to WSB-ing.  It was frustrating at first to watch all of the PBs land them and wondering what they were doing differently.  I researched techniques and was able to finally land one after 5 or so attempts. 

BTW, safety always came first and I'm just glad that the fish finally started cooperating.

That's the rundown of my noob experience and I can't wait to add a trophy dungy to that story!

Yeah!