ATTN: Mr Alan Tani....

So, after a trip to the Forebay last weekend....Ken T. and I dropped by Fisherman's Wearhouse in San Jose to reload our tackle...there, we bump into Mr. Tani......the REEL MASTER......who....to this day...has not fished from his kayak   ....

Mr. Tani....what may I ask...is your excuse for not paddling your OK Caper....as it is home to many spiders...and collecting harmfull dust.

Gentlemen of the board...it should be our mission in life to get Mr. Tani out on his kayak SOON!!!!!

I say pad lock his boat to a tree till he see's the light  

Mr. Tani...any comments?

PS - and if anyone ever see's this guy out in the water ..on his kayak...please take photos.....I will personally award you with a special discount at REI  

I think he went fishing with SCAllen a year or two ago. I just consider us lucky to amounst the pupils of the master. I'll be using his rebuilding technique for the penn 113.

-Brian

boy, you guys are a tough crowd.  i actually did take the kayak fishing last year.  we were down in cauycos.  we have a small vacation house off of 16th street.  i dragged the kayak down to the beach and launched through the surf, eating one wave after another.  finally past the breakers, i headed out 3-400 yards and dropped a whole squid down.  i was hoping for halibut.  i got a couple of short strikes, so i send down a squid head and came up with an out of season and unexpected rockfish.  

so i'm sitting there for an hour or more, cold, wet, not catching any fish, thinking that this is really stoopid, and i start humming the "jaws" song.  then, some little pos harbor seal jumps up right next to me.  scared me half to death.   i've had it.  

but now the fun begins.  the wind has picked up a little.  time to go.  so i start paddling and i get to the breakers.  i'm scanning the surf.  rocks to the right, rocks to the left, clear water in between.  there's a break.  this is my chance.  i start paddling as fast as i can.  i start humming the "hawaii 5-0" song, going faster and faster.  pretty soon i'm pointed straight into shore and down at a 30 degree angle, picking up speed too fast.  one more set of breakers to go and i'm in.  but a wave drives me down in the the surf.  i'm thinking, "air!!!" i come up the surface with the paddle in hand.  now a wave hits the kayak and, like an idiot, i try to hang on.  not quite a rotator cuff tear, but it sure hurts.  

so ended my first kayak fishing trip.

Alan, Alan, Alan,
sounds like the only thing you did wrong was your choice to head out in bad surf conditions. just like any other boat outing, you gotta pick your days wisely.  kayaks are no exception.

we'll have to get you out this year on a nice flat day and you might change your mind about it.

pierre

Amen Pierre!

Alan - anytime your ready  

You have to learn how to surf before you can come in intact in rough water.  Generally you learn about pearling and rolling the hard way, but eventually figure out how to cut the wave right and brace effectively if it catches you.  Knowing when to jump out is important too.

Ususally, if I bite it, since I'm already wet, I'll strip the gear and play around in the bare boat for a while.  It's amazing how surf seems effectively half as big when your favorite reel isn't facing the prospect of a sand enema.