Landing in surf

I am also not a big fan of classes. We have a forum with a couple 1000yakers and no one has offered to take the guy out and play.

You can take a class and spend some money or you can save the money and buy a new reel and go out and play in the surf, leave all your gear in the truck and just repeat a couple time. Try catching waves and bracing with them. Also try getting behind them and following a wave like Al said. It's probably the best way but not always possible. Pick a beach that has smaller waves 1-2 footers and work up.

Less energy spots and work to some higher energy spots. 

If your ever down south let me know and we can go out and catch some fish and play in the surf.

Good luck either option you choose.

Great thread! This is a skill I think you definitely need to expand your kayak fishing experience.
Myself and some buds have been doing a surf launch rockfish tourney every year for the last 6 at Usal beach and man it can be down right gnarly!



The back paddling onto the top of the wave and then forward paddle like hell to stay on top is great advise. Timing, timing, timing.
Also if your coming in hot and you know your going to eat s%#t, especially with short break waves, dig your paddle hard in on either side and roll out to that side, essentially putting yourself behind the boat compared to the beach. Basically make sure you position yourself so you can bail BEHIND the boat, not in front! If you bail in front of your boat your going to get a mouth full of plastic or worse. Don't worry about landing on the boat, it is way more buoyant than you and it will be swept away from you.
Surf launching and landing can be fun and if your addicted to adrenaline it's a pretty pure rush. Practice in smaller waves with a long break and get all your gear into your boat. Mike

Hi all,
         I was wondering if anyone can give me some pointers on landing in surf.  I can't find any old threads on this, so I figured I would start one.  My issue is that anytime whitewater catches me from a breaker, it gets one side of my stern fin and I start to turn.  This is ok in shallow water when I can jump out quickly, but in water deeper than 3 feet I am worried about flipping (which has happened twice, this weekend when I was landing at Muir beach I lost all my crabs and my baitcaster got full of sand!).  I have been good at timing it to avoid being in the break, its just the damn white churning devil that catches up to me, even in 2-3 foot days.  Any tips would be greatly appreciated, as I want to avoid the hours spent dismantling my reel to clean it (with no crab to enjoy afterwards  ).  Thanks!!

The best advice has already been given. Take a surf zone class at Half Moon Bay Kayak or Monterey Bay Kayak. You will spend the entire day learning to self rescue, different types of braces, hip snap, and launching and landing in the surf. But the class is only a primer. You will have to practice these skills until you are comfortable doing them. Just strip your kayak of all your fishing gear and go practice at Linda Mar or HMB.

When coming in for a beach landing, I stow EVERYTHING below deck, with the exception of my stringers, which are secured in the rear well. I do not attempt surf landing with crab traps on board. There is just no way to secure the bulky traps properly. Basically, be prepared to lose anything that is not secured properly.

i dont know if anyone has already talked about this or if this is common knowledge... but those drift socks shaped like a cone that you can throw out the back... if you were to go into shore with one of those hanging out the back quite a ways wouldnt that help keep your butt end from twisting ... as it would have to pull the sock with it? or am i just way off here by saying that?

Some things come around, we talked about this over 5 years ago ... http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=6765.0

-Allen

      Bracing is a technique you will have to learn.     ( something those pedal boat boys don't understand )            




 

Some of us "pedal boat boys"  started out as paddlers. Many of us (the smart ones) don't rely on pedals on surf landings.

Thanks everyone who contributed to this thread!  I'm really glad I started it, cause loosing my crab haul and getting a sandy reel was a pain in the ass (I did learn a ton about my reel when I pulled it apart though...silver lining?).  I think I will head down to the south end of Linda Mar (Pacifica) for some practice sessions when I get back from vacation...I will set up a 'Hookup' time in the forum if anyone wants to join me, sometime soon after June 12th, possibly that weekend if Poseidon grants us with a nice swell...Thanks again!   

nothing is more elegant than paddling with someone who knows how to paddle correctly, brace and surf. The crew I fish with are proficient or expert at all three. Not saying that everyone needs to take a class but taking a class will improve your enjoyment of the sport and eventually it translates into more fish caught when you graduate from rockfish to big game. Yeah, you can throw yourself out there and keep getting thrashed until you figure it out but you will never have the skills as someone who was trained with the proper technique. Big game fishing is a sport of details and if you aspire to be a big game hunter then having an efficient forward stroke , and knowing how to brace and surf are all part of the toolkit. I can tell a hacker from a 100 yards just by the paddle technique. Not to mention just knowing how to self rescue, just saying take the class. I dont know anyone who took one who thought it was not money well spent. 

All good suggestions here. I recommend taking a class, too.

And this:

The wipe out you want to avoid is the wave hitting the kayak and the kayak hitting you. You really should take a class.

Never let the kayak get between you and the wave! I knew better and still learned the hard way.   

Watch the waves, timing, and paddle paddle paddle.