First time @ ARW 9-6-08

Good morning to all,

Here is my version of the trip to ARW. Woke up at 4:30 a.m. to load up my truck.
I wanted to make sure I had enough time to meet with Fishing Jay at Berkeley so
I can give him a hand and also to go half on the chovies. Waited for 30 min. but
unfortunately I did not see him. There were so many people there that morning.
Anyways, I began to head over to ARW and placed my self in the mercy of Sharky
and Fishing Jay for some live bait. Upon arriving, Carl was already setting up his
kayak on the water. He was the first one there in the dark. Thank God I had my
head lamp with me so I can see what I'm doing. Once I had everything on my kayak, I noticed that I did not bring my seat with me. I'm like, I am totally screwed. Good thing Carl had an extra kayak seat with him. Sorry Carl I forgot
your screen name but thank you so very much for saving my back and my butt.
Did I say butt? I get there soon. Please be patient. J/K folks. Other people started
showing up minutes later. I finally met some NCKA brothers. Carl first obviously then Dave,Sharky,Kayattack,Northern Boy and Fishing Jay who I've met before when I had some transducer question. We started paddling out to the spot around
7:00 a.m. or so but I was honestly nervous. This would be my first outing on bigger water. Again, thank God for a perfect water to go out kayak fishing. I was
following Dave and FJ or at least trying to catch up with them. Boy, my kayak is slow(Hobie Outback) even with the mirrage I can't keep up with them and forget
about paddling which I also tried. Don't get me wrong, I love my kayak. It's like
being on one of those big cruise ship compare to the other kayaks which rides much lower than the outback. Now come the fun part. When we got to the spot, I
really did not know how to fish for the hali from the kayak. So I pretended that I knew what I was doing. I went and baited my anchovy with size 2 hook and #6 treble as a stinger. As I let my line down, I tried to see what Dave and FJ was doing just to have an idea of what to do but, they were to far for me to see. I went with my instinct and trolled for a while. Of course, that did not work for me. Then I sat in one place for a while just looking at the scenery. Ok I said to myself,lets check bait to make sure the chovy is still alive. As I started reeling in my line, I thought I had a snag because my fishing pole way bending in half. Next thing I know, my reel started peeling line and I could not stop the fish. We were at it for a least five minutes or so but seemed much longer than that. Fishing Jay was laughing at me because every now and then, I would rest my arm and fight
some more. So we were at it for a while and the fish decided to make a quick right
turn and my line got caught in the rudder. FJ was quick to help me undo the line and he said OH! man you line just broke! Tears was about to come down from my eyes but FJ was there to witness so I held back. I rebaited right away but the chovies were all dead by then. I shamefully ask kayattack if he had anymore live bait because he was the closest one to me and he was very gracious to share one of his last two smelt with me. Thanks bro. Just few minutes later I had another fish on. From the mistake I learned dearly that day, the first thing I did after feeding some line, I made sure this time my rudder was up. The second fish
came up fast and I was able to net him right away. When the fish was inside the
net, he wanted to give me a shower so he splashed me real good I guess to keep
me cool from loosing the first one. I heard some giggle somewhere. Who was that,
making fun of the newbie? Anyways he measured 28" long. By then I had a grin on
my face. My first catch on my kayak. Woo Hoo! During the day I can't keep my mine away from that lost fish. The guys were so great supporting me by saying
think of it that it was a bat ray. I know for sure that it was not. I have caught
way to many bat rays to know the difference I'm saying to myself. Now I come to
realize what the term WTTM really means. I have met some great people yesterday and I know that I will meet more for sure. Thanks again Sharky for the
invite and thanks to all that was there.

Sorry for the long post,
Jed

Great fishing with ya Jed. You fished more like a seasoned pro than a newbie! ANY yak is gonna be a little slow when towing a Plano bucket and a fat hali . thanx for the chips n salsa. did grate for my hangover, as did all the beer back at the ramp The post hunt barbie degenerated into 3 hrs of beer, chips n salsa

Oh yea. enough beer n BS that after about an hour i looked up to see the tide had pushed enough to send my yak on a "ghost ship" mission. It was about half way to Bolinas Bay harbor. rescued by Jay

Man!  I thought you were gonna say NO fish after that long post.  But your Hobie came through after all
Good work, and hey your putting in a lot of time on the water, hope your golf swing is not getting rusty...
Just wondering also if your going to get sick this Wed. for some RFs at the FT.
PS, where's the photo?

Congrats on the Hali!!  Sounds like a nice trip jedmo.  Those turbo fins may help close the gap on your next trip.

HobieBlue

Sorry for the long post,

Don't be sorry - the story was riveting, and you provided a great happy ending!  Excellent post, Jed - way to go.   

That was truly a heckuva fish that Jed had on, and I wasn't laughing AT you, I was more of laughing about what a good fight that fish was putting up! When that fish got in your ruder I could tell that the only way to go after it was to get over there and help you untangle, but as I was trying to get your line loose I could feel it getting tighter and tighter. I just about shed a tear when it broke too because I really wanted to get a look at it.

All in all it was a great day with a great bunch of folks! 

Way to go, Jedmo!    The hali's have been good to us newbies.   I caught my first kayak halibut last week too, also on my first trip into big water.   

I almost went to ARW today too, as my mind has been infected and all i can think about is kayak fishing. 

How deep is hte water at ARW?

Thanks you guys for the encouragement and responses. I appreciate it
very much. I will order those turbo fins as soon as I get done typing.
The water at the ARW varies from 40-12 feet and I seemed to had my
luck in the 25 feet range.

Jed

Great post Jed!  Makes me wish I'd tried ARW in my Hobie instead of MBK.  Just think of the beginner's luck we would have had...two Outback owners on their first butt hunt!  I'm glad your trip turned out a lot better than mine did. 

PS: Yeah, where da pics? 

Hey yeah, thanks for the beer Jed. I'm telling you man, it was a batray!! Actually the batray I caught did not fight like a typical batray, none of the smooth power. I was sure it was a halibut.

Sharky also has a point about the bait bucket; I was towing a frabill and it slowed me down big time.

Thanks for the quick laugh there for a minute Phil. Maybe it was a batray but
anyhow, I did lost a couple of night sleep because of it. I am better now. Maybe
this Saturday if the weather permits I like to go out again. Hopefully my new
fins will make it before then.

Jed

Dude?....first trip? DOOD! way to conquer on your maiden voyage!
WHERE'SthePICS?!

Sorry no pictures yet. I had to use the extra money on the roof rack for
the camper shell. I may have to close my eyes and dip my hand in the
savings and go ahead and buy that new Optio pentax.

Jed

Jed - Congrats again my friend. That was a nice fish and I am sure that it went over great at the BBQ. Thanks again for the beers and the chips and salsa!

Another great outing with the NCKA crew!