Capitola/ New Brighton 5/24

Well, I had my first Kayak fishing experience today, what a great way to fish the waters, I had a blast.

Got up at 7am, gearded up and walked down to the water to fish..

Cool and overcast, little bit of a swell.

I had No luck what so ever, NOTHING!

I tried everything I had from fish traps to drifting bait.

I did meet up with a guy on a natural colored Tarpon, and he had a nice 26" Hali, thats all i saw or heard of today. I believe he's from this web site as well, he's a really nice guy and had a nice catch.

SO, my first adventure, what did I learn..

Well #1, I hate renting a kayak, but I happy I did this, the foot wells on the OCean Kayak rental were horrible, now Im really leaning towrds a Wilderness Systems.
#2 Storgae space on the rentals sucks, cant wai to get my own kayak.
#3 POLE HOLDER
#4 PADDLE HOLDER
#5 wide boat with more space

The seat on the rental is horrid too, back breaker!

The other thing I learned is, get a suit with a front FLY!!! Man i had to go....
Also I wsted mmy mmoney on a spring suit with no fly, LAME, Im so bummed on this choice. Gonna get the farmer John I hear so much about with the fly and full legs, and Booties...

All in all it was an amazing way to fish the waters.

Sorry for the no fish, fishing repot...

Im looking at the new WS ride 135 for my first boat, I love the width, storage, looks, and the seat...

Thanks for the report, you'll get em next time. A lot of people runnin with skunks on board right now, just keep at it. Kimo

When a powerboat fisherman gets skunked, he wasted money and got seasick. When a kayak fisherman gets skunked, he went out paddling and got exercise and fresh air.

One way of looking at it is you had a great time and didn't have to clean fish at the end of the day!

Glad to hear you had a good time, the more time you spend on the water the more chance you've got at catching something. So start logging in those OTW hours

I did meet up with a guy on a natural colored Tarpon, and he had a nice 26" Hali, thats all i saw or heard of today. I believe he's from this web site as well, he's a really nice guy and had a nice catch.

Well #1, I hate renting a kayak, but I happy I did this, the foot wells on the OCean Kayak rental were horrible, now Im really leaning towrds a Wilderness Systems.
#2 Storgae space on the rentals sucks, cant wai to get my own kayak.
#3 POLE HOLDER
#4 PADDLE HOLDER
#5 wide boat with more space

The seat on the rental is horrid too, back breaker!

The other thing I learned is, get a suit with a front FLY!!! Man i had to go....
Also I wsted mmy mmoney on a spring suit with no fly, LAME, Im so bummed on this choice. Gonna get the farmer John I hear so much about with the fly and full legs, and Booties..

Stoggie? Was that you? I can't recall your ride?

Porky,

As for the OK rental. Was it a P15 or T15? If so, the footwell seem to be the complaint everyone has (assuming they have one). Many have sold the boat for that reason alone. The T13 or P13 don't have the ribbed footwells! Just an FYI.

You realized one of the major issues in Yak fishing. COMFORT AT ANY COST! When you're miserable you'll hate the experience and not wanna do it.

As for the learning curve...WTTM! We all have gear that we ASSUMED would be perfect! Don't stress! But yes, a suit with a relief zipper is KEY!

YE, I think it was Stoogies fish I saw, nice hali!!!

I just saw his post and it sure looks familar..

The baot i rented was from capitola boat and bait, its a Ocean Kayak Malibu Two, it was pretty bad for fishing.... Really bad, it worked though, got me around and I learned a little bit about what I want...

Cant wait to get my own boat and go out again...

Hopefully on some fish!

Wesuit with a fly zip?  Why waste all that extra warmth?   
 
Jokes aside, thanx 4 the report. Youll get em soon.

Porky

Glad to see you out there. I think your appproach to trying a few different yaks before buying is a good one. I would be happy to let you try mine sometime. You'll find it is not the most stable out there but it is an easy paddle.

If you have any questions, there are is a lot of info here.

Also don't spend a lot of money on store bought lures like me. They just get lost and home made works as well. I caught the hali on a simple two hook setup with a whole squid and 6 oz weight.

Hope to hook up with you soon.

Stoggie

It was in fact me that you ran into.

Stoogie,

Thanks for the offer Stoogie, thats a nice kayak!

Im hoping top pick one up soon, im already eager to get back out there....

Yeah well hook up forsure once I get my boat!!!

reports like this make me nostalgic for the old days over a decade ago fishing out of a "naked" yak.  Nothing but a bare boat, paddle, pole, single tray of plastics and leadheads, and a box of squid and still caught a crapload of fish.  Now, its bring this, grab that... oh crap what did I forget????

Glad you got out there and did it old school.  Makes me want to start a retro movement a la bluekayak.

Love that last post....

Yeah, it sure as hell felt old school...

I had just that, 2 rods, net and a gaf, all held together by a bungie cord, sitting righ down the middle of that boat.

I had may rain suit and a bucket of dead squid and chovies betewwn my knee caps....

The back rest was VERY primitive....

And i had my paddle, which i also had between my knee caps sitting next to my bucket of dead bait.

pretty simple, but really uncomfortable, but i did it... I actually fished for 5 hours like this!

Cant wait to get my boat, old school is brutal on the back, and a bit CHILLY

Sorry to hear you got skunked. Did you fish IN the kelp beds? It's a little early in the season and the beds need to grow out a bit, but it's really hard to get skunked inside the beds. you can tie up in the beds, but the most productive way I have found is to drift through the beds( provided the wind is not blowing too much) Use a lead jig with weed guard. You can use a strip of squid as an attractant. wiggle the jig down through the canopy ahead of your line of drift.  As you float by work the jig and as you reach your max extension in the other direction, reel up the jig and find another spot to  drop down. The water is only 15 - 25 feet deep in those beds so you can get your line up quickly.  If you pass an alley in the kelp, toss to the far end and retrieve back. I have had some slow days where I have only caught 3-4 this way, but I have never been skunked at Capitola using this method.

Good luck with you kayak search

yeah, i tried the edge of the beds, and inside the kelp as well....

Im interested in catching some fish in these potholes, being new to this this is an area I have never got to explore...

so for this technique, can you tell me what type of rod /reel set you use and line weight?

Also do you have a link to one of these jigs so I can have a look? Also how heavy and big on these jigs, thanks so much!

Im looking at the new WS ride 135 for my first boat, I love the width, storage, looks, and the seat...

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Glad to hear you got out there dude. Thank you for the report. I just want to say that the WS 135 will be a a poor choice for an ocean fishing yak. Trust me I use to own one. I use to own the whole Tarpon line-up. The 135 tracks very poorly and don't even think about bringing it out on a windy/strong current.

Are you a big guy? A better choice would be the T160 or T 140. I'm a big guy at 6'4" & 280lbs. Plus I have lots of storage and room to move on my yak. I paddle the the 160, I'm able to cover lots of water, fast on the water, and no problem at all in rough/windy conditions.