Stillwater South - 6/27/09 - late report

I met up with Great Bass 2 (Scott) and Sackyak (Etienne) at the launch around 6AM.   I also met Hoppy (Mark) and E2G for the first time.

Launched amid calm conditions in teh cove, but encountered good sized swells once outside the cove.  As a newbie, it was a little intimidating for me.    Realizing i had not leashed my rods and also wanting to put on a pair of gloves, I turned around to fumble in the tackle bag behind me.  I couldnt quite open the bag to get the gloves.  Next thing i knew, my boat dipped and I went straight into the water.   Fortunately, the boat righted itself and didnt flip..  Everything was till intact.   My life jacket worked and I floated up right next to my boat.    New paddle jacket kept me dry.   MY camera and GPS got a little wet from the soaking, but I later found they survived the swim.   Now, i had a chance to see if i could re-board my kayak without flipping it.  It turned out to be very easy.   I had been wanting to practice some survival and recovery skills but had planned to do it under more controlled circumstances.

That was a little excitement for a good start.   Now that the cold water woke me up, i was ready to fish.    I had a fly rod and a conventional rod setup with an iron and a clouser dropper.    First launch was with my fly rod.   Made my best cast, stripped some line to get tension, then let hte fly sink with a twitch every now and then, while also feeding line to get depth.  When i felt i was deep enough, i started an eratic retrieve.  Suddenly, WHAMO, and the rod bent over.  The rod pulsed and pulled.  I stripped line as fast as i could, but all the running line stripped onto the deck was piling up into a mess.   Keeping tension on the fish, i reeled up the mess and then continued to bring up the fish.   It was a nice fish, about 15 inches long (which i later learned to be a brown rockfish).  Keeping with my tradition, I sent him back to tell the other fish what a marvelous time he had biting my fly.  A second cast - nothing.  Then another cast, countdown to let the line sink, retrieve -  BAM! - another fish on, and the rod bent deeply.  This fish was heavy and i could feel him diving and shaking his head.   The fly rod is so sensitive.  Finally I landed my first blue rockfish of the day.   By then, I looked up and noticed i had drifted in closer to  waves crashing on rocks than i cared to be, so pulled up my line and put my rod away to get some distance.  I paddled north a bit, past the golf resort, past the beautiful mansions built into the dramatic cliffline along the coast, and fished some more.  This time i wanted to try my conventional gear set up.   Pretty quickly, i was again into some fish.   The rod bent deeply, but did its job, raising the fish nicely to the boat.    I had a couple small fish that bloated up on me when i brought them up from the depths.   They seemed a bit stunned when i put them back in the water, but eventually, they swam down and deep out of view.   I hope they will live to fight another day.   Its a real bummer to see fish bloat up.   I really hate that.

The wind and swells came up just before noon so i started heading in.  By then, it was also foggy, so i could hardly see the shore.   I paddled and paddled, but started getting a bit freaky that maybe i missed my exit point.   I had my GPS, but unfortunately, in my half awake state did not key in my starting waypoint when i launched..   Fortunately, the GPS showed the shoreline and hte golf resort, so i knew which way to go.   

I caught 9 rockfish of which i kept 5.   I was quite happy with that.     

It was good fishing with you, Scott, Etienne, Mark and E2G.

Its pretty addictive being out on the ocean.   Images of dramatic cliffs and kelp beds keep drifting into my consciousness.    I am feeling the call to get back on to Big Blue and cant wait till next time.

Nice report brother, I ve been wanting to go out there too!

Hey, what boat do you have? I just got my first boat, and ive been so surprised how rock solid that thing is when i sit sideways in it and access my box, its a T13. Just wondering what your technique is to accessing your gear, i throw the legs over one side. Allen showed me this, thanks Allen!

Anyway, nice report and nice catch, in 7 trips ive only got two fish!! Nice work!

Oh, this is how i sealed up my GPS, its a poor mans dry bag but works excellent, floats too! use a seal-a-meal.

great job lawrence!!  that guy pindo from the area would be very proud of you with the fly caught rockfish!

and nice job on the self rescue as well!

Nice report!

 Rockfish on the fly-we don't see much of that!

Nice report brother, I ve been wanting to go out there too!

Hey, what boat do you have? I just got my first boat, and ive been so surprised how rock solid that thing is when i sit sideways in it and access my box, its a T13. Just wondering what your technique is to accessing your gear, i throw the legs over one side. Allen showed me this, thanks Allen!

Anyway, nice report and nice catch, in 7 trips ive only got two fish!! Nice work!

Oh, this is how i sealed up my GPS, its a poor mans dry bag but works excellent, floats too! use a seal-a-meal.

I have a Prowler 15, also my first boat, which i thought was rock solid and stable as hell.  Well i still think it is.   As to the technique for accessing my gear - clearly it leaves much to be desired.   I just twisted my torso around to reach into my bag which was behind my Plano box.    Not too smart i guess.  should have just put my things in the Plano box because it would have been closer.  Next time i will try throwing my legs over, as you suggested, even though it seems like it would make one slide right off the boat if a wave hit.   I am also going to try that ziplock for my electronics.
 It was my second time to SWS.   First time, i think i only caught 4 fish, so the trend is definitely moving in the right direction. 

Piscean and Ben -  thanks!  it definitely was fun catching them on a fly.   I think i am going to do more of that.   

yeah the twist technique is sketchy as i learned too, I sat side ways in my boat in some very turbulent waters and it was rock solid, even sideways... i just hunch my back a bit and keep my weight lower, rather then sitting tall... on calm waters, i like to fish like this cause it comfortable after being in the standard sitting position for hours on end...

ofcourse im new to this, but I still feel very comfortable like that, even in some bumpier water...

OH WAIT, dont use a zip lock, i lost a phone like that already!! That bag is heat sealed, with a Food Saver, is actually the name, its a vacuime and heat seal deal, i use the cheepo one, works great.

http://www.foodsaver.com/Index.aspx

Good job on the self-rescue and the fly-caught rockies.  Sounds like you were all alone for re-boarding your boat and finding your way back to shore...  I'd advise all to practice self-rescue before going solo in the ocean and having to learn it there.

 

Great report Lawrence. I really enjoyed reading that--makes me want to get out there w/my flygear. And Stillwater seems like a great place to chuck a fly. But I've been wondering how the excess line is handled w/out a stripping basket? In freshwater, it doesn't seem to be much of an issue because the line can just sit on the deck or along-side the kayak (less obstructions, kelp, wind, waves, etc to deal with). Maybe just open the RodPod hatch on the trident and use it as a basket (and try not to flip over w/an open hatch).

Good job on the self-rescue and the fly-caught rockies.  Sounds like you were all alone for re-boarding your boat and finding your way back to shore...  I'd advise all to practice self-rescue before going solo in the ocean and having to learn it there.

 

thats a good point Abking.  Flyaker was in front of me, a bit off in the distance yet I never knew he went swimming.  Even in a group we all kind of parallel play, so self sufficiency is important.  

flyaker, next time you are on the water, sit side saddle in the shallows and rock the boat to see how far you can go, you will be surprised.  The swells that day were kind of large but more importantly steep.  So the angle on the face is more vertical.  Twisting IMO leaves you more vunerable than going side saddle.  Be sure you are facing the approaching swells and if you see a large one coming, you can get back or just shift your weight to counter the swell.

Thank you Flyaker for sharing your experience and a nice report!

Nice report flyaker. Sounds like there were more positives than negatives. I too have a Prowler 15 and find it to be a stable kayak, but fell out in the best of conditions at ARW leaning to my right too much dealing with live bait. I really prefer sitting side saddle now versus twisting to retrieve things in the tankwell.

Thanks for sharing,
Ray

Nice job with the fly rod. I was out that same day, also landed 9, but I think they were smaller than what you got. No pics. I threw them all back.

I was very close to both sea otters & sea lions - not by choice, they just decided I was OK I guess! Very foggy day maybe made them less wary? Also didn't see the big flocks of birds out chasing bait like I have the last couple times in June.

On the question of line management, it's definitely a challenging part of using the fly rod in a kayak. Over several years, my motto is "Keep it simple." I just let it coil up between my legs. Sitting side saddle doesn't work very well with a fly rod because you have to pull the line off to the side. On the ocean I find it's less of a problem than on the Delta because you make shorter casts most of the time, so you have less line out.

Rockfish love flies, believe me. Clousers work very well, as do surf candies. Check out the latest article of Fly Fishing in Salt Waters - Dan Blanton has a very good article in this issue.
Take care! See ya in July!
Bill (pindo124)

Many thanks to all for the comments and feedback.  It is really so helpful to pick up tips rather than learning the hard way.    I will try sitting side saddle.   It is a bit counterintuitive as to stability, but then i suppose the legs in the water can act as a brace of sorts.   

Abking raises key points about kayak safety and the importance of partnering, especially for newbies.  A lot wrong can happen out there, as we have seen in numerous recent posts.   While partnering is a strong risk mitigator, at teh end of the day, kayaking is also a very solitary pursuit as its near impossible for everyone to keep an eye on each other all day.  Proper training and self reliance are probably the most critical factors, along with having proper equipment.   Thats why i am taking a safety and skills class next week. 

As to SinCoast's question of fly fishing on the ocean from a kayak, I am still trying to figure it out too, but i would definitely not open my hatch up.    I like to rip the line when i strip line in, but there isnt really room on the boat to do it the way i like.  Tossing the line over the side results in kelp snags or hte line sinking too much.   This time, i did the same as Pindo mentioned, i just dumped the line in front of me.    I think if i sat side saddle, i could cast over my aft shoulder and dump the line onto the deck in longer strips.   That might work well.   I'll try it next time. 

Rockfish do indeed love flies.   I caught 7 of my 9 fish on flies, with the other 2 taking a piece of metal.    I have been thinking about also using shrimp flies, so may try a surf candy or some other shrimp pattern, maybe as a dropper to the clouser.