Kayak Fishing Seminar?

I would be interested to know if anyone will hold a seminar on Kayak Fishing at the upcoming International Sportsmen Expo (ISE) in San Mateo this January?  Been to the annual show 4 year now but have only gotten into Kayak Fishing recently so it never entered my mind to sit in a seminar, that is if they every held one. 

Thanks.

I would be interested to know if anyone will hold a seminar on Kayak Fishing at the upcoming International Sportsmen Expo (ISE) in San Mateo this January?  Been to the annual show 4 year now but have only gotten into Kayak Fishing recently so it never entered my mind to sit in a seminar, that is if they every held one. 

Thanks.

I'm pretty sure Allen Bushnell and Dennis Spike will be at the ISE show - don't know if there is a seminar....but I'm sure they would be happy to Help you out. Allen will be at the Ocean Kayak booth and I believe Spike will be with the Wilderness System Reps....at Least that I how I remembered it last year.

I also remember meeting Rickey Noel / Paddle and Flies at the show as well.

Thanks Mooch, for the information!

You are one of the most respected fishing kayakers on this site and with all your knowledge, I bet you can hold a seminar!  You ever thought about doing that? 

From my intial take into this sport, it is one that is really emerging.  Rookies like myself want to absorb as much information as possible....things like techniques, tackle, equipment, and safety. 

Tony

Thanks Mooch, for the information!

You are one of the most respected fishing kayakers on this site and with all your knowledge, I bet you can hold a seminar!  You ever thought about doing that? 

From my intial take into this sport, it is one that is really emerging.  Rookies like myself want to absorb as much information as possible....things like techniques, tackle, equipment, and safety. 

Tony

thanks for the kind words Tony....there are still things that I need to learn out there and every day out in the ocean is a new lesson simply because of the ever-changing conditions.  I'm sure you can pick up a lot of info just by posting on the Hook-up section on this site - almost everyone in this site is always more that happy to help out in anyway possible - some just have more free time then others  If you're ever in HMB, send me a PM and I'll head out with ya some time - even if the fishing season is pretty much close...I still go out and paddle around just for the exercise.

As for a clinic in the future....I'll be talking to my contacts at REI and see if they will consider having a kayak fishing clinic sometime in the future. I have spoken Bill about it already and I'm sure NCKA will be directly involved. Stay tuned!

NOTE: REI clinics are free and are usually held on Wednesday nights (For the San Carlos store)

Hands-on kayak fishing seminars are given weekly during the spring at Lake Mendo.  Fee is 1 large can of Fosters...

How much are those seminars? Jeez maybe I should go into business. I can't imagine what the gurus can tell you (for $200?)that you couldnt get right here or at the local tackle shop for free

Exactly!  Join someone on a future outing or group event and you'll have the opportunity to pick the brains of a lot of experienced kayak fisherman who know this part of the state very well.  You may even find someone willing to borrow you a kayak for a day. 

This group consists of a lot of generous, knowledgeable, and all around good people.

Erik

Hey Taco:

Mooch is right.  I'll be at the ISE show again and the Fred Hall show in  the Cow Palace  too.  I hang out at Adventure Sports booth.  They are an Ocean Kayaks retailer, and I set up at their booth with my rigged kayak and basically just talk to people all weekend and share the stoke.  Come on by, I'd love to meet you. 

No formal seminar per se.  I offered to do one for ISE, but they aren't interested yet.

That's OK.  Those who are interested are interested.  A few of them are kayak fishing now, so that's cool.

The best advice I'll give at those shows is pretty much what Mooch, kzeel, blueK and others in this thread are saying.  Hook up with the other kayak anglers and the best place to do that in Nor Cal is this board. Then, GET OUT THERE!

When I've done seminars or workshops at the paddlefests or expos I spend about 1/3 of the time talking about safety.  I have fished some in southern California on the kayak and had some real uncomfortable conditions, but up here we know that things can get gnarly fast  (Look at blue Kayak's Pigeon Point pix from this week...)

You gotta get some practice in, get out there, and be prepared so that even if things to turn to S**t, you have the ability to stay on the boat and get in safely.  I guess there's always something more to learn on the fishing side of things, at least for me; And that's  another reason to hook up with the guys that are doing it as much as they can.

Allen

Thanks again to those who responded to my query and for your advices. I look forward to meeting many of you someday on the water.  Scwafish....you're talking my game with the Fosters!  Bluekayak, I hear what your saying about not having too many stuff on the yak, I'd hate to tip over and lose all my gear!  Erik, thankd!  Allen, I'll see you at the ISE!

Thanks again to those who responded to my query and for your advices. I look forward to meeting many of you someday on the water.  Scwafish....you're talking my game with the Fosters!  Bluekayak, I hear what your saying about not having too many stuff on the yak, I'd hate to tip over and lose all my gear!  Erik, thankd!  Allen, I'll see you at the ISE!

I figure that the ocean is a sadist and will destroy or steal anything you love.  I use cheap gear so when the ocean gets it's prize I can shrug it off.

Thanks again to those who responded to my query and for your advices. I look forward to meeting many of you someday on the water.  Scwafish....you're talking my game with the Fosters!  Bluekayak, I hear what your saying about not having too many stuff on the yak, I'd hate to tip over and lose all my gear!  Erik, thankd!  Allen, I'll see you at the ISE!

I figure that the ocean is a sadist and will destroy or steal anything you love.  I use cheap gear so when the ocean gets it's prize I can shrug it off.

since most of us started kayak fishing before helpfull forums / websites were around, perhaps the newbies of today can learn from our mistakes from the past

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/bb/index.php?topic=116.0

bluekayak:

If you look at what the experts down in southern cal are telling people about how to rig up a yak you'll see why there's so much problem getting through surf. The idiotic thing is the kayak manufacturers are listening to them...

Not that I want to detract from all the kayak fishing hype coming from socal, but mostly it's bullshit. The only difference here as far as fishing goes is that you're fishing sitting down and you have to paddle yourself out there. Otherwise if you look at what these guys are doing they're pretty much bobbing around on overloaded badly designed kayaks in disneyworld conditions and there are a lot of big game fish down there so they draw some attention...

Nothing at all wrong with a strongly held and stated opinion! As someone who could reasonably seen as one of the guilty parties in the hype-fest that is kayak fishing in LoCal, I'd love to read more about "reality" NorCal style. By overloaded badly designed kayaks, are you refering to MK's battleships or SOTs in general? As for rigging, why care about where the gear is stored as long as it can all go safely below decks when it is time to face the breakers? Sketchy out? Then leave the rocket launchers and tankwell bait tanks at home. Not all of us turn around and drive home when the surf is over 3'. 

Got a problem with guides? The conditions might be like Disneyland much of the time, but there are no guardrails to keep fools out of trouble. The overweight, poorly conditioned, no sea-sense, instant-expert, arm-paddling newbs are the ones who get into trouble when the cold winds blow. They aren't going to walk into a touring shop and declare "teach me oh watery wizards!" The guides are the only sources for safety info that most novice kayak anglers will ever see. 

I think you might be lumping all of us water-stealing Hollyweird types together. Lots of us battle through roaring Santa Ana winds if it means a slim shot at a white seabass, and not a few venture north and south to regions Neptune doesn't rule so kindly. Seriously though guys and gals, how do you rig up better for surf and snot? 

There ain't much difference between salt-stained NorCal and SoCal kayak anglers. Carved from the same mold.   

EDIT: Hmm, would I win a prize if I guessed part of the problem was the tankwell? Don't blame SoCal for that - it seems market driven to me with FLA and TEX as much to blame - although I have to agree that the disappearance of dual-hatch SOTs is unfortunate. Balancing a loaded kayak with a clean deck is impossible if all that gear is squeezed through the bow hatch.

PL