The trouble with two rods or more

 This really happened to me...
 I'm out fishing with 2 rods on the yak,one for bottom fishing and one for top water and mid level school fish. I had one rod down deep and the other in the rod holder,that way I can change it up if i see fish going by on the FF and get a limit faster.I see a pelican swimming next to my yak but don't pay much attention to it except to yell at it and try to make it go away.I get a bite on the bottom and while reeling it in all of a sudden the pelican lunges up out of the water and grabs my squid off the other rod with 2 hooks on a cod/feather jig. He's hooked and flapping about as i try to get a lingcod up from the bottom. The ling pops off so i reel up and set that rod in the holder and start to deal with the pelican. It's flapping all over the place and is all tangled up so i grab it by the beak and get the hook out of its mouth.
Then the unexpected happens... as it is flapping its wings the barbed hook comes flying back at me and goes right thru my glove and sticks me on top of my hand. I can't get the bird to stop flapping and pull the hook out of my hand. (here's the lesson) travel with a partner! I had to call over my partner to pull the hook out while I tried to get the pelican untangled and to stop flapping around so i could get the hook out! I finally get the bird untangled and it flys away.I can't see where the hook is because of the glove but finally give it a jerk and it comes out.The hook went in right where those veins are on top of my hand and it immediately fills my hand with blood,trapped under the skin.I decide to get to shore and check it out closer. It hurt like hell to paddle back but if it were not for my partner helping me I would have been totally screwed! You just can't make that shi* up! It's all funny now but seriously,i would have been in big trouble if i had been by myself(which i do a lot) not anymore....
 lesson 2...keep an eye out for hungry birds that might try to steal your bait from your unattended rod.

Another problem is that's against the DFG Rules when fishing for rockfish.

Thanks for the report...and the tip. I don't imagine it funny at all if by yourself on a kayak.
Glad you didn't come away with worse injuries like hooked and capsized with all the thrashing.
Way to keep it under control.
I think we get complacent about the "what-if's"
I had a large sea lion bull make two rocket passes close by me and raise his head and give me a verbal thrashing. He was mad at my presence. Kind of freaked me a bit.  I don't quite look at them the same anymore because he could have swamped me easily or gone after my fish.
I usually have my anchovies just laying out in the tankwell. Maybe now I will at least cover them with the burlap.

That's crazy.  I would not have kept my cool in that situation. 


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Another problem is that's against the DFG Rules when fishing for rockfish.

Not to be a asshole but yeah maybe he wasn't targeting them. Plenty of places in Monterey/Capitola/SC to target WSB and hali with reef bycatch.

Glad you made it out OK man and the birds are quite bad this year. Pat had an episode yesterday with some seagulls that took his squid head off mid flight.

The whole thing sounds quite similar to my first ocean yakking trip where I tried to gill grab a Ling that had a crankbait in it's mouth. It ended with three trebles all from the same hook in my fingers past the barb and a few other not past the barb. If my brother hadn't been there I would have had a MUCH harder time and ended up in the ER. Now I exclusively use single hooks in the salt.      

Multiple rods can indeed be a handful. I usually keep the baits submerged so that they don't swiung around, or hook the lure/hooks to the reel. I wish more rods would have hook keepers on them.

I'm out fishing with 2 rods on the yak,one for bottom fishing and one for top water and mid level school fish. I had one rod down deep and the other in the rod holder,that way I can change it up if i see fish going by on the FF and get a limit faster.

Reading this...it is illegal as Ben said, unless you had no RF aboard. Once a rockfish is retained you MUST go down to using only a single rod. Using 2 rods to "get a limit faster" will also get you nailed by the DFG faster.

 

  Am I the only one thinking that hooked pelican was live bait for a really big ling?

Read the second post down.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=40473.msg439891#msg439891

Not sure this would have helped your situation bt it's worth mentioning again.
My 20 ling day on Thursday were all caught fishing a single barbless hook. The more I do it the bigger fan I am becoming simply because of the ease and safety of it all.
And I've always too impatient and uncoordinated to fish 2 rods at once.

Reading this...it is illegal as Ben said, unless you had no RF aboard. Once a rockfish is retained you MUST go down to using only a single rod. Using 2 rods to "get a limit faster" will also get you nailed by the DFG faster.

well technically speaking you're not allowed to retain a rockfish if you're fishing two rods either, so yeah.  if you're using two rods to get a limit of WSB or Halis faster, that's great, but that's not how I read the post.

Read the second post down.

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=40473.msg439891#msg439891

Not sure this would have helped your situation bt it's worth mentioning again.
My 20 ling day on Thursday were all caught fishing a single barbless hook. The more I do it the bigger fan I am becoming simply because of the ease and safety of it all.
And I've always too impatient and uncoordinated to fish 2 rods at once.

Mike -

I've read that securing lures to rod guides can damage the guide. I use a zip tie with a loop as a hook keeper or install a large split ring if the reel seat has a trigger grip.

Scott

I don't think he was fishing with 2 rods.  He only had one rod in the water and the other in the rod holder.

I hate pelicans.  Kudos to you for even trying to get that hook of those big birds.  Almost wiped out one time at New Brighton trolling for stripers where a bunch of pelicans where diving.  Hooked one of them but could not remove the hook quick enough because I was getting to close to the breakers.  I was able to cut enough of the line though and he flew away with a hook in its wing and about ft of line. 

Rey

Another problem is that's against the DFG Rules when fishing for rockfish.

I didn't read it that way sounds like he just had the other rod ready

all of a sudden the pelican lunges up out of the water and grabs my squid off the other rod with 2 hooks on a cod/feather jig.

Mike -

I've read that securing lures to rod guides can damage the guide. I use a zip tie with a loop as a hook keeper or install a large split ring if the reel seat has a trigger grip.

Scott

Been doing it for about 45 years and have yet to experience a problem.
I do however like a hook keeper on my fishing rod and will use it if it's available. That is unless it's positioned so when I reach back to grab one of my rods from a rod holder it's right where I grab. Then I'll go with the eye everytime.

if those things are around you would have to drop it down at least ten feet.just submereging it wont help thell dive to get it.try this to stop the bird from flapping.next time run a few loops of the main line around its neck pull until bird stops flapping  just kidding if those things are even close to you better have everything put away.now when i go out i dont even release fish close to those dam things anymore.they'er annoying and you just expierence first hand get into into trouble quick

well technically speaking you're not allowed to retain a rockfish if you're fishing two rods either, so yeah.  if you're using two rods to get a limit of WSB or Halis faster, that's great, but that's not how I read the post.
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This does not seem correct to me. I believe this is the relevant rockfish regulation:

28.55(d) Method of take: When angling, gear is restricted to not more than two hooks and one line. For purposes of this section, a hook is a single hook, or a double or treble hook with multiple points connected to a common shank.

So, it all comes down to what the definition of "angling". Here's the official definition:

1.05. ANGLING. To take fish by hook and line with the line held in the hand, or with the line attached to a pole or rod held in the hand or closely attended in such manner that the fish voluntarily takes the bait or lure in its mouth.

So, I read this to mean that you are OK with multiple lines until you actually "take" a fish, which in this case, means that you have kept a rockfish.