Almost ready for the salt!

So after plenty of reading and research I think I'm just about ready to hit the salt for some rockfish and lings.  I'm an East coast boy that grew up bass fishing and inshore saltwater fishing for speckled trout, redfish, and flounder.  Over the years I managed to expand that and have caught tarpon, snapper, and grouper in the Florida Keys as well as salmon, halibut, and trout while living in Alaska.  Now that I'm here in California it's time to branch out a little more and try the lingcod and rockfish from the kayak!

I'm going to stick with my Shimano Calcutta 300D paired with a 7' Shimano Terremar medium heavy for now since it doesn't require any more investment at this time.

I just finished raiding the Outdoor Pro Shop and walked out with 3 packs of 5.5" Scampi in root beer, green slime, and glow.  I also picked up a 10pk of 6" white curl tailed grubs, a dozen 5" Big Hammers in Halloween, and two white shrimp fly rigs.  Ill get some squid later when I pick a day to head out.  For the time being I grabbed a bottle of squid flavored Pro Cure.  Also for jigs I grabbed ten 3oz and ten 4oz bullet heads with 8/0 hooks.  Hopefully twenty will be enough to get me started!!  Everyone said be prepared to lose a few but I wasn't real sure how many it would take to get me through a day of jigging.

I was able to get in on Clavey's sale of the Hydrus 3L paddling pants and ordered a Kokatat Tempest jacket to wear with it.  I've got several handheld portable submersible VHF radios, a compass, my GPS/fish finder combo, and of course a dry bag for the cell phone.  A PFD is a no brainer as well as an extra paddle.  I believe the only thing I still need to find is a pair of boots that are large enough for my size 14 foot as well as my socks and paddling pants!

Am I missing anything?  I'm hoping that we have a decent weather and swell forecast sometime during the next two weekends so I can get this thing rolling.  I know my Hobie Pro Angler isn't the greatest boat for this but I'm pretty sure ill be good out of TC and the launch looked very doable when I checked it out last weekend.

Is it obvious I'm excited about this new adventure? LOL

Sounds like you are all over it!  I enjoyed meeting you when you visited TC a couple weeks ago.  The lings and black rock fish were biting heavily last weekend.  They do like the squid teaser on the jigs & swim baits.  Good luck with the fishing.  Hope to see you OTW soon!

I'm very impressed, RK.  After expressing your intent you went on to quickly and easily list key safety items - this one being the most impressive to me:

I've got several handheld portable submersible VHF radios

WTG, Bro.  You're ready.  Enjoy, stay safe, let us know how it goes.   

List looks good. Don't forget a hat & sunscreen and some drinks & snacks.
Tie on your lures before you launch because tying knots OTW can make you seasick. I usually tie up a bunch of dropper loops the night before and start with those, then save the pre-tied shrimpfly leaders ifI run out of hand-tied leaders or don't want to tie knots OTW. Then remove one fly and snap a lure on bottom instead of a sinker.

Thanks for the positive reinforcement guys!  I've always been worried about something bad happening on the water and not being prepared for the situation.  I strive to make sure that the gear I carry is what is appropriate and recommended by the locals in the area.  This means a lot when you travel around the country like I do.  In Florida we didn't worry so much about exposure but more about being hydrated and having bug repellant.  I know that here things are much different and more along the lines of what I needed for my Alaskan expeditions.  Hydration is still important, but it seems that exposure and hypothermia are the big factors to worry about!

Alright RK, sounds like you're just about ready for your first saltwater trip!  Glad you're taking all the measures to be prepared for it.  With that mentality, you should be good out there. 

Good luck and post up a report when you get out.

Very Cool! I'll second the advice about having everything pre-tied (leaders, etc), and how sea-sick you can get just from looking down for a few minutes. For the feet - my feet get pretty cold in some nice 7mm dive boots - with the scupper plugs out, I end up sitting in a little bit of water... found the solution w/ some nice neoprene SOCKS under the boots, have been toasty ever since Good luck!!

the only thing I would add is a hand powered bilge pump. 

http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=99138&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=11151&storeNum=50632&subdeptNum=50633&classNum=50636#showReviews

The PA is more than capable of just about anything you want to be out in from what I've seen of them. 

I will definitely add the hand powered bilge pump!   I've been out in some serious weather with white caps and 2-3ft chop with no issues.  I wouldn't want to fish in that type weather, but the boat handled it alright.  I fished a bass tournament on Big Break in the Delta Sunday and the wind got up to 25mph or so and I was still able to manuever around and fish out in the middle of Big Break (finished in 3rd place).

Hopefully the slower "rolling" swells will be alot more comfortable than that hard fast chop to fish in! LOL

I have an assortment of big dry bags from over the years.  I plan on sealing them with air inside and stuffing them in the hull for extra floatation in an emergency situation!.