Fresh meat here!

Howdie,

I have been lurking for a couple of weeks and think your site is great.

I got a Hobie Quest a few days ago and am eager to hit the coast and try for some game.

I was an avid fisherman in my youth (in San Diego), but haven't fished much in the last decade or so (three or four times a year). Most of those trips have been at Sierra lakes from my sea kayak. I live in Marin. I envision Bolinas as a frequent launch point, but am willing to go anywhere.

Anyway, I have been out on Tomales Bay with the new sit-on-top, around Hog Island in the big wind and chop and had fun but got no bites.

You guys reference a couple of guys who offer guided yak fishing trips and I would love to go for one, but I can't seem to find any actual info for these people. Can someone give me contact info for a willing guide to get me out there.

Thanks to all of you for the info you have layed out here so far. I feel like this is a sport that combines several of my interests into one great activity. It could become my #1 recreational activity. Do you think it is a worthwhile way to kill a weekend?

If you want a guide there is none finer than Allen Bushnell. Send a PM to scallen and he will take care of you.

There are a number of great guys in your neck of the woods as well, Guitarzan, Rockhopper, Kzreelrods and the elusive and mysterious blue kayak. Keep an eye on when those guys go out and try to hookup with them.

Welcome to the madness!

Welcome!from a fellow(8mo.)NEWB!Don't have the Ocean experience yet,but it is in the plan.I live across the bay in Pinole and fish the bay when conditions permit.Keep your eye on the HOOK UPS and seek to join-in.

He is a font of knowledge about kayak fishing. And jsut a great around Nice(tm) guy. I took my first ocean fishing class from him in Moneterey Bay and it was superb. He's running classes out of Kayak Connection in Santa Cruz. Take one and you'll learn a lot fast.

Thanks for the recommendation. He responded quickly to my pm. I think we will be heading out soon.

I have never been out through the surf zone on a kayak. It seems like it should be pretty easy, but I see the potential for mayhem too. The little experience I have in the surf is with just me, or me and a boogie board. The way to get through big breakers is to dive under them. I can't see doing that in a big, bouyant, kayak full of gear. I am imagining that one must time the waves and make moves, but what happens if you are off, and find your self pointed skyward on a nice curl? I guess you just track down your boat and try again.

And what are the conditions out beyond the surf? I  :smt012guess nothing challenging can happen out there.

I finally have a free weekend coming in 2 days and will try my luck with the sea.
 

If you are in the bay area you should swing by Fishermans Warehouse tomorrow night 6-7. Joel Chuck and I will be there for a little kayak fishing seminar.

Surf launching in an open-deck kayak is the same as in a closed deck (traditional) kayak though the consequences of a dump are less complex to deal with in an open-deck boat--no fooding or spary deck to deal with, you jsut scramble back on. You watch a couple of sets and try to go out on the lull between them or right after the biggest one. You paddle strongly and quickly to get up and out, over the break and not get caught. 1-foot or less is pretty easy but increasing wave height rapidly makes it increasingly harder. Dumping surf is much harder than rolling surf particularly on landing. Landing is harder because its hard to judge wave height. You have to watch from just outside the break of the biggest waves in the set so you don't get caught from behind. As a big swell reaches your cockpit paddle hard to ride in on the back of the break. If successful you jsut kind of spill out on the beach on top of the break. If you get caught, the kayak will eventually broach (turn sideways) and your best tactic is to high brace with your paddle leaning on it into the wave and edging th kayak into the wave--learn to high-brace safely or you can easily dislocate a shoulder. Bracing and edging is tougher in open-deck boats because you are not attached to the boat and it is hard to put the boat on edge  by shifting you weight (unless you have thigh straps). You really have to try it to learn it. Stick to bay launches which have little of no surf (Capitola, Delmonte Beach Monterey, Bodega Bay, half Moon Bay, SF Bay/Delta, and I think Stillwater cove and some others)  until you get the fishing and boat handling part down first. If you can, take the boat, PFD, paddle, (a helmet is recommended), and a buddy or two and just practice in the surf some day to get a feel for what you can handle. There is a lot of good fishing that has easy launches. But takign a class is good as well--Kayak Connection in Satna Cruz, Cal Canoe & kayak in Oakland and Half Moon Bay, Outback Adventures, and other offer them. I only shun Monterey Bay kayaks at this point because of their policies towards fishing.

Thanks for the help. I am impressed with the response from people on this site.

I may sound like a nervous nellie with my posts, but I actually tend to figure things out for myself pretty well. The combination of having no free time since I got the boat, and the availabilty of this site, has me posting instead of paddling. I will head out this weekend (26th and or 27th) and see what I can do and feel comfortable with. If any one wants to meet up, I am game.

Jeff

If the NOAA Marine Forecast is good on a weekend (light to mdoerate wind, swell, and waves), it is almost always a sure bet that if you show up on Demonte Beach just behind Moterey Bay Kayaks jsut before sunrise, you'll have NCKA company before long. Very productive for Rockfish with an odd Halibut or Ling thrown in. You pay to park in the lot at a ticket dispenser and it is a short but strenuous wheel-to then drag-on the beach. There is no real break on decent days and naviagtion by sight is pretty straight forward. that's the place I'd go if I was lookign for a 'pickup-game' fishing trip if I couldn't find buddies ahead of time.

SOT boats have a couple features that make them significantly different from SIS kayaks in the surf.  The bow is generally wider and floats better, so on the way out the tip of the boat tends to float up and over the waves more than punch through.  On the way back in a 'high brace' will work with some boats, but ones with a prominent keel and large tankwell/cockpit tend to get top-heavy when they fill with water and the keel makes the boat tend to roll when it's going through the water sideways.  I can high brace all day in my festiva (no keel, little cockpit), but it is pretty much impossible in my drifter.  The new drifters have a smaller cockpit and are probably a little better.

Rather than try the high brace, I jump out and grab the back handle.  The boat can't flip this way, and either way I get wet.  Almost all the time I make it to ankle-waist deep water and at least keep my hat dry. 

Good info. You done this a lot it seems. I haven't tried a high brace with the Cobra Marauder yet and I expect it will behave exactly as you said. Hadn't thought of grabbing the stern toggle and being towed in. I'll bet you have to remember not to get any fingers inside the loop if you do it in a hurry. that would make for a signficant owie.

The keel does help you get sideways faster, which can lead to a roll.   But how does the keel cause a roll?  In my experience, it's the chine and the "scoop" of the cockpit that catch on the leading edge that doom you.  That being said, thigh straps will definitely help keep you upright, even with water in the cockpit.  We used to practice on whitewater with our WW boats half filled.  The water definitely makes it harder, but it's still doable.  Granted in this situation the water is not on top causes the boat to be top heavy, but once you get the water rolling, it's a similar situation.

-Allen

I have a pair of thigh straps and I am going to mount pad eyes on the Marauder and try them sometime. Who knows, with practice, I might be able to edge just enough to present enough of the round bottom on the leading edge to ride a broached boat through. If not, it'll be fun in the washing machine. Without straps so you can apply smooth pressure, I'll bet its nearly impossible to find that balance needed and you end up tipping back or forward as the wave bounces you around.

I haven't tried surf launching with the Cobra Marauder so this is all extrapolation from surf experience with closed-deck traditional sea kayaks, my 16-foot Nigel Dennis Romany to be specific.

Howdie,

I have been lurking for a couple of weeks and think your site is great.

I got a Hobie Quest a few days ago and am eager to hit the coast and try for some game.

I was an avid fisherman in my youth (in San Diego), but haven't fished much in the last decade or so (three or four times a year). Most of those trips have been at Sierra lakes from my sea kayak. I live in Marin. I envision Bolinas as a frequent launch point, but am willing to go anywhere.

Anyway, I have been out on Tomales Bay with the new sit-on-top, around Hog Island in the big wind and chop and had fun but got no bites.

You guys reference a couple of guys who offer guided yak fishing trips and I would love to go for one, but I can't seem to find any actual info for these people. Can someone give me contact info for a willing guide to get me out there.

Thanks to all of you for the info you have layed out here so far. I feel like this is a sport that combines several of my interests into one great activity. It could become my #1 recreational activity. Do you think it is a worthwhile way to kill a weekend?

brown floater ?????????????????