Albion 2015-My First NCKA Fishing Tournament Reflections

August 10, 2015

Dear NCKA Bruddahs,
I have been spending time reflecting on my experience of participating in my first NCKA Tournament (Albion 2015) and trying to reflect in a deep way of what this journey has been for me and how I have been transformed.
I initially was very excited about attending the Albion 2015 Tournament as the time was right and I missed going to the GS8 in 2014 because I had just started a new and demanding job. When I realized that I was going by myself and I have not fished or know a lot of other NCKA members. (Lingading (Herb N.) and I have fished together a lot at HMB and he couldn’t go because he had a wedding to attend. I also know Agoodhi (Ryan R.) also from fishing at HMB and we had a good connection from the beginning.) As time went on, I decided to go for it, take a risk and go by myself. I knew that even though I did not have a campsite, I was committed ted to go. A few weeks ago, I met Bones at HMB and he encouraged me to not worry and just go. I kept telling myself things will work out, even though I posted needing a spot to pitch my tent and got no response. As the days got closer, Craig hooked me up and I was able to camp with Fishkraft (Reuben L.) and his family.
About 2 weeks before the tournament, I noticed that I was feeling anxious about the event and I couldn’t put my finger on what was going on with me. Was I going to catch anything worthwhile? What was the ocean conditions going to be like? Fishing in a place that I had never fished before and not knowing the underwater terrain? Over a hundred kayak fishermen, including the best!!!
Fast forward to Saturday 5am. I wake up and it is totally dark. Guys were talking about going out at 5am and I just could not see how could be possible? I couldn’t even see anything and was thinking, man this was not going to work. I waited to launch until around 6:30am or 7am so that I could see where I was going. I had been preparing for this for a few months now. Making sure I had everything that I needed and organizing my stuff so that I would have easy access to my lures and jigs once I was out in the open water. Paddling out from the river looked really great, no waves, looked pretty easy until I started heading out past the big rocks. As I headed out to the open ocean, everything changed. The ocean was really choppy with big swells. As I headed over the larger swells, my kayak came crashing down on the other side. I seriously thought that I had to be kinda crazy to go out and fish under these ocean conditions. I almost thought of turning back and saying fuck this, it’s not what I had in mind. I kept punching through the swells and the farther out that I got, the better the ocean felt. I also noticed that I was fishing at 120’ depth, something I had never before done on a kayak. After busting through the swells, I felt more confident and knew that I could stay out and all my fear and anxiety just dissipated. (I think that’s what I was feeling anxious about for a number of weeks, the worst case scenario, going out in a new spot with less than ideal ocean conditions.) As my fear and anxiety left me, the ocean conditions started to change, the further out I went the better it got. It seems that after about 2 hours out, the winds seemed to have slow down and the ocean was not as choppy. Wheew!!!!
I started trying all of what I thought would be my best jigs and only ended up catching a couple of small rockfish. Decided to keep them and use it for bait. Must have been around 10am or so, with not much luck, I decided to use my new 7oz silver diamond jig and drop down to around 120 ft. As soon as I hit the bottom and start reeling up, I feel a strike with something big at the end of my line. I was using my 7’ Trevala rod with my Chronarch C14+150HG  baitcasting reel, which I thought would not be good in deeper waters, but it was perfect. Reeling up I see this big, beautiful Vermillion come up next to the kayak, I grip it and haul it the kayak and it feels and looks pretty heavy that was the first big fish and it ended up weighing in at 5+ lbs. I strung it up and left the fish next to my kayak in the water. I drop the diamond down again and get another big strike. This time the fish feels heavier and I’m cranking it up again from 120’.  When the fish come into view, I see that it is another vermillion and looks even bigger. I pulled it next to the kayak and go the grip it and it was such a beautiful sight to see these two big vermilions next to each other. The 2nd vermillion later weighed in close to 6.5 lbs. and after I string it up, I’m pulling both fish in the boat and it’s heavy!!! After hooking the 2 verms, I switch to my other pole with a Shimano TLD 15 reel with a stiffer 6.5ft Penn rod. I use one of my ling jigs and hook the small live rock fish on. Again dropping down to 120’ and I get a strike pretty quickly and end up reeling in a 25”+ Ling. I caught all of 3 fish in less than 15 minutes. I was feeling so stoked that I had hooked the 2 big vermilions as they are my all-time favorite fish for steaming Chinese style. That was my prize and I didn’t need any more. I decide to start heading in around 11am as I’m not getting any more bites and tried dropping my lines at various spots going in, no bites. Again at the mouth of the bay, the ocean gets rougher again, but this time the fear and anxiety are gone as I head in and call it a day.
As I headed to the Albion River launch spot, I feel at peace, satisfied that I had hauled in 2 big fish, went out in not the best ocean conditions. Some nice young woman offered to take a picture of me under the Albion Bridge with my kayak Hokulani (Heavenly Star in Hawaiian) and this pretty heavy stringer of fish.
It didn’t hit me until last night that I felt really proud of myself for taking a risk and going to the Albion 2015. I won the best prize in the tournament, gaining more courage and self-confidence as a kayak angler. Today at work I felt different, more grounded and connected to a deeper sense of gratitude and peace. I work at a crisis residential program in Martinez, CA called Hope House for adults with serious mental health conditions who have suffered a mental health crisis and had to involuntarily hospitalized for being a danger to themselves and others or being gravely disabled. As I was facilitating my Hope and Recovery Group this afternoon with the residents of our program, this dialogue of taking risks, feeling afraid and anxious about the future emerged from the residents.
Mahalo Nui Loa,
Da Bruddah (Michael S.  Yamagata
Oakland, CA

I am so happy for you Michael! You described just what starts this friendship that we have with each other here and how that carries out into our world. Its been a pleasure to talk to you the past couple of weeks and cant wait to fish with you on the ocean. Consider entering the Simply Fishing Tournament by Ruben your campmate. Cheers bro. Aloha Mahalo

What an awesome write up. I can surely identify with the anxiety involved with what you described. Thanks for setting a great example of courage. You had more than enough reasons to not go forward but still chose to do so. Right on Bruddah!!!

Great write-up, Bruddah Michael! In your telling of your experience, you captured the essence of it, thanks for putting it in to words and sharing it.

See you next year if not sooner.Peace Bruddah.Welcome

Awesome story.  U nailed it man.  You put it all on the line, succeeded in ur quest and got beautiful fish too!

Michael it was great meeting you last weekend at Albion. See you soon. jim.   

Great write up.  Many have had the same feelings.  Let this be encouragement to all.  Glad you got some good fish and experience. 

beautifully written! and I have the same feelings regarding the ocean!

Awesome store Michael! Thanks for sharing. It was a pleasure meeting and talking with you. Glad you had a good time.

Al

August 10, 2015

Dear NCKA Bruddahs,
I have been spending time reflecting on my experience of participating in my first NCKA Tournament (Albion 2015) and trying to reflect in a deep way of what this journey has been for me and how I have been transformed.
I initially was very excited about attending the Albion 2015 Tournament as the time was right and I missed going to the GS8 in 2014 because I had just started a new and demanding job. When I realized that I was going by myself and I have not fished or know a lot of other NCKA members. (Lingading (Herb N.) and I have fished together a lot at HMB and he couldn’t go because he had a wedding to attend. I also know Agoodhi (Ryan R.) also from fishing at HMB and we had a good connection from the beginning.) As time went on, I decided to go for it, take a risk and go by myself. I knew that even though I did not have a campsite, I was committed ted to go. A few weeks ago, I met Bones at HMB and he encouraged me to not worry and just go. I kept telling myself things will work out, even though I posted needing a spot to pitch my tent and got no response. As the days got closer, Craig hooked me up and I was able to camp with Fishkraft (Reuben L.) and his family.
About 2 weeks before the tournament, I noticed that I was feeling anxious about the event and I couldn’t put my finger on what was going on with me. Was I going to catch anything worthwhile? What was the ocean conditions going to be like? Fishing in a place that I had never fished before and not knowing the underwater terrain? Over a hundred kayak fishermen, including the best!!!
Fast forward to Saturday 5am. I wake up and it is totally dark. Guys were talking about going out at 5am and I just could not see how could be possible? I couldn’t even see anything and was thinking, man this was not going to work. I waited to launch until around 6:30am or 7am so that I could see where I was going. I had been preparing for this for a few months now. Making sure I had everything that I needed and organizing my stuff so that I would have easy access to my lures and jigs once I was out in the open water. Paddling out from the river looked really great, no waves, looked pretty easy until I started heading out past the big rocks. As I headed out to the open ocean, everything changed. The ocean was really choppy with big swells. As I headed over the larger swells, my kayak came crashing down on the other side. I seriously thought that I had to be kinda crazy to go out and fish under these ocean conditions. I almost thought of turning back and saying fuck this, it’s not what I had in mind. I kept punching through the swells and the farther out that I got, the better the ocean felt. I also noticed that I was fishing at 120’ depth, something I had never before done on a kayak. After busting through the swells, I felt more confident and knew that I could stay out and all my fear and anxiety just dissipated. (I think that’s what I was feeling anxious about for a number of weeks, the worst case scenario, going out in a new spot with less than ideal ocean conditions.) As my fear and anxiety left me, the ocean conditions started to change, the further out I went the better it got. It seems that after about 2 hours out, the winds seemed to have slow down and the ocean was not as choppy. Wheew!!!!
I started trying all of what I thought would be my best jigs and only ended up catching a couple of small rockfish. Decided to keep them and use it for bait. Must have been around 10am or so, with not much luck, I decided to use my new 7oz silver diamond jig and drop down to around 120 ft. As soon as I hit the bottom and start reeling up, I feel a strike with something big at the end of my line. I was using my 7’ Trevala rod with my Chronarch C14+150HG  baitcasting reel, which I thought would not be good in deeper waters, but it was perfect. Reeling up I see this big, beautiful Vermillion come up next to the kayak, I grip it and haul it the kayak and it feels and looks pretty heavy that was the first big fish and it ended up weighing in at 5+ lbs. I strung it up and left the fish next to my kayak in the water. I drop the diamond down again and get another big strike. This time the fish feels heavier and I’m cranking it up again from 120’.  When the fish come into view, I see that it is another vermillion and looks even bigger. I pulled it next to the kayak and go the grip it and it was such a beautiful sight to see these two big vermilions next to each other. The 2nd vermillion later weighed in close to 6.5 lbs. and after I string it up, I’m pulling both fish in the boat and it’s heavy!!! After hooking the 2 verms, I switch to my other pole with a Shimano TLD 15 reel with a stiffer 6.5ft Penn rod. I use one of my ling jigs and hook the small live rock fish on. Again dropping down to 120’ and I get a strike pretty quickly and end up reeling in a 25”+ Ling. I caught all of 3 fish in less than 15 minutes. I was feeling so stoked that I had hooked the 2 big vermilions as they are my all-time favorite fish for steaming Chinese style. That was my prize and I didn’t need any more. I decide to start heading in around 11am as I’m not getting any more bites and tried dropping my lines at various spots going in, no bites. Again at the mouth of the bay, the ocean gets rougher again, but this time the fear and anxiety are gone as I head in and call it a day.
As I headed to the Albion River launch spot, I feel at peace, satisfied that I had hauled in 2 big fish, went out in not the best ocean conditions. Some nice young woman offered to take a picture of me under the Albion Bridge with my kayak Hokulani (Heavenly Star in Hawaiian) and this pretty heavy stringer of fish.
It didn’t hit me until last night that I felt really proud of myself for taking a risk and going to the Albion 2015. I won the best prize in the tournament, gaining more courage and self-confidence as a kayak angler. Today at work I felt different, more grounded and connected to a deeper sense of gratitude and peace. I work at a crisis residential program in Martinez, CA called Hope House for adults with serious mental health conditions who have suffered a mental health crisis and had to involuntarily hospitalized for being a danger to themselves and others or being gravely disabled. As I was facilitating my Hope and Recovery Group this afternoon with the residents of our program, this dialogue of taking risks, feeling afraid and anxious about the future emerged from the residents.
Mahalo Nui Loa,
Da Bruddah (Michael S.  Yamagata
Oakland, CA

Awesome!  Gratitude for the ocean and your NCKA bruddahs.  Thanks for the perfect report and pic of a sweet stringer!

Some good lookin Verms!!!!! Sorry I did not get to you meet you or maybe I did  haha!!! Hell of a weekend!!

Eric

Congrats on the nice catches and thank you for sharing your experience with us Michael.

You conquered your fears and WON!

Thanks for sharing! It's great example of perseverance for us newbies to follow!