HMB report and lessons learned

I launched from the old pier at 6:45 or so. I was not going to troll for salmon at all but couldn't help myself when I saw all the bait on my ff. I did have one hit not to far past the jaws but it didn't stick. Shortly after that I headed for the kelp bed and towards the green can. I realized I somehow forgot half of my stuff in the truck so I was limited as to what I could try for rf. I jigged a couple different things off bottom with a couple small hits but nothing else. I then switched to a green and red big hammer and nada. I then switched to a butterfly jig and caught a grass rf and had some good hits. Then I hooked or snagged something that may have been a whale or a shark? I had my drag cranked way down from snagging in the kelp a bit before and I hooked something that started pulling my 14 kayak sideways against the drift and and had my rod underwater down to the reel and halfway under my kayak. Luckily the line snapped before I lost my rod completely. I did not think fast enough to loosen the drag as it just took off quickly and next thing I know I was going for a ride. So that was my first lesson. Don't have the drag to tight. I learned that one Saturday as well when I had probably a big ling break my line too. My second lesson was a good one to learn and I had been warned by somebody about this one already. I was changing lures and got distracted and drifted fairly close to the exposed rock in the kelp just a ways out of the harbor. I was still maybe a hundred yards away or some when I looked up and I was just in the edge of the kelp. Well thinking I was ok there I decided to try out my new lure selection. That was a mistake and I realized it almost immediately. In the time it took me to get my line back in I had drifted a bit close and suddenly I had some major swells coming my way that were only spread out by a few seconds. I paddled straight away as fast as I could not wanting to end up sideways to them at all and thinking I could ride them out just paddling straight away from them. I was caught in sets this for what seemed like 10 minutes of paddling but was probably only a few minutes in reality. Some of the sets were so close I felt close to vertical as the next swell would come up from behind. I managed to ride/surf them all without getting sideways and ending up going got a swim. I have no doubt had I gone in it would have been nearly impossible to get back on in those conditions. Some lessons you just have to learn for yourself and learned to keep well clear of that shallow reef. I did figure it I went in there were a few boats around so I would have most likely gotten help but I didn't want it to come to that.

Did you end up in the water?  Great post about the timing of insanity.  Working quickly is difficult.

I made it without taking a swim luckily.

Been there,,, Done THAT...  LOL    It can happen fast when a series of big swells suddenly come into play.
 

Nice report and thanks for sharing.  I'm thinking more and more that Crabfest might be a neat time to try and learn how to surf a kayak.

I think it would be super fun to learn to kayak surf but I did not want to have to try it with all my fishing gear aboard, haha. I think my tarpon 100 would be a fun one to surf. It would have been pretty fun I think today if I wasn't worried about going over with all my stuff and then trying to collect my extensive yard sale before it and I drifted into the jetty. Or into the giant boat that had its net out just outside of the jaws. I was wondering if I would have made it through with my little tarpon. I don't think I would have because i had to work pretty hard to just keep my moken 14 straight or close to it so I didn't go over and it tracks very well. My tarpon doesn't track quite so well.

Thanks for sharing (hate to say I told you), we alk learn this way. Seems you were w/o kid this time - good thing.

Definitely no kid with me today. That was the one time I've had him onboard outside the harbor because the conditions were so calm. I admittedly did have your voice in my head telling me you can't fish there on anything but the calmest of days. I was also after one of those big fish I saw you catch and I kept thinking I can get a little closer and next thing I know it was to close.

I've seen big power boats ignore that rock and get slammed down hard in big swell. So you are not alone in that.