Introduction: Raacerx, live in Sebastopol and Emeryville, new to kayak fishing

Introducing myself, so here's a bit of background.  My name is Max, I live in both Sebastopol and Emeryville, but primarily North Bay based. I moved back to California this year from the Philippines, where I was a diving instructor and general travel bum since 2018, so I spend most of my time in the water. 

Recently got back into fishing because of COVID and more free time; I had basically zero cold water ocean fishing experience from boat or shore, although I'm not new to trout and bass in freshwater, nor spearfishing in tropical waters. 

It took me almost 6 weeks of shore fishing multiple times a week before I caught a single rockfish; now, many months later, I'm happily catching fish every time I go out.

Kayak was the only next step for me, as storage is quite limited and dealing with a boat is impossible. I'm now completely obsessed, and stunned at how easy it is to hit limits, but still quite new and inexperienced.  Definitely would love to go out with some more experienced people, and also have no friends who fish.  Looking forward to spearfishing season as well during the closure.

I didn't have the funds to step into something with pedals, so I grabbed a Vibe Yellowfin 100 (limited to about 10 feet length due to storage).  Got a little Garmin Striker fish finder and a rudder, and the other normal accouterments.  What I never anticipated was how much I move when I drop a line to jig, even when there is very little current, swell, or wind.  I didn't realize just how helpful having pedals would be. 

What do people do about this?  Accept it?  Kelp anchor?  Looking forward to learning more, and hopefully meeting some people.  Seems like a great socially distance activity!  Looking forward to hearing about any lesser-known places to launch as well, especially north of Bodega and south of Timber Cove. 

Cheers. 

Welcome to the forum Raacerx

Welcome to NCKA Max 

Nice intro, and welcome, RX.

WelcomeToTheMadness Max.  Did you learned some Tagalog while you stay in PI?


-Kiel

Welcome Max to NCKA.   

WelcomeToTheMadness Max.  Did you learned some Tagalog while you stay in PI?


-Kiel

Nope! I was down in the Visayas region (outside of Dumaguete, on the island of Negros).  Different dialect down there compared Metro Manila and Luzon. Picked up some Visayan, but it's always a bit harder because English is so widely spoken. 

Is your family Filipino?  Most people don't say PI unless they're Filipino hahaha.   

Welcome to NCKA Max 

....What I never anticipated was how much I move when I drop a line to jig, even when there is very little current, swell, or wind.  I didn't realize just how helpful having pedals would be. 

What do people do about this?  Accept it?  Kelp anchor?  ...

Welcome!

I think it is better to drift so you can cover more ground. In fact, if the drift is too slow I'll pedal slowly until I find fish. When I find a productive spot I'll keep pedaling up and drifting over it. I used to do the same when I had a paddle yak. It was just a bit harder but not too bad. I just put the rod in my holder as I paddled. Anchoring in the ocean is not a good idea because of the swell. Attaching to a piece of kelp works if you want to stay in one spot in a kelp forest. Using a clip that attaches to the kelp is safer because it pops off if a big swell comes along.

Welcome welcome welcome...

....What I never anticipated was how much I move when I drop a line to jig, even when there is very little current, swell, or wind.  I didn't realize just how helpful having pedals would be. 

What do people do about this?  Accept it?  Kelp anchor?  ...

Welcome!

I think it is better to drift so you can cover more ground. In fact, if the drift is too slow I'll pedal slowly until I find fish. When I find a productive spot I'll keep pedaling up and drifting over it. I used to do the same when I had a paddle yak. It was just a bit harder but not too bad. I just put the rod in my holder as I paddled. Anchoring in the ocean is not a good idea because of the swell. Attaching to a piece of kelp works if you want to stay in one spot in a kelp forest. Using a clip that attaches to the kelp is safer because it pops off if a big swell comes along.

Good point.  I guess I'm being a bit lazy in that I don't want to have to keep putting the rod into a holder and grabbing the paddle; when I find a productive spot I feel like I'm only getting like 15-30 seconds of exposure there before I need to paddle back through, so I end up drifting quite far.  Sometimes I want to just chill on the backside of a rock and it just always seems like a struggle.  A long, floating bungee with some kind of load release would be great; large enough swell comes, it just lets go. 

Do you keep your line dropped while you pedal or paddle back to the start of the hot spot and sort of mini troll??  I know some of my issues probably just stems from my lack of awareness out there; Ive snagged a couple times trying to troll/paddle back to the start of a little hot spot, I've never caught anything while I've been actively paddling, but I sure snag a lot! 

....What I never anticipated was how much I move when I drop a line to jig, even when there is very little current, swell, or wind.  I didn't realize just how helpful having pedals would be. 

What do people do about this?  Accept it?  Kelp anchor?  ...

Welcome!

I think it is better to drift so you can cover more ground. In fact, if the drift is too slow I'll pedal slowly until I find fish. When I find a productive spot I'll keep pedaling up and drifting over it. I used to do the same when I had a paddle yak. It was just a bit harder but not too bad. I just put the rod in my holder as I paddled. Anchoring in the ocean is not a good idea because of the swell. Attaching to a piece of kelp works if you want to stay in one spot in a kelp forest. Using a clip that attaches to the kelp is safer because it pops off if a big swell comes along.

Good point.  I guess I'm being a bit lazy in that I don't want to have to keep putting the rod into a holder and grabbing the paddle; when I find a productive spot I feel like I'm only getting like 15-30 seconds of exposure there before I need to paddle back through, so I end up drifting quite far.  Sometimes I want to just chill on the backside of a rock and it just always seems like a struggle.  A long, floating bungee with some kind of load release would be great; large enough swell comes, it just lets go. 

Do you keep your line dropped while you pedal or paddle back to the start of the hot spot and sort of mini troll??  I know some of my issues probably just stems from my lack of awareness out there; Ive snagged a couple times trying to troll/paddle back to the start of a little hot spot, I've never caught anything while I've been actively paddling, but I sure snag a lot!

I reel up when I relocate.  It forces me into a pattern of checking my leader for nicks, checking the swimbait for tears, etc.  Then pedal or paddle back up current and drift again.  If you feel the drift is too fast, you can deploy a large drift sock, however I find if the drift is that fast it's because the wind is really stiff and it's probably time to head in anyway.

Thank you for the welcomes, everyone.  Hope to meet some folks soon and learn more. 

....What I never anticipated was how much I move when I drop a line to jig, even when there is very little current, swell, or wind.  I didn't realize just how helpful having pedals would be. 

What do people do about this?  Accept it?  Kelp anchor?  ...

Welcome!

I think it is better to drift so you can cover more ground. In fact, if the drift is too slow I'll pedal slowly until I find fish. When I find a productive spot I'll keep pedaling up and drifting over it. I used to do the same when I had a paddle yak. It was just a bit harder but not too bad. I just put the rod in my holder as I paddled. Anchoring in the ocean is not a good idea because of the swell. Attaching to a piece of kelp works if you want to stay in one spot in a kelp forest. Using a clip that attaches to the kelp is safer because it pops off if a big swell comes along.

Good point.  I guess I'm being a bit lazy in that I don't want to have to keep putting the rod into a holder and grabbing the paddle; when I find a productive spot I feel like I'm only getting like 15-30 seconds of exposure there before I need to paddle back through, so I end up drifting quite far.  Sometimes I want to just chill on the backside of a rock and it just always seems like a struggle.  A long, floating bungee with some kind of load release would be great; large enough swell comes, it just lets go. 

Do you keep your line dropped while you pedal or paddle back to the start of the hot spot and sort of mini troll??  I know some of my issues probably just stems from my lack of awareness out there; Ive snagged a couple times trying to troll/paddle back to the start of a little hot spot, I've never caught anything while I've been actively paddling, but I sure snag a lot!

I reel up when I relocate.  It forces me into a pattern of checking my leader for nicks, checking the swimbait for tears, etc.  Then pedal or paddle back up current and drift again.  If you feel the drift is too fast, you can deploy a large drift sock, however I find if the drift is that fast it's because the wind is really stiff and it's probably time to head in anyway.

Well, it sounds like I'm simply being super impatient, lol.  I plan most of my trips to go against the wind and swell so the ride back is assisted.  I haven't had a hairy situation yet with swell or waves, but I know it will come one day.  Honestly it's a lot more unpredictable on the surface than it is underwater!!!  I also have not tried out the rudder yet, so I'm hoping I can sort of shape my drift a little. 

...

Do you keep your line dropped while you pedal or paddle back to the start of the hot spot and sort of mini troll??  I know some of my issues probably just stems from my lack of awareness out there; Ive snagged a couple times trying to troll/paddle back to the start of a little hot spot, I've never caught anything while I've been actively paddling, but I sure snag a lot!

If I'm just resetting a short drift I pedal slowly and leave the line in the water being sure it is above the bottom and take into account the depth of where I'm heading if I'm going over a pinnacle or reef. I often catch blacks and blues this way. If I'm repositioning further away and want to go fast I reel it up because my rig sometimes tangles on a fast troll. I wouldn't want to stay in one spot even if I could because I feel that while that is fine for schooling fish, the lings and cabbies seem to be more spread out.

If I'm just resetting a short drift I pedal slowly and leave the line in the water being sure it is above the bottom and take into account the depth of where I'm heading if I'm going over a pinnacle or reef. I often catch blacks and blues this way.

Yep, I've caught a lot of blacks, blues, and olives by leaving the line in the water when I move. But I don't keep rockfish anymore so I just reel up and re-drop now.