MAIDEN VOYAGE

[mithras]

Hey, guys, finished my finals and finally had time to get out and launch the kayak this last Sunday. I had practiced my deepwater remounting the day before and mentally planned my trip so figured i was ready less, fishfinder plus bait tank. Boy was I wrong lol. Launched out crystal cove's el morro beach at about 830 and even with the small surf got a bit wetter than anticipated on my way out, soon as i cleared the waves I pulled my scupper plugs as there was a bit more water than I would've liked in. Started making my way to the reef point gps coordinates and had two major issues, one is that the eTrex 10 is a much larger pain to use on the water than on land and that there was already a boat parked there. Made my way a bit north of him and tried drifting doubles dropper loop with some shrimp hoping for perch and sheephead to bust the kayak cherry, no such luck. My major problem was a stiff south wind pushing me up the coast even with the drift sock deployed and the current heading southward. Eventually gave up on that and kept drifting over the boilers and kelp lanes trying my luck with the swimbait and small snipers; no luck either. On the positive note, there is a lot more kelp than i saw the last time i dived there about a year ago. There was a lot more boat traffic than I anticipated so i figured id stay tucked in a little closer than initially planned. Eventually the wind started picking up quite a bit and my back started giving me trouble so I headed in around 1230. Thankfully I managed the shorebreak well and didn't flip. Was stopped by state parks shortly after, very chill guys, talked to the lifeguard, said someone got a yellow there the other day.

Learned a lot my first outing. Need to reorganize my tackle, gear, get better with the gps, bring less stuff. It's a lot harder than i thought. Peace

[PapaDave]

It'll get better, at least you didn't roll on the landing.

[neil travisano]

The number one thing about fishing in a yak is: the wind is not your friend. Launch earlier in the morning, paddle north so when the Socal wind comes up around 1030am you don't have to paddle home against the wind and whitecaps. Oh yea catching fish is not the normal-there are some really good fisherman and then there is the rest of us.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Welcome to the forum, look forward to hearing of your future success.

[Oolie]

Wind is a challenge. It's best to use it to your advantage and set up a drift, but if you're fishing a non-linear piece of structure, you're best off in a kayak with pedals and a spanker sail to keep the wind in your face.