LJ 7/23 long unproductive day-again

[easyday]

Decided to get a late start this morning due to the fact we haven't been catching anything in the am. Truck battery ended up being dead, so we fixed that problem, once we got on the road i realized I forgot wallet at home had to go back. Was to busy talking about nothing and missed the exit. Got to the launch around 1030 or so surf was decent size for la jolla and breaking pretty far out and no time between sets. Got set up and realized my battery box was at at home, no big deal cut wires and hard wired straight to battery and made a waterproof container with a grocery bag and lots of duct tape. The launch was pretty uneventful, took one wave right to the face in the tarpon. It like to go straight through waves and not over. Pretty big rolling waves today for la jolla standards, Finally got out and started fishing, we saw a huge gathering of birds crashing on the surface so we hauled ass over there my buddies flyline starts screaming he put it in gear and nothing.......spent the rest of the afternoon making bait and cruising around with a flyline out and throwing irons, for nothing. Current was rpping hard and it started getting a little rough so we decided to call it quits. On the way in I dropped down some squid for 2 vermillion kind, hey its dinner. Sitting outside of the breakers it was hard to time sets because it was so inconsistent. We found our gap and went I almost made it until one came up out of nowhere and rolled me. I recovered quickly and got the kayak to the beach. I lost my game clip which was attached at some point, a tackle box full of weights, and a knife. It could have been worse so im not complaining. I believe this is my 6th Wednesday at la Jolla in a row now and probably my 20th time overall and I have still to get the YT. So will be out there next wed trying it again.

[makobob]

Never say die Josh!! your day is coming. Eventually......... it will be your turn.

[momo fish]

Don't worry josh it will happen. You have plenty of company

[FlyFishinYakr]

What they ^ said + never say die!
Patience is a virtue.
I'll bet when you finally get one it'll be one definitely worth posting (after all you've been through).
FFY

[Bert Vega]

Keep at it. It's going to happen!

[Cbad Mike]

Thanks for the report Josh.
I launched at least twice as many times before I saw my first fish with a yellow tail that wasn't on someone else's kayak.
Since then..............
Hang in there yours is on its way.
Maybe I'll join you next week.

[Widgeon]

My stats are similar to yours.
No YT yet.
Our time will come.

[the dude]

my Tarpon was by far the best paddling kayak I've ever had....it also was the worst surfing kayak I've ever been on. Your lucky you only lost a couple items.

[ctfphoto]

Wow, how did I miss you as I was on the water for 7 hours yesterday, and yes it was extremely slow. I spent 6 hours trying to catch one greenback to no avail.

Surfing a tarpon is fun, I use to dread the landings, now I look forward to them

[Dirty Curti]

After the battery died and then having to go back home for the wallet was a good sign to stay home. But you ventured on anyway and it's to bad it didn't pay off for you this time. Keep at it and you'll get one eventually. It appears you enjoy the time on the water anyway.

[blitzburgh]

Puttin' in time son! It will happen soon for you

[RookieYakker]

Similar to you and Widgeon, I'm still waiting on my first YT! We'll get em we'll get em!

[Silbaugh4liberty]

It's only a matter of time bro, remember, MARINES NEVER QUIT!!!

http://youtu.be/UjTR3rs9dV4

[5-20]

Ever since I turtled that first time I went out of LJ, I've started backing in when I come in. Not entirely sure that'd work for something that's as sleek as a T160, but it's something to consider. Feels like I've got more control of the yak and that really minimizes the chances of being surprised by one of those waves that pop up of nowhere, even on those small days.

[easyday]

Yes I do love being on the water, and quitting is the last thing on my mind haha. Ive tried that going in backwards on my x Factor and it worked well, but I think it would be counter productive in the tarpon.

[Apex]

I'll join the boat...zero to hero, when it happens I kno it's gonna be a rat or amonsta

[otterpupster]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[paintnfish]

Tarpon 140-160, best thing I ever learned landing
the Tarpon if the surf is up is to get accustomed to
coming in side ways dragging paddle on the inside.
Dry everytime !

[taggermike]

Keep swinging and you'll hit a home run soon. I've been fishing LJ for 40 years, 15 from a kayak and its kinda lame to say, but La Jolla is a great place to not catch fish. Every trip there is a learning opportunity, plus there's a chance to see some thing amazing.

The tarpon series looks a bit like my prowler 15, and the prowler is a very poor surfing kayak. Coming in back wards has worked. If you can time it right coming in on the back of the last wave in a set is good too. My preferred landing technique is to take advantage of a long fast boat; get your gear secured, gather your chi, wait for a bit of a lull, and sprint paddle with all you have for the beach. Of course every one of these techniques can fail so learning to ride side ways and brace is well worth mastering. Bracing feels wrong at first because its a natural inclination to lean away from the white water. You gotta lean in to the white water, and I mean lean. Your paddle is way out in the white water and your body weight is toward the white water too. On my prowler I'll even hang my wave side leg off the kayak. Maybe try a few launches and landing without gear to get the feel of it. Mike

[GregAndrew]

And Ron ^ is who got me all excited to learn how to surf my kayak. When he said " Lets go back out a surf a little" after fishing San O, I thought he just meant "Lets go out in the surf and see who gets clobbered first". When he paddled his Tarpon into that first wave an rode off into the sunset, I was in awe. And when I caught my first wave, I was hooked. Easy, keep at it. My curse for a couple years was that I was always a day early or a day late, or left 30 minutes before they exploded. Besides, the wintertime slobs are well worth the wait.