La Jolla 6-2-14

[FISH11]

I was so excited that the TV weather forcast said 3mph wind at the coast and partly clowdy. I figured I would take my Malibu X13 I purchased 3 months ago to use as a spare and for family members (like my grandson). So i had taken it out twice to Mission Bay to see how different it would handle from my X Factor. Not too much change in the lenght (8" shorter) but at 29" wide and more rounded edges to the bottom of the hull, it certainly paddles faster. But with me at 5'10" and about 225lbs the center of gravity when all the things are loaded such as 5 poles, Bait tank, Crate and Soft cooler all changes (much higher up). In the bay even with all boat wakes no problem. Going out La Jolla around 8:45am through the surf it did not go over the waves as well as the X Factor and cut through the waves more, no problem. Went out made some bait, a mix of greenbacks and spanish. That was good, got a little surprise when I see about 40 yards away, close to the Kelp a 6' to 7' Mako jump out of the water and make a very large splash. I tried not to worry about it, having caught and seen a smaller one about two and a half feet from my kayak. Went out past the kelp and trolled a Rappala greenback out while I tried to paddle straight out from the condos. There where swells the whole way, but I've been out there when they where twice the size. As I kept getting further out it seemed like the wind kept picking up and was easy over 15mph. Kept going off the swells and sometimes the intervals where so erratic that when going down the other side you would hit the next one and it would go over the bow. It was getting so bad I decided to stop at 140' of water and I would hook up a greenback and flyline it on a drift. As I sat there trying to reach behind me into the bait tank, swell where going by. No problem, I thought, then I get hit by one of those roge swells. Since it was coming from behind I never saw it and I did not have time to correct my balance. Before I could say SH.TTTT… I was in the water. Kayak is upside down most of the poles in the water along with the tackle box. cooler, etc. Good thing I learned a long time ago to have leashes on everything. Well I've practices getting back in my X Factor several times, so I'm like no sweat. Well the narrower X13 with it's more rounded bottom won't hold my weight trying to pull up and 3 time just rolls back over. Now I have fishing lines rapping around my foot so I get the knife and cut the 65lb braid. There goes my Rapala down, I later realize the only thing on the deck that did not have a leashed was my plastic box carrying most of my Irons, some where the wraped kind I hadn't even used yet. After what felt like 10 minutes (provably more like 5) I manage to kick enough with my feet to getmore of my body out of the water while reaching the side handle to pull myself up. Once I had my midsection on the deck all was good. The water kept getting worse so I decided to just go into the kelp to get away from chop. Once there I got all the poles sorted out and started YO YOing the one Iron that was still on one of my rods. I found a very large open pool and tied up to the kelp. Started hooking up on Calicos and has Barracudas chasing the iron. Released all caught. I learned one very valuble leason. My arse is to heavy to use the X13 in rough water. Just too much roll if you weigh more than 200lbs. I'll be sticking to my X Factor, I've been out there in much worse and never felt scared, (about 45 trips to La Jolla and never a problem). Yesterday was a little unnerving. Met a girl named Megan, she was also out there as was coming in at the same time. She was riding a Hobie Outback and provably didn't weigh more than 110lbs soaking wet. When we talked about how off the weather forcast was, she told me that her Kayak was so tippy out there and that it was scarry. It was very hard to tell from the shore it didn't look that bad, but once you got to the other side of the outer kelp than it was a different story. Now I have to start re-stocking my Irons, some lead and hook. It is a small price to pay for the very important leason. Also it is another good reason why it's best to fish with a buddy. Every trip there is a new leason. Respect Mother Nature! Or she'll chew you up and spit you out.