Intro and Kayak Recommendations

[summers in kuwait]

Greetings all,

My name's Todd, I'm a San Diego native and I've been fishing since I was a little kid. I can remember riding my bike in middle school to Lake Murray, inflate my float tube, catch blue gill, bass, trout, etc and ride home. Since those days I've fished on friends boats periodically in local waters both fresh and salt.

In 2005 I moved to Humboldt County for school and was able to fish Steelhead in the Mad River. I then started fishing from my landlord's old town canoe in the local lagoons and got hooked. Shortly after that I borrowed a cobra tandem from dad when his health declined and fished that solo for ~5 years, fishing Trinidad head / Humboldt bay for mainly Ling Cod & dungeness crab and shark.

I moved back to San Diego in 2009 and I've been doing a lot of shore fishing for corbina, spot fin croaker, halibut on light line. Last year I was able to purchase a Pompano 120 from WM and I've been heading out every weekend to various parts of San Diego Bay, catching bass, croaker, corvina, halibut and other species.

I really enjoy this site. Very informative and often entertaining. I've built a bait tank, learned how to make bait and Im really enjoying myself, in addition to bringing home some fish for the family.

Im currently looking to diversify my fishing and head out to La Jolla and other spots. I've surfed Blacks, Wind & Sea, Sunset Cliffs & occasionally spearfish and I feel pretty comfortable in the ocean. But Im at the point where I think I want to upgrade my kayak. I really like the pompano 120 for what it is, and at 5'10" & 150 lbs its been a good fit especially in the bays, but the times I've surf launched and paddled the cove and La Jolla waters, I found the kayak a little small and it presents some challenges for storage when going fishing.

I've been down and visited the guys at OEX, really helpful and they offer some nice stuff. I'd prefer to barter some of my other hobbies, MTB and music for a kayak and Im thinking about selling the pompano to fund a new or used kayak.

If there is any insight or recommendations, I'd greatly appreciate or if you spot any deals. I really like the trident 13 and Wilderness Systems kayaks, based on my size and I tested out my buddies Outback, but I think its a little out of my price range.

Thanks