Hard Learning... - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Deamon · 07-14-2013, 11:29 AM

On the day before a good dude had planned on coming down from L.A. to fish the jewel with me, we get a tip on a fresh spot of squishees w/fishees on them. Perfect timing! We set-up, make plenty of bait and gain quite a bit of confidence with this area. We go beyond dusk and into the night without much going on. The plan was to make it until morning hoping for a biter or two...

I don't know what time it was (10:30pm?)...but things became a blur and at the same time, super slow motion...I get bit, it's solid on the bottom rig (which was straight up and down from its rod holder). The reel is burning line and I'm thinking this is what it's all about. I reach for the rod, it's absolutely pinned in the Scotty mount. I'm trying my best to get it out. Then the hard pull goes double bendo (Roby later said he saw the seal), I'm leaning too far up and to the side of the yak and I've quickly realized I'm beyond tipping point (here's where the slow motion kicks in). I bail out of the yak and into the drink pushing off to relieve the top side weight and the yak proceeded to right itself...NICE! But the hard pull straight down dumps the yak anyways. Cha...CHING...(3) set-ups, HDS-5 that will no longer turn on (under warranty but 3-4 week service) misc smaller gear that sank out or floated off. Just like that, I'm in the water treading with full waders and I've got 100# braid wrapped a few times around one leg.

Some details:

I love my Hobie Revolution and I completely blame operator error but there's just less room for error on this more narrow yak...
I had (4) rods out in my "spread". Two up top and two on bottom. Wind and current pushed all lines to my starboard side which is the side I flipped over and was immediately wrapped on. I need to get a knife on my vest.
The Scotty mounts had the rod's angled up on abt 45 degrees to avoid using clips (big mistake). Angled up high with that strong of a pull got me. The yak had no chance to plane and go for a ride. I pretty much set up a rope and pulley system that wasn't anchored down...AT ALL.
I've got to come up with a better way to clean my hatch's O-rings. I had way too much water enter which then made it noticeably unstable when trying to jump back on. I'm not sure if I could've gotten back on without Roby holding the other side down...

I'm grateful Roby was nearby to help. Good thing I had my vest on but the waves were flat and the water warm so there was no panic. Roby quickly reminded me about the concern w the braid and encouraged me to get untangled asap. Thanks Roby. Jim

07-14-2013, 11:29 AM	#1
Deamon Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,972	Hard Learning... On the day before a good dude had planned on coming down from L.A. to fish the jewel with me, we get a tip on a fresh spot of squishees w/fishees on them. Perfect timing! We set-up, make plenty of bait and gain quite a bit of confidence with this area. We go beyond dusk and into the night without much going on. The plan was to make it until morning hoping for a biter or two... I don't know what time it was (10:30pm?)...but things became a blur and at the same time, super slow motion...I get bit, it's solid on the bottom rig (which was straight up and down from its rod holder). The reel is burning line and I'm thinking this is what it's all about. I reach for the rod, it's absolutely pinned in the Scotty mount. I'm trying my best to get it out. Then the hard pull goes double bendo (Roby later said he saw the seal), I'm leaning too far up and to the side of the yak and I've quickly realized I'm beyond tipping point (here's where the slow motion kicks in). I bail out of the yak and into the drink pushing off to relieve the top side weight and the yak proceeded to right itself...NICE! But the hard pull straight down dumps the yak anyways. Cha...CHING...(3) set-ups, HDS-5 that will no longer turn on (under warranty but 3-4 week service) misc smaller gear that sank out or floated off. Just like that, I'm in the water treading with full waders and I've got 100# braid wrapped a few times around one leg. Some details: I love my Hobie Revolution and I completely blame operator error but there's just less room for error on this more narrow yak... I had (4) rods out in my "spread". Two up top and two on bottom. Wind and current pushed all lines to my starboard side which is the side I flipped over and was immediately wrapped on. I need to get a knife on my vest. The Scotty mounts had the rod's angled up on abt 45 degrees to avoid using clips (big mistake). Angled up high with that strong of a pull got me. The yak had no chance to plane and go for a ride. I pretty much set up a rope and pulley system that wasn't anchored down...AT ALL. I've got to come up with a better way to clean my hatch's O-rings. I had way too much water enter which then made it noticeably unstable when trying to jump back on. I'm not sure if I could've gotten back on without Roby holding the other side down... I'm grateful Roby was nearby to help. Good thing I had my vest on but the waves were flat and the water warm so there was no panic. Roby quickly reminded me about the concern w the braid and encouraged me to get untangled asap. Thanks Roby. Jim __________________ Recreational Fisherman's Catch...2% Commercial Fisherman's Catch- 98% Recreational Fishing Kayakers Catch- .00001% "The reality is that the wall was built to keep all Asians ~specifically Japanese and those that think they're japanese~ out of the U.S"