New Years Day on SD Bay

[bubbacee7]

Happy New Years Big Waters Edge Family. FishingMike and I went out this morning from the Shelter Island Yacht Basin. We launched at about 0700 hours. The air was cold and wet and the water was cold. Not as cold as I thought it would be. No breeze. Fog was thick.

Nothing on the troll out. Slow lazy bites. Took a lot of work to land my first fish. Macks bit on the reel in. Spotties hit from the bottom. Most hits and hooks were on ghost shrimp lures. Drift and wind blew us out towards the bait barge. Fog was dangerously thick. At about 0915ish the current and breeze pushed me fast past the bait barge. Fog settled heavy. Glad I had my whistle. Blew it several times mostly out of fear that motors were not paying attention. Highly recommend that you all bring your safety gear.

After 4 hours on the water final count:

FishingMike - 5 Macks and 1 Spotties
Bubbacee7 - 4 Macks and 3 Spotties

Be safe.

[ceelo]

I was near a swimmer drowning at Lake Perris last year, 2 young 26 yr old tried to swim to a buoy, one couldn't make it, his body tried to help him, almost drowned himself, had to let him go. No one was a prepared, two kayaks near didn't have any safety gear to help or no how to swim. I had the basic gear, near nothing. People nearby and on shore didn't know it was an emergency, it was windy could barely hear the yelling. This haunted me!

Since then I purchased a very loud whistle, airhorn, pin flares, rope, Baywatch type life guard rescue can with leash, compass & in my mind a basic plan to assist & keep calm.

Don't know if it would of saved him if I was there in time, but sure would have helped. I helped positioning my kayak reference point for the lifeguard recovery effort for 4 hrs. Body was found late in the evening.

[Orca Winfrey]

Originally Posted by ceelo

I was near a swimmer drowning at Lake Perris last year, 2 young 26 yr old tried to swim to a buoy, one couldn't make it, his body tried to help him, almost drowned himself, had to let him go. No one was a prepared, two kayaks near didn't have any safety gear to help or no how to swim. I had the basic gear, near nothing. People nearby and on shore didn't know it was an emergency, it was windy could barely hear the yelling. This haunted me!

Since then I purchased a very loud whistle, airhorn, pin flares, rope, Baywatch type life guard rescue can with leash, compass & in my mind a basic plan to assist & keep calm.

Don't know if it would of saved him if I was there in time, but sure would have helped. I helped positioning my kayak reference point for the lifeguard recovery effort for 4 hrs. Body was found late in the evening.

That would haunt me too. People think they don’t need PDFs and other safety gear because they think they’ll never roll and if they happen to, they can swim for safety or cling to the yak. Way harder than one would think.
I also factor in the possibility of a drunk boater or jet skier ramming me and knocking me out. Sad story.

[Orca Winfrey]

Originally Posted by bubbacee7

Happy New Years Big Waters Edge Family. FishingMike and I went out this morning from the Shelter Island Yacht Basin. We launched at about 0700 hours. The air was cold and wet and the water was cold. Not as cold as I thought it would be. No breeze. Fog was thick.

Nothing on the troll out. Slow lazy bites. Took a lot of work to land my first fish. Macks bit on the reel in. Spotties hit from the bottom. Most hits and hooks were on ghost shrimp lures. Drift and wind blew us out towards the bait barge. Fog was dangerously thick. At about 0915ish the current and breeze pushed me fast past the bait barge. Fog settled heavy. Glad I had my whistle. Blew it several times mostly out of fear that motors were not paying attention. Highly recommend that you all bring your safety gear.

After 4 hours on the water final count:

FishingMike - 5 Macks and 1 Spotties
Bubbacee7 - 4 Macks and 3 Spotties

Be safe.

Nice job. I love the bays in SD. I wish I lived closer.