LaJolla Thurs am, remarkable day

[Hypoxic1]

So today was my first day at La Jolla. Figured after going to that Carlsbad meeting I would go see what we were all talking about. I had dived La Jolla for several years until about 10 years ago when I began cruising my sailboat.

Got to the launch at 0500 got the yak ready and then stood there talking myself into it as the surf was coming up, looked like the tide was coming in. Decided to walk and swim the boat past the surfline to minimize the risk of disaster at the surfline.
Went north to a suggested place with yellowtail in mind, saw lots of life, made bait, about 10 5 in mackeral, but no love from the big guys.

Decided to troll to about 700 yards north of the big white building, where I have fished on a powerboat several times with zero success. Being on the kayak is remarkable, you can sense hear and feel every detail of what is happening around you. In all of my years sailing and fishing I had never quite felt that in tune with the life around me. bait going from zero to fifty running like hell from the freight train that is coming to eat it, birds diving all around me going after the leftovers on top.

all of a sudden........zzzzzzzzzzZZZZZ big bonito, fun but not exactly what I was after, thanked it for the fun and set it free.
Drop another bait, 30 seconds.....zz zz zz ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
10 Minutes later I am boating my first yellowtail. Oh shit I have never gaffed a fish from a kayak and this one doesent want to hang out . SO with my gaff in my hand, feeling like a clown I remember that thread from the other day, some guy talking about Darkhorse and sliding the fish up in his lap. Lets try it. It worked , Nice fish, got the gills and the rest is history. Not a trophy by any strech of the imagination, but certainly my first real fish on my new kayak.
About 15 minutes later I get hit again, its about 20 inches, a big calico.
Wifee wants fish tacos so I guess she gets em tonight. Time to go home. First good adventure complete. Sure beat the hell out of the 4th when I flipped my boat and lost all of my gear.

Tried throwing Iron, but have no idea what im doing.

When I decided to try kayak fishing, my wife insisted that I get rid of my kites and boards since I hadnt kited in about 8 months, and shes tired of seeing new toys in the garage gather dust. This was a fantastic trade off for a sport that one can do alone, or share whenever the mood strikes.

In all of my years of sailing and living on a boat I have never quite had the outstanding morning on the water I had today. Somehow this is so much more sporting than what I expected. It is amazing how much sense you get from just being inches off the water.

Thanks to Nate, and Drew at OEX oceanside for all of the help they have given me getting squared away. Thanks Josh for your gear advice. Cant wait to fish with you when the time is right.

Have a great day everyone. I certainly did.

Sorry, no pic forgot to put my Blackberry in a ziploc. Its toast

[Holy Mackerel]

congrats, nice karmic reward for attending the Carlsbad MLPA meeting!

[the dude]

A crackberry is well worth the price of your first yak YT. Congrats.

[bender0240]

That's an awesome story!

[fishinkid2010]

Congrats, it sounds like a well deserved Yellow!

[Whizz Bang]

Outstanding. Congratulations, and thanks for the good read.

[Geoffkoop]

That is awesome!

[Grego]

Congratulations....and nice catch. SAMSUNG RUGBY PHONE. It says it's only water resistant, but if you search on youtube you will find some videos on it being submerged in a gooey mud pit for 10 minutes and still working...also submerged in the sink for about 20 seconds and still working..run over by a truck and still working...thrown against the wall and still working, etc....

I personally stuck mine in my co-workers coffee cup (filled with coffee) to test it out...still works. Went to my moms one day with my girlfriend and said watch! and threw it in my dog's water bowl, her eyes lit up and she gasped...it still works. Then that night I stuck it in the freezer and the next morning..still worked. Threw it around on the lawn and on the carpeted floor, still works.

It's built to mil-specs....I like it.

sounds like a blast's

[Billy V]

Congratulations on your fish.

-Your story defines the reason most of us are fighting like hell to keep La Jolla Open to Kayak Fishing.

[THE DARKHORSE]

"Outstanding morning"...what a feeling, victory!

Here's to many more to come.

[Matt]

NIce one man!!

[-scallywag-]

on the opposite end, I took my little bro's (too young to kayak LJ) on the dolphin recently after kayaking/boardfishing for the last couple years....what a cluster F#@!$ ....talk about outta touch, we had one guy hooked up to a yellow, the deckhands set the guys drag, tied his hook, pinned his bait and the gaffed his fish. The only time he really touched it was for the picture when he had his hand on the tail. Theres nothing like getting a big fish to color next to your little plastic yak with no one around, then pulling it out of the water with your bear hands, putting it in a figure4 and ripping its gills out.....kinda makes you wanna smear the blood on your face like indian war paint and howl like a commanchee!!!

Not all was lost that day on the dolphin....I printed some MLPA fliers off spearboard,added the sept. dates, and also printed an old external"C" map (to help make the point). Out of 36 poeple only 3 guys had any idea of what was going on.....why dont the deckhands and captians put on a little speel about the future of fishing on the way out to the spots???

[Holy Mackerel]

Originally Posted by -scallywag-

Not all was lost that day on the dolphin....I printed some MLPA fliers off spearboard,added the sept. dates, and also printed an old external"C" map (to help make the point).

Thanks for doing that!

Originally Posted by -scallywag-

Out of 36 poeple only 3 guys had any idea of what was going on.....why dont the deckhands and captians put on a little speel about the future of fishing on the way out to the spots???

It is mind boggling!

[dsafety]

Welcome to our little family, Hypoxic1. Your post was great. I can feel the excitement through the words you shared with us. Well done, on the water and on this forum.

I have a suggestion that may save you a few bucks down the road. Although one should always store electronics in ziplock bags while on a kayak, even the best preparations sometimes fail. Just a little salt water on a cell phone or camera can start the irreversible corrosion process.

I have a drawer full of old cell phones that still work fine. (AT&T must really like it when I walk in the door, but I am just a sucker for new technology). Anyway, when I plan to go out on my kayak, I pull the SIM card from my everyday phone and put it in one of my backups. So far, this strategy has worked out very well and many of the older phones are actually easier to use when on the water.

My 2 cents for the day.

Bob

[h2ofishfo]

Originally Posted by Grego

Congratulations....and nice catch. SAMSUNG RUGBY PHONE. It says it's only water resistant, but if you search on youtube you will find some videos on it being submerged in a gooey mud pit for 10 minutes and still working...also submerged in the sink for about 20 seconds and still working..run over by a truck and still working...thrown against the wall and still working, etc....

I personally stuck mine in my co-workers coffee cup (filled with coffee) to test it out...still works. Went to my moms one day with my girlfriend and said watch! and threw it in my dog's water bowl, her eyes lit up and she gasped...it still works. Then that night I stuck it in the freezer and the next morning..still worked. Threw it around on the lawn and on the carpeted floor, still works.

It's built to mil-specs....I like it.

okay jokes over lets see the u-tube video of you going through the day just trying to demolish your phone & your reaction every time u jump in the air & say yaaataaa!!! it stilll works