Landing Fish on a Kayak

[lamb]

You may have been the guy riding Tarpon 140 I talked to?

Great that you’re taking your kayak out first to make sure you’re comfortable before you start fishing. I admit, I'm guilty of skipping that part. Reading up these boards and talking to yak fisherman is great way to get ins and outs of the sport… Taking kayak safety / surf class with the local kayak guide is highly beneficial as well.

You bleed YT to get the blood out – meat ends up with better texture, cleaner fillets, supposedly it even tastes better. It also helps to cut the fish out of its misery. I pull their gills right after I secure the fish. Sounds pretty savage, but their beating hart will help pump the blood out. I found YTs calm down pretty quickly after that, no flapping on the deck. Then I drink their blood in excitement… Ok, I’m just kidding on that part. :lol:

As far as landing with the fish, I keep ‘em in my lap. I have the rope tied and make sure it goes under my leg, to minimize chance of tangling if and when I roll in the surf. It goes back to individual preference and comfort level with landing. I always stash everything inside of my eX, simply because I still don’t have the comfort level that I won’t roll. Doing it with a couple of tails on the deck makes it quite a challenge. I keep the fish in my lap as I know I don’t want to stash it in the bow – making it heavy would sure help dig your nose into the wave and roll upon re-entry. There’s really no other place to put them – I tried to dump them in my milk crate in the back, and found out that YT bigger than 12# will keep falling out…

Stay safe and good luck out there!