A buddy invited me to go kayak jigging for salmon on the river this weekend....if by chance I do hook a fish....how do I land it?? Net, gaff, spear..looking for any pointers.....thanks in advance....Bill
I'm also interested in any kayak fishing pointers, looking to get into kayak fishing in Monterey bay.
Check out these forums...
http://www.centralcoastkayakfishing.com/cckf/
Quote from: TARFU on August 23, 2016, 06:44:27 PM
A buddy invited me to go kayak jigging for salmon on the river this weekend....if by chance I do hook a fish....how do I land it?? Net, gaff, spear..looking for any pointers.....thanks in advance....Bill
Net the fish unless you don't mind poking a hole in your fish with a gaff. I have been kayak fishing for a number of years and always net the fish. Halibut over 40# should be harpooned, IMO.
The link is a good site I peruse.
Also try here.
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/
A dry suit is highly recommended. Plus a PFD, knife on your vest, whistle, and all the other safety gear associated with cold water safe boating.
Mythic Gear has the best deal on drysuits hands down, IMO. Kokatat are top of the line. Mine is a GUL.
http://www.mythicdrysuits.com/
https://kokatat.com/shop/mens/dry-suits
http://www.gul.com/sail/mens/drysuits
Remember where the head goes the body follows....meaning if you lean to look over the side of your yak, you will follow and have a swim.
Some flat water kayak experience would be a big bonus. I certainly don't want to scare you away from your adventure but you should be comfortable and confident but not complacent on the water in or on a Tupperware® Boat.
If you are going to let the fish go, I'd just get a dehooker. Leave it in the water and shake it off the hook. If are you are going to keep it, EGO makes a good kayak fishing net.
Remember, when the fish starts circling the boat you must have a rod that can reach out past the bow and the stern when you are seated in the cockpit.
Consider getting a lip grip, aka Boga Grip, instead of a net or gaff. It doesn't take up any space in the boat. I like the all plastic one better than the Boga style. For catch and release I mash down the barbs and do like FatTuna says... shake it off or use pliers or removal tool as necessary.
-steve
All great tips, I kayaked fish from a Hobie for a few years. All of my keepers were able to be netted; I had an EGO floating net that floated. A big key that I try to tell folks, TIE EVERYTHING DOWN...i just use old phone cords with zip ties and a little shrink wrap with a Carabiner on each end; worked like a charm.
If you get a really big fish there is a leg technique where you put one leg into the water and pull the fishes head up the leg as far as you can, then using your leg you leverage the fish up into the boat (this is for none toothy critters). There are some videos on you tube.
Good luck!
I'd net the fish because I assume there is a size limit. If short this aids in a healthy release. Now if you know it is a gaffable fish then you may want to go that route.
I have made several small gaff's either from a broken rod or a dowel/old broomstick. On these small gaff's I like to use a double hook, the kind of ones you find on tuna feathers. I buy the hooks, pinch down or file off the barbs on the hooks, attach the hook with a stainless screw so it will not pull of the gaff and lastly wrap the hooks shaft to the dowel/pole with tuna cord so the hook will not move sideways with only the screw holding it to the rod.
These double hook gaffs are pretty common here in SO Cal for our barracuda and work very good on say smaller fish like under 25 lbs. They also work good for head shots so you don't screw up fillets on smaller sized fish.
Great idea SoCalAngler, a double tuna hook ona skinny rod. Been using a 3 prong pole spear, but you gotta hit 'em right or or you could tear the hook out. Most guys I've seen also take a club for "in the yak control". SteveO's right, watch the leaning and reaching. Best safe thing I did was on-purpose, shallow water, tip-overs. Let's you know the yaks tipping point and how difficult righting your boat is and climbing back in
The one time I went kayak fishing I forgot a) some kind of net and b) something to put fish into.
Fortunately I struck out on the perch, so didn't need either one, lol
Currently I have a tandem sit-on-top kayak but I want to buy a solo fishing kayak. I look at the tandem and get all kinds of Frankenstein ideas. What if I mounted a raised seat to the middle of it? There would be tons of storage room. Mount a trolling motor next. I wonder if my wife would pretend like she didn't know me if she saw me on the water? ;D
If you don't mind paddling the tandem you already have a lot of extra buoyancy to accommodate more stuff. There's a lot of possibilities, but raising the center of gravity often doesn't end well. Trolling motors have been done and reported, but I can't remember where; maybe SOL or the TX Kayak forum.
-steve
A fisherman caught a great white tooth with his yak out in monterey bay a few weeks back!
I get to use the lodge kayak in Alaska when I'm off the river and on the salt. Orca country up there, plus humpbacks galore but no real shark problem on the inside waters. The lodge caught an 8' blue shark last week on the outside.
The west coast guys and gals on Hobie Mirage drive yaks have a real nice imitation Seal presentation and silhouette with those flapping flippers under the hull about the same location as the flippers on a seal.
Kind of like a giant lure with bait on it. ::)
Don't forget you are required to have a net on board. I think it needs to be at lease 18" in diameter.
Just one other thing then fishing in larger shark areas for me I'd stay away from the yellow kayaks. Around here they call this color yum yum yellow. It seems the larger sharks like to follow and bump this color way more than other color yaks.
That and get yourself one of these.
https://sharkshield.com/shop/
Is that to wrap the shark's dinner for Take Out. ;D ;D
Always double check your drain plug is in place before you paddle away.... Always ;)
and I carry a breakdown spare paddle in my boat. pool noodles around the shafts also add handy emergency flotation.
yak update....a friend let me borrow his 12' Ocean Kayak today....loaded it up with all the tethers for the rod (in a rod holder), paddle, and gear bag, strapped on my life vest with emergency knife attached, headed out on the Sacramento River to drift and jig for salmon....took a couple hundred yards to get comfortable, adjust some gear on the yak for comfort, and started my first drift....just as I started my first drift a boat hooked up and a 13 lber right in front of me >:( so paddled 50 yards up from them and resumed my drift...no luck....as I neared the end of my drift a 25' Striper was passing me and his engine quit....he called out to another boat for a tow to a nearby boat ramp (maybe a 1/2 mile up river) AND THEY SAID NO, WE'RE GOING THE OTHER WAY!!!!!!
Well I paddle over to see what I could do, yeah Im in a kayak but gotta help.....the driver asked if I would paddle over to another boat ask ask them for a tow....they were very reluctant to help and stated "tell them we will help when we finish our drift".....so I paddled back to give him the news.....now we are just nearing the docks at Sherwood Harbor and RV park so I offer to pull him to the dock he said "THANK YOU SO MUCH" . I grabbed his bow line and paddle for all I got and got him to the dock..and gave him the only beer I had on the yak..Im sure getting my workout today ;D
I leave him at the dock, as he has called for help on the cell phone, and start up river for another drift and suddenly his motor roars to life and the poor guy guns it to get back to the launch ramp before the motor dies again....ever been waked by a 25' Striper with a 175 hp motor on the back :P That was fun.......anyway no fish for me today but learned a lot.
Im sure none of the other boaters were members here because I KNOW YOU WOULD HAVE HELPED !!!!!! Ohana my Brothers and Sisters.....Bill
Bill,
You have a heart of gold.
There is no way I'm towing a boat with only paddle propulsion.
I have an Ocean Kayak Trident 13. It is Yum Yum yellow and fast as hell on the water.
I bought it for only one thing. Get the bait out and get back.
No matter how many times I do it. 300 yards out with a bloody bait dripping in the water, it never seems relaxing.
It doesn't matter how calm the surf is, that far out, you are like a bobber.
Drop it and paddle like hell back.
Sharks can't see colors, The yum, yum factor is a myth.
I am 225 lbs, but all that is in my yak is me, a carbon fiber paddle and a 20/0 circle hook with a big bait on it.
If its dark, you can add a light stick and a head lamp.
Always with a life Jacket. No exceptions. Ever!!
Helping the guy out is one thing, but GIVING HIM YOUR ONLY BEER!!! There are limits.
-steve
Luckily I only had to pull him about 25 yds....I'd pull hard on the bow line, paddle another 10' pull hard again, until I could get him near the dock....we were lucky it was at slack tide and no wind otherwise he might be at the Golden Gate by now...it was just sad no one would take the time to help a boater....gonna try it again tonight hoping for salmon steaks for dinner...ohhh yeah need to pick up some beer on the way home (For after the paddle....wouldnt want to spill me beer ;D) Bill
Sharkhunter, can sharks see shades? There's a-lot of yellow kayaks relative to whats out there. Mabey that's why thet get bumped so often.
Update from last post on this topic. Flipped my boat several days ago trying to get on my knees, reach over the seat and get the back hatch open. The wind'll blow a boat sideways to the waves. Then any slight lack a balance and you're over! When the initial shock wore off, that damed Jaws theme music started playing in my head, man it's been 31yrs. since I saw that movie at the drive-in(Tiger shark waters here). I found out though, that a 12 ft. Yak is tough to turn back over when you're floating in your PFC. Not at all like practicing in chest high water. Also, an upside down boat is all but impossible to paddle back to shore(seat n' rod/reels, etc. hanging down, yak filling with water, no balance for sitting). So it was back in the water and kick while pushing( that theme music serenading me again) and it barely went back over.
So it was great experience for me, but I think it's best to practice in deeper water and not to be to stupid/risky when fishing in the ocean and lanyards for everything!
Gfish
here's a how to video on re-entering your yak in deep water. I know watching is not the same as doing. This may show some technique for easing the experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmaNBXEa_yQ
Thank you Steve-O! From now on, it's pull the yak back right-side up, from the oppsite side.
Gfish
Quote from: Gfish on September 30, 2016, 06:21:29 PM
Thank you Steve-O! From now on, it's pull the yak back right-side up, from the oppsite side.
Gfish
FWIW, unless your kayak's super heavy like a Hobie or abnormally wide, I find uprighting a capsized kayak's easier than they show if you reach under the kayak to the far-side side handle with one hand, and pull it towards you while using your other hand to push the near-side of the boat up out of the water. Or doing it from the bow or stern if you happen to be there already. Launching yourself out of the water takes a lot more energy than just flipping the kayak while you stay in the water. Try both ways, and see what you discover, regardless of what you determine, it's very worthwhile to practice re-entry in low-stakes waters until it's automatic.
Also, beware the temptation to leash everything to the boat. It's easy to get tangled. I prefer to put floats on everything but the paddle (pool noodles for me). I do leash the paddle so if I take an unexpected swim, I still have a tether to the boat.
Gotta try that out. Sounds like there's more turning force with both pulling and pushing at the same time. Mine's a "yum yum yellow" 12'x33" hobie with peddle/flipper or paddle drive, about 80-85lbs. with gear(-anchor) so it might be a no go, but need ta test it. Love the float thing. What if a big fish takes yer rod/reel though?
After using the peddle drive with a easy to reach rudder control, I can't see myself ever going back to just paddling. Most a the time I have both hands freed up for casting or whatever else. I really think it's the only way to ocean fish, unless you'er always anchored when actually fishing.
Gfish
Hey G,
Its not so much the yellow. Its that it has High Contrast in the water.
They can see very well, but are color blind.
I wanted a camo kayak. In black and white or green and white. My Wife had a fit until I bought the yum yum yellow. ::)
(http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag93/darondyer/IMG_25231_zpsec104b14.jpg)
My Boy Mike on his way back in from a Drop that yielded a 11'5" Hammer head!
(http://i1300.photobucket.com/albums/ag93/darondyer/IMG_25131_zpsc57a8c38.jpg)
Quote from: Gfish on September 30, 2016, 10:41:36 PMLove the float thing. What if a big fish takes yer rod/reel though?
Gfish
I've never had a big enough fish on the end of the line, but if it ever happens to me, I'll let ya know!
In all seriousness though, my thought is I don't kayak fish with anything I can't stand losing. I'd rather donate gear to the deep than donate myself to it.
One thing I learned, between scuba diving and now kayaks.....lanyards, lanyards, and more lanyards.....I tied off everything, using either quick snap buckles or snap hooks....I kinda look like a bowl of spaghetti but wont loose anything from a turn over..I have everything tied to one side of the yak in hopes that I dont get tangled and for that I have an emergency knife buckled to my PFD.. dont forget the PFD your life may depend on it....Bill
Quote from: TARFU on October 03, 2016, 08:56:13 PM
One thing I learned, between scuba diving and now kayaks.....lanyards, lanyards, and more lanyards.....I tied off everything, using either quick snap buckles or snap hooks....I kinda look like a bowl of spaghetti but wont loose anything from a turn over..I have everything tied to one side of the yak in hopes that I dont get tangled and for that I have an emergency knife buckled to my PFD.. dont forget the PFD your life may depend on it....Bill
Bill, does the knife float?
Steve
im Afraid not, but it is buckled into the sheath and buckled to the vest.... there may be a flaw to my prep..... :-X Bill
Quote from: TARFU on October 03, 2016, 10:02:45 PM
im Afraid not, but it is buckled into the sheath and buckled to the vest.... there may be a flaw to my prep..... :-X Bill
cool beans brother!
(man, that feels good)
:D :D :D :D
X2 what he said :D Bill
The only lanyard I use is the ten-foot coiled leash from my ankle to the boat. The rod(s) go into horizontal holsters running parallel to the hull. Everything else goes into snap-lock box lashed to the deck. I've flipped plenty of times and lost plenty of stuff but never felt my personal safety was threatened by it.
-steve
edit: Oh, forgot about the eighteen teen inch sea anchor (drift anchor). It is tethered from just behind the seat with a three to four foot line so it can never touch the rudder.
Quote from: oc1 on September 29, 2016, 07:42:32 AM
Helping the guy out is one thing, but GIVING HIM YOUR ONLY BEER!!! There are limits.
-steve
;D ;D