KAYAK DRIVER

Started by Gfish, October 24, 2021, 12:40:29 AM

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Gfish

"You lookin at me? You lookin at me? You must be lookin at me, cause I don't see anybody else out here!"

Out in my yak this AM, I think I had a Shark buddy that started hanging around me bout 5AM while it was still dark. First there was a big splash near me, but I couldn't see what it was in the darkness. I thought maybe a Humpback Whale just under the surface that I scared, as I've heard there are already sightings around the Islands(seems like it's about 2-months early for that). Heard another big splash an hour later, just as the sun peeked over the horizon, turned back and all I saw was a big swirl. Hmmmm, hard to tell with the rough sea & swell conditions.

Half hour latter, I set out an 8" Ta'ape(Blue Stripped Snapper), lip hooked, wire leader, 65 p.pro/60lb. Mono top. Within about 10 min., he had it. YES! After he felt the hook, he went almost straight down—110ft., but not fast. Fought like a big Shark. Oh, oh, the drag was torqued pretty good, the yak was tilting over  about 25 degrees and I could see it was useless to try and get the rig(TN4 tank, Tib. frame, Cortez Classic plates, Pro Challenger drag sys. and  SS guts; Ugly Stick 30-50 rod) up out of the pole holder. Very rough sea and swell waves now and he was pulling the yak sideways. Released a bunch of drag pressure and got it outta there. He never speed-up or slowed down, just a couple of head shakes as he headed South. The wind just wasn't gonna let me keep the bow pointed toward him and a few waves had already splashed over the side at that bad angle.

For a-while, I had a; Hemmingway's old man and the sea; "fish I will stay with you forever",  attitude. It was scary adrenalized fun! My arms started to burn a bit after a few minutes, and I realized I was bout 100yds. down on reel line and headed further away from shore where conditions out that way were even worse. Line was still being pulled out at that same relatively slow speed, on a very close to locked down drag—darn! Maybe time to admit defeat😢, save the rest of that expensive line, and not take a chance on getting tipped over, or end-up way out there. So I cut my line with shaky hands and my losses 😭.

I just wanted to get a good look at him. Ah well, "live to fight another day" and pray for the same thing to happen with much calmer conditions. Now I gotta re-line. Maybe just some more 80lb. mono backing and use the remaining P.Pro. Or, maybe get the 6/0 HLW 80lb./roller guide trolling rod combo ready...Failure's always an option, but this is the 3rd time. One lost after he sawed the braid-off on the reef and one lost that bit through the line. Some day soon, I WILL, I MUST: SUCCEED!

I feel bad about the line stuck in his mouth, ~ 100yds., not good. How can it NOT get stuck on something? The hook will probably corrode and fall out.
'
Fishing tackle is an art form and all fish caught on the right tackle are"Gfish"!

Wompus Cat

Aww, you had him !!!! He was just playing hard to Get.
If a Grass Hopper Carried a Shotgun then the Birds wouldn't MESS with Him

Wompus Cat

Not to make light of your experience but you did the Right thing to cut it loose  as  there is NO Telllin where you might have ended up or turned over
Maybe  ended on Gilligan's Island and we all would miss you til you hooked on another one and got back .
There is no telling what you had . As for the fish I bet it will be just fine in that deep water until the hook dissolves.
Thanks for sharing and I bet it was at least a 9 on the Pucker Scale !
If a Grass Hopper Carried a Shotgun then the Birds wouldn't MESS with Him

oc1

da da da da,  da da da da   That thumping noise would have been my heart.  Stay safe out there.

Shark Hunter

#4
Saw some kids in Florida once getting spooled with a stock 113H. They got in their Kayak and rode him around for a while.
It was a 6 foot Bull Shark. :o
Life is Good!

Dominick

pitter, patter, pucker.  Glad you are all right.  go back for more.  Dominick
Leave the gun.  Take the cannolis.

There are two things I don't like about fishing.  Getting up early in the morning and boats.  The rest of it is fun.

jurelometer

What about putting a "fuse" segment in your leaser system?  I do this with my heavy fly leaders so that a breakoff won't cost me a fly line.   But it might also be useful for kayak fishing with conventionals.   Just include a short segment of 20 or 30 lb mono  somewhere in the leader.    And if you are fishing heavy braid, it is probably nice to have a fuse if line in the spool gets tangled or dug in bad, so you are not scrambling for a knife before things start going sideways.  And no braid left behind if you snag some structure.

Not a kayak guy, so just throwing this out there as an idea.

-J

oldmanjoe

We call that a Florida sled ride,  some days it's a long paddle back from Mexico f
Grandpa`s words of wisdom......Joey that thing between your shoulders is not a hat rack.....    use it.....
A mind is like a parachute, it only work`s  when it is open.......
The power of Observation   , It`s all about the Details ..
 Forget about all the reasons why something may not work. You only need to find one good reason why it will.   Alto Mare

steelfish

wow, nice story compadre Gregg and scary at the same time.

we are fortunate to be able to be in the immense Ocean for hours and return home safe, we always take it for granted but one mistake can be our last mistake, you did good.!

The Baja Guy