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Hi All,
As a new Kayak Angler I am real reluctant to offer advice but I thought my experiences yesterday might help others or at least offer a good read.
The Story:
We left at dawn and paddled from Camp Wright to the bridge.. about 4 of us together. After a 45 minutes paddle we arrived. I checked the wind and decided to paddle up wind a ways to setup my gear, thinking the wind would push me back under the bridge. I didn't want to drift onto someone else's setup and mess them up while I was messing with my gear. I had just gotten my squid cut up for my bottom rig when a wave pushed my Yak a bit, since I was close to the weight limit of the yak and was concentrating on managing hooks and not my balance I went over.
I immediately felt the fishing line wrap around my legs. I remember reaching down and braking the 25lb mono with my hands.. I also remember getting my knife out and cutting line.. in those first few seconds I am not sure but perhaps I did both. Once I determined I was relatively safe I stopped and assessed the situation. I have done a ton of fishing and have dumped canoes before and have bobbed with a life preserver in deep water in the past so I knew my nice new PDF could be trusted. I did not panic at all (though I started regretting my obsession with Shark Week, even knowing there are not many sharks in the Bay). At this time I noticed that I had actually drifted AGAINST the wind, something that never happened to me before. Apparently the bay has this thing called a tide.. weird. Looking around there was NO ONE NEAR me.. I had drifted even further from the bridge. This is where I started getting a little nervous.
Before setting out on this trip I had researched and watched a bunch of videos on deep water recovery. This was INVALUABLE, I had the basics down on what I SHOULD be doing and got piece of mind from that. I easily got my Yak turned right side up, poles, wheels and all. I then swam around getting any of the floating things back in the yak.. believe it or not I was worried about littering.. kinda silly of me I suppose. I then attempted a wet entry.. which didn't go well, I dumped the kayak again. I did this whole process two more times... including the whole swim around and pickup debris routine.
I rested a bit. I knew there was an emergency boat making rounds and thought EVENTUALLY someone would notice my predicament. I got thirsty and pondered the wisdom of reaching in and getting one of my sodas and drinking that. I knew it was a HUGE mistake to leave the boat so I started swimming back towards the bridge pulling the boat. I remember thinking that it would be about 3 or 4 hours to tow my yak all the way back to shore. It was then that I decided I might call for help. The nearest Yak was pretty far away but I am known to have a big mouth. After a few yells he noticed me and pedaled over (Hobie Outback). He was able to apply enough counter preassure to my yak to allow me to do a wet entry. Once back on my yak I got situated and faced a 45 minute paddle back to the beach. I left towards shallower water immediately.
Lessons Learned.
1. Don't Go alone and stay near your buddies. This is something I failed at, I allowed myself to drift away form someone that could have called the emergency boat or simply applied some counter pressure.
2. When doing something new, research what you are doing. The videos of doing a recovery offered a lot of piece of mind and made it easier for my rescuer to help me.
3. Get a good PDF and trust it (not wearing a PDF in a YAK is not an option). Since I knew I could bob indefinitely in my PDF and have practiced it in the past I felt no sense of panic. My son will never step foot in a Kayak until he is comfortable floating in his pdf (he is not currently). I would recommend going to a swim beach and go out in your PDF and practice floating in it. Plus it is fun.
4. A whistle is cheap.. have one on you. I could have really used one.
5. Don't overload your Yak
6. Never lose your concentration on your balance.
Kayak Fishing Impressions:
One of the neatest things of the day.. I was drifting in shallow water outside Camp Write just enjoying the day and I noticed a couple pods of bait fish jumping on the surface. I figured I would throw a spinner through them and see if I could get something that was scaring them. It was really neat to sit there silently hearing the popping of the fish jumping as they swarmed around my kayak, I could see their shapes in the water.. a real "one with nature" type of experience and it was only possible because I was in a Kayak. A boat would have been a much less experience.
Catching a fish (al be it a small one) was neat.. The whole process of where to put your pole, how to manage the fish, how to manage getting the hook out of the fish without sticking yourself or damaging the fish further, where to put the pole and hook now that it is out, how to measure the fish.. all without dumping your kayak.. adds a whole new dimension to fishing.
The process of Kayaking and the process of fishing are both involved things. Fishing from a kayak makes fishing more complex, you have to fish and manage your kayak and keep your balance. Kayaking while fishing makes kayaking more complex, you are kayaking but now you splitting your attention with the fishing aspect. I believe that we don't do things that are hard enough in life.
Why did I make my first attempt at fishing from a kayak at the bay bridge? Mostly because the opportunity presented itself, but also because I am the kind of person who likes to "go big or go home". It was a great experience, perhaps it was kind of stupid, but it was a great time. In the end I got what I wanted out of the weekend... apart from having fun I got to determine what things I want in a kayak based on actual experience, not just youtube reviews. I now know that I can sit in a "non bench style" seat comfortably and perhaps this style is better for me because the center of gravity is lower, that opens up my options for a kayak. I also now know stability is a VERY important thing in a yak for me... a better kayaker may not care as much but it is high on my list now.
As a new Kayak Angler I am real reluctant to offer advice but I thought my experiences yesterday might help others or at least offer a good read.
The Story:
We left at dawn and paddled from Camp Wright to the bridge.. about 4 of us together. After a 45 minutes paddle we arrived. I checked the wind and decided to paddle up wind a ways to setup my gear, thinking the wind would push me back under the bridge. I didn't want to drift onto someone else's setup and mess them up while I was messing with my gear. I had just gotten my squid cut up for my bottom rig when a wave pushed my Yak a bit, since I was close to the weight limit of the yak and was concentrating on managing hooks and not my balance I went over.
I immediately felt the fishing line wrap around my legs. I remember reaching down and braking the 25lb mono with my hands.. I also remember getting my knife out and cutting line.. in those first few seconds I am not sure but perhaps I did both. Once I determined I was relatively safe I stopped and assessed the situation. I have done a ton of fishing and have dumped canoes before and have bobbed with a life preserver in deep water in the past so I knew my nice new PDF could be trusted. I did not panic at all (though I started regretting my obsession with Shark Week, even knowing there are not many sharks in the Bay). At this time I noticed that I had actually drifted AGAINST the wind, something that never happened to me before. Apparently the bay has this thing called a tide.. weird. Looking around there was NO ONE NEAR me.. I had drifted even further from the bridge. This is where I started getting a little nervous.
Before setting out on this trip I had researched and watched a bunch of videos on deep water recovery. This was INVALUABLE, I had the basics down on what I SHOULD be doing and got piece of mind from that. I easily got my Yak turned right side up, poles, wheels and all. I then swam around getting any of the floating things back in the yak.. believe it or not I was worried about littering.. kinda silly of me I suppose. I then attempted a wet entry.. which didn't go well, I dumped the kayak again. I did this whole process two more times... including the whole swim around and pickup debris routine.
I rested a bit. I knew there was an emergency boat making rounds and thought EVENTUALLY someone would notice my predicament. I got thirsty and pondered the wisdom of reaching in and getting one of my sodas and drinking that. I knew it was a HUGE mistake to leave the boat so I started swimming back towards the bridge pulling the boat. I remember thinking that it would be about 3 or 4 hours to tow my yak all the way back to shore. It was then that I decided I might call for help. The nearest Yak was pretty far away but I am known to have a big mouth. After a few yells he noticed me and pedaled over (Hobie Outback). He was able to apply enough counter preassure to my yak to allow me to do a wet entry. Once back on my yak I got situated and faced a 45 minute paddle back to the beach. I left towards shallower water immediately.
Lessons Learned.
1. Don't Go alone and stay near your buddies. This is something I failed at, I allowed myself to drift away form someone that could have called the emergency boat or simply applied some counter pressure.
2. When doing something new, research what you are doing. The videos of doing a recovery offered a lot of piece of mind and made it easier for my rescuer to help me.
3. Get a good PDF and trust it (not wearing a PDF in a YAK is not an option). Since I knew I could bob indefinitely in my PDF and have practiced it in the past I felt no sense of panic. My son will never step foot in a Kayak until he is comfortable floating in his pdf (he is not currently). I would recommend going to a swim beach and go out in your PDF and practice floating in it. Plus it is fun.
4. A whistle is cheap.. have one on you. I could have really used one.
5. Don't overload your Yak
6. Never lose your concentration on your balance.
Kayak Fishing Impressions:
One of the neatest things of the day.. I was drifting in shallow water outside Camp Write just enjoying the day and I noticed a couple pods of bait fish jumping on the surface. I figured I would throw a spinner through them and see if I could get something that was scaring them. It was really neat to sit there silently hearing the popping of the fish jumping as they swarmed around my kayak, I could see their shapes in the water.. a real "one with nature" type of experience and it was only possible because I was in a Kayak. A boat would have been a much less experience.
Catching a fish (al be it a small one) was neat.. The whole process of where to put your pole, how to manage the fish, how to manage getting the hook out of the fish without sticking yourself or damaging the fish further, where to put the pole and hook now that it is out, how to measure the fish.. all without dumping your kayak.. adds a whole new dimension to fishing.
The process of Kayaking and the process of fishing are both involved things. Fishing from a kayak makes fishing more complex, you have to fish and manage your kayak and keep your balance. Kayaking while fishing makes kayaking more complex, you are kayaking but now you splitting your attention with the fishing aspect. I believe that we don't do things that are hard enough in life.
Why did I make my first attempt at fishing from a kayak at the bay bridge? Mostly because the opportunity presented itself, but also because I am the kind of person who likes to "go big or go home". It was a great experience, perhaps it was kind of stupid, but it was a great time. In the end I got what I wanted out of the weekend... apart from having fun I got to determine what things I want in a kayak based on actual experience, not just youtube reviews. I now know that I can sit in a "non bench style" seat comfortably and perhaps this style is better for me because the center of gravity is lower, that opens up my options for a kayak. I also now know stability is a VERY important thing in a yak for me... a better kayaker may not care as much but it is high on my list now.
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