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My next recap will revolve around my fist surf launch and landing experience and the fishing opportunities I missed while down in OBX.
Before I left for vacation I planned on fishing out front as many times as I could. When I got to the beach that fell to the side due to several issues. Issue one involved great food, friends and drink. Lots of drink. The second issue was the portage to the beach involved several large sets of stairs over the dunes. I did not expect the stairs when planning and it would be a pain in the tail to get everything out to the beach from the house by my self.
Enough excuses.
I finally got the chance to launch on Wednesday afternoon. I just took the basics with me on this first voyage thru the surf. I loaded everything below deck on my voyage out. The trident works great for this. Everything was below deck and electronics were in dry bags. Nothing to worry about if I turtle on the way out. The wave’s were small the previous days and that did not change this day. I had no problem making it out and everything went great.
After making it out about 1/8 mile I stopped and pulled all my gear out of the rod pod and rigged everything up. I went with a Gulp grub on a fish finder rig for the bait rod and a large float with 4ft of seven strand and a 7/0 circle hook. I got a nice bait size croaker right away and it quickly was hooked through the back and tossed out. I turned the clicker on the Avet and placed the rod in the rear holder.
In 10 mins I noticed the bait getting nervous and thrashing behind it. Oh no it must be piranhas….
Nope it was small blues devouring the bait. I caught another small croaker and out it went. This time the line went slack and my float went missing. Hum I reeled the slack up and felt the weight and bam the fish started running hard. Could not tell what it was but it let go about 20 secs later. I reeled in the rig to find a croaker head attached. My best guess was a small shark judging the bite size.
Without any bait I made a paddle back closer to shore to catch some more croakers. On the way back a saw a large pod of dolphins. I tried to get close to them and get some video but they went down before I got close enough. During this time a saw a Spanish Mac launch out of the water next to me. I got excited and made several blind casts but saw no action. I trolled a metal back to my starting location as well with no love.
I caught another croaker and rigged it up for a new drift. This time I saw it coming. About 20 yards from my float a pair of fins appeared. I thought oh snap it’s about to go down. The shark quickly made a bee line to the bait and took it. I paused put the reel in gear and pulled tight. All hell broke loose and the shark (4ft spinner) proceeded to do a Sea-World move and launched its self 7ft out of the water while spinning like a top. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. During this series of events I turned my camera on too late to capture this but of course I captured what happened next. After doing its best free Willy imitation the shark went under my kayak at mach 2. I tried to keep the line from going slack but to no avail and the shark broke me off under the kayak.
What a rush. I was cussing and laughing for the next 5 mins. It was an incredible sight seeing that shark liftoff like that. Time was running out so I made my way back to the shore.
Now for my second dumb mistake this OBX trip.
My friends were waiting there with a camera to film the impending disaster about top happen. I don’t know if I was confident or just high on the shark experience but I made no attempt to secure or put any items below deck. H@ll I even left my rudder down. How hard could landing be? I made it out with no issues and the waves were only 2ft. I can breeze through this.
Mistake 1. I made my landing two close to a group of swimmers. When I got to the outer breakers a noticed the group of kids and mothers in front of me. Instead of heading north or south of them I decide to angle away from them. I hit the outer breakers at a slight angle but was able to lean into the wave and brace. Great I thought that was easy.
Mistake 2. Put everything under deck and raise your rudder. After I made it thru the outer breaker I was pushed closer to the group of swimmers. I made the same direction move and was clear of the swimmers. Unfortunately this put me in a bad position for the small wash coming towards me. Hey it was only 1.5ft high and I made it thru the outer set with out an issue. I calmly paddled broad side into the wave and leaned into it and proceeded to do an instant turtle in knee deep water.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha Haaaahhhhahahahaaha
I popped up next to the kayak looking like a fool with a group of mothers and children sloshing towards me. When I flipped I somehow managed to pop back up with a rod in one hand and some kids lost goggles in the other. Everything else I had on the kayak was in the suds. There were mothers and children all around me picking my stuff out of the water and handing it back to me. And all of this is on film.
After I pulled everything back to shore I realized one of my budget build rods was still missing. Luckily after 5 mins one of the kids found it and I thanked him by offering the lost goggles. Not a great trade but its all I had on me. Defeated as a man I headed back to the house to prepare for the oncoming video showcase to a house full of friends.
The reel on the submerged rod was almost completely seized up the next day but the Avet was I great shape. I took the reel apart and did a complete cleaning and re-lube this week and all is great now. Could have been an expensive turtle if it happened at the outer break and I lost all the gear. I’m 38 years old but still think like an impulsive teen sometimes.
This proved to be my only trip out front. I went on the Tile fish trip the next day and Friday was a complete blowout. I regret not getting out there on the first day. I would have def caught several of those sharks if I had put more time in on them.
Live and learn.
Video Recap
Off the Beach Recap Video
Before I left for vacation I planned on fishing out front as many times as I could. When I got to the beach that fell to the side due to several issues. Issue one involved great food, friends and drink. Lots of drink. The second issue was the portage to the beach involved several large sets of stairs over the dunes. I did not expect the stairs when planning and it would be a pain in the tail to get everything out to the beach from the house by my self.
Enough excuses.
I finally got the chance to launch on Wednesday afternoon. I just took the basics with me on this first voyage thru the surf. I loaded everything below deck on my voyage out. The trident works great for this. Everything was below deck and electronics were in dry bags. Nothing to worry about if I turtle on the way out. The wave’s were small the previous days and that did not change this day. I had no problem making it out and everything went great.
After making it out about 1/8 mile I stopped and pulled all my gear out of the rod pod and rigged everything up. I went with a Gulp grub on a fish finder rig for the bait rod and a large float with 4ft of seven strand and a 7/0 circle hook. I got a nice bait size croaker right away and it quickly was hooked through the back and tossed out. I turned the clicker on the Avet and placed the rod in the rear holder.
In 10 mins I noticed the bait getting nervous and thrashing behind it. Oh no it must be piranhas….
Nope it was small blues devouring the bait. I caught another small croaker and out it went. This time the line went slack and my float went missing. Hum I reeled the slack up and felt the weight and bam the fish started running hard. Could not tell what it was but it let go about 20 secs later. I reeled in the rig to find a croaker head attached. My best guess was a small shark judging the bite size.
Without any bait I made a paddle back closer to shore to catch some more croakers. On the way back a saw a large pod of dolphins. I tried to get close to them and get some video but they went down before I got close enough. During this time a saw a Spanish Mac launch out of the water next to me. I got excited and made several blind casts but saw no action. I trolled a metal back to my starting location as well with no love.
I caught another croaker and rigged it up for a new drift. This time I saw it coming. About 20 yards from my float a pair of fins appeared. I thought oh snap it’s about to go down. The shark quickly made a bee line to the bait and took it. I paused put the reel in gear and pulled tight. All hell broke loose and the shark (4ft spinner) proceeded to do a Sea-World move and launched its self 7ft out of the water while spinning like a top. It was one of the coolest experiences I have ever had. During this series of events I turned my camera on too late to capture this but of course I captured what happened next. After doing its best free Willy imitation the shark went under my kayak at mach 2. I tried to keep the line from going slack but to no avail and the shark broke me off under the kayak.
What a rush. I was cussing and laughing for the next 5 mins. It was an incredible sight seeing that shark liftoff like that. Time was running out so I made my way back to the shore.
Now for my second dumb mistake this OBX trip.
My friends were waiting there with a camera to film the impending disaster about top happen. I don’t know if I was confident or just high on the shark experience but I made no attempt to secure or put any items below deck. H@ll I even left my rudder down. How hard could landing be? I made it out with no issues and the waves were only 2ft. I can breeze through this.
Mistake 1. I made my landing two close to a group of swimmers. When I got to the outer breakers a noticed the group of kids and mothers in front of me. Instead of heading north or south of them I decide to angle away from them. I hit the outer breakers at a slight angle but was able to lean into the wave and brace. Great I thought that was easy.
Mistake 2. Put everything under deck and raise your rudder. After I made it thru the outer breaker I was pushed closer to the group of swimmers. I made the same direction move and was clear of the swimmers. Unfortunately this put me in a bad position for the small wash coming towards me. Hey it was only 1.5ft high and I made it thru the outer set with out an issue. I calmly paddled broad side into the wave and leaned into it and proceeded to do an instant turtle in knee deep water.
Hahahahahahahahahahahaha Haaaahhhhahahahaaha
I popped up next to the kayak looking like a fool with a group of mothers and children sloshing towards me. When I flipped I somehow managed to pop back up with a rod in one hand and some kids lost goggles in the other. Everything else I had on the kayak was in the suds. There were mothers and children all around me picking my stuff out of the water and handing it back to me. And all of this is on film.
After I pulled everything back to shore I realized one of my budget build rods was still missing. Luckily after 5 mins one of the kids found it and I thanked him by offering the lost goggles. Not a great trade but its all I had on me. Defeated as a man I headed back to the house to prepare for the oncoming video showcase to a house full of friends.
The reel on the submerged rod was almost completely seized up the next day but the Avet was I great shape. I took the reel apart and did a complete cleaning and re-lube this week and all is great now. Could have been an expensive turtle if it happened at the outer break and I lost all the gear. I’m 38 years old but still think like an impulsive teen sometimes.
This proved to be my only trip out front. I went on the Tile fish trip the next day and Friday was a complete blowout. I regret not getting out there on the first day. I would have def caught several of those sharks if I had put more time in on them.
Live and learn.
Video Recap
Off the Beach Recap Video