1st Time

[ronaultmtd]

Launched this morning at 5:30 at Piney Point- worked the shallows around the front and caught some medium bluefish on a Bonadonk top water using a walk the dog retrieve. Got tired of 1-2 pound Blues so I moved into a little deeper water and bam! big Rockfish smashed the lure- Love the Lexa 300 drag- smooth, smooth strong drag- Got the fish to the boat a dozen times but it wouldn't open its mouth for the gripper- noticed the treble was tearing the lip when it jumped and bounced the Bonadonk off the boat- if I had a net that fish would have been mine! I took a bunch of pictures of the fish and the rose hue of the sky- Anyway, the sun was coming up and the tide was ripping so I headed for my target zone to catch reds and specks- I arrived and set my pattern- wasn't long before I had my first fish; a 17 inch striper- picture and release- I trolled for about an hour catching croakers, white perch and small stripers when my rod bent and drag started singing- I knew it was a big fish by the amount of line it took on the first run- I was concerned about losing the fish after losing the keeper striper- I suspected it was a redfish by the way it was running drag- after a few minutes I had it along side the Outback in 4 feet of water- and the wind was starting to blow pretty hard from the SW so I headed out into 7 feet of water so the other line wouldn't get tangled when landing the fish- I reached for the fish with the lip gripper and it lunged under the back left side of my Outback- I reached for the fish and Blam! I was under water, the kayak was on top of me and everything was floating around me-I was amazed how fast it happened with no warning- like one second it was fine, the next I was flipped over in the water- it took me a few seconds to realize what I needed to do- I recently made a stake out pole- I swam the boat into four feet of water and shoved the stakeout pole in the sandy bottom and clipped the pole to the yak to keep it from being blown/drifting away- I swam back and started diving for the rods and reels- got them all and the fish was no longer on. My digital waterproof camera was gone and all my keys were gone- somehow in all this they had come out of my pockets- My IPhone and wallet were still with me so I pulled the yak onto two feet of water and staked it out while wading fifty yards to the beach to pickup my plastic Plano lure boxes that had washed up on the beach and the bags of Gulp/Bass Assassins- Took me a while but I found 95% of everything except my keys and Nikon camera- My IPhone has the LifeProof case so it was fine- I called my wife and told her what happened and asked her to bring my spare key to my truck fifty miles to Piney Point- You should have heard the chin music I had to endure...but two hours later, she shows up and I head home- none the worse for wear, and having learned an important lesson I already knew but in a moment of carelessness, forgot- do not lean over reaching for a fish!! I need to tear all my reels apart and get the sand and grit out of them- I rinsed them good when I got home but they will require a complete teardown and repacking grease, oiling etc.

[Mike]

Wow, glad you're ok. Great story and a few good lessons buried in there as well. 1. Get waterproof phone case and 2. put a hide-a-key on my truck just went onto my to-do list. Somehow I bet the story your wife is telling her friends is a lot less exciting than the one you wrote!

-Mike

[J.A. Veil]

That was a tough break. Sorry you took a spill. I imagine your wife will remind you of this many times over the next year or so.

[TalonAngler]

Glad to hear that you survived the turtle Ron! Although you lost your camera and keys, I'm sure part of you was happy that the fishing gear survived mostly intact.

[DonV]

Happened to me earlier this year. Little embarrassing I as I was being lazy with trying to answer the call of nature and leaned a little to far. It is quick thing with no time to react once you get going. Took a few trips back in the saddle before I felt comfortable again, always felt a little tippy.
Lost a rod/reel and ruined a phone. I try not to get lazy now, making sure things are stowed and lashed. I still do as sometimes the ease of getting to something outweighs my concern about losing it and i get a little sloppy when the fishing gets hot.

[volboy23]

Glad to hear that you are ok and got most of it back!

[Southerly]

thanks for reporting. I think we all feel like it won't happen. but it can.

that's ok - I think it's very likely not to be a big deal, if you know it can happen and prepare a little. wear your pfd, practice recovery/reentry, reduce unsecured gear, waterproof phone. glad to hear things mostly worked out ok for you.

I dropped overboard, then recovered a rod/reel a couple months ago. I rinsed it some but didn't take the cover off. sure enough, a week or so later, it starts binding. I took it apart, cleaned and lubed and it's now running superior to its twin.

[Mark]

Wow. That's a sobering story.

You had good presence of mind to recover so quickly.

I'm glad you're OK and that you got most of your stuff back.

[ronaultmtd]

I was embarrassed to tell it on me, but after three years of kayaking and dozens of fishing trips it is my first turtle- and it happens so fast you can't do anything to stop the turtle- and now that it has, I have to make some new assumptions that it will happen again- sometime unexpected, out of the blue- and I found out that my Lowrance Elite 5 is waterproof-

[kevinfry]

glad ur ok.....BTW, nothing but little blues at ASt Jeromes

[Redfish12]

Glad you're ok! When it comes to catching a turtle, it's not if, it's when! Glad to hear you recovered the important stuff!

I tried for reds further upstream by the VA side of the 301 bridge, plenty of perch, small rock, tiny bluefish, catfish, and even largemouth bass! I was surprised to find them that far down but they were fairly large and fought much harder than their brothers upstream. I missed one that was easily over 20"!

[M_Duong60]

I think the important thing is that everything turned out ok, but most of all you saved the lexa lol

[moc]

I am glad that you are ok Ron. They always say that everyone will turtle once if they kayak long enough in their kayaking career.

[Hemingway]

Some good lessons for all of us in your story, Ron. I have always put my keys and wallet in a small waterproof float bag and clipped it to the yak. I have already lost one nice camera, so now I tether it to a pocket ring on my PDF. It's the rods that are at risk the most. I have one of the big money rigs on a leash, but as I have upgraded equipment, their are a couple more it would hurt to lose. I have not leashed the rest out of fear of creating a rat's nest of tangled cords on the deck or in a worst case around me if I turtle. Is anyone else running multiple leashes without issue?
Glad you stayed calm and and came through it about the best anyone could hoped for.

[Fishinfool]

I can just imagine how easy it is for a turtle to happen when fighting a big fish near the boat. Your focus is all on the fish and getting him landed. I am sure you had your pfd on, but this is another good reminder never to take it off. Seven feet of water can be just as lethal as seventy or seven hundred.

I got fully dunked, not a full turtle in March of 2012. Water temp was in the forties, but I was on a pier trying to get back into the yak about two feet below me by myself. I won't do that again. Lost a Blackberry, a rod and a few pieces of tackle. Ride home was cold.