Kayak trips & fishing reports 2010

[DarkSkies]

Some pics






A bass on the tube Finchaser made for me. The cool thing about this tube was that he put the weight inside the top of the tube to make it more streamlined. He also put circle hooks on them. Every bass I got on this tube hooked itself in the corner of it's mouth. This made for a quick and easy C&R.




One of the red translucent tubes I already had. This is a 23" tube. I had a 1 oz weight on this, and a 3/4 oz on the black tube, about 15".

[DarkSkies]

Another bass on the Finchaser black tube.





Still more...







When I first started I wondered if the red or black would produce more. It seemed pretty equal for that day.

[DarkSkies]

Double header -






Frank had been commonly catching double headers. I saw him get at least 1 that day.

(This technically wasn't a double header, but close.) I hooked one bass, and as I was drifting and fighting it a bass hit the other tube as it lay in the water.

These tubes (with sandworm) are like crack to bass, they're amazing fish catchers.

The most exciting thing to me about the tubes is I'm an action junkie, and this type of fishing fills that requirement in my brain. Even though most were small fish, they still hit hard, like a ton of bricks. I lost one on the red tube that may have been larger because my mind was somewhere else when it hit.




A big debt of gratitude to Frank, the maniac kayaker who can outfish mostly anyone out there, without using a pedal yak. He's using a small SIK kayak with a paddle to slay these fish, consistently scoring double digit catches every time he launches. He invited me to fish with him, and I got to see all the stuff I had been doing wrong. I'll write that in another post to help the new guys out there.

In the meantime, thanks for the hospitality and advice, Frank. It was a blast to catch schoolies in the middle of a bright day in the heat of summer.

[Monty]

Great report Dark, lots of action, lovin the pics!!!

[surferman]

Nice report dark, great photo's.

[rip316]

Yes indeed. Congrats Dark.

[DarkSkies]

Fished last night in the yak trying to get a jump on the forecast Earl bad weather conditions. Got 4 bass 24-26" on the T&W before it got dark, then spent a few hours playing with slab porgies to 14".

[DarkSkies]

Same drill again this morning. Slept in the yak on the beach. Up at 6, long paddle, hour long paddle to the first stop.


Nice fat bass





First bass by 8AM, 30" on T&W, released. Rounded out the morning with an 8#bluefish and a 27" bass, plus some more slab porgies I managed to find, and a few short ones.


Angry bluefish, got on yellow tube in open water






The weather really did not turn out as bad as they forecast for the bay area I fished. I could have stayed there for another night but had things to do. The T&W is becoming a very addictive thing for me. It magically draws bass to it, even when it appears there are none around. You still have to work to keep the presentation right, but when everything comes together it's a definite high.

[Monty]

Dark, another great report. Great pics. Had you fished the T&W before these last few outings? You seem to be doing great with it.

[DarkSkies]

I'm a newbie googan to the T&W world, Monty.

I tried it on my own because I hate to ask people things when I want to learn something.

A maniac kayaker and friend showed me some of the fine tuning he was doing. It helped a lot. Basically you troll along structure, keeping tight to it wthout getting too deep or too shallow.

A depth finder would help tremendously in this effort. However, my friend doesn't use electronics and nails 20 or more bass every time he's out there. So I'm inclined to follow in his lead.

When I first started I was a little sloppy and missing fish.

Finchaser also deserves some credit. He heard I was on a T&W kick, and waddya know, he made me up some killer tubes, thick ones, thin ones, different sizes, with circle hooks. The circles are great if you consider that a lot of bass are under 28". It really bothers me to release a bleeding fish, so the circles are perfect.

Another talent Fin has is to make the tube based on the natural curve of the coil. There's a lot of articles out there about wire tubes and the right bend. That's important. But with Fin, he starts with the right bend to begin with, just like he does when he makes a rod "splining the rod". IMO it makes all the difference in the world.

So again, I owe much gratitude to those who have extended their helping hands, even if the hand belongs to a Grouchy Bassturd.

[vpass]

Hey Dark, how's the Kayak on your back? How long do you stay out on the Yak?

[DarkSkies]

Not bad, Vpass. I ain't in the best shape in the world, but used to win kickboard contests in the pool with my legs. They're still strong, so I can pedal for a while without a break. And when you compare pedaling with paddling, all I can think of is how easy it is out there, no matter what the weather.

As for my back, I've had issues when sitting for hours at a time, but have since reclined my seat slightly more back, and it seems easier. The good thing to do is find a place to stretch your legs every now and then when ya hit the shore or rockpiles to take a leak.

That's what works for me.

Let me know if you guys want to test drive the Hobie sometime. If you have a rack to hold it on top of your vehicle, that would be even better as I'm still working on bringing 2 out there.

It's so effortless that when I get in the paddle yak with Pebbles, I'm a little disappointed now. I've been spoiled by the Mirage drive. The only thing that brightens it up on that yak is her sunshine smile.

[finchaser]

Not bad, Vpass. I ain't in the best shape in the world, but used to win kickboard contests in the pool with my legs. They're still strong, so I can pedal for a while without a break. And when you compare pedaling with paddling, all I can think of is how easy it is out there, no matter what the weather.

As for my back, I've had issues when sitting for hours at a time, but have since reclined my seat slightly more back, and it seems easier. The good thing to do is find a place to stretch your legs every now and then when ya hit the shore or rockpiles to take a leak.

That's what works for me.

Let me know if you guys want to test drive the Hobie sometime. If you have a rack to hold it on top of your vehicle, that would be even better as I'm still working on bringing 2 out there.

It's so effortless that when I get in the paddle yak with Pebbles, I'm a little disappointed now. I've been spoiled by the Mirage drive. The only thing that brightens it up on that yak is her sunshine smile.

In a bottle of coarse

[storminsteve]

In a bottle of coarse

Yeah, a message in a bottle.
Just kidding, great report and pics. You were out there when everyone else was ranting and raving how bad it would be, and you were catching fish. I'm jealous, looks like you had a blast.

[DarkSkies]

^ Steve, you guys are welcome to come along, I'll bring another yak. But ya gotta have a way to transport it.

The offer starts after G comes out with me on the yak, cause I owe him a trip first.

In a bottle of coarse

Of course, I would never advocate public urination in the wilderness.

[fishinmission78]

Nice report, good action Dark.

[DarkSkies]

I took Pebbles for a quick yak trip today before all the Holiday boaters and fishermen would be out there. It was a little too sunny and I think extra traffic put the fish off the bite.




She still managed 3 bass on the T&W, on one of Finchaser's tubes.

We only had time to fish 2 hours of the ebb. The tide was pretty high today, we passed through some nice water. I wanted to take her to a good spot 2 miles away, but today we tried an experiment and put 2 of us on a 1 person Hobie.

I didn't want to chance it with a long trip and have us dump the yak. The last 2 times I had her out, we've been in storm or high wind situations, and pushed her boundaries. She's a brave girl, but I want to keep her interested without putting her in danger. So today we hung close to the launch spot, traveling at most a mile round-trip.

It seemed that even though we trolled a productive area, lots of bait and rocky bottom, I couldn't find a fish for her. I was getting a little embarassed as I promised her a fish.

Murphy's Laws of Fishing....never promise anyone a fish, no matter how good the fishing has been, unless you like embarassing yourself.








After an hour of trolling the T&W, a 22" bass hit her T&W. Mission accomplished, everything is easier after you hit the first one.

[DarkSkies]

(continued)

Still more trolling with no action convinced us that area was not loaded up with schoolies like it usually was, so we decided to bag it and head for the put-in spot.

I had nailed one bass on the way back last week when I was out, by carelessly trolling the T&W on the way back to the put-in. We set up for the troll, and she nailed 2 small bass in the space of 5 minutes. That tells me the smaller bass were a lot closer than we imagined today.



Pebbles' bass #2











So, for the day, the score was Pebbles 3, Dark 0.

I spent a lot of time maneuvering the yak for good trolling runs and positioning us for good structure (and taking pics). Still, I did fish, and she kicked my azz fair and square.

I'm proud of her, her first time yak bass fishin the T&W, and she nails 3 bass. What a girl!

Pebbles' bass #3






And she got them all on the Finchaser black tube w/ circle hook for quick release.


This is a pic of some MEGA SWANS! We saw these, they were about 15lbs apiece, bigger than any we've ever seen since we've been "chasing" them. She dared me to take the pic and put it up as a present to Finchaser.

She also wanted to thank Finchaser for making up such great tubes that got her her first-time T&W bass.





We got back to the launch, loaded up, and were back in time to avoid all the traffic, a definite bonus for Labor Day.

[finchaser]

(continued)

Still more trolling with no action convinced us that area was not loaded up with schoolies like it usually was, so we decided to bag it and head for the put-in spot.

I had nailed one bass on the way back last week when I was out, by carelessly trolling the T&W on the way back to the put-in. We set up for the troll, and she nailed 2 small bass in the space of 5 minutes. That tells me the smaller bass were a lot closer than we imagined today.



Pebbles' bass #2











So, for the day, the score was Pebbles 3, Dark 0.

I spent a lot of time maneuvering the yak for good trolling runs and positioning us for good structure (and taking pics). Still, I did fish, and she kicked my azz fair and square.

I'm proud of her, her first time yak bass fishin the T&W, and she nails 3 bass. What a girl!

Pebbles' bass #3






And she got them all on the Finchaser black tube w/ circle hook for quick release.


This is a pic of some MEGA SWANS! We saw these, they were about 15lbs apiece, bigger than any we've ever seen since we've been "chasing" them. She dared me to take the pic and put it up as a present to Finchaser.

She also wanted to thank Finchaser for making up such great tubes that got her her first-time T&W bass.





We got back to the launch, loaded up, and were back in time to avoid all the traffic, a definite bonus for Labor Day.

Gotta love it Pebbles with her bass and Dark with his swans what a way to end summer

Pebbles your very welcome,anything you need let me know

[jigfreak]

It seemed that even though we trolled a productive area, lots of bait and rocky bottom, I couldn't find a fish for her. I was getting a little embarassed as I promised her a fish.

Murphy's Laws of Fishing....never promise anyone a fish, no matter how good the fishing has been, unless you like embarassing yourself.

Or don't count the chickens before they hatch!
Happy for Pebbles, sucks to be you, Dark.