ErikAllen17
01-06-2014, 08:11 PM
At the tail end of my vacation, I switched from surf fishing, to another medium of fishing... kayak fishing!
I've been yearning for a way to catch some "bigger fish" since I started surf fishing last year. From the shore, I've watched anglers on kayaks pulling in gnarly catches while I walk away skunked. So after about 4 months of research and picking people brains about kayaks, I decided on getting one.
So, as I'm ready to pull the trigger in October, the wife asks if I can wait until AFTER Xmas to buy one. Not that she was going to get me one for Xmas, but so we can use the money to buy gifts for the kids. I was not happy... I hate it when she is right! So, I reluctantly agreed and waited... to actually PAY for one that is.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/nothappy_01.jpg
I had pre-ordered my kayak from Brett Lee at Team Kayak Obsessions (www.kayakobsessions.com) well before Xmas. He worked with me and we got it all rigged up and ready to go so I could pick it up the day after Xmas... hey, I made a deal with the wife and I was going to stick to it!!!
Xmas morning came and went, and I had my kayak. Time to go and test it out! As I went outside, I noticed the wind whipping through my yard. No way am I going to learn to kayak in this. So in my garage it sat... a jungle gym for my kids instead of the stealth fish slaying machine it actually was!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/Kayak_12-25-2013_02.jpg
The first place I took it was in the swimming pool to learn to flip and recover it. No sense driving and hour to a lake to practice, I got a pool 5 minutes from me. Talk about funny looks when you roll into an apartment community's pool carrying a 14 foot kayak over your head!
:ROFL:
The next day I decided to try the lake... damn, windy again. And again, and again... :Guns:
Finally, a perfectly calm day came on the 31st. I loaded the 70lb boat onto the roof racks of my Tahoe (not fun on a lifted truck, btw) and headed to Castaic's Lower Lagoon. The Lower Lagoon doesn't allow motor boats, so this was perfect… kind of like kindergarten for small boats, kayaks and tubers. I paddled for about 4 hours... didn't catch a thing, but who cared. This was about learning how my boat worked and it worked great.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/Castaic_12-31-2013_01.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/Castaic_12-31-2013_02.jpg
A couple days later I made plans with ‘midgettosser1’ to meet up in Marina Del Rey to fish the harbor. We were launched and on the water by 8am and started paddling and throwing. We saw TONS of bait fish jumping, but didn’t even get a bite. Must’ve been the Red Tide that was all around the harbor that day. We made our way towards the breakwall and that’s when I started to get some tugs. You can literally see schools of 12-15” Smelt swimming under our boats as well as Garibaldi in the kelp near the breakwall. It was really cool to see so clearly. Total change from being on the sand where the surf churns everything up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ1TA76ZbVQ
I started catch Smelt after Smelt… 4 total. The first one I reeled in all the way, took the “skunkbuster” photo and released him. Since it's not a fish you'd normally keep, I was not in the mood to catch them. However, the next one came almost immediately and when I got him close to the boat, I decided to shake the rod a little in hopes that he would unbutton. It worked... and same for the 3rd catch. As I reeled in the 4th one, there was no way he was coming off that hook. He (like the 1st one) swallowed all 3 trebles. Talk about tricky getting him unhooked! I let him go and then cut off my lure. I didn’t want to catch anymore Smelt… I wanted something BETTER!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/MDR_01-02-2014_01.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPQ2B381E7k
We fished around the entire breakwall and into the open ocean a little. I have to be honest... it was kind of scary for me since it was my first outing on the ocean and we ended up so far from shore. But it was cool and things went just fine. Only problem was, there were no fish biting. I’m not sure what Mike tried, but I personally tied on about 3 different lures, swimbaits, irons, dropshot rigs… nothing was working!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/MDR_01-02-2014_02.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/MDR_01-02-2014_03.jpg
We decided to call it a day around noon and started the long paddle back. I’d like to thank Mike ‘midgettosser1’ for showing me the ropes for my first outing in the ocean. Thanks buddy… we’ll get ‘em next time.
On my last day of vacation, the wife and kids wanted to take the kayak out so they can try it out. We headed to Ventura Harbor (much closer than MDR) and launched around 3:30pm. It was getting dark and the boats were all coming in for the day, so we stayed in the little “beach cove” near the jetties and I paddled each of the kids around there. When my son’s turn came, he insisted that I turn on the fish finder and drop a line. So I let him fish for about 20 min... nothing came of it, but it was the idea he was fishing on a boat that made him happy. Right before sunset, the wife and I packed up the boat and headed to Andria’s for dinner.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/VenturaHarbor_01-05-2014_01.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/VenturaHarbor_01-05-2014_02.jpg
My 19 days off had come to a close… had plenty of great days fishing with friends; old and new. Thanks to everyone who made my time off special and I look forward to fishing with each and every one of you more often in 2014! From the entire Allen Family... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/TheAllens_2013.jpg
I've been yearning for a way to catch some "bigger fish" since I started surf fishing last year. From the shore, I've watched anglers on kayaks pulling in gnarly catches while I walk away skunked. So after about 4 months of research and picking people brains about kayaks, I decided on getting one.
So, as I'm ready to pull the trigger in October, the wife asks if I can wait until AFTER Xmas to buy one. Not that she was going to get me one for Xmas, but so we can use the money to buy gifts for the kids. I was not happy... I hate it when she is right! So, I reluctantly agreed and waited... to actually PAY for one that is.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/nothappy_01.jpg
I had pre-ordered my kayak from Brett Lee at Team Kayak Obsessions (www.kayakobsessions.com) well before Xmas. He worked with me and we got it all rigged up and ready to go so I could pick it up the day after Xmas... hey, I made a deal with the wife and I was going to stick to it!!!
Xmas morning came and went, and I had my kayak. Time to go and test it out! As I went outside, I noticed the wind whipping through my yard. No way am I going to learn to kayak in this. So in my garage it sat... a jungle gym for my kids instead of the stealth fish slaying machine it actually was!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/Kayak_12-25-2013_02.jpg
The first place I took it was in the swimming pool to learn to flip and recover it. No sense driving and hour to a lake to practice, I got a pool 5 minutes from me. Talk about funny looks when you roll into an apartment community's pool carrying a 14 foot kayak over your head!
:ROFL:
The next day I decided to try the lake... damn, windy again. And again, and again... :Guns:
Finally, a perfectly calm day came on the 31st. I loaded the 70lb boat onto the roof racks of my Tahoe (not fun on a lifted truck, btw) and headed to Castaic's Lower Lagoon. The Lower Lagoon doesn't allow motor boats, so this was perfect… kind of like kindergarten for small boats, kayaks and tubers. I paddled for about 4 hours... didn't catch a thing, but who cared. This was about learning how my boat worked and it worked great.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/Castaic_12-31-2013_01.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/Castaic_12-31-2013_02.jpg
A couple days later I made plans with ‘midgettosser1’ to meet up in Marina Del Rey to fish the harbor. We were launched and on the water by 8am and started paddling and throwing. We saw TONS of bait fish jumping, but didn’t even get a bite. Must’ve been the Red Tide that was all around the harbor that day. We made our way towards the breakwall and that’s when I started to get some tugs. You can literally see schools of 12-15” Smelt swimming under our boats as well as Garibaldi in the kelp near the breakwall. It was really cool to see so clearly. Total change from being on the sand where the surf churns everything up.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZ1TA76ZbVQ
I started catch Smelt after Smelt… 4 total. The first one I reeled in all the way, took the “skunkbuster” photo and released him. Since it's not a fish you'd normally keep, I was not in the mood to catch them. However, the next one came almost immediately and when I got him close to the boat, I decided to shake the rod a little in hopes that he would unbutton. It worked... and same for the 3rd catch. As I reeled in the 4th one, there was no way he was coming off that hook. He (like the 1st one) swallowed all 3 trebles. Talk about tricky getting him unhooked! I let him go and then cut off my lure. I didn’t want to catch anymore Smelt… I wanted something BETTER!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/MDR_01-02-2014_01.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPQ2B381E7k
We fished around the entire breakwall and into the open ocean a little. I have to be honest... it was kind of scary for me since it was my first outing on the ocean and we ended up so far from shore. But it was cool and things went just fine. Only problem was, there were no fish biting. I’m not sure what Mike tried, but I personally tied on about 3 different lures, swimbaits, irons, dropshot rigs… nothing was working!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/MDR_01-02-2014_02.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/MDR_01-02-2014_03.jpg
We decided to call it a day around noon and started the long paddle back. I’d like to thank Mike ‘midgettosser1’ for showing me the ropes for my first outing in the ocean. Thanks buddy… we’ll get ‘em next time.
On my last day of vacation, the wife and kids wanted to take the kayak out so they can try it out. We headed to Ventura Harbor (much closer than MDR) and launched around 3:30pm. It was getting dark and the boats were all coming in for the day, so we stayed in the little “beach cove” near the jetties and I paddled each of the kids around there. When my son’s turn came, he insisted that I turn on the fish finder and drop a line. So I let him fish for about 20 min... nothing came of it, but it was the idea he was fishing on a boat that made him happy. Right before sunset, the wife and I packed up the boat and headed to Andria’s for dinner.
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/VenturaHarbor_01-05-2014_01.jpg
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/VenturaHarbor_01-05-2014_02.jpg
My 19 days off had come to a close… had plenty of great days fishing with friends; old and new. Thanks to everyone who made my time off special and I look forward to fishing with each and every one of you more often in 2014! From the entire Allen Family... HAPPY NEW YEAR!
http://www.allenpix.com/erik/boards/fishing/TheAllens_2013.jpg