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Posted by Eagle Eye on 17:56:42 04/19/03
I launched at 6AM into an offshore wind, low tide and 3’ waves.
Bait (Spanish Mackerel) was everywhere all day long. Before sunrise I heard Jim Samons (La Jolla kayak fishing guide) announce over the radio that his client was hooked up, then I watched from a distance as he landed a 16 lb YT.
On the radio once again I heard that another kayaker (an old friend of mine) was hooked up, then wrapped in the kelp and finally victory.
Jimm Hoffman of Rancho Bernardo, CA caught his first WSB of the season while fly lining a mack.
I felt the offshore wind was drifting me too fast so I attached a drift chute to my bowline in an attempt to slow myself down and give my baits a chance to sink deeper. I was fishing with two poles, one had just a hook and Mack while the other a Calcutta 400 spooled with 20 lb P-Line and rigged with a 1oz egg sinker to hold the bait down at about 50’. The down rig goes off and after a short run I engage the reel and let the 4/0 thin wire circle hook do it’s job with out a swing of any kind. The fish made a good run straight away and by the tick, tick, tick that was transmitted thru the line I believe it was a YT. After 5 minutes I was running out of line and knew that I had to get the drift chute in so that the big fish could tow me. I was fighting the fish with one hand and trying to paddle with the other. In the end I was spooled and my polamar knot failed.
I now have a string attached to the ring that’s inside the drift chute so that the same thing won’t happen again. Some lessons are hard learned but it’s better to have fought and lost than never to have fought at all J
Today was a 180-degree turn around from yesterday. I was still tired from the vicious beating the ocean had dealt me the day before and now the wind had stopped, it got sunny and warm, the waves flattened out and I found my self nodding off and cat knapping.
Jimm and myself paddled back in together and at the beach he gave me a lesson on wave formation. Then I made a perfect landing while applying what I had just learned.
· Fished from 6-10
· Steady off shore wind early giving way to calm
· The water was dirty and full of floating kelp
· Sunny/warming
· Spanish mackerel were every where
· Lost (1) large YT
· (12) kayakers (12) PB’rs (1) ½ day boat
It was good to see and talk with my Baja kayak-fishing buddies Avery and Toby.
Thanks for the surfing lessons Jimm~john
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