3/13 Reds in Whitecaps

[blackcloud9]

I'm sick of chasing trout due to the stormy weekend weather, so I was
glad to get a window to bust out the kayak in the salt.

Launched from Big Rock (Palomar Street) at 6:30 am into building surf,
there already were 6' sets .... ugh
Headed out to the south bull kelp to load up on easy mackerel, and filled
the tank. Tried some WSB spots from last year.

Silver Ghosts were absent for me after a feeble 2 hour attempt, so
I headed another mile or so out to my taco reef spot to pull on
something. Current kicked in and it was game on. Heavier tackle today
due to the current, still a fun time.

These two are decent two pounders.


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/blackcloud9/Fishing/KayakRockfishBetweenStorms002.jpg



The landing was fairly serious today.


http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y117/blackcloud9/Fishing/KayakRockfishBetweenStorms011.jpg

[T Bone]

Good Job and good eats! Reds taste soooooo good.

[dorado123]

Wow good job...
those are good eating fish :cheers1:

[Iceman]

Careful Larry or everyone will be launching at BR.......not! that is some thumping surf to contend with, I have only launched there on the 3> days.

[bellcon]

Excellent:cheers1:

[blitzburgh]

Nice Redz!

[fishinkid2010]

Nice catch! :you_rock:

Next time you take a picture with the GPS in the frame, leave it turned on with the coordinates showing... :D

[blackcloud9]

FishinKid - GPS was on, believe me, I blew up the photo to full res first
to make sure there was enough glare for y'all. ;)

I'd planned to fish the morning only and get back to the beach by noon,
but, that plan didn't work out. :doh:

I really hate to be in a kayak in whitecaps, and, especially landing in rough
seas. That was a long, long 2+ mile pedal in. At one point outside the kelp
there was an "open ocean wave" that became a whitecap on my stern. I
looked back into an 8' vertical wave face and somehow managed not to
bury the bow.

The surf zone terrified me, so I latched everything down, expecting to ride
a 5 footer. I waited for a huge set to pass and just layed into the
pedals, steered left then hard right doing a big zip zag with the rudder
following a channel in the sand bar. Somehow I managed to land
unscathed.

Lots of excitement for some rockfish. These will supplement my lobster
from tomorrow night (yet another swell window is at hand, just in time!).

Lobster season's last day is the 17th, Wednesday.

[ful-rac]

Nice Reds! I'd love to catch some rockfish on my yak, time to go search'n....thanks for the report!

[Billy V]

Have you tried the larger sailing rudder on the Revo ? I have one in the garage but have not installed it yet.

I always land with the peddles, not the paddle - and steer right up until the last moment.
Sometimes it gets dicey when I catch a wave that tries to burry the bow, I would think the larger rudder would help.

[blackcloud9]

Hi BillyV -The Revolution is plenty agile enough for me with the standard rudder, but would turn sharper with the sailing rudder no doubt. Not sure if it would help in those "trailing seas" situations though. Best to just avoid those rough days altogether.