Checklist for La Jolla
 

Nick Bateman had posted a good checklist over at SDKF on facebook. It caused me to review my own list and make a couple of modifications. Here is what I use for La Jolla. Any suggestions for improvement are welcome.

might be overkill but I bring flare gun and signal mirror. thanks for posting.

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Excellent. Forgot my FF battery last week. This would have helped. Thanks for this.

People who know me here know that I am a "listahulic".

Thus, thanks for the list.

Can you post it, so we can copy it?

Thanks.

Here are a few things you or others might add or change:

Night Before - Charge your cell phone. Check the batteries in your headlamp and UV light. You can freeze water and Gatorade bottles the night before to replace or supplement ice packs.

Fishing Equipment - Fish Gripper for releasing the toothy critters. I generally only carry 1 tackle container based on my targets. You might want to consider a floating Gaff instead of a leashed one. Some would add a Sabiki stick here too (but I prefer a rod I can use as a backup). I would change Sabiki rigs to Sabiki and/or Squid rigs. I also keep a clean rag for wiping down my glasses, GoPro lens and FF screen. And a tiny spray bottle (sample size) with clean fresh water to help remove salt from the last 3 items above. And a bait dehooker.

Clothing - I would recommend that you swap out your wind breaker for a paddle or splash jacket instead. Especially when you are going to be wearing additional layers of clothing. I prefer waders, but I sit very near the water line.

Confirm Prior to Launch - Not only that the batteries are in, but that they are making good connection to your electronics.

Personally - I also carry:
A downrigger with ball and camera.
A Pole mounted camera.
A collapsible net (for DFW only, never used).
A flushmount extender.
A spare paddle.
A tool mat to keep my stuff from sliding inside.
And, of course, a Super Big Gulp.

Nice list. I'm always trying to figure out ways to be as minimalist as possible while out on the water.

Ha, I basically take like nothing after looking at this.

My kayak would sink if I had 1/2 of that gear. Mike

This is wonderful and I’m going to print it out for myself.

I carry all that stuff and probably a little more, like an anchor and spare collapsible paddle, about 50 pounds of stuff. The list is missing the DFW required 18" minimum net, as Greg mentioned, and a bow/tow rope.

Out of curiosity, how long of an anchor line do you keep, and do you end up anchoring while fishing? My kayak came with one, but I’ve yet to do anything but recoil the rope ( barely more than 50 feet )

Also thanks for mentioning on the net. I had no idea, and was thinking how nice it would’ve been to have one when I saw some crabs up in the kelp the other day

It depends on where I'm going but normally my anchor is in the form of a kelp clip. For days when I'm hitting the beach or the shallow reefs I also carry about 50' of 1/4" poly rope with my regular anchor. I would anchor up sometimes when fishing outside the surf zone, or when over shallow structure I wanted to work. Or sometimes just to take a lunch break without drifting a mile off my spot. Now that I have a Hobie I have to say that I rarely use an anchor since I can hold position quite well when fishing, and I can eat while traveling too instead of drifting away. I have a small buoy tied to the end of my anchor rope in case I need to cut loose in a hurry, so the anchor also makes a great marker for spots I want to stay on top of.