Maiden Voyage, DP 3/22
 

Picked up my new Hobie tandem Oasis from Andy at OEX. Very exciting.. took it immediately to Dana Point to meet up with Honcho and madncrzydm. Got out on the water around 10AM.

Not much to say for the day.. even the bait barge guy, and later the DFG guy roaming the parking lot.. they both said things have been pretty slow at DP lately, even for the commercial fishermen. But, it was still a great day for me. I spent more time trying to figure out my kayak than I did fishing. Tossed a few 'dines out there, and kept getting hung up, but no line pulling.. eventually the line would go slack and i'd pull back an empty hook. I think my bait was just getting wrapped up in kelp or something? Happened like 5 times. Anyways, I kept getting my line wrapped up in my sailing rudder, so that was a good lesson learning how to untangle that. Struggled with a lot of drifting, and tracking. I was solo in a big tandem, so my bow was up, and there was a considerable amount of hull slapping when I put the gas pedal down. So, the tracking problems are not that unexpected. Working the sailing rudder up & down & locked/unlocked, and not getting the turbo fins and rudder caught in the kelp was another rough lesson. I have no customizations yet, so I now have a slightly better idea of where/what I want to modify. I have some ideas for a livewell/drybox. Where I might want to eventually put a fishfinder.. I know I need a kelp clip and an anchor, probably a trolly, maybe a drift chute.

The pedal drive system is awesome, but still tiring in the end. I need to get used to using these new muscles, and coordinating my legs and arms. I guess we went out towards the kelp at the "headlands".. is that where we were? At the end of the day, my legs and arms felt thrashed, and my thighs and arms were a bit sunburned. Outside the jetty, the ocean swells seemed moderate to high to me? I actually got a bit seasick at one point, which is new to me.

Headed back ~ 4pm. On the way back in, I tossed a 4" bighammer on a skirted warbait swimbait into the kelp right outside the jetty entrance. Felt the tiniest of tail bites, and got overly excited at the tug and yanked too soon.. ripped that rubber tail right out of the mouth. :ack2:

Beautiful day out on the water in DP. Here are a few pics:

The BWE Armada?
http://i.imgur.com/pZiK8Hi.jpg

madncrzydm, the DIY-Master in his custom camo Cobra
http://i.imgur.com/e5aPEVx.jpg

Even with no fish.. good time on the water with these guys!
http://i.imgur.com/jGgdnk8.jpg

No fish.. but learned a lot about my new kayak, and kayak fishing in general. Can't wait to get back out there soon.

Thanks Honcho and Josh for showing me some stuff.

-Jay

thanks for the report.

the foot peddles do work you out differently. Not quite like riding a bike more like a stair climber, no doubt an exercise.

Your sea sickness was brought on by 3-6 ft swells. At least you weren't surf launching!

Look forward to seeing you guys on the water!