Moken 14 Maiden Voyage
 

So today was the day, launching my new FeelFree Moken 14 Kayak. I got to Shelter Island a little after 6. Got everything ready for launch.
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Paddled across the bay to the North Island fishing Pier area. There was bait in the water everywhere, I should have brought my sabiki. The Sea Lions, and Dolphin were having a field day eating, and keeping the fish away, but not the lizards. Picked up a Sculpin there but not worth taking a picture of.
This guy was fun however. Caught him when I paddled back over to Shelter Island area.
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Used a lot of Unibutter today,
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I was getting bit but nothing was holding on. The bites seemed to be lizard like and not hard hitting like bass or anything else. Nice day trying out the new Kayak, but fishing wasn't that great.
At least I got my FF installed and tested. I can't wait to head out to the ocean. Thanks for reading.
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The Moken 14 Kayak is the driest most stable Kayak I have ever paddled. It paddled fast, and true, still would like to have the rudder installed, and that's coming. I am very happy with my new Kayak and being a part of FeelFree Kayaks.

You ever have any luck with the Alabama rig? I have seen them around kinda wondered if they were legit or just a gimmick.

Are they even legal? I was watching some vids on youtube the other day and thought about the dfg regs. 2 hooks per pole?

I've caught 1 fish on it, but I know people, here in San Diego, one of them is a very well known guide, that use them and catch a lot of fish on them. They are legal. However there are things to keep in mind. If you are fishing them with 5 baits hooked on and you catch a Rockfish, and keep that rockfish, you then have to remove 2 of the hooks allowing you to still fish 3 baits at 1 time. Many that use them will just put 2 spinner blades with 3 baits and not worry about the 5 baits. Biggest problem I have with them is they are sure to tangle up on something.

They bama rigs are killer in the bay.

AS FOR FRESHWATER THE REGS ALLOW 3 hooks and 2 teaser baits.
AS FOR SALTWATER THE REGS ALLOW you can use unlimited hooks and lines with some exceptions... This is straight from the DFG site

Q. How many fishing rods and hooks can I use when sport fishing in the ocean?

A. Any number of hooks and fishing lines may be used in all ocean waters and bays with the following exceptions:

You can only use one line with no more than three hooks while fishing in San Francisco and San Pablo bays between the Golden Gate Bridge and the west Carquinez Bridge.
When you are fishing from a public pier you can use only two rods and lines, two hand lines, or two crab nets, crab traps or other appliances used to take crabs.
When you are fishing for rockfish or lingcod or you have rockfish or lingcod aboard your boat, you can only use one line with no more than two hooks.
If you are fishing north of Point Conception for salmon or have salmon on board your boat, you can only use one rod and line with no more than two single barbless hooks (check current salmon regulations for other hook restrictions).


So yes the Alabama rig is perfectly legal in our bays when fishing from boat or kayak. Just don't get caught in LJ or else where using it with when you have rockfish on you boat.

I like to just use 3 baits with two blades on it. It is a killer combo over the shoals for nice fat spots or slow rolled over drop off and deep structure for fat sandbass in the day. I havent caught much on it at night except for in tidelands. It's killer when used with 5 dark colored grubs or swim baits under the shallow end of the bridge for unlimited spots all night.

Always fun to break in a new yak. Too bad the fish didn't want to play though.

How did the wheel work out?

The wheel was a good idea, and is great for loading and unloading. Moving around the garage and house and such but it didn't work well once the Kayak was loaded up. As I pulled it toward the water the Kayak would tip to the side. I had to pull it using both hands walking backward to keep it from tipping, that wasn't to easy.

Exiting the water it helped it come out of the water but pulling it up the sand was not happening. I brought my other set of wheels just in case the wheel didn't work as planned. I was please how well this kayak loaded onto the cart.

I'm sure the wheel would do O.K. if you were pulling it out of a harder surface like a boat launch ramp, or hard packed dirt like at a lake or something.

I didn't launch at the location I should have launched. I always take my new kayaks to Tidelands for the maiden voyages, I don't know why, but I really like launching there for the first time. Anyway I was getting bites all over the place, but what I wanted to do mostly was get the Kayak on the water, test the FF, and get comfortable with the new ride. This this is beyond comfortable, my legs, butt, and back were not tired from the sitting. Most of all the Kayak as Dry in the seat are the entire time.

U make me want to get one for myself. I am sure we will see many on the water soon.

I checked out their Website and they are a company based in Thailand. Are the yaks made over there? and imported here? or are they made in the U.S.

... wonder how they handle warranty issues if one comes up.

I've paddled a few popular Kayaks(Cobra Navigator, Cobra Explorer, Malibu X-factor, Prowler 15s, and Tarpons) and as mentioned before the ride was dry, the only water I saw in the foot area of the boat was the from Scuppers. I'm telling you this thing handled everything, on a rough day, very well. Way better than any of my other Kayaks did. I did not feel tippy at all, I was moving around on the Kayak very easily. I'm going do a video to show all the features this thing has because they are worth posting. Cool thing is, OEX offers these Kayaks up for sale. Eric is our local sales rep and is based in Oceanside. If you look at the prices of these kayaks they are much better priced than many of the other Kayaks.

I curious how it will do in a surf launch?