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Thanks for the welcome, fellas.
I'm by no means an expert on fishing SCI, but I have learned some things over the last three trips that I wish I knew on my first trip. Maybe these tips will be of use to anyone who is going for the first time.
- This is probably general knowledge but big coolers are frowned upon. They take up a lot of room and the crew would prefer you buy their reasonably priced drinks. Small coolers with a few drinks or snacks are fine.
- Try not to bring too much gear. Every year I see people bringing tons of stuff and only using a small portion of the gear they bring.
- Most of your gear will be stored outside on deck. It turns out to be a huge mess every time, so try to get by with as small of a tote for your gear as possible, or a mesh bag, etc.
- If the exotics are not cooperating and we're in one of the shallower areas of the Island (let's pray for the weather side) try to get in as deep into the kelp as you can and target sheepshead, calicoes, and ocean whitefish. Last year on our 3.5 day trip the fishing was pretty dead the first two days. On the last day the captain urged us to get deep into the kelp where only us kayaks can get to. My buddy and I took his advice and ended up tying off to some kelp bordering some big potholes. We literally stayed tied off to those same strands of kelp for FIVE HOURS and picked up fish on almost every drop. I caught no less than forty goats and a dozen or so calicoes. Everyone else around me did just as well. Live squid was the go-to bait, but old dried up pieces found stuck to my yak while waiting for a new bait delivery got hammered, too.
- The staterooms have power outlets. Bring an extension cord so you and your roomie can both charge your electronics.
- The crew is going to work their asses off to make everything damn near perfect. Set aside some dough to give them a nice tip.
- Get in on the jackpot! If the fishing is slow your 6lb goat could take the pot.
- When coming in to the big boat for breaks, lunch, or a move, leave as much stuff on your yak as possible. It will help you launch faster when it's time to get back out.
- Find a way to identify your stuff!! When making moves all paddles, gear, etc. just get piled up by the baitwells. It's a mess and sometimes takes awhile to find your gear. Especially your nice Werner paddle when there's four others in the pile just like it. I blacked out one of the "e's" in the Werner logo and that still wasn't good enough. Colored tape or stickers are good for identifying your gear.
- If you have wheels it helps to bring them. It makes loading and unloading the big boat much easier and faster. You can stash them in your car after we load the big boat.
- Take lots of pictures!! Every year I take more and more and every year I feel like I didn't take enough. Last year the fishing was either so slow or so red hot that I barely got any pictures of my fish. I got tons of scenery pics, but wish I had more fish pictures.
I guess that's a lot for now. I'm sure I'll think of something else as soon as I hit Submit Reply!
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