success!!! - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 10:50 AM

Today I dicided to take the yak out for its second voyage and try and hook into a hali. I only had about 2 hours to make something happen before my wife needed to get to work and I had my daughter to watch. I launched off m street at the end of balboa penninsula at 6 am just as the sky started to lighten up and headed towards the bait barge. The current was moving so fast with the incoming tide it took me twice as long to get to the barge. Pulled in a medium sized sculpin nudging around a 3" white grub waiting for the barge attendent to be ready for me. Set him back it the water, loaded up on a scoop of dinos, rigged up my rods and started drifting along the jetty back into the harbor. At about 7 I got my first hit. My light baitcasting setup with 8lb mono gave a quick sharp tug. I pulled the rod out of the holder and nudged it a little. There was weight at the other end but I wanted to give him room to swallow it so I sat a few more seconds before giving it a sharp jerk upwards. F***! I forgot to tighten down my drag and I had it way loose. I didn't make the set and he spit the hook. I quickly rebaited my line and tossed it back to where I got the hit. Before it even hit the bottom...WHAM! My little Fenwick bent double and it was on! I gave a little tug making sure my drag was situated this time an got the h

ook set in. This was a nice fish! He ran for the yak cutting under and almost pulling me over, but I got my rod tip around the nose and spent a good 5 minutes working him and wearing him out. Every time he'd get close to surface he'd do about 3 spins and take another dive. I had my drag at about 6 lbs and I'm doing my best to be patient and let him get good and tired since I have no net or gaff. Finally I get him to surface and lay still long enough to slide my hand inside of a gill pull him into the yak. The first thing he does is go right for the soft part of the inside of my upper thigh and take a nice bite! Right through my board shorts. Whatever I'm so excited to catch my first legal hali....and from a yak, that the pain doesn't even faze me. I get him on the stringer and toss him back over and make my paddle back to the launch spot to call it a morning. 28 1/2 inches on 8lb. I'm quite proud at this point and can't wait to get home to fillet this puppy up!

pchen911 · 09-26-2011, 11:51 AM

Bite him back! That's always the best part anyways.

YakMedic · 09-26-2011, 12:03 PM

Second time out and you get a legal halibut, I'm envious. Good job.

StinkyMatt · 09-26-2011, 12:20 PM

Way to go William!

Either you are completely unprepared or just plain crazy! Going after Halis without a net or a gaff. The good old grab the bastard by the head and wrestle him

.....love it.

Congrats once again

Matt

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 12:24 PM

@pchen911 I'm biteing him back as we speak! Fresh halibut lunch!
@yakmedic thanks for the words! I'm super stoked right now. I've caught big fish from boats before on heavy gear but there is nothing like working a fish on light tackle. Looking forward to many more from my yak. I've got the bug!

Aaron&Julie · 09-26-2011, 12:25 PM

Nice job, 2 trips out, legal 'but, now you're hooked.

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 12:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by StinkyMatt

Way to go William!

Either you are completely unprepared or just plain crazy! Going after Halis without a net or a gaff. The good old grab the bastard by the head and wrestle him

.....love it.

Congrats once again

Matt

A little bit of both! My first adventure I flipped my yak and didn't have my landing net secured properly and lost it. I'm originally from florida and we wrestle gators down there so ifelt comfortable trying to man handle a hali till I get a new net!

premo · 09-26-2011, 12:50 PM

nice fish.nice last name-guesing Czech?

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by premo

nice fish.nice last name-guesing Czech?

Thanks! And yep on the czech

tagyak · 09-26-2011, 01:30 PM

nice fish and sweet that you got it on a light tackle.
i just finished my last hali last night. had it in a cioppino, yummy.

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 01:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tagyak

nice fish and sweet that you got it on a light tackle.
i just finished my last hali last night. had it in a cioppino, yummy.

Do you have a recipe for that? I don't know what it is but me and my wife love trying new cultural dishes. I just had a baked fillet with a citrus ginger glaze on a bed of wild rice and steamed asparigus.

Deamon · 09-26-2011, 02:25 PM

Sweetness! But ummm...you're dripping slime onto the floor. My wife would cut my yak in two...good job!

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 02:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Deamon

Sweetness! But ummm...you're dripping slime onto the floor. My wife would cut my yak in two...good job!

Holy s***! Are you spying on my house? What you can't see in the picture is a very angry camera woman yelling at me to scrub the whole kitchen when I'm done filleting that thing!

mtnbykr2 · 09-26-2011, 04:48 PM

I like this post well done, welcome to the addiction, you will fit in just fine.
Now if you will excuse me I gotta go to the freezer and take out a halibut fillet, cuz this made me hungry...congrats on the nice butt, can't beat the light tackle halis

kobra · 09-26-2011, 05:01 PM

Congrats on your nice cherry popper butt William. Most folks fish a long time before they get a legal flatty.

yakrider · 09-26-2011, 05:57 PM

nicely done!

Amish Ed · 09-26-2011, 06:27 PM

nice job on the light tackle butt whoopin. How's the water in the harbor right now? I'm heading there tomorrow.

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 06:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kobra

Congrats on your nice cherry popper butt William. Most folks fish a long time before they get a legal flatty.

I've been stalking the elusive flat fish for about 3 years now from pier, shore, jetty, boat.....all with minimal results. My largest before today was a 19 incher. I'm sure ill have days on the yak where I get skunked but I feel like my options are much more wide open now. I can cover a lot of ground and get to fishable areas that I couldn't before and I like the solitude of it. I hope to meet a lot of you guys on the water here soon, I'm already hooked.

William Novotny · 09-26-2011, 06:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Amish Ed

nice job on the light tackle butt whoopin. How's the water in the harbor right now? I'm heading there tomorrow.

Huge tidal movent, the tomato soup has moved back out and the waters clearer then it was a few days ago. Still kinda warm dispite the colder weather we've been having. The harbor was empty today too. I didn't see any other yaks and only one rental skiff on the water in the 3 hours I was out there. I wish I could have spent the day out there.

GBF · 09-26-2011, 06:59 PM

Sweet...................

GBF

09-26-2011, 10:50 AM	#1
William Novotny The carpetbagger Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: tha newps Posts: 1,474	success!!! Today I dicided to take the yak out for its second voyage and try and hook into a hali. I only had about 2 hours to make something happen before my wife needed to get to work and I had my daughter to watch. I launched off m street at the end of balboa penninsula at 6 am just as the sky started to lighten up and headed towards the bait barge. The current was moving so fast with the incoming tide it took me twice as long to get to the barge. Pulled in a medium sized sculpin nudging around a 3" white grub waiting for the barge attendent to be ready for me. Set him back it the water, loaded up on a scoop of dinos, rigged up my rods and started drifting along the jetty back into the harbor. At about 7 I got my first hit. My light baitcasting setup with 8lb mono gave a quick sharp tug. I pulled the rod out of the holder and nudged it a little. There was weight at the other end but I wanted to give him room to swallow it so I sat a few more seconds before giving it a sharp jerk upwards. F***! I forgot to tighten down my drag and I had it way loose. I didn't make the set and he spit the hook. I quickly rebaited my line and tossed it back to where I got the hit. Before it even hit the bottom...WHAM! My little Fenwick bent double and it was on! I gave a little tug making sure my drag was situated this time an got the hook set in. This was a nice fish! He ran for the yak cutting under and almost pulling me over, but I got my rod tip around the nose and spent a good 5 minutes working him and wearing him out. Every time he'd get close to surface he'd do about 3 spins and take another dive. I had my drag at about 6 lbs and I'm doing my best to be patient and let him get good and tired since I have no net or gaff. Finally I get him to surface and lay still long enough to slide my hand inside of a gill pull him into the yak. The first thing he does is go right for the soft part of the inside of my upper thigh and take a nice bite! Right through my board shorts. Whatever I'm so excited to catch my first legal hali....and from a yak, that the pain doesn't even faze me. I get him on the stringer and toss him back over and make my paddle back to the launch spot to call it a morning. 28 1/2 inches on 8lb. I'm quite proud at this point and can't wait to get home to fillet this puppy up!

09-26-2011, 12:20 PM	#4
StinkyMatt Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Under a bridge Posts: 2,169	Way to go William! Either you are completely unprepared or just plain crazy! Going after Halis without a net or a gaff. The good old grab the bastard by the head and wrestle him.....love it. Congrats once again Matt

09-26-2011, 12:25 PM	#6
Aaron&Julie Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spring Valley Posts: 1,400	Nice job, 2 trips out, legal 'but, now you're hooked. __________________ "Never say die"

09-26-2011, 06:27 PM	#17
Amish Ed Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Grants Pass, OR Posts: 1,903	nice job on the light tackle butt whoopin. How's the water in the harbor right now? I'm heading there tomorrow. __________________ Amish Ed You can't catch it again if it's dead!

09-26-2011, 06:59 PM	#20
GBF Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Huntington Beach CA Posts: 323	Sweet................... GBF __________________ "Just keep going out....it's better than staying Home"

09-26-2011, 11:51 AM	#2
pchen911 Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 218	Bite him back! That's always the best part anyways.

09-26-2011, 12:03 PM	#3
YakMedic Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2011 Location: Wrightwood Posts: 623	Second time out and you get a legal halibut, I'm envious. Good job.

09-26-2011, 12:24 PM	#5
William Novotny The carpetbagger Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: tha newps Posts: 1,474	@pchen911 I'm biteing him back as we speak! Fresh halibut lunch! @yakmedic thanks for the words! I'm super stoked right now. I've caught big fish from boats before on heavy gear but there is nothing like working a fish on light tackle. Looking forward to many more from my yak. I've got the bug!

09-26-2011, 12:50 PM	#8
premo Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: costa mesa Posts: 124	nice fish.nice last name-guesing Czech?

09-26-2011, 01:30 PM	#10
tagyak Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Alhambra Posts: 506	nice fish and sweet that you got it on a light tackle. i just finished my last hali last night. had it in a cioppino, yummy.

09-26-2011, 02:25 PM	#12
Deamon Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 1,972	Sweetness! But ummm...you're dripping slime onto the floor. My wife would cut my yak in two...good job!

09-26-2011, 04:48 PM	#14
mtnbykr2 Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: newbury park ca Posts: 2,323	I like this post well done, welcome to the addiction, you will fit in just fine. Now if you will excuse me I gotta go to the freezer and take out a halibut fillet, cuz this made me hungry...congrats on the nice butt, can't beat the light tackle halis

09-26-2011, 05:01 PM	#15
kobra Senior Member Join Date: May 2005 Location: oceanside Posts: 880	Congrats on your nice cherry popper butt William. Most folks fish a long time before they get a legal flatty.

09-26-2011, 05:57 PM	#16
yakrider Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2008 Posts: 611	nicely done!