Jump to content

Attempted Yak Fishing Yesterday


Recommended Posts

It should probably be called the "Misadventures of Jon, Joey and Frick" or possibly "You NY guys thought you would harass OPFs (Other People's Fishes)-NOT". Joey dropped me an email to see what was up on the fishing scene down here and I told him that we were getting big blues and weaks. So he and Frick loaded up his car and came on down. The weatherman called for WNW winds up to 10 mph. Boy was he wrong. It was more like 20 plus. Tough yaking to say the least. There were small blues around but it wasn't a good idea to fish from the yak. We checked a few spots out but the wind was relentless. Rather than paddle back through the rough seas and wind we decided to take a small creek which cut into the pennisula which seperated us from where we wanted to go. It would save us a half hour of ROUGH paddling with waves and wind broadside to us. I figured that we should take the creek in and where it ended it should be near another creek that would take us out to where we wanted to go. Here's some pics.

 

Creek1.jpg

 

This pic is the the creek heading in. We're near the end and at this point I climbed out and saw that we were only 50 yards from the one we needed to take out. It saved me from negotiating the log that Joey's on in the pic.

 

Here's Joey.

 

Joey.jpg

 

Here's me crossing the creek.

 

Crossing.jpg

 

We took the creek out and as we hit Raritan Bay again Mark was crossing the creek to head to the point and fish. He got to see how we set up the yaks. We fished a bit more but it wasn't happening. We decided to head back. My guests had lost some of their foam blocks on the way down and needed to rig the car so they could get back to NY. PFDs became the padding seperating the car from the yaks. Here's how not to load yaks.

 

Loading1.jpg

 

I know that they made it home because Joey sent me an email.

 

It was fun nevertheless. I got to meet Frick and place a person with the name. Next time we'll have better weather.

 

 

 

[This message has been edited by JonS (edited 05-15-2001).]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wind? Did JonS mention wind? Brother, it was blowing! And though Joey was the only one among us to catch a fish -- a single blue, on his second cast of the day -- we know there were fish about: a guy in our vicinity, flinging a yellow/white Bomber, was hauling blues in one after the other, pretty much, which pretty much irritated us to no end.

But it was good to meet JonS and see how he rigged his yak. He does know his stuff.

I will, however, be sending him a bill for lost kayak foam cradles and a broken pair of kayak cart wheels (sheesh!), plus a fair gadzillion for general wear & tear on the body and the psyche.

Did he happen to mention it was windy out there?

Frick

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I didn't take any pics in the wind because I was afraid that the camera would blow away biggrin.gif .

 

Its always great to see how others rig their yaks. A great learning experience. I like those handles you guys had alot.

 

Joey and Frick showed up with those little weenie anchors like the one I had. For those of you starting to assemble gear don't buy a 1.5# anchor for yak fishing. They're great for mellow stuff but as I found out fishing in current last year with Tim and Dubs, they don't hold. I've got a 3.5# now and I can anchor in the rapids of the Delware River and fish. It was a little to rough out there to anchor and fish anyway but with a little less wind we would have probably been into fish.

 

Another important thing. When yak fishing the weather can be unpredicatble. Bring appropriate clothing, just in case. Frick was bordering on hypothermia. It was brutal when one considers how nice it was in the parking lot. I was comfy and protected in my breathable waders and top. Also a lock is a great thing to have.

 

I stopped at the spot in the river and fished a half hour and got nada. So you guys didn't miss anything.

 

[This message has been edited by JonS (edited 05-15-2001).]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mark, I thought that it was pretty funny running into you just as we left the creek. I'm very pleased with the camera. The pics are good and its very easy to use. I love that film is floppy disks. I'm gonna bring a whole box to MV.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Beautiful pictures Jon!! Good day it sounds in the end along with comraderie. Might I ask what kind of camera that you are using? excellent pixelization!! (2.3 megP ?) I have to get one to show you my Honda engine.

 

My ambush is so big I would not have made it down that creek/even with the displacement. I have to use a 5 lb anchor as well.

 

Great pictures/thanks for sharing!!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The camera is a Sony Mavica FD73. It was reccomended to me by 10 X 10 who's always posting pics on the fly board. I bought mine at the Sony Outlet up in Harriman and it was only $249.00. The Mavicas use a floppy disk for film. You can get between 25-40 pics to a disk. Its so simple cause then you just stick the disk in the A drive and upload. No connecting wires or conversions as the pics are in jpg format. Since it was bright out we couldn't even see the screen so we just pointed and shot. There's an aftermarket outdoor visor that I'm gonna get for it.

 

The creeks were tight but it was better than the Bay. Frick might have succumbed to the weather as he had shorts on. Our excursion, no doubt, warmed him up.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

...Another important thing. When yak fishing the weather can be unpredicatble. Bring appropriate clothing, just in case.

 

Amen... I second that JonS!

This past Saturday was a beautiful kayak day ... Sunny with mild temp. Reaching mid 70's, wind blowing NW at a soft and comfortable 5 knots...while the last of the big flounder were cooperating nicely! It was a steady pick... I was kayaking with my brother and suddenly I noticed a dark cloud heading our direction. Within seconds the wind started to kick 15 knots, another 30 seconds there was a strong gust of 30 knots with a screaming white caps wall moving our direction.... Before I could even say "last cast"... we were holding on for our dear life and we dropped had to drop everything! The unexpected storm just started to slam us down and it easily plucked the anchors out and we were under god's mercy!!!! The gusty wind blew 50 knots in no time, big waves from nowhere tried to shake us down...and we were just helpless... I tell ya, it was really UGLY! There were several times where I thought we were not going to make it to shore.... But we paddled for our lives until the wind started to give and the storm passed us by. What seems to be forever, the unexpected storm only lasted for 10 minutes or so.... As I tiredly struggled back to shoreline... I was shocked that my yak had about 10 gallons of water! The storm was so devastating that I noticed an 18ft. boat taken to shore... all the party boats was gone.... It was a cold feeling and all I did when we reached the shore was stared at my brother to see if he was okay. We were blessed that Mother Nature spared us both and we watched the storm head east! The rest of day was dead calm with not a wind in the air...and the sun started to peak.... But I decided to just pack our yaks and head straight home!

 

Yes, the weather can unexpectedly change on you.... And while kayaking, we have to take the extra precaution and think smartly under the worst conditions. Just wondering.... How many of you out there got hit with that storm? It hit Great South Bay, Long Island this past Saturday around 5:45PM....

 

"Crazy" Alberto

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow Al glad you guys were ok. That's another thing I don't like about Sit In Yaks. They take on water and can sink. You guys were fortunate. SOTs at least drain the water they take on through the scupper holes.

 

I learned to respect the weather on the water from my years in Baja. We used to get some very strong winds and storms which were called Chubascos. Chubascos are mini hurricanes that form quickly on the Sea of Cortez and move west and hit Baja. Winds commonly hit hurricane force and they're short lived in that they would last less than an hour. They were very humbling. I remember one trip where we had 5 teachers and they had an elaborate tarp setup for shade made of 1.5" tubing. Ken tried to tell them that it wasn't an appropriate setup. We used greenhouse cloth for our shade because it was a mess and allowed the wind to blow through it. We reccomended this setup in our reccomended gear. Ken asked what I thought and I said that I hoped the wind didn't blow. They didn't believe us stating that the 20 gallow water barrel in the center would hold it and that they took it to the Colorado River all the time water skiing and it was fine in 50 mph winds they experienced there. Again we reiterated that should the wind blow it wouldn't be up to the task. Around midnight Ken woke me up and told me that they were in trouble. It was folding up like an umbrella around the barrel and a 250# man was about 4' in the air hanging onto one end with the rest of them trying to pull him back to the ground. the storm didn't even last 15 minutes. In the morning the setup was a wreck with the tubing twisted like balloon toys. They were now believers and the next year showed up with the same stuff we had.

 

We use to bury tires in the sand and attach heavy ropes to the axels of the vehicles so they wouldn't blow over. My first trip ever to Baja the wind blew app. 70 mph for 3 days without letting up. We all sat in a motorhome on the wind side to keep it from blowing over. There were 15 of us in the motorhome.

 

Its the old adage "Don't screw with mother nature".

 

[This message has been edited by JonS (edited 05-15-2001).]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

More enclosed bodies of water tend to get a short chop. As long as you're not broadside a kayak can handle very nasty conditions. The problem is that you can't fish in those conditions. Last November I fished on the oceanside of the Hook in a NW 15-25. Water temps were in the high 40s. The kayak handled it fine and I was able to fish without a problem. Other than my hands being wet I was fine with my wader setup. My gloves were the type with the openings for the thumb and index finger. For cold weather I now have a pair of gloves without the slits. The fish were moving around to fast for me to get at them however. Every few waves would break over the bow and drain through the scuppers. Coming back in the surf had built up and I was concerned because it was the biggest surf I had dealt with and I probably wouldn't have launch if it were that size when I went out. The yak handled it fine and the ride in was fun coming down the breaking wave. About a dozen people came to greet me to ask questions about the yak. This is fairly typical because there's a lot of interest in yaks for fishing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to register here in order to participate.

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now


×
×
  • Create New...