Newport Beach windy day
 

A couple of buddies invited me up to fish out of Newport Beach on Saturday. The launch was easy from inside the harbor. Water temp was 58 in the morning and warmed up to 59 in the afternoon.

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We assembled out past the jetty and made bait. My 3/4 oz hot pink Megabait was on fire. I know you can only catch one mack at a time, but they go nuts over that thing. I don't bother with sabikis when I'm kayaking. Mike had his new Stealth Fusion 480 out for the first time, and it was looking sexy.

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Anthony and I made the mistake of paddling north to a spot 2.7 miles away assuming the wind would die down (it did not). We fished deep, between 200 and 400 ft. We caught a few small fish but nothing noteworthy.

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The wind was blowing us off our spots too quickly, so we decided to head back towards the jetty in case it got any worse. Anthony's Trident 15 and my 13 did fine in the swell and chop. It was slow going though. We could only do 1.5 mph for most of the trip back.

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Once we got past the 2 piers, the wind died down a bit, so we decided we could fish a bit more. Anthony headed south to meet up with the other guys, and I went west to fish the shelf drop-off at around 400 ft. I was looking for new species, and my decision paid off. I caught two new ones for the list, stripetail rockfish and Pacific hake.

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This was my first time seeing hake, and I actually got 2 of them on the one drop.

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I wasn't looking to bring fish home, so that was a successful day for me. I headed back in and caught Anthony and Mike loading up their kayaks to leave. Here's another shot of Mike's new Stealth.

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any chance of getting a review from your friend about the fusion? specifically 1) speed 2) How well the livewell works 3) comfort 4) how well it handles in the surf if he's had a chance to beach launch. thanks!

Thanks for the report

I know it's not easy to find rock fish spot out side NPH ,but looks like you guys did good job :notworthy:

Hey! Mike here. I love my Stealth, it's almost like it's rekindled my love for kayak fishing.

To answer your questions (I've only taken it out once but I made a point to test it out on a few things):

1) Speed- in the Newport harbor channel going against the tide/current, I hit 6.2mph with some effort. Granted, the tidal swing on Saturday was huge and I could tell it was pushing me back. As soon as I got on open water, a casual paddle was about 4mph. The wind at some points picked up to what seemed like 20kts, and my kayak didn't seem to notice.

2) The livewell was a huge surprise! I was skeptical on its refill system, but it has a huge capacity that refills completely every time you move and stop. When you aren't paddling, it is about 70% full with room for maybe 15 mackerel (really depends on how much load you have on your kayak as the sitting level of water matches the waterline). Now if you're moving all day, say trolling, I could see 20-30 mackerel in the tank. One way I could really tell the refill was working was that I used it to bleed out my first Cabezon. I got a nice 18"er and cut its gills, and for a minute the live well was blood red, and I paddled maybe 50 yards and looked down and saw no sign of blood in the tank.

3) Comfort- I think it's very well designed in regards to comfort, however there is no back support. If you have core issues or a history of LBP then consider a seat. The recumbent position is fantastic however, and it definitely does take a lot of pressure off the lower back even if there is no support. I also feel comfortable being so low and stable to the water. Less effort paddling, less constant core adjustments to counteract swell and chop like you would if you were sitting higher off the water.

4) No surf launch yet (does Newport harbor count? lol) so I can't speak on this. I can't wait to take it to LJ or Central/NorCal within the next few months! However, based on my experience with the 3-4' swell at 8 seconds on Saturday, this thing punches through waves like nothing I've ever seen. I don't think I'll have a problem in the surf. Especially since they were designed to excel in that environment.

Let me know what other questions you have over BWE or Instagram (@nomad.fish). I will gain insight as I take it out more often. There's an orange once in Anaheim if you're interested in picking up the last one in SoCal (for a few months at least).

Mike

Thanks, Mike!



Exactly the info I wanted. I've been wanting a stealth for years, but thinking of all the times a wave pushed me into a rock made me think twice. But when I saw the fusion on the Stealth channel, it def got my interest. That livewell is such a great idea. It'd be nice not having to worry about pumps, corrosion, batteries, etc. Great to hear about the size too. In the vids, it looked like it could hold only 4 or 5, which had me concerned.



I thought I was done with paddling when I got my Predator PDL, but the fusion has got me thinking again. So many things to like about it. And it looks cool as hell too, lol



If you get a chance to surf launch, I would love a follow up. Thanks again!

Thanks for chiming in Mike! I couldn't remember if you posted on here or not.