7-29 & 7-30 - Boat & Yak report - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

lamb · 07-30-2006, 10:51 PM

Lamb crew looking for lamb… Weekend report. Dorado craze started it all…

On Saturday morning, we were all pumped up to get into some exotics. We never go off shore in our lil’ skiff, but it seemed like offshore has arrived to us - we couldn’t pass the call. I really wanted to check it out, as the possibility to get on them with the yak seems pretty real these days.

We went straight to LJ hoping to snag a tail or two before heading out West. For ½ an hour there, found only some bonita and got 3 dogs on our case… As it started drizzling, we headed West. Some wind came up, but it was pretty flat… 5 miles out (thinking as far out as yak could reach), we started cruising the area parallel to the beach, but found nothing. We continued west about 6-7 more miles out to the north edge of the Nine, and then worked straight down south. We found 1 dry paddy. Then another one that held one 10# yeller that my buddy brought on board.

All together did we did 55 miles and ended up the day drifting for butts in PL/OB area. It was pretty cool that we did it, but we kept talking how this whole offshore deal is really not our ballgame… how we don’t really know what we’re doing out there and all that (no mention that the boat really isn’t appropriate)… As we didn’t run into dodos, we drifted for butts hoping we’ll be rewarded for our gutsy efforts. It wasn’t to happen. We got a grumpy 21.5” 6# sandie. Funny thing is we caught it together – it swallowed my trap rig then hit my buddy’s dean too. Treble deep in the throat, so we had to kill it.

At the ramp, we ran into gentleman coming back from LJ… He had difficulties getting that smile off of his face, as he hung a big brown beaver. I’d say if not 40#, then more (real tall guy). He said he caught it in front of the hotel in 50’, on bass rod and 20# test, bouncing the crock on the bottom. At least I felt little better that I had the 1st hand confirmation the butts were on the chew. Awesome fish!

Saturday night at the party, I hear from a good friend, casual fisherman, that he took his dad out fishing to PL and they got 41” 42# halibut!! He also said that they lost even bigger one at the gaff… OK, the size and weight didn’t add up for the one he caught, but still - a freakin’ big fish, major bleater!

Brad happened to be at that party too. For a long time, we’ve been talking about heading out together. He just got that new Mini-X Malibu (http://www.malibukayaks.com/kayak_minix.asp). It’s more like ½ the kayak, but that lil’ thing is perfect to put on a boat for off shore or “out of paddling reach” missions. We had the deal to load his Mini X on my boat on Sunday and head out on another hunt for exotics. But all the news of the big brown was just too much to ignore. Slight change of plan was in order: we were leaving the party early, the hunt for exotics was being postponed.

7/30/06

Met with Brad at 7:00AM, so we can get some sleep. The space was tight with the yak on board, but doable.

My buddy set us up with numbers where he got that 1 biggin and lost another one on Saturday. It seemed we had a sure shot. We were taking turns on the kayak. Two of us drifted the crap out of that spot from 8:00 AM to 1:30PM. Not a single raked bait from the flat kind…

We finally gave up and decided to check a spot or two of mine (you know, back from the days when the lamb crew actually used to catch fish). It was my turn on the yak with the new offshore rig I figured can double for bouncing from the yak - 6.5’ stiff rod, Avet 2 speed loaded with 50# spectra… down to 3 way swivel with 30# floro and #2 hook (no treble, too lazy at that point in the day). 1 lb of led didn’t hit the sand many times before it felt like I snagged the bottom, then I lifted it up a bit… Hell yeah… I got it to color pretty quickly. The first gaff shot bounced off…

The fish freaked out splashing gallons of water, all over my face… It went for another run, but brought it back up rather quickly. Another lousy gaff shot that punched through the side - good enough to bring on board. The stringer was ready; quickly tied up and started bleating ritual… Hell yeah – my 1st butt on the kayak – 41”, 31#. Ate the sardine in 65’.

I couldn’t wait to get the thing out of my lap and in safety of boat… As Brad put it in the cooler, it started freaking out again bouncing the whole chest around… Lil’ too late…

We had some more heartbreaks soon after, none of which materialized.

Brad, I had a blast! Great company. We’ve got to do this again.

madscientist · 07-30-2006, 11:02 PM

Damn Adi, I was in the middle of my narrative when I saw your post. Not much to add, but here's the video of the flatlamb killa....

http://media.putfile.com/flatlamb

Adi pulled a bit of an Arne on the first gaff shot (around 15sec in). I think I actually saw about half of the fish out of the water as it fled his gaff.

Adi and I were planning on going offshore looking for dodos while trying out my new mini-X, but a late start, inclement weather, and a hot tip from the balkan mafia convinced us otherwise. We piled all 9ft of the yak into his skiff. Funny little boat. Super stable and spins on a dime. Doesn't track that well and tops out at about 2.5 knots, but it's a great dry ride. Perfect little mothership boat.

katchfish · 07-31-2006, 12:28 AM

Right on Adi!! 8)

Ken

Aaron&Julie · 07-31-2006, 01:49 AM

Adi, Congratulations! That is one pig (or lamb?) of a 'butt. Beautiful 1st flatfish from the yak.

ski · 07-31-2006, 06:41 AM

Congrats on the lamb! Great read/photos too!
Mark

Iceman · 07-31-2006, 06:50 AM

Party.......What party? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Excellent way to break in the lil boat. You two would make a scarey tag team.

madscientist · 07-31-2006, 07:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Iceman

Party.......What party? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Excellent way to break in the lil boat. You two would make a scarey tag team.

Don't fret, the party was a Balkan thing. My wife was my ticket in (she's Croatian). Great food but limited conversation if you didn't speak Serbo-Croatian or Bosnian. :lol:

Tag team? Hmmm. I've been angling for a spot on team Bad Lamb Fo Sho, so maybe now Adi will let me on. :lol:

Will B. · 07-31-2006, 09:03 AM

That Brad Messmer cuts a fine figure of a man when he is in the right sized kayak.

Dennis · 07-31-2006, 01:23 PM

Right on, Adi.. NICE ONE.

tylerdurden · 07-31-2006, 02:41 PM

Catching a but that size is better than a dodo anyways. Nice work. That miniX looks awesome.

Holy Mackerel · 08-01-2006, 06:47 AM

Nice Flatty!! Looks like fun!

Chris

07-30-2006, 10:51 PM	#1
lamb Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 2,563	7-29 & 7-30 - Boat & Yak report Lamb crew looking for lamb… Weekend report. Dorado craze started it all… On Saturday morning, we were all pumped up to get into some exotics. We never go off shore in our lil’ skiff, but it seemed like offshore has arrived to us - we couldn’t pass the call. I really wanted to check it out, as the possibility to get on them with the yak seems pretty real these days. We went straight to LJ hoping to snag a tail or two before heading out West. For ½ an hour there, found only some bonita and got 3 dogs on our case… As it started drizzling, we headed West. Some wind came up, but it was pretty flat… 5 miles out (thinking as far out as yak could reach), we started cruising the area parallel to the beach, but found nothing. We continued west about 6-7 more miles out to the north edge of the Nine, and then worked straight down south. We found 1 dry paddy. Then another one that held one 10# yeller that my buddy brought on board. All together did we did 55 miles and ended up the day drifting for butts in PL/OB area. It was pretty cool that we did it, but we kept talking how this whole offshore deal is really not our ballgame… how we don’t really know what we’re doing out there and all that (no mention that the boat really isn’t appropriate)… As we didn’t run into dodos, we drifted for butts hoping we’ll be rewarded for our gutsy efforts. It wasn’t to happen. We got a grumpy 21.5” 6# sandie. Funny thing is we caught it together – it swallowed my trap rig then hit my buddy’s dean too. Treble deep in the throat, so we had to kill it. At the ramp, we ran into gentleman coming back from LJ… He had difficulties getting that smile off of his face, as he hung a big brown beaver. I’d say if not 40#, then more (real tall guy). He said he caught it in front of the hotel in 50’, on bass rod and 20# test, bouncing the crock on the bottom. At least I felt little better that I had the 1st hand confirmation the butts were on the chew. Awesome fish! Saturday night at the party, I hear from a good friend, casual fisherman, that he took his dad out fishing to PL and they got 41” 42# halibut!! He also said that they lost even bigger one at the gaff… OK, the size and weight didn’t add up for the one he caught, but still - a freakin’ big fish, major bleater! Brad happened to be at that party too. For a long time, we’ve been talking about heading out together. He just got that new Mini-X Malibu (http://www.malibukayaks.com/kayak_minix.asp). It’s more like ½ the kayak, but that lil’ thing is perfect to put on a boat for off shore or “out of paddling reach” missions. We had the deal to load his Mini X on my boat on Sunday and head out on another hunt for exotics. But all the news of the big brown was just too much to ignore. Slight change of plan was in order: we were leaving the party early, the hunt for exotics was being postponed. 7/30/06 Met with Brad at 7:00AM, so we can get some sleep. The space was tight with the yak on board, but doable. My buddy set us up with numbers where he got that 1 biggin and lost another one on Saturday. It seemed we had a sure shot. We were taking turns on the kayak. Two of us drifted the crap out of that spot from 8:00 AM to 1:30PM. Not a single raked bait from the flat kind… We finally gave up and decided to check a spot or two of mine (you know, back from the days when the lamb crew actually used to catch fish). It was my turn on the yak with the new offshore rig I figured can double for bouncing from the yak - 6.5’ stiff rod, Avet 2 speed loaded with 50# spectra… down to 3 way swivel with 30# floro and #2 hook (no treble, too lazy at that point in the day). 1 lb of led didn’t hit the sand many times before it felt like I snagged the bottom, then I lifted it up a bit… Hell yeah… I got it to color pretty quickly. The first gaff shot bounced off… The fish freaked out splashing gallons of water, all over my face… It went for another run, but brought it back up rather quickly. Another lousy gaff shot that punched through the side - good enough to bring on board. The stringer was ready; quickly tied up and started bleating ritual… Hell yeah – my 1st butt on the kayak – 41”, 31#. Ate the sardine in 65’. I couldn’t wait to get the thing out of my lap and in safety of boat… As Brad put it in the cooler, it started freaking out again bouncing the whole chest around… Lil’ too late… We had some more heartbreaks soon after, none of which materialized. Brad, I had a blast! Great company. We’ve got to do this again. __________________ [------------------------ <)))< ....b-a-a-a-a

07-31-2006, 01:49 AM	#4
Aaron&Julie Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Spring Valley Posts: 1,400	Adi, Congratulations! That is one pig (or lamb?) of a 'butt. Beautiful 1st flatfish from the yak. __________________ "Never say die"

07-31-2006, 06:50 AM	#6
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	Party.......What party? :lol: :lol: :lol: Excellent way to break in the lil boat. You two would make a scarey tag team. __________________

07-31-2006, 01:23 PM	#9
Dennis Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: South of La Jolla... Posts: 1,193	Right on, Adi.. NICE ONE. __________________ Hmmmm.....

07-30-2006, 11:02 PM	#2
madscientist Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,906	Damn Adi, I was in the middle of my narrative when I saw your post. Not much to add, but here's the video of the flatlamb killa.... http://media.putfile.com/flatlamb Adi pulled a bit of an Arne on the first gaff shot (around 15sec in). I think I actually saw about half of the fish out of the water as it fled his gaff. Adi and I were planning on going offshore looking for dodos while trying out my new mini-X, but a late start, inclement weather, and a hot tip from the balkan mafia convinced us otherwise. We piled all 9ft of the yak into his skiff. Funny little boat. Super stable and spins on a dime. Doesn't track that well and tops out at about 2.5 knots, but it's a great dry ride. Perfect little mothership boat. __________________

07-31-2006, 12:28 AM	#3
katchfish Paddle for Mahi Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Doing the happy paddle! Posts: 846	Right on Adi!! 8) Ken

07-31-2006, 06:41 AM	#5
ski Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: El Cajon Posts: 273	Congrats on the lamb! Great read/photos too! Mark

07-31-2006, 09:03 AM	#8
Will B. Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: La Jolla Posts: 96	That Brad Messmer cuts a fine figure of a man when he is in the right sized kayak.

07-31-2006, 02:41 PM	#10
tylerdurden Bad Clone Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 874	Catching a but that size is better than a dodo anyways. Nice work. That miniX looks awesome.

08-01-2006, 06:47 AM	#11
Holy Mackerel Señor member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 1,627	Nice Flatty!! Looks like fun! Chris