5/28 LJ - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

tylerdurden · 05-28-2006, 08:27 AM

A first for me. I have never gotten to LJ and not launched. I got to the launch around 5 am. Looked at the sets and thought it was doable. By the time I was ready to launch it was looking ugly. The surf was slightly smaller than thursday night but with a much shorter interval. I waded out and started paddling when I saw a lull and then saw some huge sets coming so I had to abort. I didn't get dumped but I jumped out in about 3.5' of water. Shot the chit with some of the other guys on the beach. We saw a fnd make it out clean through what was about the only good lull I saw. The sets were breaking way outside, and these were "dream enders" as someone else phrased it. By 7am it was definetly launchable but by that point I had already thrown in the towel and decided I was going home and back to sleep. In the end I was at the beach from about 5-7:30 am. I saw 2 people launch and make it, although the guy that launched later had much easier surf to deal with. I saw a tandem with a father son combo get dumped trying and they threw in the towel after that. When I left at 7:30 it looked like everyone else was finally getting ready to launch as it had calmed down enough, but there were still some scary sets.

Lots of pics since I was sitting on the beach for almost 2.5 hours this morning.

Iceman · 05-28-2006, 11:44 AM

Last day of the DERBY! Work ain't so bad :lol: That is some serious surf for the launch. If I went I would just be thinking about the landing the whole time :roll: I hate stowing my gear, too.

DaveC · 05-28-2006, 01:47 PM

Thanks for the report and the pics. Think I'll hit the bay tomorrow. That's the one drawback of the Malibu II I am fishing. There is no option for stowing your rigs underneath in high surf. La Jolla for me at the end of the week.

Dave

SteveHman · 05-28-2006, 05:09 PM

wasn't as smart as Tyler. I launched out at around 8:30, big nasty wave but made it out with dry hair (my chest was soaked though. Made my way out to the grounds and tried just about everything with no luck. I decided to make a run along the kelp so that my efforts wouldn’t be a waste. I threw some fishtraps out (light green, orange belly) and was almost immediately picked up by a nice size checkerboard (I don’t have a scale but guess him in the 3-1/2 # range). I played around some more an C&R’d about a dozen more (smaller) calicos. They had chewed up my last light green fishtrap so I switched to the orange bellied sardine and was slammed by a nice boney, and then another and I farmed a third--those guys hit hard. I was about to head in and got picked up by something much bigger and was peeling line off the Avet like it was cool. I am hoping YT, but when I got it to color it was about a 30 inch barrie. As I was getting ready to gaff him my knot failed (same not that pulled in about 18 fish for the day). I should have retied the knot after the first couple of bonies—lesson learned.

Well at around 12:30 I decided to head in and the swell was getting bigger. The waves could be seen breaking from well past the yellow can :shock: . I wasn’t looking forward to landing (why didn’t I go to the bay this morning instead?). I passed a ton of rental yaks heading out so it couldn’t be that bad—right? Well I get closer to shore and the set are big, close and hairy. I try to time it for between a few smaller ones and was making good headway until this wall of water rolled me like I’ve never been rolled before :roll: (actually, I never have been rolled before). It must have been a combination of several factors: the Hobie Outback paddles and tracks for shit, full bait tank on the back deck and three good sized fish to boot—all that extra weight above the CG. Lucky for me I have an over abundance of leashes for all of my rods, paddle etc. The only thing I lost was a pair of cheap sunglasses, a hat and a little dignity

ops:.

Guy on beach: Dude that was awesome we couldn’t stop laughing :lol:
Me: I can’t blame you, I’d be laughing at me too.

There were several regulars on the beach that didn’t go out but were enjoying watching the comedy that was trying to land today. In the time that I was loading my gear up at least a dozen rental yaks and few others bit it hard. (did anyone bring a video camera—America’s Funniest?).

I’ll post pix of the fish later (I know, no pix=BS).

Steve :roll:

sterling · 05-28-2006, 05:49 PM

Yard Sales on the beach make for great comedy.

I don't think I made it since the first 6-8 times I went out I seemed to always be hitting big surf!! All the regulars would just say it no big deal you'll learn. One example was Jim H was yelling out to me something like hey it's no problem right before I did a bow stern indy in my 16' Wilderness!!! My only saving grace is right behind me another wave in that set took out. I mean wiped out Tom Booth, Johnny Ceviche, and Jim H as well. Now that's got to be some nasty stuff to wipe out those guys as well. One great yard sale I witnessed was a couple of guys trying to negotiate the surf in a Canoe!! The Fishn' Magician starts jumping up and down yelling watch those guys watch those guys. They got perfectly parallel to the beach then they got tubed, Litteraly. No leashes!! Best yard sale ever!!!

The best?worst wipe-out ever. One Spring morning the waves are washing up on the street and the wind was howling, but pride pushes me on since I watch Jimm H and several others launch without incident. After at least 40 minutes of trying to paddle past the first few waves and aborting since I couldn't keep straight I finally get past the first 5' wave. My kayak hits flat thunk on the back of the wave. I paddle like crazy up and over another 5+' thunk again. Did I catch air on that one? A third, fourth and fifth. YES!!! I made it I am out of the zone. I was probably 100-150 yards off the beach now. Then a wave poped up out of the abyys. Remember my kayak is 16' long. I was too close to let it break in front of me so I paddle with all I can. I climb up the face untill almost vertical when the force of the wave just takes my kayak right from over me. Yes over me and I had to swim and body surf back to shore to find it. My wife doesn't believe me to this day that the face of that wave had to be at least 10'. I find it on the beach with the rods attached and mashed into the sand. I recover the best I can, and went for it again!!! This time I had a surfer help hold me straight and I made it out. Out there I find Jim H yelling hell of Mr. Toad's wild ride lets go in it must be blowing over 20 mph. I roll the landing. Go home with no pride but the knowledge not to push it again. Repairs and replacement costs. About $250.

tylerdurden · 05-28-2006, 06:19 PM

I made it out and in on Thursday night and got lucky with my timing. Launching through this once in a week was enough for me. It would have been really ugly if anyone was paddling back through this stuff with a 40+lb fish on board. I was almost as worried about launching as landing. These waves were big enough that if a set one broke right on you on the way out I think the white water would have just ripped you off your kayak, no matter how square and fast you hit it. Also some of these waves had nice little tubes and a thump to them. When that tandem dumped this morning I decided to spare them the their dignity and not take pictures. I can only imagine the yardsales this afternoon when the rentals were out, and the fisherman that did launch decided to come back in. I almost stuck around for the show.

T-Rex · 05-28-2006, 11:18 PM

Some real grinder sets this morning. Timing was everything - I managed to get out dry but nearly got cremated by an outside set.

These guys waited about 20 minutes for a lull between sets...

Wouldn't want to take one of these in the lap.

Should have brought a longboard instead of a kayak!

Out a ways and rollers making a beeline for the launch area. Off shore wind started getting a little stronger about 7:00. Made the paddle out a little easier.

9-10 am glassy

Stayed out till 4:30 for 1 bonito & a couple of slime sticks. Pretty windy, choppy and sloppy all afternoon.

Good thing I stowed everything for the landing. :roll:

ops: Landed wet with dignity damaged, but tackle & electronics intact.

05-28-2006, 08:27 AM	#1
tylerdurden Bad Clone Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 874	5/28 LJ A first for me. I have never gotten to LJ and not launched. I got to the launch around 5 am. Looked at the sets and thought it was doable. By the time I was ready to launch it was looking ugly. The surf was slightly smaller than thursday night but with a much shorter interval. I waded out and started paddling when I saw a lull and then saw some huge sets coming so I had to abort. I didn't get dumped but I jumped out in about 3.5' of water. Shot the chit with some of the other guys on the beach. We saw a fnd make it out clean through what was about the only good lull I saw. The sets were breaking way outside, and these were "dream enders" as someone else phrased it. By 7am it was definetly launchable but by that point I had already thrown in the towel and decided I was going home and back to sleep. In the end I was at the beach from about 5-7:30 am. I saw 2 people launch and make it, although the guy that launched later had much easier surf to deal with. I saw a tandem with a father son combo get dumped trying and they threw in the towel after that. When I left at 7:30 it looked like everyone else was finally getting ready to launch as it had calmed down enough, but there were still some scary sets. Lots of pics since I was sitting on the beach for almost 2.5 hours this morning.

05-28-2006, 11:44 AM	#2
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	Last day of the DERBY! Work ain't so bad :lol: That is some serious surf for the launch. If I went I would just be thinking about the landing the whole time :roll: I hate stowing my gear, too. __________________

05-28-2006, 05:09 PM	#4
SteveHman Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: San Diego Posts: 12	wasn't as smart as Tyler. I launched out at around 8:30, big nasty wave but made it out with dry hair (my chest was soaked though. Made my way out to the grounds and tried just about everything with no luck. I decided to make a run along the kelp so that my efforts wouldn’t be a waste. I threw some fishtraps out (light green, orange belly) and was almost immediately picked up by a nice size checkerboard (I don’t have a scale but guess him in the 3-1/2 # range). I played around some more an C&R’d about a dozen more (smaller) calicos. They had chewed up my last light green fishtrap so I switched to the orange bellied sardine and was slammed by a nice boney, and then another and I farmed a third--those guys hit hard. I was about to head in and got picked up by something much bigger and was peeling line off the Avet like it was cool. I am hoping YT, but when I got it to color it was about a 30 inch barrie. As I was getting ready to gaff him my knot failed (same not that pulled in about 18 fish for the day). I should have retied the knot after the first couple of bonies—lesson learned. Well at around 12:30 I decided to head in and the swell was getting bigger. The waves could be seen breaking from well past the yellow can :shock: . I wasn’t looking forward to landing (why didn’t I go to the bay this morning instead?). I passed a ton of rental yaks heading out so it couldn’t be that bad—right? Well I get closer to shore and the set are big, close and hairy. I try to time it for between a few smaller ones and was making good headway until this wall of water rolled me like I’ve never been rolled before :roll: (actually, I never have been rolled before). It must have been a combination of several factors: the Hobie Outback paddles and tracks for shit, full bait tank on the back deck and three good sized fish to boot—all that extra weight above the CG. Lucky for me I have an over abundance of leashes for all of my rods, paddle etc. The only thing I lost was a pair of cheap sunglasses, a hat and a little dignity ops:. Guy on beach: Dude that was awesome we couldn’t stop laughing :lol: Me: I can’t blame you, I’d be laughing at me too. There were several regulars on the beach that didn’t go out but were enjoying watching the comedy that was trying to land today. In the time that I was loading my gear up at least a dozen rental yaks and few others bit it hard. (did anyone bring a video camera—America’s Funniest?). I’ll post pix of the fish later (I know, no pix=BS). Steve :roll: __________________ There's much food value in beer, but no beer value in food. Ben Franklin

05-28-2006, 01:47 PM	#3
DaveC Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 66	Thanks for the report and the pics. Think I'll hit the bay tomorrow. That's the one drawback of the Malibu II I am fishing. There is no option for stowing your rigs underneath in high surf. La Jolla for me at the end of the week. Dave

05-28-2006, 05:49 PM	#5
sterling Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 118	Yard Sales on the beach make for great comedy. I don't think I made it since the first 6-8 times I went out I seemed to always be hitting big surf!! All the regulars would just say it no big deal you'll learn. One example was Jim H was yelling out to me something like hey it's no problem right before I did a bow stern indy in my 16' Wilderness!!! My only saving grace is right behind me another wave in that set took out. I mean wiped out Tom Booth, Johnny Ceviche, and Jim H as well. Now that's got to be some nasty stuff to wipe out those guys as well. One great yard sale I witnessed was a couple of guys trying to negotiate the surf in a Canoe!! The Fishn' Magician starts jumping up and down yelling watch those guys watch those guys. They got perfectly parallel to the beach then they got tubed, Litteraly. No leashes!! Best yard sale ever!!! The best?worst wipe-out ever. One Spring morning the waves are washing up on the street and the wind was howling, but pride pushes me on since I watch Jimm H and several others launch without incident. After at least 40 minutes of trying to paddle past the first few waves and aborting since I couldn't keep straight I finally get past the first 5' wave. My kayak hits flat thunk on the back of the wave. I paddle like crazy up and over another 5+' thunk again. Did I catch air on that one? A third, fourth and fifth. YES!!! I made it I am out of the zone. I was probably 100-150 yards off the beach now. Then a wave poped up out of the abyys. Remember my kayak is 16' long. I was too close to let it break in front of me so I paddle with all I can. I climb up the face untill almost vertical when the force of the wave just takes my kayak right from over me. Yes over me and I had to swim and body surf back to shore to find it. My wife doesn't believe me to this day that the face of that wave had to be at least 10'. I find it on the beach with the rods attached and mashed into the sand. I recover the best I can, and went for it again!!! This time I had a surfer help hold me straight and I made it out. Out there I find Jim H yelling hell of Mr. Toad's wild ride lets go in it must be blowing over 20 mph. I roll the landing. Go home with no pride but the knowledge not to push it again. Repairs and replacement costs. About $250.

05-28-2006, 06:19 PM	#6
tylerdurden Bad Clone Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 874	I made it out and in on Thursday night and got lucky with my timing. Launching through this once in a week was enough for me. It would have been really ugly if anyone was paddling back through this stuff with a 40+lb fish on board. I was almost as worried about launching as landing. These waves were big enough that if a set one broke right on you on the way out I think the white water would have just ripped you off your kayak, no matter how square and fast you hit it. Also some of these waves had nice little tubes and a thump to them. When that tandem dumped this morning I decided to spare them the their dignity and not take pictures. I can only imagine the yardsales this afternoon when the rentals were out, and the fisherman that did launch decided to come back in. I almost stuck around for the show.

05-28-2006, 11:18 PM	#7
T-Rex Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Rancho Santa Margarita Posts: 770	Some real grinder sets this morning. Timing was everything - I managed to get out dry but nearly got cremated by an outside set. These guys waited about 20 minutes for a lull between sets... Wouldn't want to take one of these in the lap. Should have brought a longboard instead of a kayak! Out a ways and rollers making a beeline for the launch area. Off shore wind started getting a little stronger about 7:00. Made the paddle out a little easier. 9-10 am glassy Stayed out till 4:30 for 1 bonito & a couple of slime sticks. Pretty windy, choppy and sloppy all afternoon. Good thing I stowed everything for the landing. :roll: ops: Landed wet with dignity damaged, but tackle & electronics intact.