KAYAK FISHING TIPS: Surf Zone Survival

I had the opportunity to lead a "Surf Zone Survival for Kayak Fisherman" class at the Oregon Coast yesterday; July 25, 2009. Upon researching the conditions on Saturday morning, we had two conflicting reports; One stated a South swell, The other North. The one thing they had in common was a swell height of 8-9ft with 15kt winds. Temperatures were in the low to mid seventies throughout the day, and the tide was flooding from 10AM to 4PM.

The river mouth where we set up our circuit was selected specifically because of the tidal action created there. You can ride the outgoing river flow along the head, turn South, and drop into the surf. Should any capsize or loss of gear occur, you and it would be swept back North along the beach and into the river mouth and calmer waters, and easily assisted.

We met the group of four clients at the boat launch in the estuary at 10AM. They had some previous experience in the ocean using kayaks to fish, but were having problems getting back in to the beach through the surf.

In the estuary, we worked on the fundamentals of driving the boat, rather than riding on it or sitting in it as we paddled toward the river mouth. Bow and stern rudders, pries, & draws, proper forward paddling technique, edging & bracing, and re-entry & rescue were all demonstrated for, and then practiced by the group.

We pulled out on the beach at the river mouth and snacked while we discussed tides & currents, moon phases & alignment of the sun, moon, and earth. We talked about the rhythm of the sea and decision making before heading out into the break.




I set up position at the end of the beach rip in order to pick up gear and assist with re-entries as the clients practiced their new skills in 3-4ft surf. My fellow coach Dave White set up on the outside of the circuit, guiding our clients in as they entered the surf zone.














The outside of the surf zone was breaking much bigger. At points we observed waves exceeding 10ft. Here is Dave heading out into an 8ft wave, trying to go vertical in his kayak:



And playing in the smaller stuff:



By the end of the class, everyone was able launch off the beach, and surf and/or guide their boat in under control and land on the beach. After a thrilling and action packed day spent playing in the surf zone on sit on tops, we paddled back to the boat launch and enjoyed a cold and tasty adult beverage before heading back to Portland.

Dave & I both had allot of fun with this class. When people are excited, active, and having fun, it's a pretty good day as an instructor. I look forward to doing it again soon.

Until next week,

Jason

KAYAK FISHING: Tips on Rigging a Sit-on-Top for Fishing

I received my new Ocean Kayak Scupper Pro a few weeks ago at Alder Creek in Portland, Oregon. I was pleased to see it was sparsely rigged; I wanted to outfit this kayak for fishing the way I thought proper. My fishing kayak needs to be more nimble than stable, and something I can have a bit of fun in the surf with.

So far I've installed two flush-mount rod holders behind the cockpit with rivets, neoprene foam gasket, sealed with mondobond


To cut the holes for the flush mounts and the day hatch, I traced the pattern onto the boat and then cut on the inside of the line with a sharp drill bit. There are better tools available, but it's what I had available. I did use a grinder to bevel the edges of my rough cut drill work.

I added neoprene foam seating, cut with scissors and attached with more mondobond. The gray foam back pillar positions me a bit further forward in the boat. My thinking is that this will balance out the voluminous bow compartment and the narrow stern. The redistribution of weight further forward in the boat will loosen the stern, making it more responsive to edge control, or "playful" as it's said.


The gray foam also pushes me away from the high back rest, allowing for better torso rotation, more efficient paddling, and great boat control.

In the previous picture, you will notice a valley day hatch positioned in the flat rise in front of the seat. With the addition of this hatch, I can safely bilge water from the hull without fear of taking on more water from crashing waves through the huge
hatches on some sit-on-top kayaks.

In front of the day hatch, I riveted in several pad-eyes and ran bungee in a cross pattern to secure a bilge pump, and a few other small items.


Moving towards the bow you will see that I've bolted in a scotty deck mount rod holder. If needed I can add the 8" extender that scotty makes in order to position the rod holder closer to the cockpit.


I riveted a few more pad-eyes around the boat and added reflective perimeter line around the length of the boat. The perimeter line makes the boat easier to carry, increase visibility at night, and gives me a way to hang on to the boat should I come out in rough water or surf.


Finally, I clipped on some NRS thigh straps. The thigh straps give me more control over the boat and keep me from getting bucked off (sometimes) in surf.


To complete the sea worthiness of the kayak, I am working on installing a 3-4" closed cell foam bulkhead directly behind the front hatch. Before installing the bulkhead, I will stuff 10 or 12 foam pool noodles along the gunwales all the way to the stern. With the pool noodles, bulkhead, and day hatch for pumping water out, taking on water should not be an issue. I believe the bulkhead will also add strength to the structure of the boat, possibly preventing blown scuppers earned after smacking the hull on the backside of a big wave.

My plan for internal rod storage is to run two five-inch PVC pipes through the area in front of the footwells, through the bulkhead, and into the front hatch area. I'll seal the pipe end in the hatch, and have a screw lid with o-ring exiting in front of the footwells. This gives me the ability to store two piece rods with reels inside the boat for surf launches, without the 30" x 8" gaping hole in the boat.

At this point, I believe it will be the most seaworthy sit-on-top kayak that I have ever seen. Manufacturers take note; The design features and modifications published in this post are the intellectual property of Jason Self. If I start seeing the bulkhead/tube storage ideas on the market, we will chat.

Until next week,

Jason

TRIP REPORT: Sea Kayaking San Juan Islands, WA. July 8-12, 2009

I had the opportunity to take four clients to the San Juan Islands in Northern Washington this past week with my fellow guide Shawn Altman. We left Portland on Wednesday, July 8th and drove to Anacortes, where we camped on the watefront at Washington Park.

We woke early, around 5:30, broke down camp and caught the first ferry to Guemes Island. The sun rise was so beautiful and the water so calm, Shawn could not resist taking a quick paddle in his new boat, a NDK Greenlander Pro, before our clients arrived at the launch site.




One by one our clients arrived. We sorted through an amazing amount of food, water, pots & pans, fuel, camping gear, and dry bags. Amazingly enough, it all fits every time. We even managed a few full sized camp chairs, a large skillet, and a double burner stove. After suiting up for the 55 degree water, we hauled our 200 pound boats to the water with four people carrying each kayak, and began the journey to Cypress Island, where we would establish base camp at Pelican Beach.






Beautiful blue skies, light winds, and seventy degree temperatures made the paddle over to Cypress smooth and enjoyable. After setting up camp and eating lunch, the group went on a hike around the island. Upon their return and completion of dinner, we watched the sunset while sitting around the camp fire. Sounds of Outward Bound groups singing camp fire songs and waves lapping on the cobble beach made it easy for us all to drift off to sleep. The following day would be a big one for this group; We would circumnavigate the Island.

Another sunny and mild day greeted us as we launched from Pelican Beach Friday morning. Although the weather was mild, the currents were ripping. The plan was to paddle around the North tip of Cypress and down the West side to Strawberry Island, riding the ebbing current the whole way to our destination.



Our four clients had varying kayaking experience, some were stronger than others. As a result, the group covered distance a bit slower than we had planned for. After navigating through the fishing fleet, we landed on a rocky gulch on Strawberry Island and had lunch.




After a brief discussion with the group concerning our slow progress, and the changing currents, they decided to go ahead with the circumnavigation. We paddled South towards the end of the Island, where we found the current and wave action to be increasing.


As we neared the South tip of the Island, one of our clients wanted to pull out and stretch his legs; It seemed he was a bit tight in his kayak. I offered him my NDK Explorer HV because it has a bit more leg room; Little did I know that would be the last time I paddled my boat on the entire trip. From that moment on I was in a Wilderness Systems Tempest 165. The Tempest 165 is a great boat for someone 5'7 and 135 pounds, but a bit sprightly for me at 6ft 170.

The time we took to eat lunch and then pull out to change boats delayed our rounding of the Southern tip enough that when we approached, we found large boils 150 ft across in front of a rip of 7 or 8 nauts and two foot rapids pushing straight out into the channel. I had gone ahead of the group to probe the best route. After paddling over the boils and approaching the rip, we decided the group would approach the rip and then turn their bows out with the flow when about 50 ft away from the tidal rapids and ride it all the way back to camp.

Shawn took the group out with the flow, but I could not resist playing on the water feature. I pointed my bow into the flow and ferried into the rip. When I entered the fast moving tidal rapids, the Tempest 165 submarined completely underwater, then resurfaced as I crossed the rip and turned into the flow. I kept a keen eye on the group as they rode the swift current North towards camp; I knew this would be an experience they would not forget. I rejoined the group after riding the flow for about two miles, and we enjoyed magnificent views of the North Cascades and Cone Islands.




We completed the circumnavigation of Cyprus, and huddled around the camp fire as we devoured dinner and watched an amazing sunset.


Saturday we set the bar a little lower. Everyone was tired from the previous days adventure, so we decided to make it an instructional day and take it easy. We paddled to Eagle Harbor where we worked on kayak skills and relaxed. I managed to test out my new hand line for a few minutes while Shawn was working with the group. I hooked something small, probably a rockfish, but lost him after a few seconds of play. I found the hand line incredibly hard to get a proper hook set while jigging, but also quite compact and simple to use on trips like this.

I also took a few underwater photos. I have been wanting to do this since my first trip to the San Juan's; The water is extremely clear.








That night after the group had gone to bed, Shawn and I executed our usual routine of walking down the beach to the North tip of the Island and listening to the weather report, consulting the current atlas, and planning the trip for the next day. As we were listening to the radio, we watched nickel-sized jellyfish-like bioluminescent creatures flash in the water lapping at the cobble for an hour in pure amazement as a thunderstorm moved into our area.

Sunday we awoke to cooler temperatures, 20 mph wind gusts, and 2-4 ft wind waves. This combined with the strong currents to make the return to Guemes quite interesting.






There were a few close calls during our paddle back to Guemes, but everyone made it back through the challenging conditions without capsizing. We landed back at the park where we had launched four days prior, where we sorted out gear and packed up to catch the ferry back to Anacortes. After a brief stop at the Bowling Alley Restaurant in Anacortes for their "World Famous Fish & Chips", we drove back to Portland, haggard, exhausted, and happy; Another "once in a life time" trip under our belts.

Until next time,

Jason

Back in Action

After a ridiculously busy spring, I'm happy to report that I will be back to regular weekly posts starting today. Finals are finished, which was a serious expenditure in time and energy, but I did well and will not be taking classes this summer! My little brother got married in Colorado, and I was the best man. At any rate it was an excuse to spend a week in the Rockies. Even though we were busy with wedding chores most of the time, my Step Dad and I managed to get away for a couple hours and catch a couple of pike at Vellacito Reservoir in SW Colorado. I will post a report with pictures on that at a later date.

While I was in Colorado, my new kayak arrived; The Scupper Pro by Ocean Kayak. I have to say, I usually don't get to excited about sit-on-tops, but this boat is sweet. It's much more performance oriented than your usual sit-on-top. I added a few things like two flush-mount-rod-holders, a Scotty bait-caster deck-mount rod-holder up front, reflective perimeter line, deck mounted bilge pump holder, valley day hatch, neoprene foam seating, and I'm in the process of putting pool noodles into the gunwales, and a four inch foam bulkhead to separate the bow hatch from the rest of the boat. When I'm done with the Scupper Pro, it will be the most sea & surf worthy rotomolded sit-on-top that I have ever seen anyway. Although the bulkead will be awesome, the downside is that I will have to measure the entire cross section of the kayak with calipers, transfer that to a cardboard stencil, then cut it out of a foam block. It will be challenging, and I will give a full report with pics......as soon as I find my camera charger!

Coming up in early July, Saltman and I will be guiding a four day San Juan Islands sea kayak camping trip, and I fully intend to make use of the new hand lines. I can't wait for this trip. I look forward to the San Juan's every year. Last year I did not get the opportunity for any fishing, and I have been eagerly anticipating my return to the Juan's since then. I intend to be fully geared this time, I'm even mulling over the idea of towing my new Scupper Pro behind my sea kayak, just so I can have it in the off moments to wet a quick line. We'll see though, it's allot of trouble to do.

There is allot going on, and some good saltwater kayak fishing and outfitting tips coming your way throughout July!

Until next week,

Jason

TRIP REPORT: Surfing Sea Kayaks at the Oregon Coast

It's been a while since my last post. I admit I got a bit hung up on catching a spring salmon on the Columbia, and needed some serious catch up time for school and everything else.

Shay and I did manage to break away for a weekend at the Oregon coast. We feverishly packed our gear Saturday night after a long days work. By the time our essentials were loaded, I realized the tackle shop was closed. "No problem." I thought. "I'll just find one in Lincoln City." I had been aiming to test a few different hand lines for a couple of weeks now.

It turns out there is no tackle shop in Lincoln City, so rather than drive around aimlessly searching, we scratched the idea of catching rock fish and lingcod for playing in the surf and relaxing on the beach. I have been itching to get back out in the surf for some time now, so the prospect of not having fish and chips for dinner was easier to swallow.

We launched from the boat ramp onto the Salmon river estuary at around 11:30 AM. Skies were sunny, but the fog bank loomed close offshore. Temperatures were warm, in the low seventies, the wind grew to a steady fifteen mph with gusts to twenty mph out of the West. Swell was mild, averaging two to five feet out of the West with a period average of eight seconds.

The Salmon river estuary and Cascade Head is a beautiful place to be:








We paddled down river towards the mouth, encountering a colony of seals along the way guarding a few young pups. We kept our distance, but were still gently harassed by this brash male:





As I passed by the seal, I was focusing in on a photo of Shay when he slapped the stern quarter of my boat with a startling splash and thud, nearly giving me a heart attack. It's a good thing the camera was tethered to my PFD, because I dropped it like an old sandwich and paddled forward 100ft in about a second. I did get this pic of Shay as we approached the river mouth:



Approaching Cascade Head and the mouth of the Salmon River:





I was hoping for bigger swell, but had fun outside the mouth in the break:





We pulled out on the beach at the South side of the mouth to relax and watch the fog roll in:








We paddled back to the launch late that afternoon, riding the incoming tide and strong West wind the whole way:




I've got finals coming up in the next two weeks, and then my brothers wedding, so I won't be back out on the water kayak fishing and surfing until after June 10th. But when I do get back, I am going to try and get to the coast as much as possible, and will give a full report on the hand-line kayak-fishing test.

Until then,

Jason