Tarpon by Kayak, Paddle for Your Life! 8-13-11

Tarpon by Kayak, Paddle for Your Life! 8-13-11
　
Friday had been one awesome day battling monster tarpons and sharks. The pogy pods were still going strong so my fishing partner for the last few trips and I made a plan to meet at the beach Saturday morning for what promised to be another great day on the big water.

We were braced to set a new county record! I had worked until 10:45 the night before, building leaders, rigging rods, sharpening hooks, etc. I could hardly sleep that night thinking about all the tarpon we were going to have stacked up the next day.

Ricky and I rendezvoused at the beach just after daylight and started glassing the surf for a bait pod to put in on. To our surprise the bait had vanished like smoke in the wind. One minute they were here, the next they were gone. We drove up and down the beach from High bridge all the way to the north city limits of Flagler Beach glassing until about 10:30 but to no avail. I told Rick “the baits been moving north, lets go way up towards Marineland and see if we can find them” but Ricky had about enough and wanted to call off the dogs and come back after lunch and see what we could find.

I decided to stop in town for provisions and ice and keep scouting. I made my way up north stopping at any available beach access to glass for bait. As I pulled up to the beach at 16^th rd., There they were…..pogies! There were probably 150 people ganged up on the beach and wading in the water right there, seemingly unaware of the large bait school just behind the breakers and what lurked beneath. The bait was nervous and after a few minutes I spotted a tarpon roll on the edge of the school. That was all I needed to see.

I pulled out and headed to recon the remaining accesses before I made a decision where we’d put in. I found some more good bait at Malacompra and phoned Ricky to assemble the team. I could hardly wait for him to get there. With Tarpon rolling and busting into the bait I was chomping at the bit to get on them. Rick finally arrived and we got in the water about 1:30 PM and paddled for the school.



There is not much that’s more exciting than paddling up on a school of bait with big 100 to 150# tarpon busting them. Sometimes the tarpon will strike so violently into the school that bait showers into the air for a 20-30’ diameter.

Due to the almost 3 hour battle Ricky had witnessed me wage on a tarpon the day before, he came packing some heavy duty equipment. Though Rick is an experienced scuba diver and off shore fisherman, this was only his 3rd time in a Kayak. On our previous trips together I had hooked up so  quickly Ricky did not even get a chance to fish. Today would be Ricky’s day! My roll for this trip was to keep Ricky in fresh pogies and act as chase boat and photographer.

The school we paddled up to was not tightly bunched which made it a little hard to snag a bait. I had to loop in a treble hook and after a couple casts I had the first volunteer. Rick hooked him up and heaved him back into the pod. About the time I caught another pogy a fish striped Rick’s hook so he paddled over and grabbed bait #2.  I was still trying to snag me a bait when Rick Hooked up! Rick hollered out “it’s a big Jack!” The jack pulled him around for a couple minutes before tearing off.

I had just caught bait #3 and Rick had a back up rod so I hollered over to him to try and snag a pogy. He pulled one out on the first cast, hooked him on and served him up.  Within minutes Ricky was hollering again “I got him, I got him!” as a big silver tarpon tail walked across the surface. I probably didn’t get to fish more than 10 minutes.







Well, once again it was time to take a ride east for deep water. Since the tarpon was keeping a steady course I grabbed on to Rick’s boat to save some paddling and add a little extra resistance to the fight. The  tarpon strained against Rick’s heavy line but all the pulling and acrobatics could not shake my hand sharpened Mustad hook. In about 45 minutes Ricky had him floating yak side and ready for the hero shot!

It was about this point that we heard the first rumble of thunder back towards the beach! Rick spun around and motioned towards the beach and said “look at that, we need to get out of here!”





We finished our pictures as fast as we could, stowed our gear and started paddling as fast as possible for the beach. About then a lightening strike to the NW. really got our attention and added a greater urgency to get off the water. We were about to come to the realization of just how serious a mistake we had made in not being aware of the building storm behind us. Although, I have to say, when we first heard the thunder the sky that direction did not look that threatening.

In the excitement for catching the 120#+ tarpon and moving as fast as possible to get the hell out of there I did not catch what depth the tarpon had pulled us out to but I can tell you this….. It took 15 minutes of paddling with all we had to get back to the 45’ mark!

This is were things got serious. In 45’ of water the wind hit us! I mean some real wind 35-45 mph kind of wind and coming off the beach. The water went from a slight swell to 3-4’ waves breaking over the bow. We were literally paddling for our lives. The thing I remember most was the pressure against the face of the paddle every time it came up. It was incredible. The rain was starting to come down but luckily we never lost sight of the beach.

The only thing we could do was paddle with all we had, stay square to the waves and hope the storm subsided before we ran out of steam. Finally, after about 25 minutes the wind let up and the water started to lay. What a relief that was! It took us a solid hour to make it back to the hill.


     Little did we know how bad it was about to get just a few minutes after this picture was taken!


                       By the time we were back on the beach the big surf had disappeared!

We drug our boats up on the beach and just sat there exhausted. I looked at Rick “I know your butt was puckered on that paddle, It sure had my attention!”

My close friend Capt. Rick Ruebel gave me some good advice once….”you need to be done fishing and headed back by 1:00PM to avoid the afternoon thunder storms.  I won’t let myself get caught like that again!

If your planning a trip in the surf with your yak, fish with a partner and be prepared. It can be one of your best days on the water but things can go sideways real fast.

Good luck,
Larry S.

Kayak Surf Entry and Exit, How Too!

.
I was on one of my favorite forums recently and one of the new members, a new comer to kayak fishing in the surf asked for some advice on how to get in and out thru the surf without getting rolled. I see a lot of questions about this so I decided to ad some advise on my blog regarding this.

One of my fishing partners, rolled on a baby wave!

Here are my suggestions for getting thru the surf zone without getting chewed up and spit out!

First, unless there is some really good action out there I don't  usually try to fish the surf when there are some serious breakers.

Going out is no big deal. the key is just to stay perpendicular with the breaking wave. If you get a  little sideways your in trouble. This is not to hard to do, even in pretty large breakers. It is the ext that gets most people. If you are fishing a 12-14'+ yak, leaning back will not shift enough weight to keep the nose up. If you have a shorter yak it makes all the difference in the world.

Timing is important to ext but only if the surf is breaking with one or two breakers at a time. If there are 3-4 sets and they start 100 yds out, your not going to be able to get in fast enough to avoid taking one in the back. Then it lifts the back of the yak, the nose digs in, you go side ways and your up side down.

There are three methods to deal with this that you can try but each takes a different skill level.

Very rough surf:
1- get into waste deep water and bail out, grab the back of the boat, hang on and ride it in. works great. Not cool but it works.
2.- you can try a brace but it is difficult to perfect. check this out on line but you will have to practice it a lot. I avoid it personally.

Medium surf (and below):
3. Keep straight by braking on the opposite of the direction the nose is starting to go. The wave gets the rear going faster than the front when the nose get slightly out of perpendicular with the wave. This makes the nose start to come around and you ge rolled. If the nose starts to come left, brake on the right by putting your paddle in the water until the yak straightens  back out. It is not nearly as hard to do as bracing and leaning into the wave.

Obviously, you need to have all your gear leashed but if it is real rough i recommend you bail out and float the boat the rest of the way in. Your body will act like a drift sock and the yak will not turn over. That's a major plus and saves your equipment.

One thing that is very important during the summer months is to keep a close eye on the weather! Afternoon thunder storms can build up fast and sneak up on you even faster! Also, surf conditions can change in as little as 30 minutes and be completely different from what you launched into.

Last year my fishing partner Rick and I got caught sleeping. Man was that a serious mistake! Rick was hooked to a 125lb. tarpon that was headed due east (away from the hill) as hard as he could go. About the time we got the tarpon landed we heard a rumble of thunder! Back inland there was a thunder storm coming and it did not look gentle.

We took a quick photo, stowed our gear and took off for the beach. The tarpon had pulled us so far out it took 15 minutes of paddling as hard as we could just to get back to 45' of water. About then the wind hit us and within 5 minutes it was blowing 40+ mph and pouring rain. The swell went from flat to 4' just that quick also. Waves were breaking a foor and a half over the bow. All we could do was stay square with the waves and paddle as hard as possible, hoping we could out last the storm. Luckily, I had sonar and was able to read the depth once in a while other wise there was no was to know if you were getting closer or further from the beach. After about 20 minutes the conditions started to ease up and I could tell we were going to make it out alive.

Once we had the boats back on the beach, we just sat there, rested and drank our water ration. We joked about how we'd rather not do that again and brushed off the hole incident but both of us knew what a serious circumstances we had just braved.

The thing I remember the most was the intensity of the wind blowing on the paddle each time it came out of the water! Incredible!

Good Luck,
Larry S.

Fishing Report - Flagler Beach Surf 7-29-11

.
Fishing Report - Flagler Beach Surf 7-29-11

July 29, 2011
Weather: sunny
Wind : light winds
Water was pretty smooth early 1-2’ swell

Friday morning: I made a plan to meet Len just after daylight at the beach this morning. I got there ahead of him to scout and locate our launch point.

It was 7:30 and there was no sign of Len yet. Man, I‘m ready to! I had just seen a big tarpon strike in the bait pod I planned to put in on. I grabbed my phone and called Len….”Where you at man“…..”Larry, I couldn’t find my paddle leash but I just located it and I’ll be on my way”. I had to give him a reprimand! “You should have got all that squared away last night”.

Well, while I was talking to him another tarpon busted in the bait sending pogies flying….”I’ve got to go Len! I’ll see you when you get here, I’m at N. 15^th Street“……click!

I made it thru the surf pretty easily and paddled for the bait pod with tarpon striking and rolling. I probably saw 25-30 strikes in about 30-40 minutes.

The bait pod was so large you could not see the end of it. It is hard to comprehend the numbers.

If you can believe this....everything in the photo is bait! except the little sliver

of water on the left......

Once again the Tarpons were quite elusive and I could not get one hooked up. By the time Len arrived after eight AM, the tarpon action was all but over and we only saw a couple strikes after that. I was fighting a small 36” shark when I noticed Len on the beach getting ready to launch. I had a bait or two bit in two here and there but there just did not seem to be many fish under the bait. I was not even seeing anything on the fish finder. I was in about 28 to 30’ of water most of the time.

Len & I were slowly moving ahead with my pogie on about a 3-4’ lead when all the sudden the rod almost got yanked over board! I got my hand on it before the fish stole it. I could hardly believe it. He turned out to be another small, maybe 42” sharkie. He pulled off after a short fight.

At this point the bait pods were almost gone with just a few scattered, thin pods visible.

It was getting late and I had not seen any striking action for a while so we called off the hunt so we could both get back and get some work done.

                                                        Len, just outside the bait school.

Maybe I can make something happen tomorrow!

Good Luck,
Larry

All the dark water is bait, there are a couple jumpers, middle left.

Everything that is dark is bait!!! Unbelievable!

Isolated bait pod (The dark line in the middle)

Len, just outside the edge of the bait.

Len getting rolled on the way in!

Len, after a roll-over! I love it!

To be honset I ended up upside down myself the day before, it's

just a matter of time so consider yourself warned!

Fishing Report - Flagler Beach Surf 7-28-11

.
Fishing Report - Flagler Beach Surf 7-28-11

July 28, 2011
Weather: partly cloudy
Wind : light winds
Water had a light chop with a 3-4’ swell

The pogies have shown up in force at Flagler Beach, finally. I got a call from my electrician friend, Rick Edwards Wednesday…..”Larry, you need to be over here, you ain’t gona believe the bait pods, they stretch as far as you can see”.

 

......................................                               Just a little corner of the pod trying to get around me.

I took a ride over to do a little recon about noon. It was overcast and there was a light chop on the water that made seeing the bait difficult. I pulled over to do some glassing and could hardly believe my eyes! The bait school was from the back of the breakers, 200-300 yds wide and I could not see the end of them with my 10x32 Nikon’s! U n b e l i e v a b l e! I have never seen them in such mass. The one thing that was missing was any striking action in them. There was not much to be seen but I figured there had to be some fish under them.

                                                                   Tarpon strike!

That was all I needed to see! I had a meeting scheduled for Thursday morning at 9:30 but I made a plan to launch as soon as I got thru with it. Another friend that I fish with regularly, Len Parker was supposed to meet me at the beach after the meeting but poor planning side lined him. It’s not the best idea to fish like this alone but the wheels were already set in motion and there was no turning back.

I scouted the beach from South 26^th street all the way to Beverly beach. The largest school was about N. 15^TH Street. I got all the gear down to the beach and readied for my first surf launch for the in two years. Last year the pogies were just no where to be found. The launch went good but as usual I took a good one right in my lap that swamped the boat. The scuppers relieved it quickly and I kept paddling until I was clear of the ruff stuff.

I paddled right into the middle of the pod and made a cast to snag a pogie. The bait was shoulder to shoulder from the surface down 3-4’. They were so thick I did not even need a treble hook to snag one. Matter of fact, you could snag one with one rip of the rod on every cast.

There was some decent tarpon action but I could not get one to find the pogie with the hook in it among the millions of free swimmers. I did not manage to catch a fish and only ended up with one bite that cut my bait in two just behind the hook. I saw 30-40 tarpon strikes all together  and had one strike so close to me I could have touched it....I had pogies and water blown all into the boat! I came close to walking on water! I promise you that will get your attention.

It was getting late and I had not seen any striking action for a while so I called off the hunt with the idea of a return trip in the morning.

Being in the middle of one of these huge bait pods is like nothing you’ve experienced! You would be surprised just how much noise they make with all the flipping and jumping. It’s a constant clatter that almost sounds like chirping. The hole time their flipping water on you. It’s quite a site to see.

The bait is slowly moving south and it is a little late in the year so there is no telling how long this will last. If you have any intention of going you better take advantage a.s.a.p.

Good Luck,
Larry

Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report 5/9/11

.
Indian River Lagoon Fishing Report
Mon.  May 9, 2011

Moon - First Quarter on 10th
M.F.=          pm +/-
Temp.: 79 deg. (comfortable)
wind: E @ 6-8  mph, gust to  - mph 

pressure: 29.95

humidity: 75%   

rain: 0

sunny

I left the office this afternoon with visions of big red fish patrolling some large sand holes near Dummits Cove in the Indian River Lagoon that I have been wanting to fish.

I was a little late leaving and had to stop by my Engineer buddy's house to help him with a few things on the way. I ended up getting to the Long Pond road about 6:30pm only to find it closed! That really messed up the plan as the next closest launch to where I wanted to fish was Sendlers Education Outpost and that makes for a mile paddle trip. It was to late for that adventure as the refuge closes at sunset.

I decided to put in there anyway and see if I could find any tailing reds on the grass flats and do a little exploring as this was my first time putting in here.

There was plenty of 4-6" mullet  around but there was no fish striking them and I never spotted the first tail of a red. I did paddle up on a few good one on the way back to the launch.

I fished a flats gig tipped with a piece of mullet and a top water, skitter walk for a little with no action other than some pin fish strikes on the gig.

There was a great sunset to enjoy and the mosquitoes were not bad so it was an enjoyable trip despite the lack of fish activity.

I had tried to contact the refuge headquarters earlier in the day to inquire whether the Lpond road was open but got no answer. I drove 140+ miles round trip just to find the road closed. That was a real let down as I had high hopes for that spot and the other access adds 3/4 of a mile to the paddle....one way.

After that I did a little poking around the Haulover bridge. We used to fish the bridge from shore when I was a kid and slay the trout. I was greeted by a big sign that said "no fishing from shore!" That really surprised me. I tried to just walk to the water to see if any fish were striking under the light off the end of the fender and found more signs that said "closed beyond this point" so you can't even get to the water on the NE side of the bridge. I ran back around to the SE side and was able to get to the water but apparently there is no fishing from shore period at the bridge. Unbelievable!

I did not see any fish striking on the east side but there was a boat anchored dipping shrimp and I could over hear them talking about all the trout they could see in their lights, including some big drum. I did not see them dip any shrimp though. I did see one real good strike from the SW side just off the bank.

I decided to have a look at the boat launch just down the canal to the west, known as Blair's Cove ramp. I was greeted by another sign that stated "no canoe/kayak launching at night!" What the hell is that all about? Man that sticks in my craw! A boat with a motor can put in there but no canoe or kayak. It is listed as one of only two launches into mosquito/indian river lagoons for night fishing and a kayak cannot use it. I have never heard of such a thing. As a matter of fact I am going to inquire about this. It's just not right.

There are so many roads closed from what I have seen that someone with a canoe or kayak is just out of luck for many miles of fishing particularly in the afternoon. You have to fish close to the hill to be able to be out before dark. It's not as much of a problem in the morning but you still can miss out on some prime fishing time if you plan to paddle very far to your first stop.

Beyond that it is one awesome place to fish where you can find access with your kayak. being on the flats at first and last light with a slick calm is just unbelievable. Some of the sunrise/sets here are as beautiful as they come.

This is my second trip to the grass flats only to find no fish present. At least there was plenty of bait this time. My last trip to the flat I have been doing really good on found it completely void of any fish or bait activity! I almost could not believe it. I'll find some fish to fool with shortly.

                                                                   Dummit's Cove sunset

Larry S.

Fishing Report, Chasing the School, 09-1

.
Kayak Fishing Report, Surf

Oct. 6, 09 - Flagler Beach Surf, mid-day

M.F.= 12:10 pm

Temp.: 73-91 deg.
wind: wsw @ 5mph, gust to 9mph 

pressure: 29.98 

hunidity: avg-77%    (52-100%)

rain: 0

sunny

Big Mullet Schools are showing up in the Surf!

Fished the surf at Flagler Beach today and thought I'd post a surf report. Took the yak with me to scout the beach about noon. Went from the pier all the way to High Bridge.... no mullet. Came back and went north and found 6 schools about 9 th street north. They were moving south pretty fast and there was a little fish action in the two big, lead schools.

I ran back south to 8 th street s. and launched the kayak to get ahead of them. The first school was already almost to me by the time I got in the water.

I snagged about a 10" mullet from the school on the first cast.

The first bite was a blue fish. Matter of fact all my bites were blues. Caught two and missed a couple because the bait was a little to large but then again, I was not there for blues…. I wanted a tarpon!

Man those mullet really cover some water!!!! I had to struggle to keep up with them and ended up chasing them about 2-2.5 miles down the beach before they started to thin out and it got hard to snag a bait so I called off the hunt. Actually, I think the big lead schools just got away from me. That was quite a paddle trip.

I much prefer the pogies, They are much easier to keep up with and are not as boat shy as the mullet. Much easier to snag one also.

Saw one tarpon free jump but no others. It did not seem like there was that much fish action in them.

Initially, as I paddled away from the beach I paddled over something going out that was a little un-nerving. I was racing to the lead school and was still several hundred yards from it when I saw a wide brown back break the surface about 20 yards directly in my path. I thought it might be a ray as I saw no top fin but as it passed under the boat I could see it was LONG! As long as my boat long! I paddled a lot faster at that point. Matter of fact in about two strokes I was at top speed...........

Well, here's a couple picture including Len making a picture perfect landing!

Len is fishing a Perception and I am in a
Wilderness Systems Tarpon 120.

Good Fishing,
Larry

Perception Sport Pescadore 12.0 Kayak