Kayak Fishing with Jim Sammons

PADDLE TO THE PEOPLE

Jim Sammons — Sun, 12 Dec 2010 19:47:36 +0000

If you are not in the alternative mode of propulsion crowd, like the Hobies or Ocean Kayak Torques, to make your kayak move you are going to need a paddle. Though it seems like a very simple item there is a huge disparity between a cheap and a high end paddle. These differences can mean paddling all day in comfort or feeling like you are swinging a log and wearing yourself out. We’re going to look at the different paddle options out there, and how to choose the right one for your style of kayak fishing.

First let’s break down the main components of a paddle, which are the shaft and the blades. The shaft, for the most part will be made from fiber glass, carbon fiber, or aluminum, can be one or more pieces and come in a variety of lengths. The joint where the segments of a two piece paddle connect is called the ferrule. At the most basic the ferrule will allow you to use the paddle in a straight or feathered orientation. (Feathering a paddle is the ability to offset the angle of the blades to help the blade slice through the wind) On higher end paddles the ferrule will be adjustable allowing you to fine-tune the feathering of the paddle to match your paddling style, and in some models even allow you to adjust the length of the paddle by several centimeters. In the higher end paddles you can also get a paddle with a crank or bent shaft, which much like the curling bar at the gym allows you to hold the paddle in a more ergonomic manner. I personally use a crank shaft paddle and have found that it has relieved the tendonitis I was suffering in my elbows. The Paddle I use is a Werner Kaliste you can learn more about this great paddle here.

The blade, consists of the power face which is the side of the paddle blade that catches water when you take a forward stroke, and the back face which is the side of the paddle that gets used for reverse strokes. The blades can be constructed from plastic, fiberglass or carbon fiber. The blades come in a variety of shapes and sizes for different paddling styles and can be symmetrical (square) or asymmetrical (angled) at the ends. The large square blade will catch more water and give more power while an asymmetric blade will allow the paddler to use a much lighter grip, thus causing less fatigue and strain on your body over a long day of paddling. Just remember when using an asymmetric paddle the shorter end of the paddle goes on the bottom not the top. I can’t tell you how many people I see paddling around with their paddle upside down.
In kayaking there are two common, yet very different, paddling styles, Low Angle and High Angle. These styles correlate to the angle of the shaft in relation to the surface of the water. Determining your style of paddling will guide you in selecting the right paddle for you.

Low Angle is the most common paddling style. It is a more relaxed touring style with a slower cadence, much like you will find you are doing while slow trolling your baits. Paddles for low angle paddlers will have longer and narrower blades designed to pull through each stroke with the right amount of surface area for good power while maintaining a smooth forward stroke. This style of paddle will cause the least amount of stress on the body during long days of paddling. Because of the low angle of your stroke you will be able to take long easy strokes and will generally use a paddle from 220 to 240 centimeters.
High Angle paddling is typically a more aggressive powerful style of paddling with a faster cadence than you will use as a low angle paddler. This style of paddling is more typical for kayak surfers where short bursts of power are the norm unlike the constant easy paddling of a distance paddler, which is really what most kayak anglers are doing.

High angle paddles have short wide blades for a more powerful stroke and will be used in shorter lengths, 205cm – 220cm, to assist in the higher stroke cadence used in this style of paddling.

When it comes to paddle length, you need to take into consideration not only your paddling style but your height and the kayak you will be paddling. You will need a much longer paddle if you are on a high dry super stable sit on top then you will need if you are fishing out of a sit inside kayak.

The biggest factors dictating the quality and price of a paddle are the materials used in its construction, and the added features such as the adjustable ferrule or bent shaft. The most common paddles are made from fiberglass and plastic/nylon, because they’re durable, they’re affordable, and they perform reasonably well. The highest end paddles are made with carbon fiber. They’re extremely light, strong, and stiff, and they feel great to paddle with. Of course you pay for them.

Blade shape and size is a really a personal preference. Obviously, the bigger the blades, the more powerful your strokes will be, but the more energy it will take out of you and the more stress you will have on your joints.

So there you have the basics of choosing a paddle. The truth of the matter is that you can get by with pretty much any paddle, as long as it makes your kayak move and will hold up to the abuse. With that said, better paddles are lighter, they’re stronger, they let you get more from each stroke, and they really do feel a lot better in your hands. So once you start paddling more, you’re probably going to want to upgrade to a better paddle. Will a high end paddle make you a better kayak fisherman, NO, but I guarantee if you get one you will be able to paddle longer, farther and in more comfort, particularly when you want to get out on the water for several days in a row.

It is very difficult to pick out a paddle just by grabbing it off a rack and holding it in your hand. I would suggest getting your paddle from a shop that allows you to demo the paddle on the water, and make sure you demo the paddle on the same kayak you will be using so you get the best feel of how your paddle will match up to your kayak. A good paddling shop will also be able to advise you on the correct paddle for you by critiquing your paddle stroke.

You can also get some help picking out your paddle on the Werner Paddles web site Paddle Fit guide. Just answer the questions and it will point you to a recommended paddle. As a note, the fit guide is geared more for sit inside paddlers so you will likely want to bump up the paddle length by about 10 cm over what is recommended. Once you get that good paddle I highly recommend taking a paddling class to ensure you get the most out of your investment.

Filed under: Gear, How-To Tagged: Jim Sammons, kayak fishing, paddle for fishing, Werner Paddles

Getting your Kayak to the water

Jim Sammons — Wed, 08 Dec 2010 18:57:03 +0000

Yakima Kayak Trailer in action

A question that comes up often with people investigating entering the sport of kayak fishing is “How do I get my kayak to the beach”? The answer can vary depending on your vehicle, the length and model of your kayak, the number of kayaks you want to carry and your physical ability to lift your kayak overhead. Thankfully there are several rack manufactures that can address any situation you will run into. One of the top rack manufactures that you will want to look into for your kayak carrying solutions is Yakima.
For those driving a vehicle that has a factory roof rack, the solution can be as simple as putting the kayak upside down on that rack and securing with quality tie down straps with cam buckles. I mention these straps because I have seen way to many people either struggling with ropes and bungees or using straps with ratchets that can cause damage to your kayak or rack because they can be easily over tightened. When you secure your kayak the straps should be snug but not cranked down to the point of distorting the hull of your kayak. Particularly for longer trips an added bow and stern line can be added as extra insurance against a fly away kayak.

If your vehicle does not have a roof rack, the rack you have is not rated for the weight of your kayaks, is too low to carry your kayak upside down or, as is the case on many factory racks, is too narrow to carry more than one kayak you will want to add a cross bar rack system. The nice thing about these rack systems is that you can add accessory mounts so you can carry not only your kayaks but add bikes carriers, luggage pods and more. You can also add saddles, for carrying your kayaks upright, which is more common with glass kayaks, or kayak stackers which allow you to carry your kayaks on edge so that you can carry more kayaks on the rack.

I often hear from people that what is keeping them from getting a kayak is their inability to lift the kayak onto the roof of their car. Thankfully this problem has been addressed by most of the rack manufacturers. Solutions like the Showboat from Yakima allow even the smallest person to load their kayak single handedly. The Showboat is an ingenious boat load-assist roller which slides out over the rear of the vehicle for easier access and vehicle protection. With this system you need only lift one end of the kayak at a time, propping one end on the roller then simply sliding the kayak into position on the rack. These assist type of racks will add a little cost to rack system but if it gets you using your kayak and not dreading the loading and unloading process it is worth it.

If you are like me a truck is your kayak carrier of choice and thankfully there are many choices for kayak carriers for us truck lovers. For the person that only has one or two 10 foot kayaks, it can be as simple as tossing the kayak in the bed of the truck. The problem arises when we get into shorter bed trucks and longer kayaks. For instance my kayak is just shy of sixteen feet but the bed of my truck is 8 feet, which is a lot of overhang. A great solution for this can be found at Yakima with either The Dry Dock, a rack that slips into the hitch receiver on your truck or the Outdoorsman. This easily-installed truck rack system clamps onto truck bed rails without any drilling and gives you an above bed rack keeping the bed clear for other gear. Because I do have to carry multiple kayaks and a lot of gear in the bed of my truck this is the system I prefer. You can add accessory attachments to the cross bars to carry multiple kayaks as is the case on my truck or other items like bikes or cargo pods. As a side note I also have a spray in liner in my truck to keep rust at bay. I have also added a false bed to my truck so I can slide my rods and paddles underneath and pile my other gear into the bed.

The last solution to kayak transport I will touch on briefly is trailers. Trailers can be an excellent way to carry your kayak and gear. The positives being the ability to keep your kayak fully rigged on the trailer ready to go, no overhead lifting, the ability to carry multiple kayaks without needing a truck to do it. The negatives would be, the need to register the trailer, having to deal with wiring the trailer lights with your tow vehicle and the tight parking situations we run into at the beach. For many people the positives far outweigh the negatives and you can find some very nice kayak trailers premade by Yakima. They do come at a premium price starting at $1900 and going up as you add accessories. This is quite a bit more than the other rack solutions mentioned in this article, but they are light enough to be pulled by a small vehicle, equipped with a trailer hitch, and can easily carry multiple kayaks with the right accessories added. The trailers are prewired and easy to tear down for storage if you don’t want to leave it rigged up and as mentioned before no more overhead lifting of your kayaks.

Here are a couple tips on strapping down your kayak.

Use good quality straps with cam buckles only. DO NOT USE straps with ratchets
Loop the strap around the cross-bar of the rack then bring both ends over the kayak and loop around the cross-bar on the other side and cinch down snuggly. The idea here is to pull the kayak straight down onto the rack. The strap should not be wrapped completely around the kayak this will make it tougher to get a snug fit on the rack, and you should never run the straps through the scupper holes of the kayak, this can damage the most vulnerable part of your boat.
Replace your straps when they get any nicks or frays in them, begin to feel dried out or when the buckles stop functioning properly. Strap failure could do much worse than destroy your kayak, flying off your roof while running down the freeway could cause a serious problem for the person driving behind you, and you would be responsible.
When making long trips, particularly when running down rough roads, make a habit if stopping periodically and checking to be sure your straps have not loosened up.

I hope this gives you some ideas on the different options from transporting your kayak. I am sure one of your local kayak dealers can help you much more in getting the right rack for your needs.

Filed under: Gear, How-To Tagged: kayak fishing, kayak racks, kayak trailers, yakima

Flying out of Tijuana

Jim Sammons — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 19:58:03 +0000

My adventure flying out of the Tijuana airport to Cabo
I regularly run guided kayak fishing trips in the East Cape of Baja. In the past I have flown with AeroMexico direct out of San Diego and have enjoyed great service with them. Unfortunatly this year they stopped flying out of San Diego and I need to find another service.
Alaska airlines kind of has San Diego by the balls, as now they are the only services direct to Cabo from San Diego and they are gouging us on pricing. Two solutions to this are to drive to LA where you can get cheaper flights but have to deal with the LA drive or use the Volaris airlines service out of TJ. The rates on Volaris are very good and I am very comfortable traveling in Mexico. With the shuttle bus service offered by Volaris out of down town San Diego to the TJ airport it seemed like a sweet and cost saving solution to the problem. My Friend Sean White came on this trip with me as a second guide and made the drive from Ukiah to San Diego to join me on this little adventure.
The shuttle runs from the down town San Diego bus station direct to the TJ airport. This should be a very easy process but the yahoos in the back of the bus who decided to pretend to be asleep rather than answer the border patrols questions got the bus pulled into secondary. Not a huge issues but it did cost us a lot of time.
When we arrived at the airport we found ourselves at the end of a huge line at the Volaris counter with only two people working it, and working it very slowly. We made it through the line and getting all our gear checked with about a half an hour before boarding of our plane. We then headed to the security line which again was very long and slow moving, which caused us a bit of stress because it was now getting close to the time of our planes departure. I put my back pack through the scanner and the security guys tell me I cannot carry on my fishing reels. I asked why, as I have carried my reels on planes all over the world, and he pantomimes for me the process of choking someone with my line. Of course right before me two guys went through with guitars, really, don’t they have metal strings? With my plane ready to take off he tells me either check the bag or leave it there. Yeah right I only have about 2K in reels in that back pack, not to mention a lot of other gear. Very stressed now and pressed for time I run back to the counter to check my back pack. No one there!!!!! FFFFFFFF!!!!!! I finally track down a Volaris employee and explain the situation he tells me it is too late to check the bag and I just may have to miss my flight. A supervisor finally gives the nod that they will take my bag and get it on the plane. I thank him profusely and run for my plane. Back through security and I make it in time for boarding, stress relieved a bit but still concerned I would never see my back pack again.
The actual flight was great and the airplanes are like new and you do get good onboard service including a free cocktail to ease the nerves.
Once in Cabo I was relieved to see all our or bags including my backpack had arrived safely. The first thing I did as look into my backpack to insure my reels were still in there, thank goodness they were. Unfortunately my camera was gone. Not a great start to the trip.
6 days of fishing in Baja did a lot to relieve the stress of the previous flight and the loss of my camera. Heck it was getting older and there are some cool new ones out there that I now had an excuse to buy.
Fast forward to our return journey.
Sean and I arrived at the Cabo airport about an hour and a half before our flight, going by my many past trips through the Cabo airport this was about an hour earlier than we normally needed to be. Not the case with Volaris, once again we found a very long line with only two people working the counter. The line moved agonizingly slow but we still felt good about the amount of time we had to make the flight. Once at the front we went through the normal bag search and handed over our bags. This time we had a bit more weight because we decided to bring some Dorado home, about 20 pounds of fillets and I decided to be safe and pack my reels this time in my checked bags. The guy at the counter weighs all of the bags at once and tells us we are overweight and that we would have to pay for the extra weight. Normally not a big deal. I told them to give me the bags back and I would move some stuff back into my back pack and fix the weight issue or at least lower the amount we would have to pay. They told us no that there was not enough time for us to do that before our plane left and we would just have to pay. AND PAY BIG. The funny thing here is that it took them a half hour to figure out how much we had to pay and how to process it, in that time we could of easily fixed the problem, but they would not give us the bags back. Between us Sean and I paid $280 in extra baggage fees, for that amount we could have bought the baggage a seat on the plane. What a scam. All the while we are hearing over the loud speaker that final boarding is happening for our flight and the doors of the plane will be closing, more stress.
We did make the flight but very stressed out again. Once back in TJ all of our very expensive luggage and fished arrived and would have to go through another search, big hassle. Now the hunt for the shuttle begins. Nothing is clearly marked and we have to check with every bus out there to find the right one parked about two blocks away. Once on they tell us the border crossing at TJ is too long and they will take us through Otay Mesa. This was actually a good call as we got through that line pretty fast but now have to now find the bus again. Because of this change of crossings we now have to go back to San Yisidro to get on the bus to San Diego Schlepping our bags from bus to bus.
With all the hassles and gouging by the airline I can tell you I will never fly Volaris again and will certainly warn my clients and friends against flying them also. I think to save money and the headache it will likely be easier to head to LA and get on a plane there. I miss the days of flying AeroMexico out of San Diego it was so painless, cheap and easy.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Angler Sticks Hook in Arm to Demonstrate Amazing Hook Removal Technique

Jim Sammons — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 21:53:04 +0000

During our last trip to Mazatlan Billy Chapman of Angler’s Inn International actually stuck a fish hook in his arm so that he could demonstrate an incredibly effective method for removing a fish hook from flesh.

Filed under: How-To, On Location Tagged: fish hook, hook in flesh removal, kayak, kayak fishing

Photos from Georgia and Florida

Jim Sammons — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:13:50 +0000

There just does not seem to be enough hours in the day to get to all the writing I need done and still have time to fish and get in my family time. I was recently signed to take over, or should I say re take over the Kayak Korner column in Pacific Coast Sportfishing magazine. This is a column I wrote for a few years, which was dropped by the magazine due to lack of supporting advertising, then started again several months later with a new writer. Well I guess that didn’t work out so they asked me to take it back again. Because when this was presented to me, it was already behind deadline, I have in the past two months had to play catchup, writing four columns and one feature article. That may not sound like much but I have been on the road quite a bit, and in all honesty I am not the fastest writer in the world. I am way to easily distracted by things like fish reports, Ocean view web cams and fishing videos, throw Face Book in there and it is surprising I get anything done. Much of my other time is spent working on tip segments for the show and in the constant search for show sponsors and all that entails.
OK so there is my list of excuses for not blogging as often as I would like to. I know I am behind on the blog as I have not even given a report of our trip to Georgia and Florida yet. So in order it get somewhat caught up I am just going to do a photo report with captions and some comments to get you at least a little caught up on things. I will follow up with a report from our trip to Mazatlan soon, I hope.

Private Islands of Georgia "Eagle Island Lodge"

Our Cabin on Eagle Island, this place was first class.

We ate like kings, Having some Oysters here. Some raw, some cooked, many washed down but cold beverages.

Did I mention we ate well, how about some crab and shrimp

Maybe a few more Oysters

If it had only stayed this glassy all day.

Our Georgia friend Randy Vining

Yes we did actually fish, and I got to cruise around in the Torque

We even caught a few fish

After several days on Eagle Island we moved to a mother ship to hit some areas that most kayakers could not reach. The Captain Gabby, a converted shrimp boat was our home for the next three days.

Meeting Patrick the captain of The Gabby

Laoding our kayaks on the Gabby

loading made simple

My biggest Red from the trip

Show producer Ken Whiting pulling on a very big RAy

Ken with a small shark

Another Red for me

Another shark for Ken

Videographer extraordinaire Will Richardson, with the rest of us waiting for his direction

Our last morning in Georgia

After we left Georgia we headed to Jacksonville Florida for the JAX kayak fishing tournament. This was a great event with over 400 kayak anglers gathered in the name of charity. IT was another windy day but still an great event. I tied for 9th in the flounder division, not bad but I was beaten by a nine year old girl.

AT my SWANKY hotel in Jacksonville

I guess I have no photos of my fish but this is where I caught it

Hanging at the awards ceremony with our good friend Jeff Herman

Yeah that little girl standing on the table beat me.

I just don’t have many photos from the event but a great time was had, and we have lots of good video from it.

Next Blog will cover out trip to Lake Mateos, El Salto and coastal Mazatlan.

You can also stay up to date on what we are up to on our FaceBook page

Filed under: Fish Stories, On Location Tagged: Jim Sammons, kayak fishing, motorized kayak, Torque

Big Tuna from my kayak in Panama

Jim Sammons — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 16:59:43 +0000

I have so much blogging to catch up on, still need to get up the photos and reports from our trips to Georgia, Florida and Mazatlan. On the road so much just not enough time to get everything I need done, but I will get on it ASAP.
In the mean time I hope you enjoy this video of my catch of a 120 pound yellowfin Tuna while kayak fishing in Panama. This was the toughest fight I have ever had from my kayak.

Filed under: Fish Stories, On Location Tagged: extreme, Jim Sammons, kayak fishing, tuna, video

Our first Movie to air on WFN

Jim Sammons — Wed, 19 May 2010 18:30:31 +0000

If you have not had a chance to watch it yet now is your chance. Our first movie; Exofficio Presents Kayak Fishing: Game On, premieres on WFN HD and WFN this Sunday, May 23 at 7:00 PM Eastern. It will be airing with breaks in a 90-minute time slot.It will repeat at 3:00 AM ET (Midnight on the West Coast) and again on holiday, Monday, May 24 at 11:00 AM. Take a look at that trailer here.

In other exciting news our second movie Game On 2 is ready to hit the stores any day now. We hope you really like this one, most of us feel it is even better than the first one. Take a look at the trailer.

We are also very pleased to announce the winner of our huge kayak fishing package give away. Take a look at our video site Kayak Fishing Tales to see if you are the winner. While you are there make sure you take a few minutes and watch some of our instructional and location videos, particularly our newest video about the Heroes on the water program.

Since my last post we have visited Georgia and Jacksonville Florida to shoot several episodes of our show and our next shoot is in just a few days down in Mazatlan. I will try and get some reports up about these trips very soon.

If you have not done so already, please contact your cable provider and let them know you just have to have WFN.

If you want to stay up do date on what we are doing you can also find us on FaceBook. We do quick reports from the road on our FB page as well as keeping you posted on what we are up to.

Filed under: Uncategorized

Our Kayak Fishing Adventure in New Zealand continues

Jim Sammons — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 22:06:07 +0000

Our Kayak Fishing Adventure in New Zealand continues

Though Rob Fort, of Coromandel kayak adventures, and Captain Peter MacKenzie, of the Taiho, worked their tails off for us on the first half of our trip in New Zealand, the weather was out of their control. For the most part we were stuck fishing the lee or protected side of islands with little to show for our efforts other than some small Snapper and one Kingfish which was barely a prince. Rob and Peter really knew their stuff and I am sure under different circumstances we would have been successful in our quest of big fish. I would fish with these guys again in a second if given the chance.

The next stop on our trip was the area called Bay of Islands, made famous for its great fishing by Zane Grey . in his book Tales of Anglers Eldorado.
Our hope of course was that the wind would give us a break and the fish would decide to eat, I don’t think that is too much to ask after our long trip and previous week of toil.
On our way to Bay of Islands we met with Shamus, yes he only has one name, at Sportsman’s Choice/Kayak Zone, the kayak and tackle shop where he works.
Shamus, a former street performer, is one of the local kayak fishing gurus and a member of Ocean Kayak New Zealand’s pro staff and would accompany us on our tour of the Bay of Islands for the next five days.

Our home for the next five days

During this meeting we went over the gear we would need for the remainder of the trip and the target species, which once again would be Kingfish, Snapper and if the conditions were right, Marlin. After this brief meet, we jumped in the car for the last leg of our five hour drive, stopping once for the obligatory New Zealand meat pie, a treat you can find all over the country. Tired from the long drive we arrived at Opua harbor and unloaded all of our gear, I think kayak fisherman carry more gear then any other anglers. I wondered how we would get it all on the boat, which we would be on for the rest of the week, and still have room to move about. Shamus had set us up with Don and Marilyn Logan the owners of Cool Change, a 54 foot sailing catamaran that the couple had built themselves over the course of 7 years.

Loading up Cool Change

About done

While the Taiho, our boat in Coromandel, was utilitarian and served us very well, the Cool Change was pure luxury. Don and Marilyn had spared no expense and overlooked no details in the design of the boat they would make their home and their business. I have to imagine they were a bit shocked when they saw all the gear we would be loading onto their home. I have always said I could never live on a boat but after being on Cool Change I think I have changed my mind, of course only if I was on a boat as nice as this one. It had every amenity and was an incredibly stable platform, under power it moved through the water very well, under sail it just flew.

Plenty of room in the galley

Don and Marilyn welcomed us with open arms and the only clue that all our gear was an issue was when Marilyn took a photo of all of it spread across the deck saying, she never thought she would see her boat with so much stuff on it.
As always loading a boat the first time takes a bit of time to figure out the best layout and ways to secure the gear and kayaks and this time was no different. Once finished though we had a great system that made loading and unloading the kayaks pretty simple, particularly when you have Jai’s muscles to help. By the time we were loaded up it was already late in the afternoon so the plan was made to make our way to a sheltered bay on one of the islands to anchor for the night, close to where we would fish the next day.

Ready to head out

During much of the loading and motoring out period Shamus worked diligently on his phone getting reports from some of the local fishing captains on not only the fishing but the weather conditions. We were all excited to hear that the weather and hopefully the fish should be cooperating with us for the next few days. Another plan was hatched that would prove to be a huge value to us for the rest of the week, and that was to hire a local guide, Captain Bucko, for a day so we could get some good up to date information on where the fish were holding and what techniques to use. I think the information we got from Bucko on that first day really helped to make the trip a success for us.

Captain Bucko with one of our many Kingfish

Fishing day one at BOI we were met early by Bucko and loaded a couple of the kayaks onto his boat along with Will our videographer. The plan was to hit a buoy that Bucko said would be holding some bigger Kingfish and toss some poppers on it. When we pulled into the area Bucko let out a few curses as a former client was now sitting on his spot and pounding the water with lures. We decided to give it a shot anyway as we could see the tails of the large fish swimming around the buoy. We tossed poppers for a while with no luck and reloaded the kayaks, this was the first sign of real fish on our trip to NZ and I was excited. From here we cruised around for a bit looking for live bait to fill the tank, once a school was located we picked up several Jack Mackerel for the tank but strangely enough had a hard time getting past the Kingfish to get the Macs. These Kings were under 20 pounds for the most part, Rats as they called them, but I would have been happy to pull on one from my kayak just to finally get to pull on a real fish. My wish would be granted soon enough.

Loaded up on Buckos boat

We took our freshly caught live bait to a beautiful spot called Piercy Island better known as Hole in the Rock,

Jim in front of Hole in the Rock, large tour boat would run through the hole.

this was a large passage going through a small island. With some wind and a lot of current, sitting in the kayak next to the island was a lot like sitting in a washing machine with the kayak bobbing around in the wash. Jai, Shamus and I all put out live baits on our heavy gear as we were fishing water from 50-200 feet of water with a lot of structure. I was using a new Shimano Tallica 16 II loaded with 80 Hollow Ace powerpro line with a top shot of 100lb Seagar fluorocarbon leader and the other guys were fishing similarly heavy gear. The bait was set up on a dropper loop with enough weight to get you to the bottom.

It didn’t take long for our first hookup and bust off in the rocks, each time bumping the drag tighter to try and stop these fish before they reached the rocks. By the time the day was finished my drag was basically locked, I have never fished drags this tight and still these fish would rock you. I managed to get a couple of smaller fish “rats” but was destroyed by several larger fish, Shamus landed a couple good ones but our strong man Jai was the master landing several better fish over 40lbs. Jai had switched from live bait to a speed jig, basically a very long version of a Butterfly jig, and this seemed to really be the hot ticket. I finished this day very frustrated by all the break offs but was also optimistic because we were at least having the chance to pull on some good fish.

Jai with one of his Kings from the first day in BOI

Jai and Shamus with a couple from Day one at BOI

Day two in BOI, Captain Bucko, though not actually guiding us, gave us some calls on the phone and radio to tell us where he thought we should try and even brought us over some more live bait. We started the day off fishing a spot called Bird Rock and my luck from the previous day changed; I trolled live bait around but for the most part switched to a Butterfly Jig I had brought on the trip. I landed several nice fish on this jig before once again getting destroyed in the rocks by a bigger fish.

For the jigging I was using my Shimano Torsa reel matched with a Trevalla rod which was a great combination for fighting these strong fish. Once again the drag was pegged to keep the fish out of the rocks and I had much more success at it this second day than the first. Fishing a drag this tight, you really had to stay on your game or you could find yourself out of your kayak.

Kingfish at Bird rock

After leaving Bird Rock we headed to Cape Brett, this was a beautiful spot with a lot of good structure. I trolled live bait along the cliff and got slammed by what I thought at first was another Kingfish, this tough fighter turned out to be a better sized snapper of 16lbs. If a 16 pounder fights this hard I can’t imagine how hard the 20-30 pounders fight.

My biggest Snapper from the trip

A few more fish were landed in this area then we made the short paddle across a small channel to give Hole in the Rock another shot. We landed a few more fish over here and Jai lost one to a Bronze Whaler shark and had a Mako shark swim under his kayak. Shamus continued to fish live bait but it really seemed the speed jigs were the way to go as Jay and I both landed a good number of fish and lost some more to the rocks.

Another King from Hole in the Rock

Toes out of the water

A little later in the day Jai was fishing along the island and had another fish stolen from him by a shark and brought up only the head. A few minutes later I hooked into what felt like a real good fish and had it close when the tell tale feeling of a shark was on my line. I quickly brought up half a fish. I grabbed the lure and was bringing my prize aboard when suddenly out of the water the shark grabbed what was left of the fish, right out of my hand. Thankfully the camera was rolling and got all the action. I counted all my fingers and laughed very nervously afterwards, I am sure there will be a lot of beeps in that segment. In the process of grabbing the fish the shark splashed water into my eyes which of course got sunscreen in them, so not only did I have a shark under my boat, I was blind. It was crazy and I am sure I will be telling this story for years.

Two more victims of Jaws

That night we were all exhausted from pulling on fish and from a long day on the kayaks. Don anchored Cool Change in a spot called Whangamumu, which was the first whaling station in New Zealand. Shamus kept close tabs on the weather and reports from friends and suggested a ballsy plan. Because we really had some great footage already he suggested we give a shot at fishing the Poor Knights islands, this would mean a long run and if the weather was bad we would have no place to hide. If the weather was good and conditions right it could mean very good fishing and a shot at Billfish. We took a quick vote and decided to make the run, why not we already had great fish footage and footage of a shark trying to remove my hand, anything else is bonus.

Shamus infront of Cool Change

We were up early the next morning and running in the dark to get to the Poor Knights islands. This small island chain is a protected area but has some reefs nearby that are fishable, but if the wind is up it would be a long run for nothing.
Well as luck would have it on this half of the trip the seas were dead calm. We located the reef on the fish finder of Cool Change and we all marked it on our Humminbird Gps fishfinders so we could stay on it on our kayaks. The current was running pretty good, so having the combo of fishfinder and GPS was imperative to not only stay on the reef but also to locate those fish holding just off the reefs edges. Jai and I went straight to using the jigs and it paid off fast as Jai had three fish his first three drops, I quickly caught up with him and what followed was the craziest, wide open Kingfish/Yellowtail bite I have ever had. To the point we all lost count of how many fish we caught and released. Shamus who was fishing chunk bait hoping to change things up with a large Grouper, ended up catching a John Dorey, a very tasty fish, then switched to the jig to add to the Kingfish count.

Shamus and his John Dorey

Shamus’s instincts paid off this day by making the call to run out there, it was amazing fishing. Though we saw no signs of Marlin it was well worth the run. To further show the superior fishablity of the kayaks, there was a small charter boat fishing in the exact same spot as us. As we are hooting and hollering and having the fishing time of our lives, we saw this boat hookup only once. He finally motored away in disgust.
Of the countless number of fish we caught we only kept a few and had wonderful meals of seared yellowtail and fresh as you can get Hamachi.

Triple Hookup, all released

Over the years I have caught hundreds of Yellowtail/Kingfish, in San Diego and Mexico and I have to say these were the strongest, hardest fighting of them all. I don’t know if it was due to the high competition for food or the fact that these fish were constantly on the move to avoid becoming dinner for the many sharks. There were many times I would have my drags pegged and my thumb on the spool and I still could not stop them from taking line. I didn’t manage to get that Marlin or huge King I was hoping for but did get my personal best and largest of the trip at 45 pounds. I am not sure what I would have to do to stop one of over 100 pounds; this of course makes me want to return to give it another try.

My big King for the trip 45 pounds

This trip, like most of our trips was made special not only by the fishing but by the people we were able to fish with and the friendships we formed. This trip would not have been possible without the help of all these great people and we owe them many thanks.

Tony Free of Ocean Kayak New Zealand was our host, logistics manager, personal chauffer, galley worker, and all around great guy to hang out with. He also hooked us up with fully rigged Ocean Kayak Ultra 4.7 kayaks for the trip which were just fantastic to fish from, I hope we will see some of their innovations come to the US market.

Rob Fort of Coromandel Kayak Adventures and Peter MacKenzie worked so hard in the worst of conditions to make the tough part of our trip a great experience.

Shamus of Kayak Zone NZ helped put together the Bay of Islands and was always in touch with his network of fisherman to make sure we found the fish.

Captain Bucko helped us get the area dialed in but also kept in touch with us on a second day to make sure we were successful. He was a mountain of information about the area and I wish we could of spent more time together on the water.

Don and Marilyn Logan of Cool Change Charters were the consummate hosts even as we filled their home with more gear than they had ever seen. Their boat is truly a work of love which can be seen in every detail.

Jai Sanders, thanks for just being a great guy to hang and fish with and for always stepping up when anything needed to be done.

Of course Will Richardson the man behind the camera who has to work so hard to make us look good.

AWARD WINNING videographer Will Richardson

New Zealand was a wonderful country to visit and the fishing was as good as it gets, I am sure we will get a couple of great episodes for the second season of The Kayak Fishing Show out of the trip. We are already planning a return trip.

Next stop for us is the East Coast of the US, fishing in southern Georgia and Jacksonville Florida in May. We will keep you posted on how we do.

Have you contacted your cable provider yet to tell them you NEED WFN?

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New Zealand Kayak Fishing Adventure Part One

Jim Sammons — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 17:50:19 +0000

On March 8th, after months of anticipation and planning we took to the air for our long airplane ride to Auckland New Zealand. The Kayak Fishing show had been invited to visit NZ by the crew at Ocean Kayak New Zealand to check out their line of fishing kayaks and experience their world famous fishery. The plan to shoot two episode of our show and experiance the area made famous in the stories of Zane Grey in this beautiful country, it didn’t take much persuasion to get us to come for a visit.

Auckland New Zealand the City of Sails

When I arrived in Auckland I was met at the airport by Tony Free the General Manager of OK NZ and whisked away to the Johnson Outdoors facility where I was asked to speak in front of the Hibiscus kayak fishing club. I must admit after the long flight it was not my best seminar performance, but the guys there were great and it was fun to exchange ideas with people from another country that share my passion for kayak fishing.
My videographer, Will, showed up a bit after me and filmed the seminar which I am sure I will not want to watch.

First morning in New Zealand

Our first full day in NZ was spent at the OK facility where we spent time shooting around the plant, going over the kayak production process and rigging up our kayaks for the upcoming fishing adventure. We also were introduced to our fishing partner for the trip, Jai Sanders. When I was told we would be spending the week fishing with a cheerleader, Jai was not what I had pictured. Of course the jokes of him being a cheerleader didn’t last long as he made the comment “how would you like to go home and tell everyone you got your butt kicked by a cheerleader”. I am pretty sure he could do it too, after watching video of him tossing his wife, another cheerleader, from one hand to the other over his head.

Loading up at Johnson Outdoors NZ

As so often has happened for us on our travels we had to deal with weather issues, this time it was high winds, which as any kayaker knows is the hardest element to deal with. We had planned on heading to Coromandel but the weather reports for the area were not good so Tony got on the phone and made alternative plans for us. It was decided that rather than head offshore we would go to Taupo Lake and meet up with a local angler, Brian Dalton who specializes in trout fishing from his Ocean Kayak Torque. Though I was disappointed about the weather I was excited to once again try a new style of fishing.
We drove three hours from the OK plant to Taupo Lake and were put up in a nice little motel. I guess a little jet lagged and confused Will woke up at 2:00 am, showered and made coffee and tried to wake us, thinking it was 6:00. Jai proceeded to threaten his life, if he didn’t leave us to sleep, which is when Will realized his error in time. Of course we didn’t let Will forget about this the rest of the trip.

Taupo Lake

Brian really knows this fishery and gave us the instructions we would need to be successful at our endeavors. Because of the high winds we would have to find an area of the lake that was sheltered but hopefully also holding fish. Brian told us the fish were holding in deeper water and we would be using a jigging technique in which we had a heavy lure on the bottom of our line with two flies spaced evenly just above it. After a short paddle to the spot it didn’t take long for Brian to get on the first fish. It was actually pretty funny because his hookup happened while we were interviewing him about kayak fishing. The words “because kayaks catch fish” literally just came out of his mouth and he hooked up, we all started laughing our butts off, you could not of scripted it better. It took Jai and I a while to get used to the technique of this subtle jigging, as we are both offshore anglers primarily, and I had to figure out the new Humminbird side scan fish finder we had installed in my kayak, but once we had things worked out it was game on. I think we landed close to 30 nice rainbow trout, in the 2-4 pound range over the next three hours of fishing. We timed up our exit from the lake with perfection as just when we got off the water the lake turned into a churning cauldron from the high winds. We released most of the fish but kept 3 which Brian cleaned up and cooked for us for lunch. I had never actually eaten trout and I have to say it was delicious, particularly when paired with some good bread and a few cold New Zealand beers.

Brian and Jim on the Lake

My first fish in New Zealand

Jai's first trout

Just before getting off the lake we received a call from Tony that the weather reports for Coromandel were looking better and that we should pack up our gear and he would come get us and take us on the 4 hour drive to our next destination. Unfortunately most of this drive was done in the dark, so we didn’t get to see all the beautiful scenery that Tony was telling us about. The first stop was to meet up with Rob Fort, the owner of Coromandel Kayak Adventures who would be our guide for the next four days. We transferred our trailer from Tony’s car to Robs and made the half hour drive on the winding, steep, dirt road to meet our boat captain Peter MacKenzie. Peter and his girlfriend were waiting for us when we arrived with a steak dinner and some cold beers. We sat up late discussing the following morning’s plans, which would involve towing the kayaks out to our mothership and transferring all our gear from land to boat to mothership. We all worked hard to make the job fast and efficient and I must say Jai’s strong arms and back really came in handy, now I know why he was invited.

Our home for the next few days

Once all the gear was loaded aboard the Taiho the plan was to tow the kayaks to our first destination. A veteran of many kayak trips involving towing of the kayaks I was not real thrilled with this idea particularly with the seas we would have to deal with. Towing a kayak in following seas at any speed can be a trial in futility and this proved true on this trip, two kayaks were flipped and one fishfinder destroyed before we could talk Peter into letting us load the kayaks onto the boat. Once we figured out the system of loading and unloading the kayaks from the Taiho we could move at a faster rate and be in and out of the kayaks in a hurry.

Peter and Rob, getting the kayaks aboard

We soon came upon a large school of bait and proceeded to put a few Kahawai in the bait tank. These were a huge bait fish that were actually pretty fun to catch, they pulled hard and put on a nice aerial display. The target species on the trip were KingFish aka Yellowtail which can grow to over 100 pounds, Marlin, which these large baits would be perfect for, and Snapper a tough fish living near the rocks.
For the next few days we moved from island to island trying to find sheltered areas to fish out of the 25-30 mph winds. Up tight to the islands we mainly targeted Snapper with softbaits, which the local Triggerfish, call leather jackets, seemed to love, as they ate them so fast you would think you were dunking the lure in a tank of Piranha. We still managed to land a good number of these scrappy fish, and as a bonus while fishing with my light bass rod I landed a 10 pound Kingfish, somehow keeping from the rocks.

Rob Fort, note the drift chute

Note the white caps, and this was in the lee of the island

One of the many Snapper landed during the trip

Thankfully Jai lost this hat soon after this shot

Jai and the Birds

The scenery on the Coromandel portion of the trip was amazing and Rob Fort of Coromandel Kayak Adventures and Peter worked their tails off trying to get us on fish. We saw plenty of signs of good fish but always in very exposed areas that we just couldn’t fish due to the high winds. We ended up pulling the plug on this segment of the trip a half day early, just so we could get a start to the second half of the trip at Bay of Islands.

Yes, I am a little tired of the wind

Raising our Flag in surrender to the wind

Hoping the winds would give us a break and the fish would cooperate we took the four hour drive to our new location and new home for the next five days, Cool Change, a 54 foot sailing Catamaran. I think a better name for this boat would have been Pure Luxury.

The Cool Change, loaded and ready to go

Visit our blog in a few days for the full report of the second half our adventure in New Zealand, a little hint, the wind died down and the fish began to chew.

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Howard’s Battle with the Marlin – Watch it Now In High Definition

kenwhiting — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 12:33:57 +0000

During shooting of the original Game On movie last year, Howard hooked into a very large blue marlin, and spent the next 5 hours getting towed 11 miles out into the Sea of Cortez. Although a part of that battle was featured in the Game On movie, the full battle is now available to watch on YouTube in full HD. Is it ever cool to be able to post and watch video on YouTube in HD! You do need a good connection speed to do so, but it’s a different viewing experience altogether.

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