New tip for offshore kayak anglers

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trolling dirty
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Joined: Fri Sep 30, 2016 4:15 pm

New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by trolling dirty »

I relocated to the Pensacola FL area a few months ago and have gone fishing from my hobie outback about a dozen times. I learned a new trick from some of the guys here for reentry into the surf zone that significantly reduces (if not virtually eliminates) the chances of suffering a turtling/yard sale when coming back to land. This is even more important for the Texas coast structure as you guys typically have 3 sand bars, an onshore wind, and what seems like 100 yards of breakers.

Before reentering the surf zone, make sure your lifevest is buttoned up and slide off the kayak into the water. This may require a bit of care and practice, because carelessly sliding off the kayak could turtle your kayak if not done correctly. Then, immediately work your way to the back of the kayak, keeping 1 or 2 hands on the kayak at all times, and grab on to the rear handle of the kayak. Your body will act as a parachute anchor and the waves will slowly pull you towards shore while keeping the kayak pointed perpendicular to the shoreline. You can slowly swim towards shore too and nudge your kayak forward if this is taking too long and you get impatient. Finally, once you feel the bottom and its shallow enough to walk through the water quickly, work your way to the front of the kayak in between sets, having at least one hand on the kayak at all times. Grab the front handle, and pull it towards shore. Again, it needs to be shallow enough where this can be confidently done in between sets, and you can walk thru and pull the kayak towards shore faster than the rolling surf.

First thing to note: For kayaks like the hobie outback, it is important to approach the shore while facing it so that you can grab the back of the kayak, especially in bigger surf. The hobie outback's front is meant to rise over the water, so a big wave could potentially try to telephone-pole the kayak if you are parachute-anchoring the front of it. The back of the kayak does not do this, and big waves will tend to just wash over the back. Your kayak will get washed with water, but thats always better than the kayak turtling or telephone-poling.

Second thing to note: Make sure youre not in a rip current when doing this. I haven't tried this, but I imagine you will start floating away from shore and the kayak will try to turn away from the desired orientation (perpendicular to shore).

Where I have gone offshore in the area, the water gets deep right at the shoreline. So theres typically one breaker really close to shore. There's one sandbar, but with conditions so nice here I will probably never go out when there's breakage over that sandbar. I remember fishing in Texas and stressing out while fishing about the reentry into the surf zone. I wish I knew about this when I lived in Texas.

Anyway, long post to read but hopefully it helps you guys out.
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Killerbee
Posts: 454
Joined: Wed Jun 07, 2017 7:37 am

Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by Killerbee »

trolling dirty wrote:I relocated to the Pensacola FL area a few months ago and have gone fishing from my hobie outback about a dozen times. I learned a new trick from some of the guys here for reentry into the surf zone that significantly reduces (if not virtually eliminates) the chances of suffering a turtling/yard sale when coming back to land. This is even more important for the Texas coast structure as you guys typically have 3 sand bars, an onshore wind, and what seems like 100 yards of breakers.

Before reentering the surf zone, make sure your lifevest is buttoned up and slide off the kayak into the water. This may require a bit of care and practice, because carelessly sliding off the kayak could turtle your kayak if not done correctly. Then, immediately work your way to the back of the kayak, keeping 1 or 2 hands on the kayak at all times, and grab on to the rear handle of the kayak. Your body will act as a parachute anchor and the waves will slowly pull you towards shore while keeping the kayak pointed perpendicular to the shoreline. You can slowly swim towards shore too and nudge your kayak forward if this is taking too long and you get impatient. Finally, once you feel the bottom and its shallow enough to walk through the water quickly, work your way to the front of the kayak in between sets, having at least one hand on the kayak at all times. Grab the front handle, and pull it towards shore. Again, it needs to be shallow enough where this can be confidently done in between sets, and you can walk thru and pull the kayak towards shore faster than the rolling surf.

First thing to note: For kayaks like the hobie outback, it is important to approach the shore while facing it so that you can grab the back of the kayak, especially in bigger surf. The hobie outback's front is meant to rise over the water, so a big wave could potentially try to telephone-pole the kayak if you are parachute-anchoring the front of it. The back of the kayak does not do this, and big waves will tend to just wash over the back. Your kayak will get washed with water, but thats always better than the kayak turtling or telephone-poling.

Second thing to note: Make sure youre not in a rip current when doing this. I haven't tried this, but I imagine you will start floating away from shore and the kayak will try to turn away from the desired orientation (perpendicular to shore).

Where I have gone offshore in the area, the water gets deep right at the shoreline. So theres typically one breaker really close to shore. There's one sandbar, but with conditions so nice here I will probably never go out when there's breakage over that sandbar. I remember fishing in Texas and stressing out while fishing about the reentry into the surf zone. I wish I knew about this when I lived in Texas.

Anyway, long post to read but hopefully it helps you guys out.
I fished with Flyingfish TV last year and he showed me this technique! Very effective!

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SWFinatic
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by SWFinatic »

Swimming the kayak in from behind is effective. I've seen it done and know a couple of guys that do it a lot with no issues. Only thing I worry about is when a big wave hits the kayak hard enough to knock it out of your hands then you're swimming.
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Volkswatson
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by Volkswatson »

Yeah I mean it’s not like your not gonna get wet anyway!? Why not save yourself and your gear.
trolling dirty
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by trolling dirty »

SWFinatic wrote: Wed Jun 01, 2022 8:57 am Swimming the kayak in from behind is effective. I've seen it done and know a couple of guys that do it a lot with no issues. Only thing I worry about is when a big wave hits the kayak hard enough to knock it out of your hands then you're swimming.
Yes u gotta hang on to that kayak for sure. The older hobie outbacks have a nice handle on both ends tied to a steel clete with what seems to be a paracord. I have some high-rated paracord I bought to build a bait tube and I plan to use it to replace what came with the hobie
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Prof. Salt
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by Prof. Salt »

There are lots of methods that work, and this is how I started out. It kept me from losing much gear so it was a good step as I learned. Eventually I got the empty boat into the surf to just play and learn what the boat and I were capable of doing. It will vary a lot from kayak to kayak and paddler to paddler. Don't let others tell you it has to be done one way - do what works for you while exploring new options as your skills develop.
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Kalait
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by Kalait »

Prof. Salt wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:00 am There are lots of methods that work, and this is how I started out. It kept me from losing much gear so it was a good step as I learned. Eventually I got the empty boat into the surf to just play and learn what the boat and I were capable of doing. It will vary a lot from kayak to kayak and paddler to paddler. Don't let others tell you it has to be done one way - do what works for you while exploring new options as your skills develop.
Exploring for the technique that will work for you is a great research project.
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Killerbee
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

Post by Killerbee »

Kalait wrote:
Prof. Salt wrote: Fri Jun 03, 2022 9:00 am There are lots of methods that work, and this is how I started out. It kept me from losing much gear so it was a good step as I learned. Eventually I got the empty boat into the surf to just play and learn what the boat and I were capable of doing. It will vary a lot from kayak to kayak and paddler to paddler. Don't let others tell you it has to be done one way - do what works for you while exploring new options as your skills develop.
Exploring for the technique that will work for you is a great research project.
I have tried several. Surfing in has really improved my reel building!Image

I use a combination of coming in backwards and jumping off to keep me from having yardsells! Use whatever method you can keep your gear on working order and onboard!

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deptrai
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Re: New tip for offshore kayak anglers

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