Broken Gear & a PB. Xmas Bay 30-Apr-2023

[deptrai]

Wind has kept me off the water for the last two weeks again. It was a late call, but I decided to go to Christmas Bay instead of Jones Creek because the wind was forecast to be lighter.
Arrived at 6am to find the lowest tide I’ve seen here. It was supposed to be about 0.5’, but I think the NW wind contributed to push some of the water out of the bay.

The low water level made it more of a struggle than usual in my Outback. After attempting to fish another area, I gave up and headed for the relatively deep water of Churchill Bayou until later in the day when I expected the water level to rise.
The water was really flowing into the Bayou from the bay. I parked the yak and fished from the shoreline for a bit with no takers.
At about 7:30 I had my first bite. I wasn’t sure what I had at first, but knew it was big. I want to say it took 10 minutes to land it, but it was probably less. It shot back & forth under my bow four times and spun me around left & right. I did my best to peddle trying to keep myself in the middle deeper water. Finally into the net was my personal best 25” Red Drum.

I can’t remember the last time my adrenaline was pumping as much as it was.
Unfortunately, it all went downhill from there.
About a half hour later, I hooked a small Croaker. While reaching for the net, I must have bumped my 3-week old $75 YakAttack VISIPole and it snapped just above the floaty part.

30 seconds later, I somehow caught my shirt sleeve on one of the treble hooks from a Mirro Lure I had tied on to another rod. That’s the only thing I’ve ever hooked on it. A minute later, I was going in circles trying to find the half of my VISIPole that had fallen into the 3’ deep water. That’s when my rudder cable broke. The cable that holds the rudder into the down position. I fought it for a while, but it was fruitless. I peddled back in early using my paddle as a rudder.

I’ve asked YakAttack if they will warranty the VISIPole and have ordered 12’ of new rudder line for my 2017 Outback. My original 2003 Outback was so much more reliable than this one.

Dave

[deptrai]

[mwatson71]

That’s a nice solid redfish, Dave. Better the rudder cable break in Churchill than two miles out BTB. I know, it still sucks but I always try to find the positive in things.

[Ron Mc]

Glad you made it home.
Great fish, tough day on gear.
Now you have a rigging project, which I've always liked rigging kayaks as much as building bicycles.
Speaking of, I'll add a warning about Mirage Turbo drive.
Stevo pedaled through his when his Revo 16 was still new (broke a plastic boss, dropped a cable and needle bearing into the deep).
It was new enough, they gave him a warranty replacement, and a warning that they're not designed to mash like standing on a bike.
I searched back through the old post to find his description on this old thread.
viewtopic.php?p=2272921

He has also found getting Hobie parts to be a chore - you can't order them from Hobie, only a dealer can do that.
He found a shop randomly on the long drive to pick up his Oliver travel trailer (I think it was Arkansas) that has been able to get any Hobie part and mail to him. (He ordered a lot of small parts for his Outback rigging) If you need the contact info on that shop, I can get it from Steve.

[Neumie]

That's a chonk of of a redfish, did you check out what was in its stomach?

[deptrai]

That's a chonk of of a redfish, did you check out what was in its stomach?

After I caught the Croaker, I found a small baitfish in the yak. Not sure if it came from the Red or the Croaker.
I was too flustered at that point to be taking any more pictures. It was silver, skinny and about 2" long with more of a football shape than a torpedo shape.

[deptrai]

Glad you made it home.
Great fish, tough day on gear.
Now you have a rigging project, which I've always liked rigging kayaks as much as building bicycles.
Speaking of, I'll add a warning about Mirage Turbo drive.
Stevo pedaled through his when his Revo 16 was still new (broke a plastic boss, dropped a cable and needle bearing into the deep).
It was new enough, they gave him a warranty replacement, and a warning that they're not designed to mash like standing on a bike.
I searched back through the old post to find his description on this old thread.
viewtopic.php?p=2272921

He has also found getting Hobie parts to be a chore - you can't order them from Hobie, only a dealer can do that.
He found a shop randomly on the long drive to pick up his Oliver travel trailer (I think it was Arkansas) that has been able to get any Hobie part and mail to him. (He ordered a lot of small parts for his Outback rigging) If you need the contact info on that shop, I can get it from Steve.

Good reminder on spare parts. I hear cables and chains can be hard to find in stock today. I've had several problems with my 2017 MD180 drive. Broken idler cable, broken chains, sheared gear teeth, flat-spotted roller bearings and a cracked spine.
https://photos.google.com/photo/AF1QipN ... gWw9r1ObNE

I now carry a spare chain and cable with nylock nuts and a wrench...all in a vacuum sealed bag inside my drybag.

[Ron Mc]

way to think ahead - you sound like me with bicycles - I intend to get home.

[deptrai]

Some good news. YakAttack is replacing the flag under warranty.

[Kitsune]

That's a chonk of of a redfish, did you check out what was in its stomach?

Possibly a football

[txanalogkd]

That fish made up for the broken gear. You are correct about the low tide, the lowest I have seen it there. The north wind from Sat and the NW wind was a big contributor. I have a paddle kayak and knew it was going to be tough so I decided to launch at the Brazos River; use the berm's for wind protection.

It was a grind, but I managed a 17" speck on a DSL, so my trip was worth the drive from Houston. You all should have seen the looks I got from the boaters while using the ramp. I told one couple to be safe and good luck while launching, and the reply from the female; "You be safe, I am save in the boat than that thing."

Man, I love my kayak.