Ocean Yak Fishing Report

[Jesse Lockowitz]

Well, been extremely busy this summer, and have hardly posted at all lately.

but every chance the water has been somewhat decent for a beach lauch, im in the kayak with a half dozen live pogies in the flowntroll off the back and padlde about 1/2-3/4 mile offshore, pitch one of them pogies behind me 30yrds or so, and just paddle slowww.


also been chasing the pods of pogies anywhere from 1-200yrds from shorebreak, lookin for any tarpon/kings that may be following them..


so far ive jumped off one tarpon, and maybe a few mackeral been put in the yak, trying to get the guy with the boat that pulled up next to me to email me the pics for hte last few days, so whenever i get them ill post em up.


did release one tarpon from the pier the other day though, we've been getting a good # of kings from the pier too, when its too rough to paddle thats where im at heh.




well, figured id post some little report




Jesse

[Jer]

I was wondering where you were

I'm not sure if I got you right, do you use the yak only to drop the live baits 1/2-3/4 mile offshore or do you fight the fish from the yak?

[Jesse Lockowitz]

no ive been fishing out of the kayak jer for the kings/tarpon etc.


but we do paddle out baits for sharks. and we only paddle them a few hundred yards at most. this time of the year around here on emerald isle its really pointless to paddle baits.

because i can just lob my saltist 50 on a 10' stump heaver with a half a bluefish right past the breakers prlly 15-20yrds, in the first gut right before the bar, and there are more 5-6' blacktips and spinners and occasional small bull, then i know what to do with.

fun stuff from the sand. dont like sharks so much when im in the yak , but the do bite.



Jesse

[hotrodmarlin]

Very cool! Do you normally fish live pogies for tarpon or are you cutting them in half?

[Jesse Lockowitz]

running all live. dead baits right now are resulting in mad numbers of 5-6ft blacktips and spinners and i dont liek dealing with them. all they do is make you waste time and re-rig lol. and i hate dealing with them next to the yak when iget them in. live baits are getting sharks too, but not near as many as dead, although i know tarpon are around the bottom here suckin up dead bunker cut in half by blues and stuff. just hard to get past the other junk to get to them..




so many schools of menhaden around on the beachside, its unreal. ive been snagging a bunker when i need it and troll it on the outside of the school, paddle to the next school, lob some big bucktails around the outer edges of the pods of bunker, to see if any tarpon are down deeper...



Jesse

[The Kidd]

I don't know if I would ever tire of fighting blacktips. Just scale down yer tackle a bit and have a blast. Plus I think blacktip is extra tasty yum.

[Jesse Lockowitz]

I don't know if I would ever tire of fighting blacktips. Just scale down yer tackle a bit and have a blast. Plus I think blacktip is extra tasty yum.

i enjoy them as much as any fish, just not from my kayak. they are a great fight and helluva good time when they jump, but when u bring them back to the kayak, and ur a few inches above the water, with a 80-100lb fish...thats pissed....not so fun.

from the surf, i love catching them and target them quite a bit around the emerald isle area.

scale down the tackle? not much more i can go down bro. im running 12lb mainline on 75% of my stuff i run off the yak for kings/tarpon..

tried 8 and 10 a few times and im just not comfortable with it off the kayak, not alot of room for screw ups, and i have to stick the rod in the holder quite a bit in the yak and paddle to turn myself toward the fish.


next year i might try and get some kings on 6 8 and 10 lb. but not this year. need more specialized rods/reels for that. most of my stuff right now are salstist/shv's and t20, on trevals/customs.


gonna get a ultra light reel next year, been looking at quite a few things, just not sure what im going to get for 6 8 and 10lb. 10lb is doable in my mind, 8 and 6 are gonna be the hard(most fun) part.


mass capacity, ultra smooth drag, and high gear ratio is what ill need.

dont like the avet sx, lever is to touchy for the lighter lines, ive tried scaling it down on the one i have, but just a smidgen bump on the lever and my 6lb test would be gone on a big running king.

looked at the accurates, and the torsa, dont feel like dropping 600$ on a torsa. accurate bmags is what im looking at at the moment, and getting the drag blueprinted for the line classes that ill be fishing. will need an UL rod about 6'6-7' . extremely light and forgiving, not sure on that either at the moment , will just have to pick up some blanks and feem em a little.


stuff to work on this winter when trout fishing stops, which isnt much, because im go after them rascals outa the yak this year too

takin a year off b4 college, and plan on just fishing/working the whole fall/winter/spring. :-)



and yes, blacktips are some FANTASTIC EATING! Have about 10lbs in the freezer ready to get dropped into the deep fryer. clean em fast and ice em down adn ya got nothing to worry about.

here i go rambling again.

Jesse

[WAHOONBOX]

GREAT REPORT AND QUIT BEING TARDY HERE!!

[Jesse Lockowitz]

hehe yeah i know i gotta post more reports. working on getting a vid cam and waterproof housing, so i can get some vid action out on the yak..

lookin for something small, like, maybe even a headcam, or something that i can just wear like a hat and fish at the same time, so you guys see what im looking at .


workin on it :-) tough choice everytime i get a lil money, "new rod..or camera"...for some reason i keep leanin for new rods/reels haha



will be some cool footage if i get a cam, or someone in a partner kayak to follow me and tape. be easier with just a head cam though, and turn it on when i get a strike.




jesse

[The Kidd]

Yeah, 12 is ultralight for pons and sharks. It's easy for me to switch from rod to rod in the boat. Depending on the conditions 6 can be ultralight or 15 can be ultralight or even 30. Probably don't want a ton of rods kicking around the yak though.