Forums59
Topics1,047,916
Posts14,114,467
Members144,394
|
Most Online39,925 Dec 30th, 2023
|
|
SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
#13643357
07/25/20 12:11 AM
|
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174
Yakety_Yak
OP
Outdoorsman
|
OP
Outdoorsman
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174 |
I know, I know, this report is way late. You know how it goes though. Life get's in the way of things. Better late than never is what I say, lol. No worries, you guys are going to get an interesting report. My report starts off with me waking up fairly early. I already have the car loaded and ready to go. All I need to do is wake up, get my clothes on, grab a few items, and out the door I go. I get in my car and take off. First stop I make is to Shipley Do-nuts. After grabbing a few sausage and cheese kolaches, I head toward Hwy 288. I usually stop at the Buc-ee's in Lake Jackson instead of the one closer to Surfside. The Surfside Buc-ee's is way too crowded and they are almost always or always out of ice. The Lake Jackson Buc-ee's seems to have ice when I need it. After stopping quickly for some ice, I finish off the last trek of my trip to Surfside. Now that I am in Surfside, I head over to the public boat ramp (next to the coast guard station). I believe I was the first one there. It doesn't take me long to get things ready. As I am preparing my yak, others arrive. Not long before we launch, I run a quick meeting with the new guys going BTB. Don't worry, we formed a large circle and made sure we practiced social distancing. After giving a few bits of information, a few questions were asked. Once all questions were answered, we all went to our yaks and prepared to put them in the water. We had around 20 kayakers at this outing. Five of these kayaks were paddle kayaks. One of the paddle yaks also had a trolling motor on it. I spoke to the kayak(s) that I felt that might not be good for this but despite my warnings, those individuals decided to give it a try. If you have never been to what we call the coast guard boat launch, it's pretty cool. They have three boat ramps, a bathroom (not really all that great of a restroom), and a cleaning station. Once you are in the water, the area is protected from the jetty traffic. If you don't feel comfortable launching from the boat ramp, there is a cul-de-sac on one side next to the boat ramp that you can bring your yaks down to launch. [img] https://i.imgur.com/xQYslMO.png?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/g2YeUq9.png?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/3uIXKax.png?1[/img] Once everyone was on the water, we finally made it out of the cove. We split up in groups so that nobody was left behind. [img] https://i.imgur.com/2dHHuv8.png?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/MsgjxYW.png?1[/img] The mouth is usually kind of rough due to any kind of currents running in/out of the jetty's and the currents out in the ocean. When you combine all that, it makes for a washing machine sometimes at the mouth. The other thing you have to add in the mix is the boat traffic going out in the early morning. Everyone is taking boats offshore to go and catch snapper in federal waters. After everyone makes it through the mouth with no mistakes, we continue to head to the first buoy. Once we arrive, it was time to see who was going to continue out and who was going to head back. Only one person decided to head back due to possible early signs of sea sickness. That was a good call on his part. This person usually takes the sea sickness patch before going out and this time he forgot. I'm sure next time he will have the patch ready to go. For now, everyone else continues forward. At this point, we have to work at crossing the boat lane to the other side. The best way is to stay together as a group so that boats can see everyone. [img] https://i.imgur.com/VjbLPsj.jpg?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/YRT5ZVH.png?1[/img] Now that we are passed the boat/ship lane, it's time to head to the rig. The rig is approximately 5 miles from the mouth of the jetty. We are almost half way to the rig at this point. As everyone is kayaking to the rig, one person spots some birds hovering over the water while in flight. [img] https://i.imgur.com/mIUbmgz.jpg?1[/img] I found that on the prior trip out to the rig that early on the sharks and jacks were thick in the area. It was only after we were out about four miles to the rig that the kings were to be found. I decided to have everyone wait to drop lines until we were in clearer water so that people would not lose their king leaders to sharks. Before long, it was time to drop lines and start fishing. I deployed two ribbon lines and started to troll. There wasn't that many fish that were caught. A few sharks, a jack, and a few smacks were caught. Here are a few pics of people catching fish. [img] https://i.imgur.com/yjsXp15.png?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/RVtYPeX.png?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/3kzcxzm.png?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/Slob7a9.png?1[/img] The one thing that I will say is that the current was extremely fast on this day. If you were a paddler, you definitely had your hands full. I've paddled in these kinds of conditions way back in the day and I can say from personal experience that it was no fun. The one person I was concerned about this entire trip was the 10' kayak trolling motor kayaker. His motor went out early on and paddling his yak was very difficult. Here is his kayak before the motor ran out of juice. A few people managed to make it out to the rig. The further out everyone went, the swells lightened up. [img] https://i.imgur.com/BUdCv8h.jpg?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/SiPErPD.jpg?1[/img] [img] https://i.imgur.com/5Y9Seqy.jpg?1[/img] About five minutes in my trolling, I saw a paddle kayaker hanging over his kayak. I knew that posture. As I was getting close to him, he turned to the side and threw up into the water. He was full blown sea sick. I pulled my lines out of the water and got up closer. I could tell he wasn't doing well. I told him to relax and I would tow him back. I took my bungee strap from my paddle and used it for towing. My strap held up very well (A big thanks to Bruce Burnell for making the strap for me!). As I was heading back, I came across another paddler that was having problems. His arms were cramping from paddling through the current. I felt I could tow him as well. I leaned all the way to the front of my yak to get my other strap off of the front and used it for towing this person. Now I am towing two people. During the time it took to hook up both individuals, the current carried all of us to the opposite side of where I wanted to be. This was going to make it where I was going to have to fight the current to gain ground the entire time once I got closer to the jettys. I peddled for around 3.5 hours before we made it back to to where both guys felt comfortable enough to paddle back to and through the jettys. I detached the lines from their kayaks and away they went. I have never towed two people before. It probably would of been easier if the current wasn't so tough. I have been working out lately doing P90X. That might explain why I was not getting as tired. I'm glad I was able to help those two to get back. Next I went to check on another person in a paddle kayak that over shot the mouth and was working against the current. I made sure that person got back as well. While I was taking care of that, the kayaker in the 10' kayak with the trolling motor was struggling. His motor went out very early on in the day and he was paddling against the current. He was losing ground the entire time. My buddy Bryce radioed to me to see how things were going. I told him that the trolling motor kayaker was not doing well so Bryce and Clinton went to help that person out. Bryce has a Native Slayer propel and Clinton has a PA 14. The interesting thing about Clinton is that he brings his dog with him on all trips. He has an Alaskan Husky. The dog's name is Lobo. I thought that was pretty cool! Both kayakers attached up to the trolling motor yaker and began to tow him. The current was picking up as the day progressed making it difficult for those guys to gain any ground. By the time I finished helping another kayaker, I headed over to Bryce to see if I could be of any assistance. I took over for Bryce. Bryce headed to the mouth to help anybody that needed help crossing through. While I was helping Bryce and Clinton, Keith was working his way back. He was in a Heritage kayak and paddling like he had never paddled before. Keith managed to make the long haul against the current back to the mouth of the jettys and made it through. Before long, Clinton needed to head back in. Now it was just the trolling motor guy and myself. I made a decision that we were going to make a beach landing. By doing this, we would use the jetty as a shield from the current. This made things so much easier in peddling. If I would have continued to head to the mouth, what would have taken me maybe 30+ minutes to get to the mouth by myself would have taken me around 3+ hours towing the trolling motor kayaker. It just made sense to do a beach landing. After all, I was only making about 0.25 mph (the current was ripping). Now that the decision has been made to beach land and we are out of the way of the current, my next thing was to find a place on the beach that was not surrounded by a lot of people and close to an entrance. I needed to keep this as close to the jettys as possible so that we would not get carried back into the current again. Also, by keeping close to the jettys, this made it to where there would not be hardly any surf when coming in. As we got closer, my prediction was correct. There was no surf whatsoever. I found a piece of the beach that didn't have many people on it and it was right in front of an entrance to the beach. Right before going into the beach, I detached from the trolling motor yak. Coming to the beach was extremely easy. No issues for either of us. Once we arrived on the beach I grabbed my phone, car key, and VHF radio and I walked back to get my car to pick up both kayaks. As I was walking I made it back to the boat launch about 3/4 of the way when Jacob (He was one of the kayakers that came to this outing) stopped to see if I needed a ride. Jacob was already packed and was about to head back when he saw me. I was extremely happy because he had A/C in his truck and I could really use some air conditioning right at this point, lol. A big thanks to Jacob for hooking me up with the ride to the boat ramp! Finally, I was at my vehicle. I went to go pick up both yaks and bring both of us back to the boat launch so that we both could pack up and head home. While I was getting everything ready to head home, another kayaker was pulling into the boat ramp with his keep of the day. [img] https://i.imgur.com/CPoljzj.jpg?1[/img] Not a bad smack at all!! Not many fish were caught due to many having to deal with the tough currents throughout the day. The reason why I especially wanted to write this report is because many people want to go offshore in a kayak. You really need to know if your kayak is the right kayak for offshore kayak fishing. Secondly, know your limits. The last thing you want to do is to make it five miles offshore only to find out you can't get back. Third, be sure to stay in your groups. There were a few times that people got away from others. I stayed back to be sure that nobody was left behind. Even though the trolling motor kayaker was behind me, I kept a very sharp eye on him at all times. Fourth, when going offshore, be sure to have a VHF radio. If you don't have one, stay with your buddy at all times that does have a radio. By following these few set of rules, you can help ensure that you will have a better time on the water. Thanks to everyone for coming out to this trip and participating! I hope to see you guys at the Bob Hall Pier outing. Tight lines!!
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13643508
07/25/20 01:47 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,885
jippedgenes
Extreme Angler
|
Extreme Angler
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,885 |
Thank you for the thorough report. I enjoyed it a lot. I have been down to Surfside many times and never caught anything of size. I have a paddle yak so I knew 5 miles was no joke. I am in decent shape but not 5 miles shape HAHA.
Maybe some day I will be able to go with y'all. Looks like a blast even with few fish.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13643611
07/25/20 03:37 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 3,709
PowerLizard
TFF Team Angler
|
TFF Team Angler
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 3,709 |
Thanks for posting the report. Sounds like you spent the day herding cats on the water. Did you get to fish? Next time you get a big kayaking group together, you should find an experienced jet skier to join your group as a tow vehicle.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: PowerLizard]
#13644545
07/26/20 02:19 AM
|
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174
Yakety_Yak
OP
Outdoorsman
|
OP
Outdoorsman
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174 |
Thank you for the thorough report. I enjoyed it a lot. I have been down to Surfside many times and never caught anything of size. I have a paddle yak so I knew 5 miles was no joke. I am in decent shape but not 5 miles shape HAHA.
Maybe some day I will be able to go with y'all. Looks like a blast even with few fish.
My prior report from this one at Surfside was about 4 weeks before this trip. Many caught fish on that trip. I landed a king, 6 ft shark, and a 40+ inch jack. That was a great day. I'm sure I posted that report in here. You may want to scroll down some to see if it's still on here. Anytime you are ready to hit the offshore thing on the kayak or if you have questions, please don't hesitate to call me. 832-588-7091 Thanks for posting the report. Sounds like you spent the day herding cats on the water. Did you get to fish? Next time you get a big kayaking group together, you should find an experienced jet skier to join your group as a tow vehicle. Every time I ask a jet skier to hang with us, they never want to. Usually when they hit the water, they want to head into federal waters to fish. To answer your question though, I had lines deployed for roughly five minutes before pulling them up and getting ready to tow the two guys back. It was not much fishing for me that day. No worries though. There are plenty of other days to get out there and fish. Helping those two was way more important.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13644556
07/26/20 02:23 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 42,688
butch sanders
TFF Guru
|
TFF Guru
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 42,688 |
wow that was a test for sure
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13644966
07/26/20 02:54 PM
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,753
christian myrick
TFF Team Angler
|
TFF Team Angler
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,753 |
It's hard to put together an event like this. I'd say you need at least a 1 to 3 or 1 to 2 ratio (1 proven veteran guy per every 2 or 3 newbs). Plus this is something we should all take time to prep for. The newbs should practice paddling in tougher conditions further distances. Not because it's always conditions like you had but because it can be like what you had and even much worse. I am taking my 14 year old son offshore this year, next month. I made a rule for him that he needed to be able to paddle 15 miles straight and still have some gas in the tank. The sport growing like it has is both good and bad. The honest truth is only about 10% of the sponsored kayak anglers actually know anything about "real kayak fishing". Lots of bad info out there steering people in the wrong direction. The unfortunate thing is you had to pay the price for it. Taking people out, exposing them to all the amazing things offshore is super admirable thing to do. I just wish the people you took would prep a little better.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: butch sanders]
#13645937
07/27/20 12:51 PM
|
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,291
Jimbo
TFF Guru
|
TFF Guru
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 19,291 |
wow that was a test for sure No kidding! My hat is off to you, and when you try to do something good and promote BTB, you get a few that have no clue what they are getting themselves into. Like the Darwin candidate who shows up with a trolling motor on a pond boat! BTB separates the men from the boys, and if you aren't prepared, it can turn into a tragedy very quickly!
Just one more cast!
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13647077
07/28/20 02:27 AM
|
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 167
slopez
Outdoorsman
|
Outdoorsman
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 167 |
Sounds like the peddle kayaks have an advantage over paddle. I have a Jackson cuda12. I've always thought if I were to attempt btb, it wouldn't be in anything less than a 14'. Maybe I'll buy a cuda14 in a couple of of yrs. My 12 does fine for lakes and inshore for now. Are the Jackson line of paddle kayaks on the list of acceptable ones for btb?
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: slopez]
#13647158
07/28/20 05:22 AM
|
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,753
christian myrick
TFF Team Angler
|
TFF Team Angler
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 3,753 |
Sounds like the peddle kayaks have an advantage over paddle. I have a Jackson cuda12. I've always thought if I were to attempt btb, it wouldn't be in anything less than a 14'. Maybe I'll buy a cuda14 in a couple of of yrs. My 12 does fine for lakes and inshore for now. Are the Jackson line of paddle kayaks on the list of acceptable ones for btb? That's not the case at all. Pedal kayaks have less advantage the more distance you go. Pedal kayaks force all the energy to come from 1 muscle group instead of all your muscles. Proper paddling spreads the load over your whole body. Issue is very few understand how to properly paddle. The Jackson cuda is not going to be the fastest but is certainly capable of going btb. In fact, search YouTube for tino mentendida huge texas tarpon. He uses or at least used a cuda 14. He is also a heck of a great fisherman.
Last edited by christian myrick; 07/28/20 09:05 AM.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13647176
07/28/20 06:52 AM
|
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 23,552
lconn4
TFF Guru
|
TFF Guru
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 23,552 |
Great report! My arms were hurting from just reading about it. I've only towed folks who needed help a couple of times, never again!
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: christian myrick]
#13647308
07/28/20 11:54 AM
|
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1,240
Jerry713
Extreme Angler
|
Extreme Angler
Joined: Apr 2019
Posts: 1,240 |
Sounds like the peddle kayaks have an advantage over paddle. I have a Jackson cuda12. I've always thought if I were to attempt btb, it wouldn't be in anything less than a 14'. Maybe I'll buy a cuda14 in a couple of of yrs. My 12 does fine for lakes and inshore for now. Are the Jackson line of paddle kayaks on the list of acceptable ones for btb? That's not the case at all. Pedal kayaks have less advantage the more distance you go. Pedal kayaks force all the energy to come from 1 muscle group instead of all your muscles. Proper paddling spreads the load over your whole body. Issue is very few understand how to properly paddle. The Jackson cuda is not going to be the fastest but is certainly capable of going btb. In fact, search YouTube for tino mentendida huge texas tarpon. He uses or at least used a cuda 14. He is also a heck of a great fisherman. Peddle kayaks do have an advantage over paddle kayaks for some just not for everyone. The advantage is the ability to use legs instead of arms, shoulders and back. Many of us who don't exercise or paddle often enough to build up the strength it takes to paddle a kayak longer distances already have the ability to do this in a pedal kayak since we use our legs daily and leg muscles are (most of the time) stronger than our upper body muscles. Again this is not the case for someone who paddles often or someone who has good upper body/back strength. I enjoy paddling a kayak but having lower back issues for 40 years puts a hamper on how much of it I can do. I've tried it many times and owned several paddle kayaks. With peddle kayaks I don't need to worry about this since my legs are my strongest muscles. That said I don't want anyone to get the impression you shouldn't know how to paddle. If you're in a kayak you're going to have to paddle it as some point.
You get out of it what you put into it!
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Jerry713]
#13648417
07/29/20 02:51 AM
|
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174
Yakety_Yak
OP
Outdoorsman
|
OP
Outdoorsman
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174 |
wow that was a test for sure Definitely! It's hard to put together an event like this. I'd say you need at least a 1 to 3 or 1 to 2 ratio (1 proven veteran guy per every 2 or 3 newbs). Plus this is something we should all take time to prep for. The newbs should practice paddling in tougher conditions further distances. Not because it's always conditions like you had but because it can be like what you had and even much worse. I am taking my 14 year old son offshore this year, next month. I made a rule for him that he needed to be able to paddle 15 miles straight and still have some gas in the tank. The sport growing like it has is both good and bad. The honest truth is only about 10% of the sponsored kayak anglers actually know anything about "real kayak fishing". Lots of bad info out there steering people in the wrong direction. The unfortunate thing is you had to pay the price for it. Taking people out, exposing them to all the amazing things offshore is super admirable thing to do. I just wish the people you took would prep a little better. Great to hear from ya Christian. wow that was a test for sure No kidding! My hat is off to you, and when you try to do something good and promote BTB, you get a few that have no clue what they are getting themselves into. Like the Darwin candidate who shows up with a trolling motor on a pond boat! BTB separates the men from the boys, and if you aren't prepared, it can turn into a tragedy very quickly! Jimbo, it sounds like you have done btb before. Hit me up sometimes if you want to hit it up offshore. Sounds like the peddle kayaks have an advantage over paddle. I have a Jackson cuda12. I've always thought if I were to attempt btb, it wouldn't be in anything less than a 14'. Maybe I'll buy a cuda14 in a couple of of yrs. My 12 does fine for lakes and inshore for now. Are the Jackson line of paddle kayaks on the list of acceptable ones for btb? Cuda 12 can go offshore. As mentioned earlier, you need to develop a good paddle stroke and practice going the distance. Once you build up your endurance and good technique with your paddle stroke, you should do just fine. I used to go offshore on a paddle yak and I did just fine. Some days the current gave me a run for my money but because I was seasoned, I was able to hang in there and get things done. Great report! My arms were hurting from just reading about it. I've only towed folks who needed help a couple of times, never again! The towing wasn't really all that bad. The current is what gave it the challenge. Thank goodness I am in a peddle yak.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13648675
07/29/20 01:35 PM
|
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 167
slopez
Outdoorsman
|
Outdoorsman
Joined: Mar 2018
Posts: 167 |
Christian, Jerry, Yakety, thank you for the responses. I believe I'm pretty well rounded as far as strength and endurance. I'm a fat guy, so I have strong legs from carrying the weight, arm strength from shoveling food, and strong back for supporting the gut. All kidding aside, working construction for 25 yrs has taught me the importance of utilizing all muscle groups in performing a heavy workload. I have outworked many a younger, 'stronger' man by using my entire body, as well as the importance of using momentum and leverage to my advantage. To quote Archimedes, "Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." I believe my paddling technique is decent, although I have had no formal instruction. I need to watch some videos to pick up on the subtle nuances that can I know would make a big difference on those long runs. Thank you again gentlemen for the information.
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: slopez]
#13652241
07/31/20 11:41 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174
Yakety_Yak
OP
Outdoorsman
|
OP
Outdoorsman
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 174 |
Christian, Jerry, Yakety, thank you for the responses. I believe I'm pretty well rounded as far as strength and endurance. I'm a fat guy, so I have strong legs from carrying the weight, arm strength from shoveling food, and strong back for supporting the gut. All kidding aside, working construction for 25 yrs has taught me the importance of utilizing all muscle groups in performing a heavy workload. I have outworked many a younger, 'stronger' man by using my entire body, as well as the importance of using momentum and leverage to my advantage. To quote Archimedes, "Give me a lever long enough, and a fulcrum on which to place it, and I shall move the world." I believe my paddling technique is decent, although I have had no formal instruction. I need to watch some videos to pick up on the subtle nuances that can I know would make a big difference on those long runs. Thank you again gentlemen for the information. You are very welcome! Be sure to check my BHP thread if you want to get offshore as I am about to run that outing. If you need any details, it's on the forum. You can also always reach out to me. 832-588-7091
|
|
Re: SURFSIDE BTB, FRIDAY, JUNE 3RD (REPORT)
[Re: Yakety_Yak]
#13659685
08/07/20 04:09 PM
|
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 17,651
Gitter Done
TFF Guru
|
TFF Guru
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 17,651 |
Outstanding Post and Thanks for sharing.
|
|
Moderated by banker-always fishing, chickenman, Derek 🐝, Duck_Hunter, Fish Killer, J-2, Jacob, Jons3825, JustWingem, Nocona Brian, Toon-Troller, Uncle Zeek, Weekender1
|