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Posted by Eagle Eye on 19:09:33 07/06/03
I took my 9-year-old son John Henry out for his first open ocean kayak-fishing trip today. We made it to the Shores about 7a. The water was glassy, the fog was thick but well of shore. Best of all the surf was predictable.
I explained to my young son how to time the waves so that he would be able to make it through the surf dry and safe. While we were doing this a man in a motorized blue FnD launched out at the worst possible time and was promptly turned and flipped. I guess she (the ocean) doesn’t like the idea of motors on kayaks any more than I do, so she put the infidel over her knee and gave him a good @ss whipping hehehe. As motor man was putting his stuff back into his truck I waded out into waist deep water with my son and when we both agreed that the time was right I gave him a good shove with instructions to stay low, paddle hard, straight and don’t stop paddling until I tell you to. He did every thing I asked and his first surf launch was perfect.
We paddled out until we were even with the end of the Script’s pier and then north. I told Johnny to aim for the end of the pier. Once on the other side of the pier I turned on the FF and started hunting for fish. It didn’t take long before we found a school of bait with marks under it. Johnny put the reel in free spool and let a squid tipped Luhr Jensen “Krocodile” flutter down through the bait ball and WHAM! There was no need for a hook set but we practiced one any way. After a serious tug of war he landed a 2 ½ lb Calico Bass.
With our goal accomplish we stowed the fishing gear and paddled back. Every thing had gone according to plan so far but as any ocean kayaker knows a dry exit is the hardest thing to learn.
As luck would have it The Ice Man was preparing to land just as we arrived and he volunteered to wait on the shore to help guide and rescue if necessary. We sat just outside the breaking waves and when we both agreed that the time was right I gave him a shove towards shore. It really helped having some one on the shore to shout out instructions and it gave Johnny a point to focus on in his effort to stay straight.
Today Johnny launched through the surf dry, paddled out and caught a respectable fish and then he landed dry. What more could a father and son want?
Here is a link to the pictures http://www.sdfish.com/dcforum/DCForumID4/478.html
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