Good day fishing (pics) spyderco salt saves the day...again!

Surfingringo

Surfingringo

Joined
May 25, 2013
Messages
3,700
Hey all, had a fun morning in the kayak today. Launched at 5:30 am and by 5:45 I had a barracuda, a mackerel, and a 25-30 pound rooster fish. And it didnt slow down! I ended up scoring several more barracuda, some big jacks and mackerel, triggerfish and snapper!

I dropped my pliers on the bottom of the pacific early fooling with the rooster and I had to improvise the rest of the day. It can be tough pulling a treble hook out of a barracudas mouth with your fingers. They tend to be kind of ornery and they've got the teeth to back up the attitude. So today I discovered a GREAT use for the spydie hole! It became my hook remover for the rest of the day. I would hook one of the free tines and use the knife like a t-bar or a lever depending how the hook was situated. Not the perfect tool for the job but it worked just fine and I got to keep fishing without losing any fingers! I knew that hole was there for a reason! :-). Ok, hope I'm not boring y'all with the fishing knife tales! I'm just enjoying myself and my spydercos and like to share.

Here's the rooster. (He looked bigger in real life) I got busy cleaning all the fish and forgot to take pics of the rest, sorry.

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Always amazing to see what you are up to. Most interesting man on the water I'd say. You should get a bigger boat man, imagine how many fish you could keep if you had a place to store them!
 
Great pictures. I always knew cuda had choppers but it really sunk home when one day out fishing a cuda literally cut in half about a 10 pound bonita as I was pulling it up over the side of the boat. There was blood everywhere. Sure made a believer out of me and I'd never put my hands near ones mouth. A hook or hand surgery is an easy choice.
 
GatorFlash1 said:
Great pictures. I always knew cuda had choppers but it really sunk home when one day out fishing a cuda literally cut in half about a 10 pound bonita as I was pulling it up over the side of the boat. There was blood everywhere. Sure made a believer out of me and I'd never put my hands near ones mouth. A hook or hand surgery is an easy choice.
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Hehe, yeah, they are straight up nasty. Only thing worse is a wahoo. And they are WAY worse! I actually thought to take a photo when I was popping the hook out with the spyder hole, and I thought better of it. Playing with my camera and a cuda with one hand on a kayak seemed...unwise. :-). Oh well, ill get some shots of those choppers for yall next time!

Fried cuda for dinner! It's one of my favorites! Delicious! Ill take it over snapper!
 
How in the heck do you manage all the HUGE fish you catch in that kayak? Do you make frequent trips back to shore?
 
Man... the head on that fish looks about as big as a person's head! Awesome stories and amazing talent you have, great stuff.
 
Fun stuff,

thanx for sharing. As mentioned, how do you store the fish in the Kayak?

sal
 
Very cool...Love your Hobie. I've been kicking around the idea of buying one to back up my WS Ride 135 but their price keeps me from it. Is the Mirage system really worth it? I may have to sell some knives or a couple of pea shooters to fund the purchase :)
 
There is a large hatch (like 16x18 im guessing) in the bow. The entire front third of the kayak is open and can hold some pretty big fish! If I'm really killing it, I also have open space on the rear deck with bungees over it. And just in case I hit the mother load I carry some rope so I can lash a monster to the side...I've got a gaff to beat the sharks back with. ;-). The only fish that I wasn't able to fit in the front hatch so far was a big rooster. I got his head in but I wasnt able to close the hatch because there was 2 feet of fish sticking up out of it. It looked comical landing on the beach all lopsided. Here he is. 54" and 65lbs. Had to kill her cuz she was gut hooked so bad. :-(.

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jasonp said:
Very cool...Love your Hobie. I've been kicking around the idea of buying one to back up my WS Ride 135 but their price keeps me from it. Is the Mirage system really worth it? I may have to sell some knives or a couple of pea shooters to fund the purchase :)
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Hey jason, my answer depends on your usage. I would say if you are using the kayak exclusively for fishing then yes, it is absolutely worth the money. Once u use the mirage you are spoiled. The ability to move and maneuver and still have both hands free for fishing, casting, tying knots, cutting bait, etc opens up a whole new world! If you are content then keep your money in your pocket and enjoy. But if you try the hobie you won't go back.
 
Loving it! Keep the stories and pictures coming. Just never go out without your Salty talisman.
 
Awesome pics. You seem to enjoy yourself. Good for you. Maybe you could upgrade your craft to something like, oh...i don't know, a Sage 17. :)
 
My father-in-law bought a Hobie and I am dying to play with it. Very cool.
 
Surfingringo said:
Hey jason, my answer depends on your usage. I would say if you are using the kayak exclusively for fishing then yes, it is absolutely worth the money. Once u use the mirage you are spoiled. The ability to move and maneuver and still have both hands free for fishing, casting, tying knots, cutting bait, etc opens up a whole new world! If you are content then keep your money in your pocket and enjoy. But if you try the hobie you won't go back.
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You're not making this choice easy to not get one. I'm thinking about selling my bass boat to fund the purchase.. I bought the Ride 135 because of it's stability and there was room to make a child seat for my daughter :)
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minimalist said:
Good lord!!!! These pics and stories are great!

How far out do you go?
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Depends on the bottom structure, but usually no more than a couple of miles. I've got an open invitation to load my kayak on a buddies boat and go out 30 miles and catch marlin, but I'm not crazy excited about the idea. I'm not really into sport fishing. If I'm not planning to kill it and eat it, I'd just as soon not even mess with it. As far as landing something big, I'd much rather horse up a big Goliath grouper than a marlin. I've been spearfishing on a lot of the reefs where I fish and seen some real monsters down there! We speared one last year the size of a refrigerator!
 
Surfingringo said:
Depends on the bottom structure, but usually no more than a couple of miles. I've got an open invitation to load my kayak on a buddies boat and go out 30 miles and catch marlin, but I'm not crazy excited about the idea. I'm not really into sport fishing. If I'm not planning to kill it and eat it, I'd just as soon not even mess with it. As far as landing something big, I'd much rather horse up a big Goliath grouper than a marlin. I've been spearfishing on a lot of the reefs where I fish and seen some real monsters down there! We speared one last year the size of a refrigerator!
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Very cool! Sounds like you're living a hell of life.
 
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