Tag Archives: ocean kayak fishing

Ocean Kayak Fishing

To remain safe while ocean kayak fishing, you are going to want to think about a few key aspects of what is going to happen while you are out on the water. The currents that you can encounter while fishing on the ocean, especially around islands and other large pieces of land can be incredibly difficult to maneuver in. The sheer size of fish that you can catch while you are fishing from a kayak is also a problem that many people are not prepared to encounter. Lastly, you can easily receive sun damage to your skin if you are not taking the necessary precautions, such as sun block, and adequate clothing.

Despite what most people believe, covering up your skin is necessary while you are ocean kayak fishing. Long sleeves, and khaki pants are a great way to protect your arms, chest, back, and legs from severe sunburn. A good fully brimmed hat, with a cloth down your neck is a great way to not only stay cool, but also protect your face and neck from sunburn as well. These are severe problems, that if you are planning for any amount of time on the big water, must be thought about before you leave the beach.

If you intend to do any fishing near islands, or other large pieces of structure, you are going to want to take the currents into consideration. At different times of the day, and different phases of the moon, the currents will move in different directions. To ensure that you remain safe, even if you have been through the spot before, keep the currents at the forefront of your thoughts, while you are padding around large pieces of structure.

Lastly, once you start hooking into fish, make sure that you are keeping your body weight centered, especially if you are not using any sort of outrigger setup, to keep the boat steady. If you think the pressure if the fish is too much for you, and you may flip, lessen the drag on your reel, to give the fish more room to run. As he begins to tire out, you can then apply more drag, and become comfortable with pulling large fish in, from a kayak. As long as you think about these things, your ocean kayak fishing trips will be much more enjoyable, both during, and after.

Ocean Kayak

Before you head out onto the big open blue on a kayak, or even consider purchasing an ocean kayak for your next navigation trip, you are going to have to consider a few necessities that are required for ocean kayaking.  You have to remain completely safe out there, because it is only you and your mates in their kayaks to protect each other should one fall to harm.  You are going to want to make sure that you bring more than just some food and water too, because if something happens out on the deep blue sea, you don’t just have people to come pick you up and take you home;  this isn’t your mothers back yard you know.

Look, I commend you for wanting to take the epic voyage and starting to find an ocean kayak for sale isn’t going to be all that hard.  The reason this happens is because of the same thing I just told you.  When people get out on the open water, they often freak when they can no longer see land, and actually lose their sense of direction, which happens all too easily.  Once you get out of sight of land, the waves often pick up which pushes you around a lot more.  If you aren’t careful, you and your entire group could be turned without ever realizing it, so for this reason alone you all must make sure you carry a mechanical compass, as well as a few of you having electronic satellite GPS systems.  These two items are life savers out there.

Arch.  Three-Day Kayak and Hiking Tour of the Channel Islands (San Miguel, Santa Rosa, Santa Cruz)
photo credit: mikebaird

A few other items that you need on ocean kayaks are a very loud whistle, a flare gun, and a solar lamp that shines 360 degrees with a high visibility white light.  You want it to be the whitest that you can get, because it is going to be used for both visibility as well as a flagging device should an approaching boat get to close, or you need to flag for help at night.  Having a loud whistle will help to alert any boats in your area during the day, while having a flare gun on board your ocean kayak will allow you to signal passing boats or helicopters at night.  Once you have gotten their attention, you are going to need the bright solar lamp to flag them to your position.

Above all, and no matter whether you are just out ocean kayaking for the afternoon, or taking a long ocean kayak fishing expedition, hopping from island to island, you need to have a satellite UHF/VHF radio on board, as well as a life jacket that will keep your face up out of the water should you become unconscious.  During the day, or even at night, when boats get in range, you can use the waterproof satellite radio to contact them and alert them of your presence.  Hopefully that solar lamp is charged so that you can help bring them closer in to you, without having to play Marco Polo after 3 days at sea.  So before you go and pick up your first used ocean kayak, make sure that you have gone to the expense of adding these necessary, life saving items to your boat.