I tossed the yak in at Station 26 about 10am to fish the incoming tide on the ICW. Plan for today was to drag baits looking for trout while I moved from spot to spot looking for reds.
3 rods in the yak today: popping cork with Z-Man Acented Shrimpz, jig head with paddle tail, and trigger hook with Rain Minnowz.
Couldn’t find a school of reds anywhere in the 6+ miles of shoreline I covered today. THe wind didn’t help with sight fishing either.
I did manage a skinny little legal sized trout on the Rain Minnow, and 2 reds; 1 lower slot, the other ~ 26 inches on the Scented Shrimpz.
Happy New Year folks.
PS: TO the A hole in the GIGANTIC sporty. Would it hurt to throttle back a little when you pass a yak instead of throwing off a 3-4 foot wake motoring by at 20+ knots?
quote:Originally posted by Too Busy
PS: TO the A hole in the GIGANTIC sporty. Would it hurt to throttle back a little when you pass a yak instead of throwing off a 3-4 foot wake motoring by at 20+ knots?
same guy came past us and didnt slow down a bit… screwed up our school of reds and we looked to our right to see the waves barrelling 20 feet from us.
I had to turn into the wake and bury my bow in each wave to keep from getting flipped. Glad I was wearing waders and a dry top cause every wave in the wake broke in my lap.
Most of those guys are Capts running trips.Time is money and they have another trip waiting.Met a guy years ago at Ryans and he made $100K a year running boats from Maine to Fla.Tip money was all cash!!!
Time may be money … but a life is a life, people are highly reckless when it comes to lives on the water and I wish the state would write a law taking kayakers into more consideration, I go to idle speed when passing a kayak on the water …
Bragging may not bring happiness,
but no man having caught a large fish,
goes home through the alley.
-Anonymous
i had close encounters with 2 sporty’s over the past week. 1 kept hammer down, 2’ roller came over my bow, soaked my little rig. i think i heard him laughing.
the other came all the way down to idle and was very polite, didn’t wake me at all.
I watched the Marlin Darlin put up about a 4 foot wake all the way through the no wake at the Ben Sawyer… I just can’t believe he didn’t know it was a no wake…
That guy (**() near sank us…We took 4 rollers over the starboard side, got soaked from the chest down. Pushed us from 18 inches of water to 0 inches of water. Had 5 inches of water in the boat.
The bad thing is that we were talking about how fast he was going. We figured 40+ knots and it was a big boat. I was so intent in watching the reds I misjudged the wake…my fault there.
But…that guy needed to be at sea and not the ICW. I really do not know what the term “you are responsible for you wake means” but taken literally he will owe some $$$ before he gets where he is going.
Same thing happened to us my bud was on the poling platform poling and looking for schools of reds and the same moron blasted us ! The constant 4 ft rollers almost put the boat on top of a oyster bed and my buddy had to lay down on the poling platform on his stomach .
Time may be money … but a life is a life, people are highly reckless when it comes to lives on the water and I wish the state would write a law taking kayakers into more consideration, I go to idle speed when passing a kayak on the water …
I guess the state should also pass a law allowing bicycles on the interstate and that tractor trailers should slow down to 5 mph so as not to blow them over. That said; I do slow down for yaks, but I believe all yakkers should use common sense. The ICW is a major hiway and you know what to expect so don’t be there if you can’t handle it. I recently saw a group of yakkers cross from crab bank to castle pinckney in front of a ship. Several were flipped and cursing. I know too busy and a lot of you are not that stupid but there are many who just buy a yak and get out there and expect everyone to look out for them. Like I said, you guys need to use common sense and fish in safer areas. There are plenty of flats and creeks where the sporties don’t travel at full throttle.
We frequently fish the ICW south of Charleston and have quite a bit of experience with big boats and their wakes. I keep my eyes peeled for those boats which have no intention of slowing down and become proactive. I will first make sure they see me (which you think would be a given) and then I will signal for a slowdown. If that fails, then they get the one-finger salute while going by. While some may be doing this as a delivery service (NO excuse), I really believe many do not know how their wake will affect a small boat anchored just of the “highway”. MOST encounters have resulted in slowdowns and a friendly way, but there is always the a**hole or young person who hasn’t a clue. Goes with the territory just as watching people drive cars while texting, reading, and applying make-up. Although much is written about these careless boaters, I really don’t see the state doing anything to address the problem. I would propose a DNR officer or a Charleston County PO assigned a very fast boat whose duties it would be just to target those inept boaters breaking “No Wake” laws or possibly endangering smaller boaters. A hefty fine will slow anyone down. These huge wakes also play havoc on the fragile oyster banks and grass lines. I have actually witnessed parts of mud banks fall off after one huge (60+) sporty flew threw a cut on mid-tide. Just be careful out there and take the atitude that most people in really big boats are in another frame of mind other than YOUR safety. Tight lines and Happy New Year to all, Mike.
quote:Originally posted by Captain Mitch
That guy (**() near sank us…We took 4 rollers over the starboard side, got soaked from the chest down. Pushed us from 18 inches of water to 0 inches of water. Had 5 inches of water in the boat.
The bad thing is that we were talking about how fast he was going. We figured 40+ knots and it was a big boat. I was so intent in watching t
but I believe all yakkers should use common sense. The ICW is a major hiway and you know what to expect so don’t be there if you can’t handle it.
</font id=“quote”></blockquote id=“quote”>
I agree with you on this one. Far too many times I see people venturing where they really dont belong.
I’ve got a lot of hours in a yak seat in a variety of conditions and I was prepared for whatever came my way yesterday. Still, getting hit with a boat wake over head high less than 50 yards from a no wake zone in unnerving.
I paddled like a madman trying to get out of the shallows in time to just ride over the huge rollers but I didn’t make it. Instead I braced and took a series of 5 breakers over the bow.
The ICW is a highway for commercial boat traffic, that is why it was built…fishing is a by product of the dredge and dredge islands built decades ago.
With that said, I do not think that the normal vessel needs to stop or slow down for every boat on either side of the ICW…including the various docks scattered for hundreds of miles.
As bigger boats get faster there will be more and more problems…I don’t know where or how to answer the question, but I know the guy from yesterday is over the line. At least 4 wakes over 3 or 4 feet each is to much.
I guess that was more of a ramble then at statement, sorry. My point is that there are a ton of people out there that go nuts very time a boat wakes them…Very few of the boats are in the wrong (IMO). Big fast boats need to be in the ocean, period. Whiny fishing souls that want a no wake ICW need to find another place to fish. (and I am not calling anyone on this thread whiny, mainly aimed at some people I have heard yapping the last few years).
And while I am rambling…What is it with a fair percentage of paddle boarders that seem to think the place they need to be is the exact center of the ICW???
I watched a guy (in his 60’s, so he should have known better) go straight up the middle of the ICW from the connector to IOP Marina. He gave the finger to all that passed (including me) and refused to yield to a barge being pushed by a tug. He finally barely made it out of the path of the barge.
For some reason “some” paddle boarders and kayakers (I am a kayaker also) seem to think they have the right of way ALL OF THE TIME…They DO NOT.
There, now I have my ranting done for 2012…I hope.