LIP GRIPPER HOW TO LAUNCH AND LAND YOUR KAYAK IN SURF >> BY ADAM BOLONSKY
PA D D L I N G T E C H N I Q U E | R I G G I N G | S A LTWAT E R | F R E S HWAT E R Surf’s Up
IF YOU’RE FISHING THE OPEN COAST, learning to launch and land in surf will increase your fishing days, boost your confidence and make you a better angler. Here are tips for going it alone or helping a buddy.
SURF LAUNCHING
[1] SCOUT YOUR SPOT Scan the shore for the ideal launch site. Most put-ins have small pockets and coves that are less exposed to the shorebreak or are hit by smaller waves and waves with longer pauses between breaks.
[2] SET UP Straddle your kayak in water just deep enough to float it, yet not so deep that you can’t touch bottom with both feet.
[3] BE SQUARE Line up your bow so it is square to incom- ing waves and shorebreak. If you’re not facing the waves at 90 degrees, it doesn’t take a very big wave to shove the bow off to one side, pivoting the kayak parallel to the shorebreak.
[4] TIME YOUR DEPARTURE Using your lower legs to steady your kayak square to the shorebreak, wait for a break between waves. Then sit, lift your feet into the cockpit, and use a burst of short, choppy strokes to power through the shorebreak.
[TIP: 20 … KAYAK ANGLER summer/fall 2008
In surf, always hop out of the kayak on its seaward side. Hop out on the beach side and you risk getting run down by your boat if it gets caught by an incoming wave.
READER TIP Troll on the side that fights the wind
Paddling in even the slightest wind I either get turned into the wind or, if the wind is behind, it’s always trying to push me sideways. A rudder is fine, but I find they add excess drag and when I hook a fish I’d rather control my kayak with the fish. Trolling on a perfectly still day I noticed that my lure out the one side turns my kayak in that direction. Putting two and two together, I now troll off the side of the kayak that best counterbalances the effects of the wind. —CLIFF WEBSTER, TOLEDO, OHIO
Send your Reader Tip to
editor@kayakanglermag.com
[
PHOTO: JOCK BRADLEY
ILLUSTRATION: LORENZO DEL BIANCO
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52