BEFORE SPUN PLASTIC KAYAKS

[phil harris]

does anybody have old pics of how they fished before spun plastic kayaks???
i first fished off old long boards...then...rubber rafts,wooden dingys...then finally...a "porta-boat"
it was amazing...11' long by 4' wide...1/8th inch thick PVC...it folded up thin as a surfboard...two
wooden planks spread it apart 'n' act'd like seats...



here is a shot of mike carson...in a fiberglass kayak he had in the 70s 'n' 80s
i gotta dig up the pics of him by malibu pier with yellowtails he caught there...


i would love to see some of the old contraptions you guys used to use...

did anybody try a canoe??? that would bee something...

[jscott]

pretty cool....thanks for sharing.

[Sea Weed]

No Pics but neighbor took his canoe to San Simeion untill a seal that was bit in two surfaced close to where he was fishing. Lol he gave canoe to his brother.

[phil harris]

here's a late 70s of carsons fiberglass kayak...multi color wetsuit...before board cords...wow...
we are getting old...


here's the early 90s when the plastics took off...the design was more for scuba divers...with the
stern having a "tank well" for the scuba tank...little did they know...it would be fishermen that
would buy the kayaks by storm...

carson first had a scrambler...then this scupper pro...malibu pier with a yellowtail...91/92'...


kayak fishing has sure come a long way...cheers...

[Toad Patrol]

Hey Phil, some great photos there. You really do go back a few years in your fishing career. Love the fol-boat shots, are you at Las Tunas/Bigrock beach in that picture? Those things are still popular, I see em at the fishing shows and strapped to the sides of motorhomes up in the sierras all the time.
Those shots of your pal Mike in the original OK kayak remind me of the conversations I had with Tim Niemier, the inventor of sit-on-top kayaks. Being a diver, the OK was a logical solution for getting his SCUBA gear out past the surf, and into the kelp without exhusting his legs swimming. I dove and surfed as well, but fishing the kelp was my real passion. When he asked me to help him manufacture and sell the boats around '73-'74, I saw the fishing market as a far greater target. I told Tim there are probably 500 fishermen to every diver, but convincing him, them and tackle shops to carry the OK's was a really difficult sell back then. Fishermen didn't "get it", and as we have seen it's taken 25+ years. Now they're everywhere! I guess I should've stayed with it instead of  rock music and a construction career, but that's life. At least we're still on the water, Eh?
Im kinda surprised we didn't meet way back then...
To the good ol' days,
-Scott

[phil harris]

toad patrol...back then...i spent all my money on a rd400 street bike, 4 dirt bikes, 10 surfboards, day boat,
snow & water skii's, camper, etc...so instead of gettin' a fibby yak...i got a 200$ used porta boat...
being younger 'n' fit...those hobbies came first...now old 'n' feeble...i just fish 'n' camp...

mark 'n' pat wayne (friends of my wifes brother) lived on zumareze(sp?) you might have known mike sprock,
steve thornton, brian cousins, glen kennedy, steve krieski(sp?), etc...surf cats from the 60s'70s...my wifes
sisters ex lives there now...dennis hamn...his buddy jack skeen(sp?)...you probably now these guys...

the first shots are county line...the other is...you guess'd it...it was tough launchin' that thing in high surf...
it is funny we never bumped into each other...see ya around...maybe...