58# Striped Bass
3/25/18-Kayakfishing.com’s 21 Year Anniversary
Hello Anglers, Spring is showing here on the California coast and will be coming to all the kayak fisheries soon!
Several years in the making, here’s a fresh version of the website that compliments the beginning of a new era for the Kayakfishing.com effort. We turn “21” in August!
“The Olde Site”– The pioneer online venue to the sport, Kayakfishing.com has been a first stop for the majority of kayak anglers making their first online searches for over 20 years. Many anglers have saved a fortune through our direct referrals, kayak recommendations and guiding anglers on how not to ruin and lose their gear. A unique feature to the site has always been easy access to a guide with email and telephone links for 24/7 support.
Resourced by entry level kayak anglers globally since August 1997, Kayakfishing.com was the first special interest website published to the section. It also hosted the first kayak fishing forums (BBS) representing fisheries from coast to coast. The site profiled guide trips here in California and Mexico and through the boards, helped the sport evolve in real time coast to coast. It took a few years for other kayak fishing sites to launch and when they did, the sport exploded like popcorn.
About “The New Site”
We wanted to generate a fresh format that newly provides resources and information for veteran kayak anglers plus, reason to return once in awhile (coming soon). With more than enough online magazines, regional forum based sites, online stores and more, fleshing out a pertinent format where readers spend more time on the water than on the website, is our ultimate goal.
Spike’s (my) Blog– I’m looking for a better name for this. The first kayak fishing publication was a subscription newsletter I published in the mid `90’s called “The Yak Attack”. Reviving it would likely cause a silly fuss since another company since adopted it. My column title from that newsletter, “Spike Speaks”, is too strong to use I think. Any suggestions? All the blogs will be used to inform and educate on everything pertinent to anglers and kayak fishing with comments enabled.
Regional Blogs are being added to the site. Most are hosted by regional entities with content to guide local anglers and draw attention to the many unique fisheries. With several regions booting up, we are looking for local kayak fishing guides, writers, recreational fishing lobbyists or just active anglers who might, along with their fisheries, benefit by hosting a Regional Blog at Kayakfishing.com. Contact us directly if this might be a fit and please share it if you know someone.
No Advertiser Obligations-The names branded here look like ads but based solely on the value of their return, they are really endorsements that individually generate a token return, if any. Declining advertising requests, we solicit the endorsements branded here and in most cases, the products and services we’ll feature. One sage company from each if a dozen or so sections that make up the sport. Kayakfishing.com does not accommodate Fishing Team or Pro-Staff contributions. We don’t promote new gear unless it’s deemed special and proven. You won’t see us hash-tagging companies in our contributions, referring to gear by brand and model or otherwise shamelessly promoting ad based products or services. Of course with some products like JPW Dry Bags (that are truly superior in our experience with them going on 20 years) and other pertinent gear featured here, we’d be remiss not to lend exposure. We hope you like what you see!
Automated Trip Booking at the Site– Forrest Gump started the first kayak fishing guide service. No kidding. Just search “Jimbo Gump”. With all of my “firsts” in kayak fishing, I was actually the second kayak fishing guide, just the first dedicated to the sport. After 20 years of booking trips manually, We installed this bitchen software that takes just a few minutes to book a trip, takes a deposit to hold the spot(s), completes the transaction a few days before when we know we have good conditions, transacts refunds and send a confirmation with detailed trip info, directtions, a list of stuff to bring and contact info to your guide….all AUTOMATICALLY! Man do I love this software. Trips are listed on a dropdown from “Guided Trips” in the site header. Easier trip links are on the way.
Publishing this new version in realtime to get it where we want it, the site’s about half done now with content and features being added daily.
How we got here-I’d like to acknowledge Chuck Marlett who created Kayakfishing.com, kept it published for 20 years and remains “Webmaster Emeritus” from his base at the base of Death Valley. Chuck’s contribution made the sport of kayak fishing grow bigger and faster, globally. That’s a fact many later “pioneers” have laid claim to. Mac Skinner built and hosts the new site. A native Californian angler, Mac is not in the kayak fishing business. Mac is co-owner of Two Rock Amps https://www.two-rock.com ….something every guitar player should know.
Kayakfishing.com has always been here to lend guidance to entry level kayak anglers by providing pertinent content plus, unique to just about every site that followed, email and telephone contacts so anglers can reach a guide directly for information most anytime. From “is this kayak right for me?” to how do I target crappie (and every other specie) from my kayak?”, we’ve helped guide a score of anglers into the sport with direct contacts over for over 2 decades. Creating a new site format that enjoins the first generation brings a lot of excitement to the whole Kayakfishing.com effort and we hope you’ll drop by.
Continued Good Fishing and Stay Tuned!
Spike
2015 – Kayak Fishing Fall Classic Tournament Results
2014 – Kayak Fishing Fall Classic Tournament Results
2013 – Kayak Fishing Fall Classic Tournament Results
2012 – Kayak Fishing Fall Classic Tournament Results
46.1 lbs – Halibut – Julia Benak
Julia Benak-California Halibut – 46.1 lbs Feb 26th, 2006 Doheny Beach Official Women’s 16lb line class record.
256# Common Thresher Shark
This shark was landed around 2000 off the beach in Malibu and we haven’t had a report of one bigger.
Editor’s note: Taking no more than the angler’s word, Kayakfishing.com did not verify this early record and we would like to publish a new, verified record to replace it.
41″ Snook – Vivian Oliva
Vivian Oliva, Miami Florida. 41″ snook. June 30th, 2001
Fishing the outgoing tide at one of the exits from shallow Chokoloskee Bay, there was a lot of baitfish action. I started trolling with a 1/4 oz cottee red head jig with a 4″ rootbeer Gotcha swirl tail grub. After about 100 yards, my kayak came to a halt and started going backwards. A flash of silver and it looked like a tarpon so I grabbed the rod and got a good hook set, at which point the fish started taking me around faster into open water. Then it decided to do what all snook do to get free… head into the mangroves. As the fish was 5 feet from the mangroves I opened the bail and took the pressure off the fish. It stopped and started swimming out into the open again.
Great! I let it go and started picking up line slowly until it was clear of the shoreline and I resumed the fight. I finally tired it out. Paddling around for what seemed like hours to find CBK, Tom and TJ, I finally spotted CBK and he had a camera to record the fish. It measured 41″ but the girth was not taken so we will never know how much it weighed. I was fortunate to have been able to get the fish back in the water and it swam away.
Tackle used: Shimano 4000 spinning reel with a Falcon med/heavy action rod
FS-5-16. Line: Ande 10lb test with a 30lb mono leader tied to line with a
surgeons knot. The lure is tied to leader with a loop knot (very important).
50 pound California halibut – Jeff “Rhino” Krieger
Jeff “Rhino” Krieger, inventor of the Rhynobar, landed a 50 pound California halibut at the Los Angeles/ Ventura County line in 60 feet of water. Rhino used a bucktail jig on 15# test line. “I have always had good luck fishing on family birthdays and this fish was no exception. I had to get permission from the birthday boy, my eldest son Ryan was enjoying his 6th birthday, October 2nd 1999. The party was later in the day so he wished me luck and said “catch me a big one dad”. I launched at the LA/Ventura county line and headed out to 80′ where a squid boat was on anchor after fishing squid in that location the previous night. Sand bass were a fish a cast when the big halibut took my offering, a stripper jig 1-1/2 oz tipped with a squid strip, on 15lb Sufix clear mono line,Shimano Calcutta 400s on a Graphtech 7′ medium action rod. The battle lasted 20 minutes and the fish came in without much commotion for a big fish. The hen (female halibut), weighed an even 50 lbs. on the State Certified Grocers meat scale at my local market Green Acres in Simi Valley. Measured at 54″, it is still my biggest ever and probably will be for a long time.”
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