First trip in my own yak

Hi everyone, happy to be in the fold.  I'm Ballard raised, Edmonds now.  Been on the water in various forms my whole life.  Family cabin on Hood Canal... For as long as I can remember... the smell of the salt has been "my smell".  My boating life... First family boat was an 18' boston whaler... My fathers boat, given to him by his father.  I have a wood drift boat.  I cut my drift boat teeth at my father in laws property on the Mckenzie river.... Also where I renewed my utter fascination with fishing.  Father now has a Grady that we use to fish in the sound.... But I've found that I'm tired of waiting for someone else's boat to hit the salt, and drifting rivers is a blast when the river is in shape.... But the for some reason I just want to be out in the salt.... My neighbor invited me to go kayak fish for chum at hoodsport a couple weeks ago.... Absolutely loved being so close to the water.  You can't get any closer.  And then hooking into a chum and getting dragged around for a spell.... What a thrill.  I'm hooked now.  Hit up Craigslist a few days later, found a great yak... A 2014 Outback (from a fellow NWKA member, I found out) and I thoroughly enjoyed my first trip today.  Yep, it was a little impulsive, but my wife blessed it because up until recently my daydreams involved Sea Sport 2400's and a lot of monthly payments.  Whew, dodged that bullet.  So the working name for my yak as of today is Dodger.  Back to the first trip.... Dropped some pots just north of the ferry in Edmonds... Shallow, about 45' deep, got to bring home a nice keeper.  Not a huge haul, but me and my girls (wife, two daughters) got to enjoy a taste of things to come.  And enjoy we did.  So, here's to the adventures to come!  Look forward to meeting some of you out on the water and/or at some future events!  Very nice meeting a handful of you out in Hoodsport a couple weeks ago as well. 

Welcome to the forum I am a newbie to kayaking also.  Just purchased the Jackson kraken kayak.  I am looking forward to meeting new folks here to show me the gear ropes along with some safety tips.

Good luck with your new adventure along with mine.

Roger

Welcome to you too.  Adventure is what I'm after as well.  I'm working on acquiring all my safety equipment... The list is down to a dry suit and a VHF radio.  Started with a good PFD, whistle, flag, first aid kit and lots of reading. I'm not too familiar with the kayak you have but I'm quickly learning there are a lot of favorites out there for a lot of different reasons.  Good luck out there. 

Oh, and I Attended a NWKA, Heroes on the Water event.... Tons of fun, met a bunch of really great people.  I highly recommend trying one.