Don't try to fight the wind and the current! (my green can story)

Well, I finally broke the "Curse of the Catch Bag" and brought home a keeper chinook. The summary is that I made a couple poor decisions and nearly didn't, though. If you have a minute to read it the longer version of the story is below, along with obligatory fish picture.

I didn't sleep well on Saturday night and decided to get up in time to get to Luhr's Landing about sunrise. That would give me the most time on the water. I left home just before 4:30am and I got to the launch just after 6:00am, but took my time getting everything rigged up and talking to others there. I was on the water pedaling away by about 6:50am or so. The water was super smooth and wind was non-existant. It was a beautiful morning to be on the water.



A few other boats were launching and heading out. I recognized a few once I arrived at the can. I caught a couple little nothings in the first couple of hours, but no salmon. I also didn't see anyone else catch anything, much less a salmon.



The wind really started kicking up. I noticed that the few other kayakers that I had seen were all gone and some of the powerboaters had left. I had checked a weather report before I left home and it said that the wind would be as strong as 9 knots around 1:00 or 2:00pm, but would be much less earlier. That meant that it would be after low tide (12:28pm) by the time the wind was really kicking, so I'd have the current helping me fight the wind. No big deal, right? That turned out to not be the case. By about 10:30am or so, the wind was strong, a lot stronger than the weather forecast had estimated and a lot stronger than I had tried to deal with in a kayak before. A quick check on a couple websites on my phone showed estimates of 14 knots. It was made worse by the fact that it was pushing me the same direction as the outgoing tide. I tried to keep fishing, staying on top of my line, but that gave me about 15 minutes of fishing time on each drift before I had to try to pedal back up to the can. That pedaling took twice as long as I had gotten to fish, though, and I had to pedal with effort that I could just barely hold for long periods, effort that would usually push me 5mph on calm water. After the second drift and hard push to get back close to the can, I realized that I might not have the strength to do another one of those long sprints if I did another drift jigging. It occurred to me that I was in a situation that I wasn't prepared for. I didn't have a rope to tie to any of the posts, if that would even be allowed, and the nearest land was a very long way away. If I could have snapped my fingers and been instantly at the launch, I would have done it and counted myself lucky that I got out of a bad situation that my lack of experience had gotten me into. I couldn't do that, though. I had to figure out what else I could do.



If I stopped pedaling altogether, I was quickly up to >3mph heading away from the can, and directly away from Luhr's Landing, so I had a choice. I could try more drifts jigging, but may not be able continue doing that and would be in trouble if I got pushed even farther away from the launch. I could try to make a run over the 2+ miles to the launch, but if I wasn't sure I'd be able to even get back to the can after a drift there was no way I could push hard like that for miles. That would also end fishing for the day if by some miracle I pulled it off. My other option was to just do the kayak equivalent of treading water to hold my position for the hour and a half left until the tide changed direction. There was no option that provided a rest after already pedaling for hours. I chose the option to just hold position until the tide change. That let me fish, but not effectively since the current would take my jig away quickly and it wouldn't be falling correctly, and I might have a chance to fish more effectively after the tide change. Not surprisingly, I caught nothing while pedaling away in place waiting for the tide change. I was able to hold position fine, and despite the rough water and my attempts to maneuver while fishing in all of it I had never felt like I was in danger of tipping over. Kudos to Perception for making my Pescador Pilot so stable and easy for a relative newbie like me to handle in rough conditions.

Surprisingly, within about 10 or 15 minutes of the low slack I could suddenly make progress again relatively easily when pedaling. The wind hadn't slowed, but without the current pushing me the wind was entirely manageable. I was hoping to at least be able to have a chance at making to the launch, but now fishing was possible and I was able to do it a lot more easily than the powerboats. My biggest challenge was dodging them as the wind blew them past. A couple of them even commented on how great I was able to stay on top of my line compared to them.

Also right after the tide change, a couple bait balls showed up close to the can (30 to 40 feet of water) and I had a hard hit and hookup in that shallow water. There had been seals all around the boats all day and I knew a long fight would bring a higher chance of having a seal grab the fish. It occurred to me that I might have a shot at getting the fish in the net quickly since I didn't have very much line out. Instead of holding the net in the water and trying to pull the fish into it (which often freaks fish out), I pulled the fish alongside the boat and did a quick dip-and-lift grab that actually worked. By the time the fish saw the net and would normally have exploded into its first big run, I already had the net under it and was lifting up. I got lucky that I hooked it relatively close to the boat and got it in the net before it really knew what was going on. I had it in the net less than 15 seconds after hookup. It beat up the side of the kayak and splashed water everywhere for a few seconds until I lifted it out of the water, but a seal didn't get my first ever keeper chinook. It wasn't the biggest at 26" and 8lbs, and it wasn't bright silver, but it was mine!



I fished for another couple hours in the strong wind, but that was easier when the tide was coming back in and was helping me fight the wind. I was considering heading back to the launch when I noticed that one of my pedal arms had started coming loose. I had no tools in the kayak with me. That made the decision. I had to stop and finger-tighten the bolt that attached the pedal arm every minute or two over the couple miles back to Luhr's Landing, but even in the wind that seemed easy compared to earlier in the day fighting the wind and current. The bottom of the kayak touched land just before 4:00pm, so I had been pedaling relatively constantly for about nine hours. The reality of that hit home when I tried to get out of the kayak and my legs were so shaky that I decided to just sit there for a few minutes and rest. I actually laughed a bit with relief about making it back to the launch and I finally caught a chinook salmon, too! 

Oh.. before I forget, I should probably explain the "Curse of the Catch Bag" that I mentioned above. I bought myself a nice Columbia PFG catch bag months ago, and since then I haven't caught a single fish to put into it. I've caught lots of smaller fish out of freshwater that I use a smaller catch bag for, but there hasn't been a keeper fish caught when I had the big PFG catch bag with me since I bought it. My kids had even laughed and told me not to take the bag anymore or I wouldn't catch anything. This trip finally broke that curse! *much rejoicing*

I learned a lot from this adventure. The first is that I need to pay a lot more attention to the wind predictions and how the wind might combine with the current to make for an unexpected situation. The second is that I need to be aware of my own limitations. I had little sleep the night before and should have realized that pedaling for several hours would have left me weaker than if I had a full night's sleep and had gone out only an hour or so before low slack. I was much more spent after that than after a 60+ mile road bike ride, despite having only traveled a fraction of the distance. I also learned to watch the other boats, especially other kayaks. When they got off the water, I should have noticed and paid attention.

Nice job thinking it through as when you don't choose the best option, that seems to be when things go bad.  Even when it's rough, if you convince yourself you're in the best position, it's always a bit comforting.  I put in at the launch about 9:30.  After talking to some boats coming in with fish and the checker, I was convinced to head west across the flats about 1 mile or so west.  I avoided much of the outgoing tide by staying in the VERY shallow water that went a LONG way out.  The wind did coming up toward 11 ish and I was wondering how you guys were doing as I could see you out there when I went west.  I fished till 1 with nada and another boat that fished it regularly was surprised having caught several the night before in the same area.  I stayed closer to shore going back only to find bottom was 1-2 feet deep WAY out and I had peddled into a lagoon.  I pulled the drive and paddled until I starting rubbing bottom and actually got out and walked a ways to keep the yak floating, being pretty careful about the mud and was mostly leg-polling.  I wasn't in danger, just frustrated for not anticipating it and when I got the channel about 2 and was surprised even a small High Laker PB couldn't make it up the channel.  Back to pulling the drive and paddling.  I talked to the small boat as I went by and he said it was pretty tough by the can. 
It's pretty interesting how great hind-site is...but at least you got a fish.  The small PB had been trolling and had two, both with some color...  Nice job.

Currents and wind...gotta stay on your toes and be willing to change your plans. My first year I had very little trouble, this summer I've been in some crazy rips and have had trouble a couple of times. Trying to get used to working with the tides because that's pretty much all you can do in some places.  Yesterday, I was pedaling like hell and barely moving forward--had to cut in real close to shore to make any headway. I'm getting to where I don't want to fish much outside of an hour or so before to hour after slack. I am learning where the more protected areas are though.

Nice fish though!

Fish hard baby! Nice fish man, you earned it.