Aspiring kayak fisherman

Hopefully getting my first kayak this summer, a friend of mine recommended this site.

Welcome aboard , as others will tell you look around a lot for information and advise , there's plenty to go around and lots of options for your first yak. Ask questions if you don't find the answers surfing around.

Thanks!

Welcome.  Keep an eye on Craigslist and the NWKA and NCKA classified ads, you'll find good deals on yaks if you're diligent.  Test as many different styles and makes as you can before you buy.  Another thing to consider is how you will store and transport your yak(s).  Good luck.

Just picked up my first kayak at West Marine, a Pompano 120. I cant wait to take her out on her maiden voyage!

Good for you, hope you enjoy it for many years!  Now the fun starts, hanging all the goodies on it.    

Thanks Rick!

Welcome.

Read, read, read.

Go slow and don't end up a statistic. 

Think about where you are going to store your kayak, how you will transport it and how you will actually use it. 

Welcome to the forum, nice boat, hope you got the $100 gift card, let's you pay for some of the bells and whistles.

I should get the gift card any day now I plan on getting a nice seat with it.

So i finally  got my new yak out in the water this morning.
I went to LaCamas/ Round lake for my maiden voyage. I put in at around 8am pre 4th of July rush. I started slow and paddled around for about 30-45 minutes just getting use to it.  I quickly started to feel fairly comfortable and decided it was time to do a little fishing, no luck for the first hour using a variety of lures, kastmaster, panther martins etc but finally  hooked a nice 10-12 inch trout. Unfortunately being a complete newbie to kayak fishing and between trying to get the hook out , keep myself in the yak, not lose my rod, paddle, etc, LOL the fish jumped right out of my hand and back in the lake. Oh well i'm mostly a catch and release type of guy anyway.  No more luck for the next hour or so but all in all had a great time.  Definetly learned a couple of things.

1. Seat upgrade a necessity
2. Fish grabber would have been handy.
3. Racking and unracking a 60lb 12ft kayak and hauling it to the lake by myself much harder than i thought, ill need to refine my technique for sure.

Good to hear it worked out.  Yup, it will take awhile to get used to it.  See ya back at the office next Thursday.  Hey, don't miss my huli video I posted yesterday.
Kyle