New to Alaska

Hello all, I am new to Alaska and fairly new to kayaking.  Not a great combo so I am taking it slow but eventually want to get out in the inlets. Got an older Feelfree tandem that has was used for fishing and have had it out on a few lakes for trout so far.  Next weekend going to test out the drysuit and do some recovery drills, probably in Mirror Lake.  Looking to do some fishing over labor day weekend and looking forward to learning more from the forum.

welcome!!! Love too see the Alaska group growing!  Best place on the Internet to get great info for fishing Alaska is right here!  King season is ramping up now! Silvers too!  Get the cold weather gear ready!!! 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

Happy to report that my drysuit kept me dry and my kayak is fairly easy to get back into.  I went out to Mirror lake this morning to validate those two things and couldn't be much happier about it.  The water was cool but not terribly cold which is why I wanted to go out there. My kayak was "slick", so no fishing gear as I just wanted to get the basics down. The two issues I had while mounting were that I got entangled in my paddle Leash twice when flipping over and during one vigorous thrust getting back on board I smacked my chin pretty good on the far side.
My drysuit worked great. Only had silk weight top and bottom on underneath and 5mm booties over the the feet. Started shallow and found tipping point, which is surprisingly pretty far. Did that a few times and then did some standing and moving to front and back.  Went to shore tof verify I was dry then paddled to the middle of the lake and "fell in" some more. Also did some swimming and floating to see how the suit reacted.  After that, paddled around the outside of the lake and jumped in a few more times for fun.

Overall I am very pleased with the equipment so far. Will need some head/neck cover and gauntlets to cover exposed wrist cuffs.  Next practice will I will need to step it up and get in some colder water but for now I am confident in the suit and my ability to get back in my kayak.

Great job.  I thought I knew what I was doing but just about broke my nose my last practice.  Your experience is why I don't leash any of my rods and such  I do leash my paddle however.  I think adding something to float your rods, net, and harpoon is probably the way to go. 

For Hobie users, I would leash my drive when taking it out when you land.  I know it makes people cringe but I rarely take my drives out when landing. 

great job!!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk

I think moving my paddle Leash attaching point to my hip vs lower thigh will help. And good point on leaching the other gear. Will have to give that some thought. While I don't think I would be pinned underwater, I don't want to be fumbling around with my hook knife cutting tiedowns just to get back in the boat.