Distances covered in Yak

Ok.  So I have been doing this a few years and I have several tracks on my GPS but I have a slight dilemma I was hoping to get the folks' expert opinions. 

So I am planning to enter this king tournament.  But I have realized that for the first time ever really, I have to travel a bit of distance on my kayak that I have not had to do before.  I've been lucky that every place I have ever really fished, I have been able to drop lines and fish almost immediately.  I think for this tournament, at minimum, I will have 4 miles one way.  7 hours of fishing, and 4 to 6 miles back depending on where I will end up. 

So Question number 1
I know it depends completely on current, the person, etc.  But I should be able to easily get 2.5mph to 3mph on my outback if I am not fishing, right?  I'm a little embarrassed to say I don't know.  Just been fishing and sometimes catching.  Need to pay more attention.

Question number 2.
I'd be interested in hearing what some of you think is the outer limits of distance covered to a fishing ground.    I can troll and fish ALL day and cover LOTS of ground.  But I HATE giving up fishing time for run time.  How far do you folks go one way or round trip just to get to a spot to fish? 

That's a hard questions and potentially deadly if you over estimate your ability to cover ground against, wind, current or both. In my Revo the max I've gone offshore in one direction is about 3 miles. I can generally maintain a speed of 3.50-4 MPH for an hour to an hour and half when in pedaling shape. However, I realized the other day my legs are not nearly as strong at the beginning of this season as they were in say June or July of last year. I figure if I can maintain about 3.50-MPH and I am fighting a 2 MPH current, plus wind, I can probably still get back to the beach in about an hour and a half. If I thought my cruising speed was 2.5-3 MPH I would not attempt that distance. The other thing is that I've only attempted that distance on extremely flat days, 1.50-2 foot swell days with little to no wind. I wouldn't think about it in seas of 3 foot or more. On one day the wind kicked up pretty bad and we had to hightail it back. We fought 4 footish wind waves the entire way back. We were pretty much surfing down the face of every swell, paddle in hand. It was nasty and by far the most scared I've been in a kayak. That was in my Hobie Classic and although I think the Revo would handle it much better I still wouldn't go that far unless the conditions were pretty ideal.

I think the total miles covered on those days were in the 8-9 mile range. However, I usually forget to reset my trip meter on the GPS. One thing you could think about is a small sailing kit. I've thought it would be a good way to cover a lot of ground quickly but haven't ever tried it.

Do you have enough time to do a trial run in a controlled environment - say with a buddy in a powerboat just in case?

If you can do it once when you have backups, it'll help you gauge if you're ready to do it again.
The trip back after a long day is probably the biggest thing to worry about and that may be hard to simulate.

I would place safety above all else. Try to plan out Items you will need for the trip. Last summer I went four miles out with little planning and ran low on water and food, not a big deal. How ever not thinking about tide conditions I found myself to tired and worn out to fight a strong out going tide. Tired I could not get past the surf and wipedout. I had to crawl to the beach. On a rougher day, in the condition I was in, the C.G. would have to get me in. I would suggest to bring an anchor so you can rest with out losing ground do to current.

Well, it's a tournament, so if you want to try and do it without a boat, then go for it.

Just carry your VHF and mantain constant contact with 2 or 3 of your powerboat friends, just in case.

Good stuff.  Thanks.  I think my total trip plan shows 17 miles for an 10 hour day.  Ack.  That's right at my comfort range.  I am going to try and cross it prior to the tournament.  I am also trying to arrange for backup to get shuttled out. The concern as stated above is getting back after a long day and knowing afternoon winds pick up all the time here.  I can't wait for wind waves less than 3 ft for a forecast because that's about as low as it goes.  We see 2ft every now and then but 3ft is standard.  If I can keep it below 15knts of wind, it seem do-able.

It's the start and end, 3.5 mile North-south leg that I am concerned about the most.

I've already paid $150 bucks to enter the thing so I am GOING!!! My other option is to fish much closer in which I did two weeks ago but there was ZERO baitfish.

Rules require all safety gear including flares.  They have a check in and check out system.  The scariest thing is the 300 boats they think they will have entries for jetting out of the harbor all at the same time.  I don't see that many boats on the water on any given weekend even in the summer!  I will have at least half a dozen boats I know in the water.  It's just most of them will be further out.  At least they should have to swing by me to get back to the port! 

I have a paddle sail but haven't been carrying it with me since it violates AOTY rules.  I may take it depending on the wind direction.  I should be able to catch a bigger king later in the year for AOTY points.

I second what everyone else has said so far and safety should be your priority.  If you are worried about getting to tired take you time and troll to the fishing grounds.  I have caught a lot of fish getting to where I was trying to go. 

Could you camp out closer to your fishing grounds the night before? Or do you have to check in that morning?  It looks like you could land your kayak along the way there if you got too exhausted. Or just have a buddy give you a lift back to the ramp. I was picturing you going straight out 4 miles.

Some common sense, a bit of fitness and a helping of respect for the conditions and it should be a great trip. Wish I was going along, looking forward to you sleigh ride story. Tight Lines.

I'll be the grumpy one to say it but IMO your plan is a bad idea.  You admit you have never attempted that distance and that conditions may not be favorable.  Unless you are in top shape the distances and amount of sustained pedaling you anticipate is a bit unrealistic. You are one leg cramp or squall away from being standard an unknown distance from help.  Add the fact that everything will take longer once on the water ( I add a 30% time buffer to my long trips) you leave yourself no cushion if conditions really go south or you get into fish or whatever.  I am by no means the safety police and if you want to "look it in the eye" and go for it that's your call.  There are old kayakers and there are bold kayakers but we should all shoot to make it to be both old and bold kayakers.

 "A venturesome minority will always be eager to get off on their own,
and no obstacle should be placed in their path;
let them take risk, for God sake, let them get lost, sun burnt, stranded, drowned,
eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches -
that is the right and privilege of any free American."
--Edward Abbey--

 

I think Noah's parameter's fit me pretty well too - I know I can pedal 3½ - 4 miles an hour just cruising around on flat water for 1½ hours. But fishing the ocean is different than cruising around on the Willamette. I know that I wouldn't feel comfortable with a 4 mile pedal at the end of the day. Your 3½ miles, if I didn't have to fight wind & current, would be at the limit of what I would consider reasonable. Add any more adverse conditions, I would come up with a different plan. YMMV

If I had the sounder rigged up in a good spot I'd offer my AI for your use... Bit I don't like where it's at right now, and no downrigger...

I'll be the grumpy one to say it but IMO your plan is a bad idea.  You admit you have never attempted that distance and that conditions may not be favorable.  Unless you are in top shape the distances and amount of sustained pedaling you anticipate is a bit unrealistic. You are one leg cramp or squall away from being standard an unknown distance from help.  Add the fact that everything will take longer once on the water ( I add a 30% time buffer to my long trips) you leave yourself no cushion if conditions really go south or you get into fish or whatever.  I am by no means the safety police and if you want to "look it in the eye" and go for it that's your call.  There are old kayakers and there are bold kayakers but we should all shoot to make it to be both old and bold kayakers.

It's comments like this I'm looking for. I have options to fish closer. The draw of fortune and glory is powerful. 

Only half to a third of the boats land a single fish with 4 to 6 rods. But that fish could be worth $30k!! Lol.

17 miles is a lot in a day. The most I've tracked is 10 miles but that was in an area of heavy current. 

Check in is at 7am. Lines in at 9am. I figure I can make the crossing in those two hours. It's the getting back. 

Two thoughts on the safety issue. One is that the area will be crawling with boats so plenty of help. But I have no intentions of jeopardizing future kayak entries by being stupid.  If I have to get help, that's BAD for the future of kayak angling in these derbies.

But I agree with the quotes about adventure and going for it.

I'm going to try and hit it this weekend concentrating on the efforts to make it across.

Still interested in the distances you all travel by yak on any given day.


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IMO 17 miles is too far for an Outback off shore with unknown conditions. I have made long off shore trips but they were only done when we got there and had optimum conditions. We always had a close to shore option if the weather wasn't favorable.

Planning for max output as a starting point is just setting yourself up for trouble.

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