New to the PNW!

Hello Everyone! My name is Nick and I am new to the PNW. I moved here from Charleston SC following my discharge from the Military. I served as a Hospital Corpsman in the Navy and during my time got plenty of kayak fishing experience. Before I moved here I spent the last 4 years in Charleston kayak fishing inshore/tidal for Redfish, seatrout, etc. What a great time I had out there! I am looking forward to expanding my network and possibly meeting some new fishing buddies up here in the PNW. I am currently a full time Nursing student and have not met anyone yet that is down for kayak fishing like I am since I have moved up here.  I have only dabbled in Steelhead fishing here off the Washougal right next to my house (shore fishing). It seems that I am intimidated by the rivers up here and have yet to get my my kayak wet.

I am going to start my journey to kayak fishing the PNW with a bunch of research from this site and am looking forward to meeting some great people in the future. The fishing is different up here and I plan to learn it however I can!

If anyone is planning a trip around the SW Washington/Oregon area I would be more than down to join up with you guys. I can even travel it does not matter to me! Anyways that's my whole story and thanks for reading!! I am itching to get my yak and line wet!

Here are a couple of pic's to put a face to my post and a pic of my current yak too! I am sorry If I posted these photos wrong. I created my own gallery and uploaded them to it, but could not seem to move them from gallery into my post. I tried the whole Photobucket thing, but I couldn't get that to work either. I went ahead and attached them to the post. I am sure there is a forum post about photo rules, but I must have missed it.

Hey Nick, welcome to the site. There is a good base of guys in the PDX area.

Welcome. You live in a great locale for kayak fishing. Lots of opportunities in the area and a fair number of active kayak fisherman in the area. Most of them are a bunch of Portland weirdos  but there are a few of us on the Washington side.

I fish pretty actively the area. What kind of species are you looking to target? In the next couple weeks you could target planted trout (Brown & Rainbow), spring chinook, and steelhead.

Noah thanks for the reply!

Welcome. You live in a great locale for kayak fishing. Lots of opportunities in the area and a fair number of active kayak fisherman in the area. Most of them are a bunch of Portland weirdos  but there are a few of us on the Washington side.

I fish pretty actively the area. What kind of species are you looking to target? In the next couple weeks you could target planted trout (Brown & Rainbow), spring chinook, and steelhead.

Im up for fishing whatever species, but will eventually want to focus on salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon. I have a good steelhead rod, but still need to aquire a setup to catch salmon and sturgeon. I have been bank fishing with my son for stockers in Lackamas lake, but have yet to take the kayak out. I have spent many a days fishing on the yak by myself, but it always seems more fun when you got other fisherman to go along with!

Noah thanks for the reply!

Welcome. You live in a great locale for kayak fishing. Lots of opportunities in the area and a fair number of active kayak fisherman in the area. Most of them are a bunch of Portland weirdos  but there are a few of us on the Washington side.

I fish pretty actively the area. What kind of species are you looking to target? In the next couple weeks you could target planted trout (Brown & Rainbow), spring chinook, and steelhead.

Im up for fishing whatever species, but will eventually want to focus on salmon, steelhead, and sturgeon. I have a good steelhead rod, but still need to aquire a setup to catch salmon and sturgeon. I have been bank fishing with my son for stockers in Lackamas lake, but have yet to take the kayak out. I have spent many a days fishing on the yak by myself, but it always seems more fun when you got other fisherman to go along with!

That is until you taste some NW Salt 

A great place to meet a ton of guys is ORC. It's also a pretty great time!
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=12766.0

Welcome aboard Doc.
There is a wealth of information available here.

MonkeyFist

Welcome to NWKA. I would suggest attending ORC in Depoe bay the weekend of July 12th. Its a great opportunity to meet alot of people on here and enjoy some great fishing.

Thanks for the warm welcome guys! and I will definitely look into the ORC gig.

If you've got the immersion gear covered, there's an on the water spring Chinook clinic Saturday April 5th, on the Columbia near Vancouver.  I've got an extra salmon rod/reel if you need one for the day.

-Spot-

If you've got the immersion gear covered, there's an on the water spring Chinook clinic this Saturday on the Columbia near Vancouver.  I've got an extra salmon rod/reel if you need one for the day.

-Spot-

Welcome to the NW.
The on the water clinic is next Saturday, the 5th not this Saturday. 
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=12730.0
Don't let that stop you from fishing this weekend.   I bet there will be a good number of folks heading out for salmon this weekend too.

Welcome to the NW.
The on the water clinic is next Saturday, the 5th not this Saturday. 
http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=12730.0
Don't let that stop you from fishing this weekend.   I bet there will be a good number of folks heading out for salmon this weekend too.

Thanks for the correction Nate!

Thanks for the low down on that event guys. I am working on my cold water gear now. I just got my REI dividend and was looking at dry suits, but REI only carries up to XL size. Looking at the measurements it looks like it would fit, but I am not sure. Anyone with the Kokatat dry suits got any info on how they fit? Are they supposed to be snug or loose fitting? I am about 250 6 foot 3. I guess I could always go down to REI and try one on if they have them in stock. I know Kokatat makes a XXL size, but REI doesent carry that size =(

Thanks for the low down on that event guys. I am working on my cold water gear now. I just got my REI dividend and was looking at dry suits, but REI only carries up to XL size. Looking at the measurements it looks like it would fit, but I am not sure. Anyone with the Kokatat dry suits got any info on how they fit? Are they supposed to be snug or loose fitting? I am about 250 6 foot 3. I guess I could always go down to REI and try one on if they have them in stock. I know Kokatat makes a XXL size, but REI doesent carry that size =(

This should help...

http://www.kayakshed.com/pu-sizechart.cfm?ID=21

Thanks for the link to that chart! Better safe than sorry I would more than likely need the XXL. Sucks that REI wont stock XXL size in thoes suits, but they do have a dry top in XXL size same brand. I would love to buy it from the kayak shed and help support local business, but I got this REI dividend that will cut the price in half lol. I think I am just going to order that one and get some breathable waders and go that route until I can fit one of the full suits into my budget later down the road.

If you've got the immersion gear covered, there's an on the water spring Chinook clinic Saturday April 5th, on the Columbia near Vancouver.  I've got an extra salmon rod/reel if you need one for the day.

-Spot-

Nick, I can lend you immersion some gear for this event. If you can make this, I wouldn't pass up the opportunity to get some Springer knowhow the Springer master Spot.

Also, go hit up Next Adventure, I'm sure they have tops and suits in XXL suits in stock you can at least try on.