Introduction and some immersion/cold gear questions

Hi Alaskans!  My name is John, and I just recently moved to Soldotna from the lower 48.  I'm a long-time fisherman (mostly wiggle-sticks), but am a relative novice when it comes to Alaska's fisheries and cold-water kayaking.  I like to fish year-round and get off the beaten path, but safety is always my number one priority and I recognize that I am a little bit out of my element here.  I am hoping that over the next year I can meet a lot of you out on the water and learn the ropes of my new home waters. 

My boat is a Perception Triump.  I've only had it for about two years, and it's a work in progress, but I like it.  It's fast for a paddled SOT, and I have it rigged for fishing with rod holders, depth finder, GPS, etc.  I have a lot to learn about the fishing up here, but that will come in time.  I'm here today to pick your brains about cold water paddling safety.  I have been doing a lot of homework, and I would like some feedback from you cold water vets on the following subjects to make sure I'm not overlooking something important.

Immersion protection
A dry suit is at the top of my shopping list.  I will likely spring for a Kotatat for their great service reputation.  I hope it won't be necessary, but I may need their custom sizing program (I am 6'4" and 240 lbs).  Rudy pointed me toward's Alaska Raft and Kayak.  Can anyone weigh in on the Anchorage REI's kayak department?  They carry Kotatat on their website, and that 10% member dividend would take a little bit of the sting out of the price of a Kotatat suit. 

Gloves
What's your preference for a fishing/paddling glove in the cold?  For my year-round fly fishing, I have settled on liner gloves under extra heavy duty nitrile exam gloves as a very comfortable combination of waterproof, windproof, tactile, durable and cheap.  I will probably start there, but if I find my set-up not suitable for paddling I'll have to find something different. 

Immersion testing
My yak fishing experience is from the US Gulf Coast, mostly in Florida.  I practiced re-entries in shallow water, but I would routinely fish out to the 40' line and never rehearsed a deep water re-entry.  I guess I always figured I could just wait for help from a fishing buddy or swim my boat to shallow water if I couldn't get back in.  Neither of those were a problem with a PFD in the bath-tub temp water.  I recognize that I need to be able to upright my boat and get back on it in a hurry up here.  I will probably be making a paddle float and stirrup and testing them out.  Even if I find that I don't need them to re-enter, I will probably keep them on the boat just in case.  Immersion testing my future dry suit and practicing re-entries is the kind of stuff I would prefer to do with a buddy, so if you are interested in doing some cold water self-rescue rehearsal sometime in the next few months please hit me up.  If I can't find somebody nutty enough to want to do this stuff with me, don't worry, I'll play by myself in the kiddie pool. 

Cook Inlet tides and weather
Please help me figure this one out.  I am not looking for "when is the best time to go fish", but if you want to drop some of that wisdom I will graciously scoop it up.  I would like to learn where to get the data, and how to interpret it, so I can determine when and where it is safe to go out on the Cook Inlet.  I have had my oh s*** run-in with the weather, and when I collapsed on the sand on Pensacola Beach I had a whole new respect for Ma Nature.  I know that the Inlet and some of the lakes around here will kill you if you let them, and I would not like to end up on the news.  As the new guy in a dangerous new sandbox I would like to fish with a group as much as I can, but my schedule and lifestyle afford me lot of opportunities to fish so I know I will be going out alone at some point.  Please educate me!

That's about it for now.  I know that the answers to some of these questions are scattered around the internet (I have even found a few of them), but I'm asking her for confirmation and so that I can participate in a dialogue without necromancing 5-year old posts.  If you see that I am overlooking some critical element of Alaska sea kayaking safety, please speak up.  I would love to learn from your experience.  Thanks!

Gloves.  For many years I have used OS Systems Polar Paws dry gloves for cold water whitewater kayaking.  See http://ossystems.com/accessories/dry-glove-system/ . These are heavy latex gloves with a wrist gasket which sits on top of the wrist gasket of your dry suit, and they work great for cold water paddling.  You can layer up polypro gloves underneath them, and your hands will be warm and dry at the end of a day of kayaking in the snow.  The problem is that those Polar Paw dry gloves,and similar dry gloves made by other manufacturers, aren't cheap, and hooks, fish spines, and fish teeth are tough on dry gloves.  So I don't use my Polar Paws dry gloves for fishing.  But try this: fold under the wrist of your knit glove liner so it doesn't extend back over your wrist, pull on the nitrile gloves so their wrist extends back over the wrist gasket of your dry suit, and then put a rubber band around the wrist of your nitrile gloves to make a good seal between the nitrile gloves and the wrist gasket of your dry suit.  This will produce a cheap version of dry gloves.  For glove liners, Home Depot and similar stores sell white knit gloves made out of some kind of acrylic which are real cheap and make great dry glove liners. Just be sure that they're acrylic and not cotton; you very definitely don't want to wear cotton glove liners.  Bring a couple extra pairs of nitrile gloves and glove liners so if you tear or poke a hole in one of the nitrile gloves and your hands start getting cold, you can swap them for new gloves.

Some people have great tolerance for cold water, and paddle without gloves even in very cold weather and water.  I'm a weenie and like to stay warm and comfortable, so I wear dry gloves when whitewater kayaking until the weather gets pretty warm.  A surprising large number of people, particularly women, have a condition called Reynaud's where the circulation in their hands and feet shut down and their hands and feet turn pasty white after even a minor contact with cold, and even at room temperatures.  People with Reynaud's really need protection from cold water, and may need to use drugs which dilate their blood vessels such as nifedipine.

Here are Polar Paws dry gloves in action on a five-day 116-mile early spring unsupported kayak trip on the Middle Fork of the Salmon River in Idaho, on which we paddled through snow for the first day and a half.  The guy on the right has Reynauds, but is able to whitewater kayak with the assistance of dry gloves  and Nifedipine.











I also snorkel and spearfish for pike, often in pretty cold water.  I wear a dry suit with a dry glove ring system.  I use the SI Tech Glove Lock QCP system, but various manufacturers make similar dry glove ring systems.  Because the teeth and gills of pike quickly make hash out of gloves, I use cheap rubberized fabric gloves from a hardware store instead of the expensive gloves which divers use with ring systems.  If you need more dexterity when you're out of the water, you can quickly pop the gloves on and off using the ring system.  If you really want protection from the cold, this could be a way to go.  But dry glove ring systems aren't cheap, and you may find that you bonk the ring system on the side of your kayak when paddling, which can be irritating.

A disadvantage of paddle kayaks is that your hands are wet much of the time from dipping into the water and from water running down the paddle shaft, so you need good hand protection when paddling in cold weather and water.  When fishing from a pedal kayak, you can get away with a lot less hand protection.  Here are some pictures from a day of fishing in the snow in May on Lindbergh Lake in Montana.  I just wore glove liners.





Kayak re-entry.  If you end up in the water while kayak fishing, it'll probably be in wind, waves, surf and other non-optimal conditions for practicing re-entry.  So the less time you spend dicking around with paddle floats, stirrups, and other stuff the better.  Learn how to re-enter your kayak without any of these things.  Grab the gunwale with both hands, kick your feet so you're lying flat in the water, and then pull the kayak under your chest in one swift movement.  Aim to have your head hanging over the far side of your kayak, and to have your chest over the center of your kayak, with that first fast pull.  Then roll over, sit up, grab your paddle, and get out of there.  Practice until you can right your kayak and climb back in within 20 seconds.  Be sure to attach or leash all your gear to your kayak, or flipping could be an expensive mishap. 

Thanks for the feedback, Pete!  I think my extra heavy duty nitrile setup sounds promising for paddling.  They hold up great for winter steelhead fishing, and that involves a lot of line handling, climbing up and down steep banks, and occasionally handling fish.  Very wet duty, and my hands stay bone dry.  If for some reason I have issues with them in a paddling environment I will start looking at other options, including those Polar Paws. 

Regarding re-entry, I see your point and I will strive for launching myself back into the boat ASAP, unassisted.  Does a stirrup have merit taking up space on my boat at all?    This is the kind of stuff I would love to try and find out for myself through testing, but for now I'm stuck at work for another week just reading and thinking about it!

Some people can't climb back into their kayak without the assistance of a rope stirrup, and sometimes with a paddle float as well, but I find it harder to use a stirrup than just laying flat and pulling the kayak underneath me.  There are some useful comments about using paddle stirrups and other aids to get back into a kayak at http://www.northwestkayakanglers.com/index.php?topic=16494.0 .

Great stuff Pmpete!  +1

Cook Inlet (not Kachemak Bay) is the only place you really need to worry about current.  Here's a write up on Cook Inlet https://sites.google.com/site/kayakfishingalaska/locations/cook-inlet

Cook Inlet will start up again in mid April and go through all of September.  The most critical element to understand is  that book high tide is NOT the same as slack tide.  And when you are timing trips, this become important.  By mid mAy, most of the kayak crew will be hitting Shallow water halibut and kings.  To stdy up on this fishery, I would look through all of the posts made around that time in the Alaska section.  This group does a great job of transferring info and most reports discuss exactly where and ahen the fish are caught. 

Now through March, the only real established fishery is Homer Spit.  But I am willing to bet if someone took the time, there are opportunities in Seward and Whitter.  Also floating the upper and middle Kenai has potential. 

I will definitely add to this but these are the right question for you to be asking. 

Hi John - and welcome to Alaska and Cook Inlet !   

I see a lot of great info on gloves for paddle kayaking - and you know you need a drysuit, etc., so I'll leave those topics for now.   For pedal kayaking i have used neoprene gloves in winter and shoulder seasons, and rubber palm cut resistant woven gloves (or none)  in summer.

At the risk of telling you what you already know, I'll start with the basics for Cook inlet.   This body of water has a massive tide swing, and tidal currents will sweep you for miles if you dont pay attention and plan for them - i.e. plan to use them to get to and back from your chosen fishing spot.   I am glad to see K-84's link for you, read it through twice and ask questions.   You can get the basic info from tide books, but I use a tide app called tide-graph pro.   (TideGraphPro by Brainware).   From this I can look ahead and track tide timings, sunrise, sunset.   I also bought the NAvionics Boating USA App.  This APP cost me about 20$ but it was worth it - I can get not only the depth contours for Alaska Coastal waters, but also current estimates for some locations close to where we fish.   

From the NAvionics app, for example, you can check currents for Anchor Point, and see the length of time between when the low tide is reached in terms of tide height, and as Cardinal mentions, how the current will slack around 2+ hours later.   It will also estimate the speed of the current - a couple of knots current speed is not unusual.

Second thing to bear in mind is predominant weather direction, and how it interacts with the tidal flow and surf conditions.  If you got trounced elsewhere, chances are you've suffered a sudden weather change.   In Cook Inlet if you are out when an afternoon wind kicks up, and then the tide changes to oppose it, you can see sudden changes in the wave height.   You can also get interesting and sudden fogs rising off the water and killing all visibility.   My advice - have both an old school liquid filled compass, and a GPS/Sonar device on board.   If you go miles offshore as many do, have all the Coast Guard recommended safety gear - air horn, small flare kit, signaling device, etc.   If viz goes to zero, get your small dry-bag with safety gear close to hand - horn does you no good if its under your hatch when a powerboat comes out of the fog!

So for weather you need a third resource, and that is the spot forecast or marine offshore forecast (both).   The spot or point- forecast can be found here:  http://marine.weather.gov/MapClick.php?lon=-151.42189&lat=59.58288#.VjkLZoRuL8s

Pan / zoom around and click on the map area you want a local prediction for.   I have found this to be a good reference, not infallible though.

With the right info in hand and gear on board you can now make a sensible float plan. 
I suggest you connect with someone with a lot of CI experience, and follow them out and back on a typical float your first time or two out.  I think most everyone would be happy to help!

Thanks for all the great info, everyone! 

Rudy, I took your advice and went through the November threads from last year.  It looks like there may be some smaller kings to be found around the spit before the cold really sets in.  If I can get my lack of paddling attire fixed in short order I may just be able to get some scales on the deck this year.  It also seems like the spit will be a good place for me to start out up here, as the weather/tide interaction there is a little more germane than it is farther up the inlet. 

AKRider, great tips on weather and tide resources.  I'm a former Army officer, and served in a maneuver branch.  I always geeked out on something we called Intelligence Preparation of the Battlefield.  Instead of trying to explain the analogy, I'll just give you the Army's definition and you'll see it.  Rudy, I think this is going to resonate with you too.

IPB is a systematic, continuous process of analyzing the threat fish and environment in a specific geographic area.  It is designed to support staff freezer estimates and military fishing trip decision making.  Applying the IPB process helps the commander angler selectively apply and maximize his combat fishing power at critical points in time and space on the battlefield water by-

• Determining the threat fish's likely Course of Action.
• Describing the environment your unit is you and your boat are operating within and the effects of the environment on your unit.

IPF  I like it!

yah that is the way I approach fishing.  like it!!!

I was stuck out in Cold Bay the past few days with barely dial up Internet. that's my definition of roughing it. haha.

Here's a picture of some gloves which are good for cold weather pedal kayak fishing when you can keep your hands mostly dry.  The rubber allows you to handle wet objects without getting the fabric of the gloves wet.  These aren't the thin rubberized gloves sold for gardening and warm weather similar activities.  The knit glove is thick, warm, and made out of polypro or something similar.  They can be found at hardware stores and truck stops during the winter.



However, I don't use this kind of gloves for paddle kayaking or anything else where my hands are going to get wet.

Alaska kayaker, I am new to this hobby. And so I am trying to buy a fish finder. What are your thoughts? Which one would be good? If I am trying to catch Halibut (whiskey gulch) and shrimp at Seward.  Reply appreciate ![emoji41]

Alaska kayaker, I am new to this hobby. And so I am trying to buy a fish finder. What are your thoughts? Which one would be good? If I am trying to catch Halibut (whiskey gulch) and shrimp at Seward.  Reply appreciate ![emoji41]

For 90% of the fishing, the very chepaest fish finder will do.  Its then a matter of what resolution you want.  i.e. how much bait and etc do you want to be able to see.  WHile its fun and does give an indication of whether there are fish or not, its not at all critical to catching fish here.  Mow your shrimping prospects up the level considerably since you will need something that can "see" at least 600 ft down.  I use the lowrance elite 4 without gps but for the first four years used a hummingbird pirahana 160 (cost $80) and I caught plenty of fish. 

Thanks! Kardinal_84 [emoji41]

Alaska kayaker, I am new to this hobby. And so I am trying to buy a fish finder. What are your thoughts? Which one would be good? If I am trying to catch Halibut (whiskey gulch) and shrimp at Seward.  Reply appreciate ![emoji41]

My wife and I also use Elite-4, though we chose a model with the GPS / map feature, which we like having.  It has a small color screen, but has worked well for us and consumes less power than units with larger screens.   We have had good success with it, but I must say that I have not really tried to use it over 300' yet.

Thanks for the tips!  AkRider appreciate replied[emoji41]