Westport Fishing

OK so I am fairly new to kayak fishing but not so new to fishing.  I grew up fishing out of Westport in our 21' cabin cruiser and would really like to try some kayak fishing out of Westport.  I own a Trident Prowler 15 and have not done really any mods to it yet. So,  I guess really my questions would be what things do I need to set up on it to make it ready for a Westport fishing trip?  Do I need a wet suit or a dry suit?  How hard is it to paddle out through the surf?  

If all goes well I am scheduled to go charter salmon fishing august 8th hopefully I can get my kayak set up and it will be the last trip on a big not so much fun fishing Boat.  not to mention saving the $135 it cost to go.

I've been waiting for a break in my sched with the right conditions to hit the coast myself. This is the way I see it. If you are talking about the jetty, the only essential gear outside of the obvious is your fishing rod and some jigs in various weights to adjust for the current/depth. Soft plastics seem to be the go to, and Gulp is my personal favorite for any bottom fishing anywhere. A wet or dry suit is recommended for the dooms day situation where you are stuck in the water and can't quickly self-rescue. Fish finders are always a handy tool's to have, but not always essential. If you launch from The beach inside Westhaven State park (I think it's called Half Moon Beach) at the base of the jetty there is no real surf to contend with. I can't answer for any other fishing from Westport, but ConeHeadMuddler is our Westport pro/resident. I'm sure he can fill you in on the rest.

Here are some ideas for set-up I found on the NCKA site:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,12918.0.html

similar with a few changes:

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,22373.0.html

Hope this helps! 

John

Speak of the Devil....
For fishing the N side of the Jetty, conditions are looking semi-favorable this coming week. I'm putting myself on alert.
Monday (tomorrow), fog and light winds will probably find me exploring the backwaters of a nearby estuary, so I won't be out there.
 T,W, and Th look OK wind-wise, with SW and W winds forecast, but we're having a medium, short period NW swell running that is coming in from 306 to 308 degrees. No big problem with breakers on the harbor side of the jetty, but it will be pushing in and making some bumps, and might make it difficult to hold position close-in to the jetty rocks, if you wanted to get in that close. No problem if you stay a little bit out from the rocks, though.
Minus tides in the mornings, pushing in to high in the afternoons. I'd launch in the mornings and fish the low tide to the high. The wind will probably kick up a little after the high tide change, anyway.
Tuesday looks pretty good, but W or Th might pan out OK too.

I have only one day to spend on the jetty fishing. I've got some poorly timed and out-of-sync lawns that need to be mowed this week! I don't know how that happened!!

Right now, looking at the conditions and forecast, tomorrow, Tues, is looking like the only good day for Jetty fishing, unless you were launching right now. Wind is light right now, supposed to be fairly light (less than 9 mph)  from the West until about high tide in the mid afternoon, then pick up a little. I'll be paddling back into the Elk River estuary, since I just love to paddle there, anyway, even if I get skunked in my search for cutts.

South winds tomorrow, becoming SW later in the day. Those are the winds that are good for yak-fishing the Jetty. An early morning launch would put you out there for the low tide (-0.7 feet) change at about 8:13 am, but a mid or late morning launch would still get you out there for fishing the incoming tide through the high (7.4 feet at about 2:40 pm) until 3pm or later.
If I get lost in the fog today and don't return, the above info can still be put to use without my presence being necessary!

we'll tell sasquatch to keep an eye out for ya.

Cone Head... keep us informed when you will have more time to get out. maybe we can get a group to join ya on the ocean. I know i would be up for it.

SG

I just got back here about an hour ago after paddling the Elk. Paddled out of the overcast and into the sun again. Saw some elk crossing the river &  a family of otters came over to check me out. Not much luck with any fishing action today. I never even saw a cutthroat swirl or break the surface anywhere, in spite of all the baitfish present everywhere. Could be the cutts were underneath the bait, deep. Anyway, the fish had all they wanted to eat!
Had a few strikes and missed most of 'em, except for one that I got a couple of good head shakes from before it let go.
I probably should have tried an alternate strategy and trolled baitfish patterns back and forth through the bait balls, but I worked the good cover and spots that usually have fish, and didn't get much in the way of bites. Most were tentative nips. Only had a couple of good grabs. I returned to the launch just before 9 this evening, paddling by some pelicans that were crashing bait. But baitfish were everywhere!
It was a good 10 mile paddle, anyway.

Winds look good for fishing the Jetty tomorrow. Thursday morning might shape up, too. I might have the energy and be able to get my act together by mid-morning tomorrow and maybe get launched before noon. Anybody else thinking about it?

It would be Thurs about 2pm before I can make the coast. If conditions are right I will be there though.

Thursday afternoon looks like it might be do-able. Forecast is for light NW winds in early morning becoming WSW before noon thru mid-afternoon, then W to WNW at around 9 to 10 mph mid-afternoon on.
Rav, if you decide to head out thurs afternoon, I might be able to schedule it in.
Not ready to go today, yet. Might still make it out by this afternoon. S to SW all day here.

sounds possible for me to....... anyone else out there that wants to go

SG

Dang, if I'd tried to make it out there today, I'd just be launching off the beach about  a half hour from now, so I'm holding off. I ran into slowdowns changing my vest, racks, mindset, and other gear over to "SOT Tarpon/ocean" mode from "low-profile canoe U-12/estuary fly-fishing for searun cutthroat" mode. Batteries were dead on my portable fishfinder, too.
I did figure out a couple of small tweaks to help grease the change-over next time, though. I'm leaving the racks in Tarpon configuration. I improved the padding on the rear bunk of my canoe trailer so that it can accommodate either of my plastic paddle craft as well as my mini-drifter without changing anything over.
I'm putting my old Yakima gutter-mount rack back on my work truck.

I'll be ready to go this Thursday if the conditions look all right. Back later, gotta go!

FINALLY!!!! If Thurs holds up I'll be there.

Rav, right now thurs looks like it will have light west winds most of the day, with it picking up a little and swinging to more from the NW at about 9 - 10 mph by 5pm, after the high tide change. not bad if you get out here fishing before the afternoon high tide.
I'm not launching anywhere today...any fishing I do will be walking into a cutthroat hole. I actually should head out right now down to the mudflats and punch out some sandshrimp so I can catch some Greenlings.
The winds have been (and are usually) lighter in the mornings here. Barely puffing right now.
This coming Sunday, the wind is looking to be favorable (S  and SW winds), as is Monday. I'm thinking of doing the jetty on Sunday, too.

From the forecast, the winds look relatively light in the morning hours thru the remainder of the week.

2ndflooryak and I are going to hit the road by 12:45 pm. My wife works until 12:30, so we will be loaded and ready to turn over my daughter as soon as she walks in the door. That should put us there around 2 give or take 15-20 min. We plan to fish for as long as the conditions hold up, or dark (what ever comes first).