Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

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Yakety_Yak
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Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Yakety_Yak »

Here goes another one of Yakety_Yak's reports. As you all know they are long so grab a beer or whatever it is your drink, sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy! It starts around 11:00 am, Saturday morning (the day before the Bob Hall Pier outing). I was going to meet a friend, Andy, at my storage so that we could get everything loaded. Andy and I were riding together this trip. That way if we needed something, anything and everything we need would be available right there in my storage. Andy was at FTU already, which I live right behind, so I met him over there. From FTU, Andy followed me on to my storage. Once there, Andy began getting things organized in my vehicle while I attached the trailer. My stuff was already packed but most of my things were already on the yak ready to hit the water.

After we spent a short time getting everything ready, we left to my place. Once at my place, Andy dropped off his car and away we were to Corpus Christi. By this time, it was 12:00 pm (we were right on schedule). We drove until we got to Wharton, Texas. Once in Wharton, we got some Whataburger. Next, we went to Walmart so Andy could grab a few things. Finally, we ended up at Buc-ee's for ice and gas. After that, there were no more stops until we arrived at BHP (Bob Hall Pier). The drive took 3 hours in total roughly to get to Corpus and an extra half-hour to get to BHP. Once we arrived, it was like around 4:30 pm. A friend of mine, Frank, was already set up at the beach and held a spot for me. The beach was packed. Frank came down to BHP with his wife, Christina. Once we got there, we immediately got the canopy and tents set up so that we didn't have to do it in the dark later that evening. While that was going on, Joe pulled up to say hi. Joe has been wanting to do BTB for a very long time and this outing was what he was hoping to be a very first and productive trip for him. Joe brought his family with him. They stayed at the RV park just on the other side of BHP. Once the canopy and tents were done, I began to setup my kayak for the next day. This made it so that I didn't have to do anything the next morning but wake up, eat breakfast, and meet everyone on the beach for the outing. While all that was going on, Joe decided to start practicing going in and out of the surf in his Hobie PA 14.

Finally, the night came. Frank and Christina sat under the canopy with a lantern on. A few of us gathered there as well to chit chat. Andy had already gone to bed. I didn't stay up very long myself. After a short time, everyone was starting to wanting to go to sleep so things got quiet fairly quickly. I slept for some time but then I began to hear voices right outside of my tent. These people were walking really late up along the beach near the road side and talking fairly loud. That woke me up. I couldn't go back to sleep for a while so I decided to walk around. A few more kayakers had arrived during the night so I went by to meet everyone. After making the rounds, I finally decided to give it another go to see if I could get some more sleep. Before long, I was out like a light. Around 4:00 am, I decided to wake up and go to the restroom real fast then get another hour of sleep. At 5:00 am my alarm on my phone goes off and it was finally time to get things started.

First, I get up and get into some clothes that were suited for BTB kayak fishing. When I am going to be out for a full day I get into clothing that breathe and that is long sleeve so that I am protected from the sun and possible winds throughout the day. After getting dressed, I grab breakfast (cereal). Next, I wake Andy up. Finally, I get the yak off of the trailer, turned around, and it’s ready to go. From here I start to walk around as everyone is setting up their yaks to meet everyone. It’s always interesting to see the different setups. I initially made a video but I had a brain fart. I thought I was recording the entire time, and I was, but I forgot to put the SD card in the cam, lol. GO FIGURE!!!

Now it’s time to get the meeting going right before kickoff. I lay down a few important things for everyone to know (going through the surf, while on the water, and coming back in through the surf), waited to see if anyone had questions, and then it was time to hit the water. I didn’t launch immediately because I wanted to make sure most everyone launched and didn’t have any issues making it out through the surf. Shortly after, I decided it was about time to make my way into the water. The surf might have seemed rough for people but that is because many people were new. I can assure you though that the surf was not rough at all. As a matter of fact, it was a little less than what was predicted. As the day progressed, the surf was even calmer than in the morning. As I made it through the surf, what I did notice was the swells were a little more than predicted but that subsided as I made my way to the rig. Even as the day progressed, the swells subsided to almost nothing.

About half-way to the rig, I deployed my lines out. I am usually trolling with two lines out. I carry the same weight on my leaders most of the time (1/2 oz). If I want my baits deep, then I troll slower. If I want the baits up high, I troll faster. Sometimes if that method doesn’t work, then that is when I need to change weight to get what I need done. Shortly after I deploy my lines, I get a bend in the rod. Something was on it but it was not taking any drag. At first my thought was that I might have a small smack on the line. As I managed the line in, I find out it is a 1 ft shark. :( This shark caught my back treble hook. When the shark did that, somehow, he knocked off my ribbon leaving the first two hooks attached and no damage to the ribbon. After getting my long pliers and getting the shark off, I put the back end of the ribbon back on my king leader and back to trolling it was for me.

Before long I am about ¾ of the way to the rig and now I am getting a run that is stripping drag off the reel. I was pretty certain that this run was a king. I quickly bring my other line in closer and then grab my other rod with the fish on it and start reeling it in. I did manage to get video footage of that so whenever I get around to making the video, I will put it up. After the initial fight was over, it was a simple matter of getting in the line and gaffing the fish. After getting the fish to the top, it was in fact a king. :D

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After measuring the king and putting it in my fish bag, I decided to troll the area I caught the king as there was plenty of activity on the fish finder. After a short time trolling, I didn’t get any more runs in the area so I continued on to the rig.

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Finally, I arrived at the rig. Many of the people from the outing had already arrived and were jigging or trolling the area. It was great to see so many new people come together and learn to build confidence in going offshore on a kayak.

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While I was trolling around the rig a few times, there was a tandem Ocean Kayak anchored up to the rig. Both the people on this kayak were spear fishing for spade fish. These guys were already out at the rig and were not with the BHP outing. They were crushing it out there with the spades, large spades at that! By the time they left later in the day they had so many spade fish in the kayak!

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As I mentioned earlier, some were jigging. Joe, from Austin, was catching red snapper but all were under-sized. No matter, he was catching and having fun. One thing is for sure, he was not going to be skunked no matter what. Great job, Joe!!

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After I completed a few turns of the rig, I started to troll back to shore. I wasn’t actually going back but I wanted to see if there was any action closer to the surf. Not long after I started trolling, I get a call on the radio. Bruce, PACK member, had a fish on. From what I had gathered later, he had been fighting this fish for quite some time. He finally brought the fish up after a long and well fought battle. He wasn’t sure what kind of fish he had. Bruce wanted me to come over and ID the fish. I wasn’t far from where he was. I turned in his direction. As I was nearing Bruce, I reeled in my lines so that I wouldn’t get tangled with him as I got closer. I was within 10 yards of Bruce when I saw exactly what he had on the line. It was a cobia!! WTG Bruce!! :clap: The only problem is whether the cobia was going to be long enough to keep. Now I am right up against Bruce’s kayak and the real fun of getting him in the kayak began. Normally if the cobia was large enough, and it’s obvious, I would just bop it on the head with my assault paddle. I wasn’t able to do that this go around as we may have to release this fish. After getting the line and putting a fish grip on the cobia (the cobia was behaving), I brought the cobia on the yak. My guess is that Bruce must of wore that fish out! I got the cobia on board making sure he wasn’t going to throw a fit or back in the water he would go. I released the hook and the cobia maintained good behavior. I measured the fish three times as I couldn’t believe that this cobia might be just a tad bit too small. The final evaluation was that the cobia measured in at 36.75”. ¼” more and Bruce would have been making cobia steaks that night. I took a few pics for Bruce and back in the water the cobia went to catch another day.

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After taking pics, I continued trolling back to the shore to see what was just beyond the surf. The entire way back, I didn’t catch anything. I will say this though. Saturday was really hot outside. Sunday, however, was not nearly as hot. It was predicted to be just over 100 degrees but it never came close to that. It was still hot outside but not as hot as the forecast predicted. The water was cooler as well on Sunday. On Saturday, the water was in the high 80s. Sunday morning the water was around 79 degrees. By the time I got off of the water, the water temp was around 81 degrees. I think this may have had something to do with the fishing. We were catching fish but not as many as I would have liked to have seen.

Now that I am almost back to shore, Andy had decided earlier to relax on shore. I wanted to stay out a little longer. There were fish out there and I was determined to find them. A few others were still with me. Many had gone back to shore by this time as it was well after 12 noon. I trolled a bit just passed the surf going parallel to the shoreline but no hits. After three passes, I radioed to Sean to see if he wanted to head back out to the rig. Sean was on board with this so away we went.

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As Sean and I headed to the rig, Jon went with us. Jon is from Corpus and was doing well for his first time out beyond the breakers.

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We all trolled to the rig but nobody managed to catch any fish at this point. Along the way, I ran across Joe and his son, Josh. They both are riding in Hobie PA 14s. They decided to hang with us as well. We all spread out to head to the rig.

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Once we arrived at the rig, I made one pass around the rig and decided that it might be time to head back to shore. Everyone was on board with heading back. About half way back, Josh gets a run. Both Joe and Josh are new to BTB. I was happy for Josh. The run looked like it could be a possible king. The line was doubled over and it made a long hard run. After the hard run, Josh was able to recover line. During the process, the fish would continue to make small fits and take a little more line during the process. After the fight was over, Josh managed his first king fish in the kayak. Way to go Josh!!

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Not long after Josh caught his first king, Joe hooked into something. After that fight was over, Joe pulled in a nice smack. Smacks may not be as big of a fight as a king, but they are darn good eating. Between Josh’s king and Joe’s smack, they are going to eat good at night. We all hung behind to watch the fun with the runs both Josh and Joe had.

It was time to start trolling again now that everyone got their fish aboard. In a very short time, Josh got another run again. It looks like the bite had turned on around 2:30 pm. Once again, we hung back to make sure all was well and to see what was lurking below. Josh was doing well for his first time out. Josh managed another king into the yak and a limit at that. Joe, Josh’s dad, was very proud of his son. It’s awesome to see new people to the sport catching fish.

Once again, it’s time to get back to trolling. All of a sudden, Joe has another fish on! While Joe is fighting his fish, I get a fish on the line as well. Both of our runs ended with the same result, break offs. Whatever was on my line broke off from the leader about a few inches past the haywire twist leading to the swivel. We wanted to stay out longer but we all had decided it was time to get back to shore. As we headed back to shore (“we” being Sean, Jon, Joe, Josh, and myself), we kept lines in the water as you never know what we will catch on the way back in.

Finally, I am just outside the surf zone. The surf was low, just as predicted by the sites I had checked early in the morning. I decided to go in forward and just surf the waves in. Before going in though, I secured everything. If I turtle, I would not lose anything. I placed my seat back down to the low position, pulled the mirage drive and rudder up, and grabbed my paddle. It’s time to ride the surf back to shore. To make a long story short, I made it back to shore with no issues. After I got back on shore, A few pics for the photo album and then it would be time to start loading up the trailer and car.

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What a fun time it was being on the water. Surf/swells turned out good for everyone. The minor swells we had in the morning didn’t last long and it turned out quite pleasant. I wish that everyone stayed longer only because of the bite turning on later in the day. No worries though, the outing was a complete success. The goal of this outing is to help new people build their confidence going in and out of the surf and to be in deep water. Very few people turtled in the surf. For those that did turtle, they did give it another try and made it out. Many made it out on their first try. Some turtled coming back in. Even though I recommended to come in backwards, some decided to come in forward. Some made it back just fine and others turtled. As long as everything was leashed, they shouldn’t have had any problems. The surf was low and weak. It made for a great day to go in forward or backwards. Catching fish is always a plus but as long as people feel more confident about going offshore in a kayak, then the outing was successful! All I ask from everyone that made the outing is to realize that even though it looks like these trips can be done solo and that there are people that do them solo, you are still new and you should make sure that you go out in a group. Safety is in numbers and being that many are still new, there are many other contingencies that can’t be learned in one trip. If and when those situations crop up, at least you will have others with you to help.

Thanks to everyone for coming out and I will see you on the water. Tight lines!!
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Drifting Yak
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Drifting Yak »

Nice report Blake! Sounds like ya'll had a great time so thanks for posting up!
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by titanic2 »

I had so much fun out there, can't wait to go back! Thanks for hosting this event Blake!
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kickingback
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by kickingback »

Very well done report Blake! Love that many got to catch fish! Excellent pictures showing the happy folks out there. So glad the weather finally cooperated. Look forward to making your next trip! Thanks for putting it all together!
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ChrisC
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by ChrisC »

Thanks for the report! Wish I could have been there, but will try to make it out next time.

-Chris
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by bigtrout »

Blake
Thank you for the time and effort you put into this trips. You are one of kind. I know you want to get out and fish but you take the time to make sure that everyone is in a comfort zone. It is great to read your reports.
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Yakety_Yak »

Thanks for the kind words! I am glad I am able to help people get into the sport of kayak fishing.
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by boricualouie »

Hey Blake thank you for letting us be part in of such a great kayak gathering ,we learned a lot and look forward in going BTB again,I hope you continue doing this so other people like us can get the chance to go out and do the BTB thing.
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by lahai1dj »

All that cobia needs is a little stretch! Then some butter and olive oil :lol:
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Yakety_Yak »

Oh, I forgot to mention that all fish were caught on ribbon fish. :)
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Wolfman57 »

Like the pics. Good stuff showing people BTB. Like the Cobia


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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by jnd1959 »

Thanks for the report Blake. Wished we could have made it down. Looking forward to this fall hopefully. Glad all were safe and fish were caught.

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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Poseidon01 »

Thanks for the report, enjoyed reading it! Hope to make it to next one.
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by tastywavescoolbuzz »

u have pics
Yakety_Yak
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Yakety_Yak »

tastywavescoolbuzz wrote:u have pics

The pics are in the report. As you are reading, I match up the moments as the day goes by with the pics so that everything is in the proper timeline throughout the day. :)
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fiSh ZoMbiE
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by fiSh ZoMbiE »

Nice pics
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Yakety_Yak »

fiSh ZoMbiE wrote:Nice pics
Thanks! I only wish I could have taken more. Everyone was spread out to where I wasn't able to get all the pics I wanted to take but I tried my best though. :)
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by joliver »

An "old school" report and pics. I enjoyed it all. Thanks so much for putting all your time, thought and effort into it...and sharing.
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by Yakety_Yak »

joliver wrote:An "old school" report and pics. I enjoyed it all. Thanks so much for putting all your time, thought and effort into it...and sharing.

Thanks! :)
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Re: Bob Hall Pier 7-30-17 (REPORT)

Post by oldmanpaul »

great report, enjoyed it
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