Skunked at Seawolf Park Area

PappaDecker · Post by **PappaDecker** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:00 pm

I took my 21 year old daughter out for her first fishing trip on the Bay this morning. We launched at Sea Wolf Park with calm wind and reasonably smooth water. That didn't last long. Drifted down the NE Pelican Flats down past the concrete Ship. The wind was beginning to pick-up and not a bite anywhere. The daughter was trying mud minnows and I tried a variety of Gulps without any luck. So... we (I) decided we ought to go across the channel and try fishing near the Coast Guard Station and try to stay out of the wind. Well 2 miles and an hour later we were fishing near the rocks near the CGS. My daughter made the paddle into the wind with only minor whining. It was a pretty stout effort!

Luck was no better on the other side but the paddle back was sure a lot easier. Except for the fishing pier.... The T-140 is probably 30" wide and the gaps between the pilings must be at least 10 feet. I guess I made it look too easy so my daughter decided to follow and plunked head-on into a piling - only the ego was bruised.

We didn't catch fish but we had a good visit and spent some time before she heads off to finish her senior year in college. I did take a picture of her kicked back out of the wind.

Night Wing · Post by **Night Wing** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:16 pm

That's a nice picture of your daughter. It makes a nice Desktop photo.

Most beginners in paddling think paddling through pilings is easy. They forget about the width of the paddle blades. When I first went under a pier, the gap between the pier pilings was about 10 feet wide. The wind pushed me nearer to one piling, but instead of hitting the piling straight on bow first, the side of my yak bounced off of it. I've learned from that experience. When I want to go under a pier now, I get up a good head of steam approaching the pilings and as soon as I start to go under the pier, I quit paddling, turn the paddle so it's parallel to the my yak and glide all the way until I'm out on the the other side of the yak. I've also learned, if the wind is up, to "fudge' to the left or right of the pier pilings so the wind basically lets me glide through the middle between the two pilings depending on which way the wind is blowing towards. This keeps me from hitting the pilings.

Mythman · Post by **Mythman** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 4:19 pm

Fish or no fish, a day on the water with a daughter is a win for everybody.

WTG, Dad!

Specstalker · Post by **Specstalker** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 6:35 pm

Hey I see Ships nearby........any trouble from ship waves????

baitbuster · Post by **baitbuster** » Wed Dec 27, 2006 10:25 pm

i bet she's just happy to get away. nice pic.

PappaDecker · Post by **PappaDecker** » Thu Dec 28, 2006 6:03 am

Thanks for the comments.. Yes, it was a great just to be out on the water. We did have a few waves. We kept an eye out for each other to give each a heads up when we saw them rolling in. The T140 seems to be very stable and rides them well.