here and Wright’s biggest so far weighed 41 pounds.
“I know one guy who landed a 48-
pounder, so the big ones are here,” he says. “Mornings always seem best. It doesn’t have to be an incoming tide, but you don’t want it dead low. We catch kings all day, sometimes. Best wind direction is southeast to south- west. Of course we like calm seas, but 3- to 4-footers are fishable once you get past the breakers.” Ahh, the breakers — a dicey subject for yakkers.
to the water. Be sure to check out their beach cam before making the trip. Serious yakkers offshore are found on the 12-foot sit-on-top ocean kayaks. These boats sit higher and drain off puddled water, and you can roll out or climb back in without much effort. Some guys have avoided flipping simply by rolling overboard and the ’yak rights itself without los- ing equipment.
“The little eight-foot boats sit too deep and they’re slower. A12-footer paddles easy and really glides,” says Maye.
mers ago, I had a monster in the 65-inch range, well over 50 pounds. It was quite a battle, lasting 35-40 minutes and I lost him at point-blank range. The kings are out there. I’ve personally caught and released 23 in three hours using 6-inch soft plastic baits. I don’t like to use tre- ble hooks out there, it’s too dangerous. Single hooks are much safer.” Kieschnick says that with a kayak, the fight is different. Since the fish pull you around, you don’t want a lot of heavy line or drag on the reel. Too much pressure and you can get lever- aged quick, or even get flipped. “It’s not bad out there a couple of miles. Most of the flips happen in the first gut in knee-deep water,” he says. “It’s a growing sport and the boats just get bet- ter. Hobie Revolution has the pedals and I love it. It has a muscle-powered pro- peller that can sprint up to 15 miles-per- hour for a short stretch. Some boats have a small sail for running downwind.”
Unless it’s a tourna- ment, these fish really should be measured and released, since they’re high on
“It’s easy to point the ’yak into a
wave while heading out, though a breaker will splash you good,” says Maye. “But returning to the beach, if you surf back in and turn the slightest bit sideways, you’ll flip almost every time.”
One more reason not to use favorite equipment out there, and use safety cords on each rod. Except for lost equipment on occasion, the price is right for offshore fishing.
“It’s cheap and we love it; our only expense is driving to the beach,” Wright says. “Our bait schools are here from May to October and we have 8- inch cigar minnows schooling over a concrete pile a hundred yards off the beach, easily found by lining up objects in a nearby parking lot. They love Sabiki rigs or even just tiny gold hooks, which are cheaper. We also have threadfins schooling on top. That’s what my 41-pounder hit last July.” The kings here are more isolated
from regular boat traffic, with the near- est inlet perhaps 20 miles away. Twelve-foot ’yaks rigged for fishing are available for rent from the pier’s store at a very nominal rate, and the staff is happy to assist each angler right down
36 TEXAS Kevin Kieschnick has been explor-
ing off Padre Island, Texas, in a kayak for about five years. He fishes hidden rock formations where the big kings bite, but within easy sight of the beach. He uses a waterproof GPS and a small depthfinder, which makes it easier to find fish. It is weather and waves that are the main obstacles, but he’s learned a lot out there in the past five years. “Back in 2008, I was going to buy an
offshore boat, but gas prices held me off,” says Kieschnick. “I had GPS num- bers of
rock formations off Padre
Island, from one to three miles out that could be accessed from the beach. There’s a long string of rocks from 24 to 45 miles down the island. And it’s legal to launch a kayak from the National Seashore, while powered boats can’t. That’s how I got into this sport.” Frozen ribbonfish have been the go- to bait here for generations, and the slow movements of a ’yak are ideal for this bait. “I caught a 38-pound king from a kayak that placed fifth or sixth in the CCA STAR Tournament a couple of summers ago,” he says. “Three sum-
www.joincca.org
mercury warning lists. Kieschnick likes the sport so much,
he’s running his second annual off- shore kayak tournament based on the south side of Packery Channel, this year on July 30 with a weather date of Aug. 27. He requires each ’yak to carry a water-proof VHF radio and partici- pants to wear life vests at all times. “These ’yaks bring home the big fish and they use a fold-up zipper ice bag that will handle them in the hollow hull. Of course, sliding a 40-pound king into an ice bag and storing it requires dexterity and timing from a kayaker. That fish, after all, may have other ideas about riding home with you,” he says. “Unless it’s a tournament, these fish really should be measured and released, since they’re high on mercury warning lists. But an occasional eight- or 10-pound kingfish is delicious.” Especially when caught by paddle-
power alone. Joe Richard lives in Gainesville, Florida
and is a previous TIDE editor. More recently an editor with Florida Sportsman magazine, he now writes freelance, while managing his stock photo website,
Seafavorites.com.
TIDE
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