Looking to go out on the 11th, already have my launch site in mind and know which reefs I'm going to hit. Staying in and around 1.5 miles out. Wondering if anyone wanted to come with? Content to go alone but it's always nice to have some backup lol.
I've never taken the yak in the gulf, but a mile and a half sounds reasonable for me in the right seas. Not this time as I have commitments on Thursday, but hopefully soon. Please keep me in the loop for future outings.
Can I ask how far out you guys cruise? I'm a newbie to this form of transporation and long distances intimidate this fat old man. I've been spending 6 - 10 hours pedaling and casting in SRS and on local rivers and bayous for the last few months, but I suspect heading out in the Gulf is a different beast.
Ive been doing the gulf yak thing for about 6 years now and am 32 years old. My yak is well equipped and always go with more than required safety gear and with buddies. I dont mind trolling around nearshore alone, but always have buddies when we go further. Surf and seas like Thursday is forecasted, about 2 miles is our limit...if its dead calm and current isn't running we will max out about 3.5 miles. Could physically handle going further but that's our cutoff in case something goes wrong...of which has definitely happened before.
I think I may give up on snapper and the like and concentrate on the inshore species. Unless there's a group of geriatric yakkers around to go out with I'd just be a drift sock. And everybody knows socks stink.
In that case please put me on your buddy list. I'd love a tow around the gulf I haven't eaten fresh red snapper since I was a kid in Houston and my dad used to go out on party boats. I've heard there are snapper holes in the bay but I don't where they are, or if it's a reasonable peddle for me. If anybody would care to privately share some relative info I would be eternally grateful.
Ended up seeing some 3ft waves rolling behind about 2.5ft swells and made an executive decision that the seas are calmer in my bed. The snapper ain't worth getting beat up for 😂
We went out...had to plow through the surf to make it and had good 2 ft washing machine seas but not unmanageable...got a couple bonita on the troll and everything was good UNTIL...my damn pedal cable snapped and chain came off the sprocket! Impossible to fish those seas with no pedal drive so o started the 2 mile paddle back in...within 20 minutes the wind stopped and seas laid down calm, but i had to get back to do some repair work. My buddies stayed out and caught their limot of 6 snapper and ended up with 2 keeper gags, lost a bigger gag beside the kayak they said. I'll be back for revenge shortly, going out on the boat next couple trips.
Regarding my mirage drive pedals...i drove straight over to yellowfin ocean sports at santa rosa beach to get some parts...all i can say is that was some of the best customer service I've ever seen! Awesome group of guys had everything i needed for the fix and repaired it right there on the spot with free labor. We talked fishin and shared stories the whole time and ended up having a few acquaintances we all knew. They offered me to go fishin with them tomorrow morning in their home territory. Got my drive fixed and met some new buddies at the same time. I highly recommend their shop for anybody in the Destin/30A area.
They are on certain spots in yak range...big bait, big fish. Usually we catch 2 or 3 keepers a season amd throw back several smaller ones. I knew there would be keeper gags today after the storm cleared.