# Offshore before sun up



## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

With the bright moon I decided to hit the Gulf just before sunrise.

Lots of wind chop and really close together breakers made for a bumpy wet day.

I thought I was going to be done before I got started. Just past the first sand bar I look down and with just enough light to see, there is a solid forty or fifty pound ling swimming right beside me. I scramble for my cobia rod and the I of course still had the leashes on and of course the leash is wrapped up good around the handle. As quick as I can I untangle the mess and the fish is gone. 

Oh well, good way to get the blood flowing not even thirty yards from the beach.

I bait up with cigcicles behind a black and purple duster just after the second bar. Until about two pier lengths out the grass was scattered and fouled me up a couple times. End up going a mile and a half out according to the GPS with neary a run so I turn back in. Just before seven Im in about fifty ft of water and flying fish are are every where and a king skies about eight ft in the air right in front of me. Ive seen king sky many times but never that close. It was amazing. I dont know if it was the same fish but a couple minutes later I get my first of three kings of the day. In between the kings I was catching several nice spanish including this stud. The wind was blowing pretty decent from the ESE. All of the fish were caught in the same area. Once i caught, released and rebaited I had drifted a good clip to the NW so I would paddle back SE and get bit in the same area every time. You can clearly see every fish I caught on the track feature on my GPS.

No sail seen nor mahi though I did think I had a mahi on, good solid run but no jump and the cig came back mangled instead of cut like a mackerel would do.

While fighting the big spanish I had a large loggerhead pop up right beside me. I literally could have patted him on the head. The pic is bad as I was fighting the fish but you can see him in the upper left of the photo.

The mahi are still there because a solid one was caught today off the pier.

Since last Monday Ive caught my first king, mahi and cobia from yak. Not a bad seven days if I do say so my self.


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## dvldocz (Nov 9, 2011)

Wow! Nice fish and it sounds like a great week. Might have to take some yak fishing lessons from you. I have gone out a few times in my yak and have caught nothing. i am new to all of this so reading all of these post I am trying to educate myself. Anyways, Great fish!


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## Ginzu (Nov 16, 2011)

Nice catches. Im headed out tomorrow morning. Hope I run into some mahi.


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## Snatch it (Feb 17, 2009)

Awesome Man!!!!!!


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## yak_n_mike (Apr 29, 2012)

Sounds like a great week.


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## TronGod (Apr 25, 2012)

Man, that is a fat ass spanish.


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## Foulhook (Apr 26, 2010)

That is a VERY productive week of fishing. Congrats.


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## The Pitt (Apr 7, 2012)

*mahi?*



JD7.62 said:


> the cig came back mangled instead of cut like a mackerel would do


did it look like something ate mostly everything but the head and spine leaving just a little bit of mush for meat? i started using trailer hooks after that. i have a pic but my photobucket wont load it from my phone. would have been cool to catch one on my first real trip in the surf!


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## Night Wing (May 16, 2011)

Nice catch. I love to target spanish mackerel. They're my favorite offshore fish off the Texas coast.


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## gatoryak (Mar 14, 2011)

Awsome!!! - which kayak do you fish offshore? Recomendations? How about the rest of you guys? Thanks


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## JD7.62 (Feb 13, 2008)

Ive fished offshore in my OK Scrambler XT, it is my cheapest yak but stable. My only complaint is that its slow and doesnt track the best. My first offshore trip with it was to the three barges. Its also the best coming back in through the surf.

Before I got my Outback I fished mostly from my dads WS Tarpon 120. It feels a bit more tippy then the Scrambler but it paddles so much easier/better. It is what I was fishing out of in this report.

I just got my Outback and Ive fished it twice in the Gulf. Its by far the most stable and has the most room and the mirage drive doesnt even compare paddling. Its SO much easier to fish from. The downsides are that it isnt as easy to handle coming back in through the surf, and that its heavy so not as easy to throw on top of my jeep and drag to the beach. It also costs twice as much as the other two put together.

If you have the coin, the muscle/energy to manhandle its size, go with the outback for sure. I prefer the WS T120 because its faster then the scrambler but the scrambler is more stable and does come in through the surf much easier so between those two its a toss up depending on what YOU want out of the boat.


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