To kayak, or not to kayak in the surf?

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pwk5017

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Heading to the outer banks in a few weeks, and I am considering renting a kayak with my brother for the week. I beat up on smaller blues last year just standing in the surf, but would I benefit by renting the kayak and getting out a bit further? 12-16" blues are entertaining, but I wouldnt mind something with a bit more tuggage.Im not looking to paddle the kayak out a mile, more or less stay within 200 yards of the beach. For you knowlegdeable surf guys, would this be a benefit or null? Thanks.

Patrick

p.s. I spin fish when Im down there, so casting distance shouldnt be factored into the decision.
 
Hell yea! Might as well give it a shot. It cant hurt....unless a wave takes you out :lol:
 
I wasnt going to get dumped while fishing. I was planning on getting out passed the waves. Its coming in where I might get wrecked. I have had it happen before. Bringing a kayak in isnt easy.
 
Hopefully you wont have to paddle a mile but it would be really cool being pulled that fare
 
why not fish the back bays for reds and trout then, they should be there..also sharks, rays will take a fly, get towed around the sound---Nantucket sleigh ride..
 
Nice, I was hoping you would chime in. I know you have been a salt guy for a long time. In your opinion, would a kayak 100-200 yards off shore be any superior than casting 50-75 yards in the surf? I know the big, big blues are still going to be north of OBX come the middle of august, but I didnt know if I could get into 20" blues if I got out passed the surf a bit.
 
I can't help with the fishing advice. I'm with ya though as I've often though about taking the kayak past the breakers to try and get to the feeding fish ya can't cast to. Still haven't tried it though. Kinda afraid of hooking a large fish and going on a nantucket sleigh ride ha.

Where I can help is with the dangerous landing of the boat after fishing. I'm sure it would be a pain to dump a boat full of gear.

I've surfed a lot in the waves with little and big boats. You gotta apply a little whitewater knkowledge. If your in a bigger boat, and I'm guessing you are if you fish out of it. The waves will catch the back of the boat and turn you sideways, I'm sure you know this already. If that happens, the trick is to not let the wave roll you or the outgoing water catch the side of your boat and flip you.

Here's the tip. once your sideways, lean out to sea and place your paddle perpendicular to the boat on the out to sea side in a brace type of position. Kind of dragging the paddle if you will. You'd be surprised how much you can lean without tipping. This will stop the side of your boat from catching the outgoing water and flipping you onto the sand. Try it a few times maybe before you load the boat and head out. I'll guarantee if you do it right you will just just pushed onto shore sideways rather than flipping. Also lean back when the wave first catches you to keep the front end from submarining.

Hope this helps. Good luck.
 
A few questions for your advice. And I wanna preface by saying I havent had a kayak down there for 4 years. Since that time, I have purchased a 16' canoe and used it a ton on the river. Let me explain how I would always be dumped in the ocean kayak. Coming in perpendicular to the shore, wave catches the *** end of the yak, this then forced the boat to rotate 30 degrees, while simultaneously the nose would dig into the wave. At this point my brother and I would begin paddling forward like hell. 1.5 seconds later the boat would roll and countless people would be laughing on shore and high-fiving their friend. Now that I have 3 years of experience steering a boat, the second the wave hits me and the boat begins to rotate, should I then attempt to correct the direction the boat is headed by back-paddling/steering? I guess my questions is, "do I flip because the nose of the boat digs in, or do I flip because the boat rotates too much?". I know how to correct the rotation. I do not know how to correct the nose digging problem. To be honest, it looks like a ton of fun if you can properly pull it off. I also dont want to dump two rods and a box of soft plastics and hooks : )

Is there a youtube instructional video on this topic? lol im 25 and i need help.
 
used to take surf boards out that far and fish, sometimes it got a little scary seeing a shark cruise by. never dumped coming in to beach. maybe boards ride better in surf. I think the back areas will produce better than out front (surf). to early for runs to start. most fish off of beaches will be way out 1 mile +. If you caught snappers (small blues) in the surf it usually means they are moving out from the back bay, good place to hit fish is where they come out through inlets.
 
Lived there. Currents are far stronger there. Waves get big fast and close out. I would not recommend it. There aren't that many fish in that narrow area you will cover. Either fish the wash or get a charter in OBX. Unless you fish the back. Fluke and blue city. Safe.
 
As far as flies go, Black and orange clousers with copper flash, black and red clousers. All white clousers and try some type of rattle fly. This year we used a rattle shrimp from orvis that produced the best
 
Awesome, thanks for the info guys. Wont be doing the kayak for the week. If anything, I might rent one and fish the sound area for a day. My brother was pushing me to rent the kayak with him for the week to fish the surf, and I just wasnt positive that it would give us any advantage. Sounds like it wont.

Umm, sandfly, you used to see sharks just out of the surf? I have to admit, that was one of my fears of the kayak in the surf lol. We have all seen the videos of guys landing fish in a kayak and the fish getting pounded by a shark right alongside the boat.
 
pwk5017 wrote:
I wasnt going to get dumped while fishing. I was planning on getting out passed the waves. Its coming in where I might get wrecked. I have had it happen before. Bringing a kayak in isnt easy.
Click to expand...

Had the same thing happen to me in the OBX when I took my SOT down. It's like surfing, but in a kayak. If you can get out past the waves, you'll be in good shape. Personally speaking, I'm not a big fan of heading out past the waves in a kayak. Rogue waves come along and make for an interesting time of it...

Getting dumped by a wave while coming into shore in a yak is no fun.
 
getting out usually isn't the problem, its coming in. I have fished in my 14' SOT for the past 7 years. up to a mile off the beach in jersey, the Chesapeake bay bridges at night, lehigh river, etc. The advice given about leaning into a wave is sound, but if the wave is steep, like it can be OBX, the nose dig in thing can get ya. To answer your question of is it an advantage...could be. I know there are guys in kayaks down there that will take your bait out and drop it off behind the sand bar, for like $5. but then again if the fish are in the slough between the bar and the beach, no need. it just depends on where the fish are. kayak fishing can be a lot of fun. don 't worry about the sharks, they are everywhere anyways.
 
There are more bitin' sharks up this way-or further South. Not as much food in the summer in OBX as further North or South. I never once saw a shark in the water there-although I know they are there-but I've seen dozens up here. Bunker and seals.
 
There's lots of sharks you just don't see em, sand bar, sand tiger, tiger, dogfish, bonnet heads all run the beachs and bays from maine to florida.
 
 
Kayaking is a favorite sport of mine and I've done my share of salt water fishing from one. Having said this, I have no desire to use my kayak on the beach in any place where there is significant wave action. Launching a yak into surf is a specialized and difficult business and highly likely to get you dunked (forget about recovering that fly rod when you're pitched out of your yak in typical surf). I'd highly recommend a good bit of practice before trying this with your gear.
Personally, I'll stick to flats and back bays when paddling.

 
Who knows if you did this trip already but I hope it worked out for ya. Sounds like you're deciding against fishing from the yak in the surf. Probably a good idea. I wouldn't wanna dump gear in the waves. If you still try and just have fun with one though I'd say don't even bother trying to correct the angle of the boat by ruddering. Let the boat go parallel to the beach and lean hard out to sea, like 45 degrees tilt hard. Let the paddle drag behind you on the ocean side too, paddle perpendicular to the boat and flat so it matches the surface of the water, that should do the trick. If the boat is longer the nose will wanna dive in if you ride it in perpendicular to the beach. I saw my buddy dig his nose right into the sand once and the wave stood the boat up to like twelve o clock. He just about soiled his shorts. Good luck
 
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