4 Tips for Fighting and Landing Large Gamefish

Your bait is getting nervous, as your slowly trolling around some live bait, and then it happens. "ZZZZZzzZZZZzzzz" - as your clicker sings that beautiful tune! What now?!

Hopefully, before the most exciting part of fishing happens, you've set yourself up for greater chances of success. Pre-setting your drag the night before, re-tying all knots and inspecting your line for any knicks or abrasions are all things you should do before fishing. But what happens once you've actually gotten a bite?

Below, are 5 tips that has helped me in fighting and landing many large gamefish out in the ocean!

1. Do not swing to set the hook!

This isn't bass fishing so no need for that Bill Dance hookset! Instead, and this is one of the most crucial parts of fishing live bait, is to wait at least 5 seconds before flipping your reel into gear. And that's it, no swinging to set the hook, rather allow the fish to hook itself while its running away. I know 5 seconds will feel like forever, but allow the bigger gamefish to eat the entire bait before setting the hook.

2. Mark your GPS

Most of my successes has come from understanding why the fish I'm chasing for bites. When you get bit, mark that spot on your GPS, and take mental notes as to the time of day, currents, presence of baitfish, any tidbit of information. All this will help you in seeing patterns for future bites. Additionally, circle around back and drag another bait right through the same area. You may be in for another surprise!

3. Clear the deck

Give your self some space and clear that clutter off your kayak. I like to place my paddle under the bungees on my Kraken, so I won't have to worry about it getting in the way or floating off into the distance. Clearing the deck will also help to prevent any tangles with other rods from happening.

4. Keep constant pressure

Often times, you don't even notice that you're doing it but you're rod tip is just too high and your line goes slack, and now you've lost your possible once-in-a-lifetime fish. Don't make that mistake, and keep that rod tip low and maintain constant pressure! This is where trusting your preset drags and knots come into play.

Hopefully, these 4 tips will help you in fighting and landing that next trophy gamefish!

Early summer in Southern California!

With early indications pointing to an El Nino season, conditions were impeccable for this time of year. Sunny weather, 80+ degree weather, and near 70 degree water temps made for some awesome fishing! Here's a video of some yellowtail fishing down here in sunny Southern California! Enjoy!

Photo featured on San Diego Reader

Well, what do you know! The Jackson Kayak Kraken getting some well deserved publication in the San Diego Reader!

Presidents day weekend (actually valentines day) yellow

So for the past few weeks i've been hearing that the yellows have been chewin' hard. red crabs, warm weather, clear viz, lots of yo-yo catches, all that. haven't really had the time to get out as much as I wanted to, but I got the chance on valentines day. now usually during this time of year, i'm packing light and only bringing my yo-yo setup. tho night before I figured with all the warm water, surface actions bound to be happen. so i tie together a light sliding egg rig, bring along my sabiki and bait tank with the yo-yo setup. arrive at the launch to 1ft "waves", and head out to make some quick bait. put together maybe a handful a nice candy bar greenies with one spanish. nose hook a greenie and we start to make our way out to some pots. stop at a few places to drop the yo-yo on some marks but nada for quite some time. flat calm water with no wind and seals abound. water temp slowly crept up to 66 degrees, fricken warm for this time of year. seals kept snatching my bait and I was down to my spanish. tied that on and let it down deep. made the slow troll back to some friends and hooked up to a beast! went straight down to 185' and fought it back up to meet my gaff.

30+lbs bled. nice fish for my 1st yellow of 2015!

Kayak Fishing Adventure in La Jolla, San Diego, CA

Down in sunny Southern California, just off the coast of San Diego lies one of the top fisheries with great access for Kayak Fisherman. Within close proximity after launching from the beach, one can paddle half a mile direct to the kelp beds that hold many aquatic game life such as Calico Bass, California Sheepshead, Barred Sand Bass, California Halibut, California Yellowtail, and White Seabass. With also direct access to much deeper water (a deep underwater canyon flows right through the area) one can also fish for an assortment of Rockfish and Lingcod.


As a kayak fisherman, La Jolla has a lot to offer. It seems that the quietness and stealth of being on a kayak, allows for us kayak fisherman to sneak up on fish much easier than boats that begrudgingly motor around spooking everything in its way.

So with my Jackson Kayak Cuda 14 in tow, I can launch through the surf in hopes of catching the many different species of fish the ocean has to offer. The surf can be tricky at times, but having a boat that can punch through the surf is a great tool to have! With just a short paddle to some prime fishing spots, kayak fishing never looked so easy.


If you're looking for bigger game, most fisherman jig for live bait, usually picking up Pacific or Jack Mackerel. These are usually fished on a "fly-line" and towed behind your boat as you slowly troll around hoping for a bite. If live bait is not your choice, surface iron's or jigs are used to entice these big game to bite some metal!

While some say El Nino is here, or on its way, the water is warm and the fishing is hot! I've been able to pick up my first California Yellowtail, that gave up quite a fight! When the conditions are right, La Jolla may just be your next fishing adventure!

LJ - Early part of August, 1st Yellow!

If you hadn't seen or heard, there was a really good bite going on for YT in the early part of August. I made 2 trips during that time, and got lucky to say the least!

The first day I launched before sunrise. Picked up some nice greenies, about 8 of them and started my troll at the NW corner. Dogs seemed to be out in force that day, actually they seemed to only be following me, and stole every bit of bait I had in my live well. With no bait and the time reading past noon, I debated on either staying out or just heading in defeated, again. But, I decided to stick it out, and made a little more bait. 

This time, made a bunch of spanish macks in the live well. Restarted my trolling as I made my way back to the launch. At this time, there was no one else around. I guess no one else was having any luck, but I was determined to finally hook one. Kept paddling along, until my bait was getting nervous. Took the rod out of the holder, and thumbed the spool as I slowly counted down, and then flipped the reel in gear. Limp goes the line, as I retrieve back my naked hook. Made a big u-turn and sent out another mack. Same thing happens again right around the same spot! Frustrated, I made another u-turn and circled back. Let out another spanish, and began my paddle back to the spot. Nothing hit this time, until maybe 20 yards past my previous spots. Again, thumbed the spool, let it take much more line than I needed to, and flipped it into gear. BAM, fish on!

This guy felt like a brute! Well, this was definitely the biggest fish I've hooked into as of late, and it towed me around a good bit. Last time this happened I got kelped, so I was determined to bring this one to color. Had my drag set previously and horsed it in. After a couple missed gaffed attempts, I got her! Bled it and called it a day. 

Went 22.8#, and my first yellowtail!

Next outing, I had a late start. Paddled out at 7, made some bait (all spanish macks for me) and at the spot around 800. Trolled for maybe 20 minutes and my baits getting nervous. Let it take a bit, and flipped the reel into gear. Limp again. Instead of busting a U, I threw the surface iron in the direction of my bait. After a couple cranks, line goes heavy, and I've got a biter! Reeled it in and up comes a nice yellow! Sweet, first yellow of the day and on the surface iron! At this time, I'm now seeing a school of about 50 yellows just cruising under my kayak. I'm furiously throwing the iron again and again, but no takers this time.

I set out another bait, and begin the slow troll around the vicinity. Decide to check if my baits still alive, and start reeling it in. Then it gets hit, and starts peeling line! sweet! Fought it to the yak, and gaffed into it. 2nd yellow of the day, and it wasn't even 9 yet! Decided to call it a day, and back at home by 10.

Its been quite an exciting bite, and hope this trend continues! So get out there, and get bit!

7/6 - LJ

0-1 ft waves at the launch in the morning, with little to no wind. pretty much lake-like conditions for most of the day. greenbacks were out in force, made about 10 before heading out to troll around. while trolling, saw a big mark coming through on my ff. was about to drop down, when it only got BIGGER! took a look under my yak, and what do you know, a HUGE whale just cruising along right under me! kept paddling along, throwing the surface iron at some puddles here and there. tossed the iron until it popped off and went bye-bye :(.  lots of other yakkers out, so I tried to paddle away from the crowds. got sliced through twice on 40lb test, think the sharks were out in force. stolen bait by dogs many a times as well :mad:. on one bait, as it was getting nervous, it was hit hard. reeled in the slack and it popped off. as i was reeling in my hook and line, a mack hooked itself. then another bigger fish started chasing it! looked like a barracuda (or a small yeller), but then then a dog came and stole the show...made a little more bait but then got slammed by a calico taking my sabiki with him. left around 4pm, as boat traffic picked up. all in all a pretty busy day, but fun to be on the water.

La Jolla First Time - Rockfish!

Well, seems like I haven't posted since September. I haven't really had much time to fish, studying for the PE exam and all. But I have gotten out a couple times in between now, and September. Nothing really to brag about. Until earlier this week.

Weather's been really cooperative lately, and just needed to take advantage of the nice Fall weather. Decided it was time to take the yak out to La Jolla. I've read up so much on launching and landing from the surf. I've studied any any all material I could get my hands on for fishing the ocean, away from the safety of the bay. In preparation, I got myself some waders, PFD, and a VHF radio. Safety first, kids. The day before going out, I picked up some new tackle for the big blue. Our plan was to do a little rockfish fishing, and possibly dropping down some live fin bait for the bigger creatures. Also decided to purchase some irons for a little yo-yo action. Called up a friend and convinced him to accompany myself on my first ocean expedition. This was, in fact, also his first time out.

Morning of, we arrived at La Jolla shores around 6:15 a.m. to ideal first time conditions. Swell was less than 2 ft, with little to no wind. We loaded up everything, with some of the more expensive setups in my kayak hatch, and hit the launch. Launching was cake that day, my friend got some splash over, but everything went relatively smooth. We didn't have much direction, but I had an idea of where to go. Look for lobster traps, and send down the rigs!

About a 15 minute paddle, brought us out of the reserve, and near the canyon edge with lobster traps in sight. Probably in about 100'-150' of water. The night before I bought some squid, so we tied on some double dropper loops, and sent down some squid strips. First drop down, and what do you know, first rockfish for me!

We picked our way through some of the smaller guys, and kept the nicer models. Dropping down that far was definitely a pain using my bass gear, and especially harder for my friend, as he had a 2500 size spinner. Though, we made it work.

Here's a bendo shot of him!

I metered some good spots here and there, and we had pretty much constant action with the squid. I also bought some shrimp, and some larger grubs as well. Grubs definitely gave up bigger models of rockfish, and the shrimp helped us hook up to some nice sheephead! We filled up my one and only game clip with limits of rockfish with 5 nice sized sheephead, and called it a day.

Back at the launch, surf wasn't all too crazy, but has always made me weary reading about it and whatnot. My friend went first and almost tipped over, but was helped by another yakker. Myself, I waited it out until the sets were slower in between. Hauled ass to shore, and almost nearly pearled. But, made it in safely. Successful launching, fishing, and landing! 

Our haul!

For our first time out, with no experience whatsoever, I think we did pretty good! Went back to my buddies place and cleaned up the fish and cooked some up. Delicious! Can't wait to get out there again!