Mothership Fishing Trip

Fishing new grounds is always an exciting endeavor. But what about places far beyond your paddling reach? Enter, Kayak Mothership trips. OEX Mission Bay sponsors a San Clemente Island Kayak Mothership trip in partnership with the Islander out of Fisherman's Landing in San Diego, CA. Located 55 miles from San Diego, it is only accessible by boat. The Islander offers a chance for kayak fisherman to take there game to new areas ripe with trophy Calico bass fishing, Halibut, White Seabass, and Yellowtail.

These multi-day kayak fishing trips are like no other. You get to load up with your own kayak and personal gear, without worry of having to borrow or rent equipment. Food and lodging included in the price, the Islander crew takes care of everything for you!

Here is just a small taste of what you can expect from a typical kayak mothership trip at San Clemente!

Look for a video coming soon!

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!