Yes you can turtle a Big Tuna, and a few other things I learned in Maine!

7/24/2012 

Over the 4^th of July week, I spent 6 days on Cobbosseeconte Lake in Maine.  We have been coming to this lake for a few years and the fishing is always excellent.  The place we rent has a canoe but there were many days where the wind on this large lake kept me on shore.  This trip was also one of the main motivators for me to get a SOT rather than a hybrid kayak like the Ultimate 14.5.  There is a fair amount of boat traffic and it is a BIG lake.  I was mildly concerned that if I took a wake over the side I’d be swamped and a long way from help.  So I decided on the Big Tuna and this was the first time out on some bigger water.  I learned a few things and will share them below.

Solo Paddling

One evening my son was occupied with some friends so I was able to take the Big Tuna out for some solo fishing.  Wow did I like how this boat paddles solo.  It was better balanced then it normally is with my lightweight passenger up front and paddled effortlessly with a very nice glide.  I enjoyed paddling so much that is was tough to stop to fish.  Well, maybe not that tough.  I caught about a dozen little guys like the one below.

The crown jewel of this solo adventure was paddling back as the moon was coming over the trees.  I think a Yak Attack VisiCarbon Pro is in my future so I can do some more evening trips without having to rely on my flashlight for visibility.

Fishing

The fishing was awesome.  I will let the pictures speak for themselves below but I didn't miss a day because of wind!  One day while we were out there it was a little choppy.  We were killing it and at the last minute I noticed a large wake heading my way.  It was coming from the side angled toward the rear of the boat.  I didn't have time to reposition so we were along for the ride.  The wave was starting to peak a few feet before it got to us and broke over the rear 1/3 of the boat.  This was enough water that the top of my thigh was wet sitting in the high position.   Before I could look to see how much water we had taken on it was gone.  Big Smile on my face again for choosing the Tuna!

Over the week, we caught about a dozen fish nice size fish, but the highlight was watching my son catch the one he is pictured in below with his 5 ½ ft ultra-light rod with  4lb test line.

And finally! Yes You Can Turtle a Big Tuna

This is more a story about my inexperience then the inadequacies of the boat, but I did manage to get this thing unexpectedly upside down.  Luckily for me we were close to shore and didn't loose any gear or suffer any injuries other then to my ego.  Basically it goes like this.

We had plans in the afternoon and I was trying to sneak in an hour or so of late morning fishing.  I was in a bit of a rush so I throw my gear in the boat and launched.  We were a few feet off the dock and I was trying to organize my gear when somehow my Panasonic Lumix TS3 Waterproof Digital Camera ends up in the water right next to the boat.  I reach and the next thing I know I am in the water and the boat is upside down.  I’m not really sure what happened.  There is the possibility that my son shifted his weight at the same time or that we caught a wake but it is pretty immaterial at this point.  Luckily for us we always have our PFD’s on and my NRS Chinook PFD floated me well, I’m really happy with that purchase so far.

My 5 year old son handle it amazingly well and after chastising me for capsizing the boat, followed instructions to swim to the dock and get out of the water.  I was able to right the boat very easily and by grabbing the side handle and lifting the near side while pulling stand assist strap on the far side.  Then took inventory and collected the “floating debris”.  I was surprised to see my camera floating in it's Mountainsmith Cyber II case that started this whole thing.  I had no idea that the case would float.  I noticed that I was down 2 rods and some other miscellaneous gear.  I took this opportunity to see if I could get back into this thing which I could with a little work.  The trick was to kick vigorously and get my weight onto the deck as quickly as possible.  I also found that you can use the “stand assist strap” as a stirrup to make this much easier.

After this I got some goggles and swam down to get my rods and other items.  Man was I glad I was only in 10 feet of water.

So what did I learn?

1.  Strap everything down! I've read this before but it really was a wake up call for me.  If I couldn't get my gear back this would have been one expensive lesson.  Currently looking for ways to secure my rods in the flush mount rod holder as well as a way to attach the rod to me wile fishing.  I don’t like the idea of having everything on a tether but a system where I can secure stationary items when not in use and then transfer to a single tether that is attached to me seems doable.  This will reduce the lines on deck and hopefully be something I can use for both my rods and my paddle.  I have also figured out that the seat straps provide a decent location for lashing things that you may not want to have on person.

2.  Load your Boat completely before you launch! Another contributing factor to this whole thing was that I was in a hurry.  If I had taken another minute and properly loaded my boat I probably would have gotten my fishing in rather then taking my hour to fish my gear off the lake bed.

3.  I need to get the Mesh Cargo Panel accessory for the Big Tuna! All of my tackle that was in the bungees stayed in the boat.  The stuff under the seat was floating.  This accessory should give me secured storage for two extra Plano boxes.

4.  Don’t be overconfident in your equipment! –It wasn't that I thought it was impossible to flip this boat but I didn't think it was possible on a clear day on flat water 10 ft from the dock.  The boat is very stable and I think I put a little too much faith in the hype that this was the ultimate in stability from a SOT Kayak.  It is a really great boat but under the right set of circumstances, anything can happen.

Moving Forward

Moving forward I have to do some work to pay for all these trips I’ve been taking ;-)  Seriously, I’m looking forward to some fishing on my home water in the Potomac River.  I am thinking I may spend some time making some small outfitting mods to the boat and will be posting those updates here.