Where I come from, a 10 pound fish is something to brag about. The whole idea of heading to Baja on the hunt for 100+ pound marlin was a little unnerving. Couple that with the fact that Jim Sammons swore revenge after he almost drowned on the Ottawa River, and you can probably understand why I was a little nervous. In fact, had I know that he would seek revenge in Baja, I might have left him in the hole a little longer…

On our Baja trip we had Jock Bradley taking photos, while Will Richardson and Lisa Utronki shot video. Matt Moyer, Howard McKim and I were there to fish with Jim… and hopefully catch some big ones!

Things got off to a pretty dark start. We arrived in LA to catch our flight to Cabo. Jock Bradley (the incredible photographer who has been capturing the whole project in stills) was waiting at our gate with dire news—a hurricane was on a direct course for Cabo and building in intensity. Great!  Just what we needed for marlin fishing… 120 MPH winds and monster swell.  Of course, we decided it was too late to change plans at this point, and so we hopped on the short flight with about 40 other people, all of whom, like us, were questioning their own judgement having decided to travel directly into the path of a hurricane to go fishing…

It was hard to believe a massive storm was coming our way. The weather in Baja was gorgeous. Blue bird skies, 90+ degree heat, and a very light breeze to help cool things down a little. We made our way directly to Hotel Punta Colorada www.vanwormerresorts.com), where Jim Sammons runs his kayak fishing trips out of. Hotel Punta Colorada sits perched above a beautiful beach, overlooking the Sea of Cortez, and is the closest hotel to Punta Arena, one of the most well known saltwater fishing destinations in the world.

We headed out on the first morning, knowing that we had better catch a lot of fish on that day, because we may not be able to get on the water in the days to come. Things started off well. Jim caught himself a nice Snapper, and then I hooked up with my first Dorado. What a great fish!  The Dorado jumped around like a small mouth bass on acid.

Next, Howard’s rod got bent. We were all pretty close, but I don’t think any of us realized how good of a fish he had hooked up. Then it happened. A 300lb blue marlin exploded out of the water in front of Howard. It continued to jump for about 20 minutes before diving deep and going into lock down mode about 100 feet below.

We followed for a while, and then we discovered a floating branch under which a school of bait fish had congregated. Before our eyes, the bait fish were attacked by a school of hungry Dorado. With little sardines on our hooks, Matt Moyer and I both threw a line into the mayhem and immediately hooked up and landed a couple of beauties (which later made one incredible dinner for the crew!).

After playing the Dorado’s for a while, we realized Howard had been dragged pretty far away, and so we needed to put the hammer down and paddle hard to catch up. Of course, we weren’t going to paddle without trolling some live bait. That’s when the next round of fun began. Our radios had been silent for a while as the chatter from our excitement of Howard’s hook up had died down a bit. He was now getting methodically towed deeper into the Sea of Cortez. The silence was broken by an excited Matt Moyer whispering excitedly, “I got a fish chasing my bait. Hold on… It’s a marlin!”  A few moments later, Matt sung the words we all love to hear into the radio, “Fish ON!”

Matt hooked up with a striped marlin, about 130lb in size. What it gave up to Howard’s blue marlin in girth, it made up for in action.

Matt’s fight lasted about 50 minutes. Jim Sammons came in at the very end to help Matt land it. Smart decision… landing a marlin safely is definitely a two person job.

To revive and release the fish, Jim held its bill while the power boat towed Jim slowly. It didn’t take long for the marlin to start kicking a little. As soon as Jim let go, the marlin swam off into the deep blue.

By this point, Howard was almost out of view. Lisa Utronki (who was the second video camera) was in a kayak, hooked up to Howard’s kayak. Towing two kayaks at the same time didn’t seem to bother the big blue very much at all. In order to catch up with Howard and Lisa, the rest of us had to hop onto the powerboats and zip over.

After 4 hours of fighting, which saw Howard towed almost 10 miles, the wind and waves started to pick up. Word came down from the boat captains that we had about 1.5 hours to land the fish before having to cut the line and head in. Using only 20# test, Howard wasn’t in a great position to start forcing the issue with the marlin, but he really didn’t have a choice. So, Howard started pressuring the fish. Not long afterwards, Howard barked, “Coming up!”  A moment later, the blue marlin made its first appearance in 3 hours with an enormous eruption. By this point, Howard had taken in a lot of the line, and so the marlin was jumping much closer. It was easier to appreciate the actual size of the fish—which was huge. It must have jumped about 20 times and then started to show signs of tiring. Howard got the marlin fairly close to the leader when it made another mad dash and managed to break the line.

Although Howard could have been bummed out with the finish, the whole experience had been so amazing for everyone that there was very little disappointment with the way things ended.

The next day brought good and bad news. The hurricane had changed course and was heading out to sea. We probably weren’t going to get hit nearly as hard as we’d feared. The bad news was that winds were picking up and the seas were rough. This was probably our last day of fishing for a little while.

The rough seas overnight had prevented the locals from catching bait fish, and so our day started with a trip to find squid for bait. Pulling up 20 – 30 pound Humboldt Squid from 100-150 feet below is a hell of a workout. It was especially trying for me, as I was using reels with a different retrieve than I was used to. Let me tell you, if you want to feel like a spaz for a while, grab a reel with the opposite retrieve than what you’re used to!  Of course, I got my first squid to the surface and then it broke free, and so I had to do the whole thing again.

By the time we got out to the fishing grounds, the seas were rough and the fishing was tricky. We fought the conditions for about 4-5 hours before giving up and heading in.

For the next 4 days, there would be no fishing for us. The swell was too big to get the powerboats out. Although we were bumming, our sanity was maintained by the fact that the swell that kept the power boats grounded made for excellent kayak surfing. We spent about 3 hours a day beating ourselves up on the beach break in front of Punta Colorada.

The last day for Howard, Jock and Matt was still a no-go for the power boats, and so we trucked our kayaks to a more sheltered beach. We fought a lot of wind and paddled hard all morning to little avail. Howard managed to hook up with a nice 80lb hammerhead shark, which he had to cut free at the end, but otherwise the fishing was slow.

With our team down to half its original size, the power boats were able to launch the next day and so we headed up to try our luck with some tuna. It was still very windy, but we found a somewhat sheltered bay with a deep reef that was well known for tuna fishing. We yo-yo’d all morning and caught a wide range of fish. Jim caught a good snapper, amber jack, and opa. I caught my first needle fish, trumpet fish, and then ended with a beautiful 30lb roosterfish.

The weather certainly wasn’t on our side this trip, but with that said, I really can’t think of a better place to get land locked!  Furthermore, the benefits of kayak fishing once again proved themselves. While all the other anglers hung out on shore, we played in the surf until our arms were ready to fall off.  You can’t always be a kid, but with kayaks, you sure can play like one!

Or

If you are going to try and kill yourself do it in spectacular fashion and at least get it on video

 

Well I am just back from the filming of the next segment of Game On, our kayak fishing adventure video . This segment was filmed on the Ottawa River in Canada and to my surprise would prove to be the most extreme segment so far. I would be spending time on the river with two former world champion white water boaters, Ken Whiting and Brendon Mark, so I felt was in good hands.

 

After a long flight from San Diego to the small airport in Ottawa I was dragged into immigration for a closer look. I was given the second degree and we had to go through the process of them deciding if I needed a work permit to be in Canada. From the entire airplane I was the only person they pulled into this secondary process. After a long debate and convincing them I was not getting paid they let me pass. It was after midnight when I let go and I was met by our videographer Will for the ride to his place to crash for the night. He told me we would be getting up early to meet the guys to fish the next morning.

With a three hour time difference and my just itching to get fishing I got no sleep that night but was still fired up the next morning to get going. A quick stop for some coffee and a bagel and we were on our way to the spot. The problem is we had very poor directions to the spot and drove around in circles for about an hour before we found the other guys.

We were going fishing with Jamie Pistilli,

Resident kayak fishing and Musky expert from team Ocean Kayak. We would be chasing after these fresh water barracuda on a slow moving section of the Ottawa River. The plan was simple, toss lures the size of baby into the shallow grass beds and hope one of these beasts would jump on your offering.

Getting started into the fog

Tossing the big ones

These lures weighed up to a pound and we got a real workout hurling them all day long.

The Musky were a wily prey and often would follow the lure right to the side of the kayak but not hit it, other times the fish would wait until you just were lifting the lure out of the water then strike. On one occasion this happened to me and the fish flew right over the bow of my kayak landing on the other side then bolting off, unhooked.

We spent the better part of the morning and afternoon at this spot with lots of sightings but no real hookups. After hurling these monster lures all morning a big lunch was in order and we feasted on Elk burgers, poutine  , (a Canadian gut bomb) and a few pitchers of the local ale. After lunch we hit the Madawaska River, more of a lake, and continued our search which really was more of the same. Ken and Brendon both switched to smaller lures and hooked a few bass each, Jamie and I were intent on getting a Musky and kept with the big jigs. The day was long and the sun had set when we all started to pack it in, just as Will and I started to head to shore we heard a shout from Jamie that he was on to the right kind. We all sprinted over to watch him land his prize. At this point it came down to who caught who as the big fish buried one of the large treble hooks into and out the other side of Jamie’s thumb.

Not a fun situation to have a large fish attached to the hook that is attached to you. Luckily the very prepared Jamie had a pair of bolt cutters in his kayak and we were able to cut the hook and back it out. It was a large price to pay for the fish of the day but I am sure Jamie would be happy to pay again.

That was our only day of fishing with Jamie as his wife gave birth to the beautiful baby pictured above the day after we fished together.

Day two was the start of the trip I was most looking forward to and again got no sleep the night before still ITCHING to get on the water. This would be the first of three days of running whitewater and fishing the eddy lines and pools that most anglers had no access to.

Other than floating down some small rapids in streams on inner tubes when I was a kid I had zero experience on rapids, but I have a ton of time in the surf on my kayak so I was feeling fairly confidant that I would handle it OK. The start off point on the river was as flat and calm as could be and I got slammed on my first cast of the lure in this spot.

I figured they were going to take it easy on me for the first day even though Ken, Brendan and Will had joked about humbling me on this trip. I was feeling pretty good, that is until I saw this.

We watched three rafts in a row dump their passengers on the very first section, sending the people floating down the river. All except this one girl who took the raft for a rodeo ride.

We watched and laughed, mine was a very nervous laughter.

Ken gave me a run down on running the river and made a plan, which was I would follow him closely down the rapids and the raft, which they were filming from would follow me down. I asked Ken “what happens if I get dumped” he said “just climb back on the kayak if you can, if not you should just float down river and the raft will pick you up.

I took a couple of deep breaths and said “well lets go, it’s only water right”. This was the start of what is, to this point in my life, the scariest thing I have ever been through. I quickly learned that running rapids is nothing like surfing, and unlike surfing there is no break between waves, the water just keeps flowing and pounding and comes at you from multiple directions at once.

I did as instructed and followed Ken closely down that first section, passing one of the large rafts still stuck in the hole, and was quickly ejected from my kayak. As they told me I was right next to my kayak and quickly was back in the seat and setting up for the next section. So far so good all things considered. The next section was a different story, though to me it did not look as challenging there was a hidden obstacle that my inexperienced eye did not see and that was a hole that reached out and grabbed my kayak. I went from gliding down the river, to my kayak coming to a complete stop and me shooting right off the deck into the water and into the hole. I was later told this was Joe’s hole and I was not the first person to fall victim to its grip. Upon hitting the water I was quickly dragged back upstream and into the churning water which, even with a PFD, forced me under water. I popped up a few feet away and was quickly sucked back into the churning water to repeat the process over and over again within seconds. I could not catch my breath and even when above water could not get a good breath of air because my PFD had been too loose and was covering my face. I knew in my mind that I had help but I was scared to death that they would not be able to get to me, how could they in these conditions? Thankfully they did get to me in what felt like my final breath. First in was Ken, when you see the video you will understand why he was a champion kayaker. He side-surfed his kayak in the hole leaning over so far it is hard to believe he stayed in as I was doing my best to pull him over. He lost me once but quickly got back to me and finally pulled me out of danger zone. Brendan was next in with the raft and dragged me out of the water, adding one final insult to injury, baring my backside, as he pulled me from the water, to the crowd watching on the shore.  Will did his part by keeping the camera rolling so we have some cool and exciting footage for the video. Which would have been shown at my funeral had I not survived, I have shown the footage to a few friends and the general response is “Holy Shit”. The rest of you will have to wait for the video to come out to see it.

This was a pretty scary introduction to kayaking the river and something I will not ever forget. Thankfully I had these experts there to come to my rescue, I will be forever in their dept, then again they put me in that spot I may have to try and get them back on our next trip.

Though I was pretty shaken this was only the first day on the river and we had a lot of rapids and days of shooting to go, so after about a half hour of regrouping I was back in the kayak, this time in some flat water and doing what I love most and that is fishing. Catching my first pike and several small mouth bass.

I still had to face the music and that meant running the next set of rapids. Though pretty intimidated I was assured this set was much easier and I should have no problems. The guys were right and I ran that set without incident and actually really enjoyed it. We ran several more sets of rapids over the course of the day with me only hitting the water a couple more times but always getting right back on board my kayak. I was so happy to have sacked up and run the river the rest of the day, it would have been easy to sit in that raft all day but I know I would of never forgiven myself. I opted not to tell my wife about the scare until I returned home.

Here are a few more shots from the first day.

Above the only rapid that we portaged

My Heroes, or coconspirators, Ken Whiting on the Right, Brendan Mark on the left.

Ken heading in to fish the eddy at the bottom of the rapids.

With a little bit of poetic justice I managed to catch the biggest Pike of the day right after the guys had taken their kayak out of the water at the end of the day.

These were real fun fish on my bay bass gear.

 

Day two on the river was to be the same plan on the same section of river as the day before. Though I was glad I got back on my kayak the day before, I was not ready to run that top rapid again so I took a side chute of the river and fished my way to the bottom of the big section, while the boys ran it again. This time Lisa had raft duty and she flipped it in the top section. I was fishing and missed all that action.

Pike, look at those teeth, the entire roof of their mouths are teeth a true predator.

I am happy to say I ran the rest of the rapids that day and managed to stay on my kayak for the rest of the trip.

 

Ken running a fun section

Brendan in action

Fishing the eddy

Some more rapids

Another pike

The next day was supposed to be the start of a two day camping trip on the river but heavy rain was predicted for that night so we opted to investigate a nearby lake the guys had never fished.

The water was super clear and the lake was a very cool spot to fish, we all caught bass and Pike.

A little visitor on the lake

Couple of the local homes

As predicted the rains came that night and we were all happy to be sleeping in  beds not a wet tent. The forecast for the next day was rain until about 3:00 pm then clearing and cold.

Once again the predictions were correct so we loaded for our camping trip and headed out fishing in the rain.

The fishing this day was pretty steady on small mouth bass, pike and Will got one four pound large mouth.

We only had to run one section of rapids this day and I managed to get through unscathed. After that we were in some of the most beautiful country I have ever seen, It was almost too beautiful to be real, of course my camera battery died and I only got a few photos from this, our last day on the water.

Dinner for our camp out.

Morning fog

This morning we had to jump in the kayaks and make an hour and a half paddle in the fog back to the car so I could make my plane. I did manage one last cast on the paddle in and landed one last Pike.

 

I have landed a lot of what could be considered extreme fish in a kayak but at my skill level this was the most extreme kayak fishing I have ever done. I can’t wait to do it again, this time with my PFD nice and tight and my rescuers near by.

 

I am sure this will all make for great footage for the video, I can’t wait to see the finished product, but we have two more locations to go. Next stop Baja then Chesapeake Bay.

 

If you want to see more about the video visit

www.KayakFishingMovie.com.

 

 

Jim Sammons

La Jolla Kayak Fishing Adventures

www.Kayak4Fish.com