I searched for an introductions thread but didn't see a particular one, let me know if i'm posting in the wrong place please!
Well My name's Rich but everyone i know calls me Chucky these days. I have a 2013 Pro angler 12 that i bought used a little over a year ago, and it was the best purchase i've ever made. I wasnt like a lot of other anglers that was born fishing and always had a rod and reel in hand. I can only remember a small handful of times fishing with parents or friends , until two years ago. Out of nowhere the fishing gods came down from the ocean in the sky and handed me an oversized 35 dollar okuma combo, which i went directly to a local reservoir with. On that 8 ft pole i caught my first 9 inch brown trout and was hooked. A few months, and a few better poles later, a buddy of mine had just bought a pelican trailblazer and was super persistent about me getting one. For weeks i told him to shut up about his stupid kayaking plans. Then everything changed. We were out fishing Lake Mahopac, behind the shop i was running, when one of my favorite rapalas landed on a dock about forty feet out. We took his kayak off of his car, and i decided i'd appease him (shut him up), and be the one to paddle out to it.
That night i bought my first kayak, a Field and Stream Eagle Run 12.
Pretty much every night after work, and every weekend all day i was out fishing on that thing. This was as good as it gets, i thought. Slowly i started to get tired of catching the same largemouth, crappie, and perch and bluegill, that are so prevalent in my area of New York. I had no one that enjoyed going out as early or leaving as late as me while fishing, so it was on me to figure out if this was it, or if i had bigger and better things to do. I started hunting youtube for any videos with fishing in my area (at the time driving far for fishing seemed unnecessary). not long into my search did i run into Robert Field's Offshore trip gone wrong video.
https://www.youtube.com/user/yaknaggie"What the F@#k was that!? !!! Is he peddling that kayak!? Is that a shark?!"
Immediately i started researching pedal driven kayaks and quickly was persuaded that Hobie was the way to go. Never in my life did i save money, until i knew i needed one of these. I grew up relatively poor, and a lot of those quirky poverty traits followed me into adulthood. It took me about six months to save up for what i believed was going to be a new outback.
I started looking for local dealers, and the closest was The Boat Locker in Bridgeport CT. I called up to find out if the outback was in stock and what colors were available and reached an extremely helpful man named Scott. We had about a 45 minute conversation about what my plans were, including how much use and where i would be using it. He assured me i would love the outback, but from what i explained, that the pro angler may be a better choice. $3400 dollars was out of the question for me. He invited me down and let me know that he had a customer trading in his pro angler and wanted me to look at it. He was unsure on the price but said he could probably work something out. At first i was a little apprehensive, a. because it was used, and b. because it was yellow. He told me yellow is his best selling color based on its visibility, and that the previous owner kept it in mint condition.
I arrived to take a look, completely expecting to leave with the outback. Once again, i was blown away. Aside from a few light scratches on the nose, and some marine goop on the rudder hatch, it was in great shape. We loaded it up into my truck and i was on my way for the price of a new outback.
I have one buddy at work that is into fishing as well and this was the first day i said "George, I'm gonna catch a shark off of this thing", and the first day he rolled his eyes. It was the beginning of last years fishing season and i could only imagine all the places i'd go that summer, but that was my end goal at the time.
For the first few months i stuck to the rivers and the lakes that im used to. I wasnt chasing any waterfalls. A few of those were White Pond, Sylvan lake, Fahnestock state park, and by the summer, the Hudson River. Once i got my first decent sized striper in june, i started heading off to Lake George, Schroon Lake, and the upper Hudson. I was hooked on the distance i could cover, and nature i could see, with the mirage drive, just as bad as i was hooked on the fishing.
I started trying to hit all the different species that i could.
Summer quickly came to a peak and would be ending soon. On a hot saturday morning i sat in my truck about to head to Sylvan lake for some potential trout, or big bass, when i decided it was time. I texted George, "Going to get my damn shark", and felt his eyes roll once again. I left for a two hour ride down to Jones Beach where i read there may or may not be a kayak launch. I had no cart, that crappie Okuma combo mentioned before, and no bait. I found the bait shop down at Field 10 and launched off at about 12:30 in the afternoon.
Looking at google maps on my phone i estimated i had about a two and a half mile trip from the launch to the ocean and started off. About two hours into paddling, i noticed i was only at my halfway point. i looked at google once more and realized it was in reality, about five miles away from where i launched.
"Keep going, you just drove all the way down here."
I listened.
By 5:00 i made it to the mouth of the bay. I was quite cranky that i would have to basically turn right back around, but concluded i would fish for fifteen minutes and i could at least say i tried. I said i would catch a shark off this kayak, and if i didnt at least make the attempt i'd be letting myself down. Who knows how long it would be until i would be able to head down and try again. Next month? Next Year? i casted out one piece of bunker on each rod that i had, and waited ten minutes.
The first chunk got eaten by crabs. After reeling in i put it away. The second, (my $35 dollar special), was out a little further, and surely eaten by crabs as well. I began to reel in and felt a tug. I yanked up. Nothing. Kept reeling and about 30 ft later felt a second tug. YANK! Nothing. Easy reeling until it was 40 ft from my yak. Then it took off screaming.
WARNING EXTREMELY EXPLICIT LANGUAGE!!!!!! ENJOYABLE, BUT LOTS OF CURSING!
https://youtu.be/O9iTYAVX4dESince then ive been making youtube videos for people to enjoy. I plan to upgrade my equipment and make better videos soon, so i'm basically here for what everybody else is, plus some exposure for my videos, and hopefully to meet up with some like minded people. My area isnt exactly booming with kayak anglers so it would be nice to have a day out without me loading up all of my kayaks for friends!
Heres a link to my twitter:
https://twitter.com/ChuckyFasuloand my youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCHBJQt44f1-kerDA1GYzhlgThanks guys!
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