While fishing nearly five miles offshore in Northern California, Moo Lee of MooMoo Outdoors found himself in for a rougher ride than he realized, in an experience Lee documented on YouTube.
Lee launched out of Moss Landing Harbor south of San Francisco, a harbor entrance that Lee stated is known to be rough. Encountering no complications yet, Lee pushed on out to an offshore location four to five miles out to fish for sole, sharing that the last time he attempted this trip he became seasick and had to return early. Lee’s goal was to catch sole for his NorCal Kayak Angler Angler of the Year contest.
An ideal morning fishing for sole slowly builds to rough water
“I didn’t expect the breeze and I didn’t expect the chop,” shared Lee in his video as he made his way to his offshore destination.
Lee added that he was progressing at about two miles an hour, and that the wind was forecasted to pick up in the afternoon to nearly 20 miles an hour and would likely be pushing him back in toward his launch.
“I consider myself a kayak safety advocate,” shared Lee as he paddled out. “Why am I doing something that is potentially unsafe? I actually have a safety support vessel out there right now…ready to assist whenever I need help.”
It took Lee two and a half hours to reach his offshore destination. By the time he arrived it was less choppy and Lee began his mission of casting for sole, using frozen squid and a size four J-hook in about 260 feet of water with a slow troll. Initially, Lee succeeded in catching multiple sanddabs, but his goal of a 20-inch sole remained elusive.
Sole, caught!
“This one feels big! This one feels good,” said Lee just after the ten minute mark in his video as he pulled up his first sole. His catch came in at 18.25 inches. Lee continued to fish in the hopes of catching a 20-inch sole, and visited his support boat for some sole noodle soup for lunch before continuing to fish on.
Before long, Lee hooked into a 20.5-inch sole.
“I can happily go home now,” said Lee. “My goal was to get a 20-inch sole. That was my goal today. And I got it. I’m not going to lie, I was a little bummed about the 18-incher.”
The weather takes a turn for the worse
As Lee began his return to the launch, a building tailwind began to push him in. It wasn’t long before the wind picked up further, pushing Lee’s kayak at about three miles an hour without him paddling according to Lee. Eventually, Lee and his friends in the support boat decided the conditions were getting too rough, and it made more sense for Lee to board the support boat and accept a rescue from his friends.
“I’ve never felt this unstable in a kayak before,” shared Lee before joining his friends on the support boat. “Oh man, I don’t know what it was. So the current was going that way, the wind wave and the swell was coming [from the] opposite way, and it was totally a laundry machine… I’ve been in washing machine conditions before but this was a little different. I think it was because the wind was pushing me pretty hard at the same time.”
Now safely aboard the support boat, Lee’s friends towed his empty kayak back to shore.
“Most likely if I didn’t get on his boat…I [would’ve] flipped,” shared Lee while thanking his friends, who all agreed that they were glad Lee had asked them to safety boat.
“I didn’t think it was going to be this bad, but he already knew,” Lee joked, gesturing to his friend, who added that he is out there a lot and often knows the conditions.
The group of friends signed off the video with a reminder to kayakers to wear their life jackets, and never be afraid or ashamed to ask for help.
