I read about this when it happened…
Nice fish, but not a Kayak fishing World Record by any means…
I personally know two (Allen Sansano and Chris M) of the four people who landed 350+ pound Salmon Sharks from a Kayak a couple of years ago in Alaska.
Additionally, I have another friend (Sonny Ngyuen) who landed a 8’ Sturgeon from a kayak, and released it.
One of the anglers (Howard McKim) who was on the Salmon Shark fishing trip, who I have not met personally, but have talked to on the phone several times, caught a 150 lb Halibut from a kayak three years ago, and last fall fought a 300+ pound Blue Marlin for several hours off of Baja…
Then there is the famour angler Jim Sammons, who has caught and released several bill fish in the 200+ pound range from a kayak.
Hopefully next summer, I will be able to get into the 100+ crowd myself, targetting big Halibut in Alaska. I am already in the 50+ pound club, with a 54" Dusky Shark.
FY
I don’t fish and I don’t follow it,
but I saw that link on a Boston news site and thought you all might enjoy it.
I did, and I am jealous as hell…
Tuna is one species I want to try to get from a Kayak…
FY
Two words: Sleigh ride.
Honestly…
I was torn about posting it here. Guy goes out miles from the Cape in an unskirted SINK to pursue record tuna. It’s not just the tuna that is a challenge but the conditions that can whip up off the east side of the cape.
But congrats to him. That’s a lot of sashimi.
sing
grilled Tuna steaks …
… til they are coming out your ears !!
Major fish grill party with Sashimi
for the neighborhood.
Fy
FishinYak - the story from the Times…
…
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/sports/23fishing.html?th&emc=th
Great article… Nice to see that the
guy has made sure to do everything legally and by the book…Including safety equipment.
One comment about the article… Pulling up a Halibut is far from pulling up a load of lumber… Especially when you get to the landing part… They have destroyed more than one boat after being hauled aboard…
Now, imagine this in a 13 to 16’ Sit On Top Kayak…
FY
He’s Not On A SOT…
Read the article again. He fishes from a Heritage 12 SINK, a rec boat without a skirt. He said he would swim in if he goes under. I hope he keeps to his word but I suspect that when he capsizes and floods that kayak, he will be calling a CG rescue… Even if he doesn’t, the next rec kayaker he inspires to paddle way offshore in pursuit of his personal “moby dick” will likely call in when he gets in over his head.
sing
I never said he was in a SOT…
Only to imagine landing a 100+ pound Hali on one…
Yes, doing it in a rec SinK is not the smartest action. But he does wear a drysuit/wetsuit (Depending I suspect on conditions) and has all the other safety equipment… I suspect he also has a portable pump and has practiced self rescue often… i would hope anyways.
FY
The article also said the rec kayak was
"modified with additional equipment." And how this was his “secret.”
This says to me at least, he probably had that Heritage loaded-out the wazoo with additional flotation …Nevermind all the radios, cell phones, gizmos, etc. I gotta give credit where it’s due: This guy has some pretty big balls. And as it wasn’t his first blue fin, “It ain’t the platform, but the fisherman.” as the saying goes. Further, I bet he really would swim back if dumped, and only call the CG as a last resort if seas were really kicking up/ completely out of control.
I don’t knock his choice of craft…And who cares if it inspires some jerks to try emulating. The right Tuna in the hands of the wrong paddler, could just as easily drag a Tarpon 160/a Hobie to it’s doom, as easily the 12’rec boat…Hemingway’s “The Old Man and The Sea” says it all. Wherein the protagonist fights a record fish in only a tiny open skiff.
Load of lumber
Fishnyak, I’ve gone halibut fishing with my brother a couple of times on Cook’s Inlet, Alaska. I’ve only caught 50lb halibut or smaller, but my brother hauled in a 150lb halibut the last time we went. It is sort of like pulling in a wet mattress, but that mattress takes off every now and then just to increase the agony of reeling it in. By the time he got that fish to the surface, my brother was totally wasted. We were on a chartered boat, so I can’t imagine pulling a halibut that size onto a kayak. A crewman used a 410 to shoot the halibut before bringing it on board, and it still slapped it’s tail violently for several minutes afterward. I’d have to say that anyone fishing for halibut that size from a yak would just have to tie it to the kayak and paddle to shore. How else could you do it?
Exactly as you stated…
Though in 2008, my friend hooked a 50 pounder in his kayak, and a buddy from New Jersey who catches big Blues and Stripes off the coast, sadi he would gaff it…
This was AFTER it had made its fifth run back into the depths upon seeing the kayak, and after it had had its gills slashed to bleed it out and deny is oxygen on the third and fourth runs…
My New Jersey friend paddles along side, sticks the gaff firmly in the things head, and damn near gets pulls overboard and down as it tries to sound again…
The only thing saving both is that their combined floatation of their yaks, and the forces pulling the fish opposite directions from the water and each yak prevented this…
Both anglers got sprayed with water, and after what seemed like several minutes of beating on the things head with a fish club, it was finally dispatched, bled dry, and strapped to the bow of the kayak for the journey to shore.
FY
Catching that 50lb Halibut from a Kayak
must have been exciting. But hooking a 350lb salmon shark would scare the #### out of me! Aren’t they part of the same family of sharks as the great white? If I decide to take my new SOT out on the ocean for fishing, I think I’ll stick to sand bass, bonita, mackeral, etc. Under 10lbs will be fine with me. 
Yes the Salmon Sharks are the same
family, the Mako and Porbeagle are too…
Having caught and landed a personal best 50+ lb Dusky Shark from a Kayak, trust me, you will want to catch bigger game after you tire of the 10 lbers. 
I am heading back to Alaska nextr summer, and my goal is a personal best fish, probably a Hali over 60 'bs…
Oh and a King Salmon, so I can personally claim all seven Pacific Salmon Species on my lifetimw list…
Yep, seven… King, Coho, Sockeye, Pink, Chum, Steelhead and Cherry Salmon.
FY
Just for the sake of entertainment, here
are my personal bests for Alaska, so please feel free to break these records (shouldn’t be too hard):
Halibut - 50 pounds.
King Salmon - 36 pounds.
Btw, some of the best fishing I had while on the Kenai was for Red Salmon. They were an absolute blast to reel in.
Btw, when you go to Alaska, are you going to fish from a kayak? All of my fishing there was on a chartered boat, or by myself along the shore (sometimes used waders). My son is turning 14yrs old, so I’d like to take him next year. That place is just magical, in my opinion.
Most of my fishing is from a Yak…
Unless a nice stream/River/Lake is nearby which offers Pink, Chum, Sockeye, Rainbows fo Dolley Varden.
Check out this trip next summer…
http://www.ketchikankayakco.com/Remote_Trips_2010.html
I am planning on being in the first week of this trip.
Still some Pinks and Chums in the local streams, and the Silver are rockin’!
FY