Hey friendlies! I'm new to the group here and relatively fresh to the wonderful world of kayak fishing!

So a little bit , i've fishedabout myself the kayak (Hobie PA12) for almost a year now and have mainly covered Altona/Princess pier/Western Port/Lake tyre. I live in Footscray so I tend to dip out of Port Phillip bay area as per close proximity.
After catching my first Tuna on a charter in Portland I think i've caught the offshore bug! I haven't tried offshore kayaking yet but am very keen to try this. If anyone is keen to have another kayaking buddy on their next trip offshore let me know!
Have a great day people!

Welcome aboard David,
I hope you enjoy your stay mate, tight lines and stay safe out there.

hey and welcome. i fih same locations. perfect weather this weekend for a fish..ill most likely be at princess on sat morning. ill pm you friday if i plan to go

Thanks Andrew and Will!
Dang unfortunately I'm moving house this Saturday and Sunday but I should be free next weekend if you're down?

Hi David, welcome to vyak, i had been kayak fishing only a few months when i started to feel the need to find out about offshore fishing, a few guys here suggested a trip to torquay, as i live close i was totally up for it, since my first trip offshore i have done numerous trips offshore at Torquay, barwon heads and portland, there are often trips mentioned in the trip thread for offshore, keep your eyes on the threads, also Seasherpa (Eoin) has been running a comp (NSC) at Portland on the Australia day weekend, i did 3 trips down there January-March caught plenty of kingies but no luck on tuna YET, the guys here also go to south west rocks (SWR) every year around march, this sounds like a trip of a lifetime both NSC and SWR thread are well worth reading.

You are allowed to go offshore upto 2nm (3km) with just the normal safety gear however having the other gear for beyond that limit is advisable, most people here have PLB, EPIRB, flares and marine radio including all other required safety gear.

Yellowsubmarine wrote:Hey friendlies! I'm new to the group here and relatively fresh to the wonderful world of kayak fishing!

So a little bit , i've fishedabout myself the kayak (Hobie PA12) for almost a year now and have mainly covered Altona/Princess pier/Western Port/Lake tyre. I live in Footscray so I tend to dip out of Port Phillip bay area as per close proximity.
After catching my first Tuna on a charter in Portland I think i've caught the offshore bug! I haven't tried offshore kayaking yet but am very keen to try this. If anyone is keen to have another kayaking buddy on their next trip offshore let me know!
Have a great day people!

First welcome to Vyak Dave - there are a few of us that venture off shore here , some of us have tried a few areas in Victoria as well as up further north
( South West Rocks - Coffs Harbour - Scotts Point ) with differing success

Using a Hobie PA for off shore you will need really good to perfect conditions to be safe as they aren't the best kayak for this activity - you may wonder why and it comes down to 2 main points -- first they have way to much primary stability to be safe in big seas and second they are a real hand full in a trailing sea
once the rudder is lifted out of the water ( big trailing sea ) they will wont to snap side ways and tip you out
narrower kayaks are far better ( I'm not a hobie fan ) however there Revo or the Ai or probably the craft you should be looking at if Hobie are what you like

There are also many paddle craft that are suitable to and you will find many guys now run 2 kayaks one for off shore and one for the bays

if you look at your Face Book post take note of guys like Pete Ritchie ( Maverick ) he uses a hobie off shore I see Eoin and Nathan posted there as well as myself

I cant help you with many places down the west coast - Portland has been mentioned and the Portland comp on Aust day is well worth the trip with many running the inner reefs as well as some running quite wide it's also good as there are safety craft keeping an eye out

over this side Westernport area there are a couple of quite easy launches - Cleeland Bight and Back beach rd San Remo both giving access to the front of Cape Woolamai and the front of Punch Bowl rocks and Flinders front beach giving access to the area Flinders to Cape Shank
every now and then you will see guys posting trips for both areas as the water warms but you do need to be up to speed with your match fitness

hope that is some help

Hi Dave.

Thanks everyone for their valuable input. At this stage I think it is very likely that I'll be looking into getting an offshore rig and save the PA12 for mainly WP/PPB. I'll definitely be attending the NSC, just wished January wasn't so far away!

Yellowsubmarine wrote:Thanks everyone for their valuable input. At this stage I think it is very likely that I'll be looking into getting an offshore rig and save the PA12 for mainly WP/PPB. I'll definitely be attending the NSC, just wished January wasn't so far away!

Surprisingly enough Jan will come around fairly quickly - it's almost Christmas now -- in the mean time get your paddling or pedalling up to speed can you cover 30 km easy enough most off shore is trolling so these distances are normally not at full bore

you probably should be able to hold a good/quick speed for 8 - 10 km at any time though this distance

there are a few of use now doing the odd Marathon kayak race just to keep our paddling skills tuned and to stay match fit
we have also done a few Surf days ( playing with the surfers with our fishing skis ) again just practice for launching through the surf

to a lot of guys the fish the bays distances quoted may seam like long distances but I think everyone that takes off shore seriously down here in Vic just take it for granted

if you are looking to upgrade to an off shore kayak have a good look around most will use longer narrower yaks - as I said Hobie Revos or AIs -- a lot are now going to Fibre glass Skis or longer plastic boats
if you are upgrading some of these craft take a bit of time to get use to if you are coming off a PA

Welcome Dave
I have fished Portland in my PA14 it’s a bit better than the 12 in rougher conditions and I have a modified rudder for better tracking as I have experienced waves pushing me sideways and you also loose control as the waves crest.
There are others that fish Portland in Hobie Compass and Outback’s (as well as PA’s) Richard AKA Lobo on this forum is a top gun and fished offshore extensively in his PA14.
Surprisingly I have found my 14 has handled some extremely nasty conditions very well that many others would have got into serious strife, perhaps there are other reasons why I did well?
Knowledge is Key though and reading wind, tides, waves is very important. Keeping fit and not being timid are good for offshore
Shane, Cheater, Maverick and Eoin, 4Litres, are great resources (& If you can get onto Richard/Lobo you’ll also do well).
There are a couple of other blokes here who can help too Keith/Laneeds.
I’m planning to be at Portland NSC20.