Tag Archives: Kayak Fishing

Trip News

07.14.21 Congrats to the Miller family

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As you all know, we have been busy with our annual San Clemente Island kayak mothership trips. We have so much to share with you… so many incredible moments that we were blessed to be a part of. One of those moments was particularly special because I was honored to perform my first wedding as an officiant. Not just any wedding… a kayak fishing wedding.

The story starts off with a conversation with Steve Miller. First, he wasn\’t able to book two (2) spots initially because we sold out so quickly. As fate would have it… a spot opened up for him and Felicia and they took it. From there Steve asked if they could get married on the Islander. A few emails and calls later we had a wedding plan.

If a kayak fishing couple wants to get married on one of our kayak mothership trips… you better believe I am marrying them. An online application, a few questions later… I was ordained.

Weather has been threatening just about every trip we ran this year. Winds at one point were un-safe to launch kayaks, so we converted to bluefin tuna trips. This trip looked doomed at one point… but thanks to the hard work and dedication of owner John Conniff and Captain Pete, we had three great days of fishing culminating with one of the nicest days I have ever had at San Clemente Island. They found the only spots not blowing and gave all of us a chance to catch fish. This also created the best window and backdrop for a kayak fishing wedding.

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Thank you Theresa for the great shot!

I wasn\’t the only person that recognized the special moment… the Islander crew went out of their way to make Steve and Felicia\’s day special. Shortly before sunset we all gathered at the stern for a quick reading and vows. My Dad was the official witness (super cool), Jake (Islander crew), took photos, Theresa (Fish Village customer), helped with her dress and filmed the ceremony, Mike (Islander chef) prepared the absolute best meal I have ever eaten on the Islander, duck breast with some crazy orange sauce (that was AMAZING) and made a freaking cake!!! Champagne and bourbon flowed throughout the evening.

I was overrun with emotions and I wasn\’t the one getting married. Seeing everyone come together for a stranger\’s wedding was a gift. I was hearing hooting and hollering from all over the boat. I know with conviction that I am surrounded by the best customers and partners like Islander Sportfishing. Thank you to each and everyone of you for making this moment special for Steve and Felicia.

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Today I got a text from Felicia stating that the county accepted their finalized marriage certificate which makes this official! I am super proud to introduce Mr. Steve and Mrs. Felicia \”Fish\” Miller. May you have endless years of happiness and never stop fishing! I could never thank you enough for this honor!

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Trip News

06.07.21 CCKF was destined for bluefin

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This morning started off with a call from the owner/captain of the Islander, John Conniff. The call felt funny… like I was going to receive bad news. It started off with talks about how little sleep he has had running these incredible bluefin trips.

The following was reported this morning (6/7) on Fisherman\’s Landing\’s website:

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The first of our six (6) kayak mothership trips were supposed to kick-off on Thursday evening, but mother nature is suggesting that we make alternative plans. John runs an incredible operation that includes an incredible safety track record. When he says it isn\’t safe, we don\’t question it. We appreciate his attention to every detail to ensure the safety of our guests.

Both John and I hate cancelling trips… so we tried something else. He graciously offered to go bluefin fishing instead… the fish gods have been answering the prayers of the San Diego fleet since early May and we have been given a special opportunity to target them with one of the best crews out there.

I threw this out there as an option to our Central Coast Kayak Fishing (CCKF) crew and the results were a resounding YES. This crew is always down to jam… THANK YOU from all of us at Fish Village.

To make this happen… we had to call in a favor to our favorite kayak fishing shop in Orange County and San Diego county… Pure Watersports. They are helping a kayak fishing couple manage the trip change while still keeping their kayak fishing trip to La Jolla alive. Thank you Tim and family… you guys are the best!

Do you want to go bluefin fishing with Fish Village and the best damn crew in the San Diego? You will never see a multi-day tuna trip priced this low again… $875 check/Venmo or $901 debit/credit card. We leave this Thursday evening and come back Sunday morning. I changed my plans to get on board this incredible opportunity… who is with me?

If this sounds like you… send trips@fishvillage.com an email ASAP. First come first serve. We will need full name, email and phone number for all bookings. Full payment will be required to book.

Trip News

06.01.21 SCI kayak mothership trip season is upon us

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We have been talking about this for months… the time is near. \”Kayakers… assemble!!!!!!!\”

The last bit of payments are trickling through which means that it is almost time to get the band back together. The Islander crew is hard at work getting the boat dialed in for our six (6) kayak mothership trips. They are even sneaking in a few tuna trips already… they will be primed and ready for us as they always are.

If you are going on this trip… here is what you can expect from Fish Village… One (1) week from your departure date you will receive an email from us with details about your trip, when to arrive, where to park and what to expect. We will also include a link to our web based Trip Guide that answers all of these questions and more.

Some of you have asked, so here is an update on COVID… There will be no COVID protocols enforced. Anyone can wear a mask if they choose to, however it will not be required.

If FOMO (fear of missing out) is setting in… don\’t worry, you can score a last second opening. We have one spot open on each of the following trips:

  • 6/10 – 6/13
  • 6/20 – 6/23
  • 7/1 – 7/4

If this sounds like you… hop on! Click here to book.

These trips would not have happened without the support of these two incredible kayak fishing communities:

These two communities share a common love for kayak fishing which is near and dear to our hearts. Without them, we would not grown from four (4) to six (6) trips during a pandemic nonetheless. Incredible support from two incredible groups!

We would also like to thank Pure Watersports, Reebs Lures, Hobie Fishing and Islander Charters for making these trips possible. We partner with the best to offer the very best experience possible. Thank you for being great at what you do!

Trip News

04.19.20 We have 2021 SCI trip openings

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When talking about San Clemente Island kayak mothership trips… a cancelled booking doesn\’t mean bad news. No sir, no ma\’m. It means opportunity for someone else that wants to go on this trip.

Did you want to go on our trip but missed out? Now is your chance and probably the final chance of the 2021 San Clemente Island kayak mothership season.

Book Now
Trip DatesTrip LengthTrip CostStatus
6/10 – 6/132.5 days$875Sold out
6/17 – 6/202.5 days $875 2 spots open
6/20 – 6/232.5 days $875 1 spot open
6/24 – 6/272.5 days $875 Sold out
7/1 – 7/42.5 days $875 4 spots open
7/4 – 7/83.5 days $1,300 2 spots open

This message is being sent to the San Clemente Island kayak mothership email waiting list, posted here on our website and across our social platforms as well. The point being… the spots will NOT be open for long. Act now!

Event News

02.17.21 Fish Village + PYGMY 2021

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We are pleased to announce our continued partnership for the 2021 PYGMY Offshore Kayak Fishing Tournament hosted in Navarre Beach, Florida.

Last year Derrick Benton of 85th Day hosted the first iteration of his GOAT offshore kayak fishing tournament called PYGMY. Why PYGMY??? Because it is nearly impossible to create the best ever offshore kayak fishing tournament during a pandemic… options are incredibly limited. So what is the next best thing to a full size goat… a Pygmy goat of course.

The difference between a Pygmy goat and a regular goat is that the regular goat can get bigger, much like this event. The first step towards being the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) is to give anglers a reason to take this event seriously… Derrick just gave everyone $50,000 reasons why you should participate in PYGMY 2021.

If the little goat gets $50,000, what does this tournament look like when it grows into the full size G.O.A.T.? We know one thing for sure… we are sticking around to find out.

We will be sharing more about this event over the next few months. All event info and updates can be found on the official PYGMY 2021 event page.

Learn about Yahtzee King and how you can win a two (2) day guided fishing trip with Brian Nelli to either South Louisiana and South Florida.

Event News

PYGMY GOAT 2021

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The best offshore kayak fishing tournament is back… PYGMY 2 is back badder than ever with $50,000 on the line. Fish Village and 85th Day have teamed up again in 2021 to support Derrick\’s vision for the best offshore kayak fishing tournament out there.. With Derrick at the helm… the shenanigan\’s surrounding the event will be equally as intense as the fishing.

When

Saturday June 19th, 2021

Where

Navarre Beach Florida

Registration

Opening soon

Fish Village Yahtzee King

At weigh-in, before the first fish is weighed, 5 dice will be rolled and summed to determine the target weight. If the sum is a 5, the smallest fish will win. If the sum is 6 through 30, the closest fish without going over will win the prize provided by Fish Village. In the extremely unlikely event of a tie, those fish in question will be transported to the nearest scale that can read to the next decimal place, thus breaking the tie.

Trip Prize

Choice to fish south Louisiana for marsh reds and trout OR south Florida\’s famous freshwater, inshore and offshore fisheries with Fish Village\’s Brian Nelli.

  • 2 days of guided fishing
  • Kayak + gear
  • Lodging
  • Meals
[googlemaps https://www.google.com/maps?q=Navarre%20Beach%20Florida&output=embed&hl=en-US&z=12&w=425&h=350]

PYGMY Related News

Village Talk

02.01.21 An octopus walked into a bar…

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This story is about our dumb luck friend Charlie… for the record, he even named his new boat Dumb Luck. This story took place easily five (5) years ago, if not longer while fishing the kelp beds off of the Strands out of Dana Point California.

The day started off as usual, we rolled into the Pure Watersports parking lot late (thanks Joe), Charlie was impatient and nothing went to plan. At some point we launched and charged north towards the headlands. We were in search of sheephead and big bass.

See… we do a lot of shit talking. I am pretty confident that the majority of the banter exchanged between Joe, Charlie, Tommy and I is largely nonsense. So with that knowledge… imagine how this would go down:

Charlie blurts out \”I got something\” over the radio. For the most part, we didn\’t think much of it. Then we heard him start screaming… not the big fish kind of screaming, more like laughing and terrified at the same time.

We couldn\’t understand what was going on… not that it mattered because he started heading our direction. As Chuckles started to get closer, we realized that he had an octopus on his line. This is where it gets hilarious.

Apparently Charlie does NOT like octopuses… As he was trying to figure out how to remove an animal with 8 arms, a beak and squirts ink on ya we chimed in and said… \”Whatever you do, don\’t let it touch your kayak!\” SMACK!

That was the sound of the octopus sticking onto Charlie\’s kayak which provoked Charlie to climb onto his seat and threaten to abandon ship and swim back. We laughed so hard. Fortunately for Charlie… the big bad mini octopus (yeah that is right, it was small) worked it\’s way to the bottom of his kayak and eventually let go and swam off. Both Charlie and the octopus (that is a good title for a book) were safe and unharmed.

Thanks again Charlie for a good laugh!

Trip News

01.28.21 2021 SCI Kayak Mothership Trip Guides

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Today our 2021 San Clemente Island Kayak Mothership trip guests received our newly updated Trip Guide. This web based Trip Guide helps our customers prepare for their trips.

Imagine the number of questions people have when going on a new trip. We don\’t like anyone to be surprised or worse… un-prepared.

Our Trip Guide will provide you with answers to our most commonly asked questions. This includes insights on where to meet, what to bring, how to pack, parking, trip itinerary and more.

Below is a sample of what our customers receive (please note this is a screenshot, thus the links will not work):

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Trip News

01.11.21 SCI 6/20-6/23 TRIP IS A GO!

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Sorry that it has been quiet on the blog front lately… that ends today!

We hit the minimum threshold to guarantee the 6/20/21 – 6/23/21 San Clemente Island 2.5 day kayak mothership trip, which means if you want to get on one of our trips… the time is now. Only one (1) spot remains until we have sold out of 132 spots across all six (6) trips. This blows my mind!

Don\’t miss out… jump on this incredible trip today.

To book your spot on the 6/20 – 6/23 trip or to book your spot on a waiting list for any of our sold out trips, click on the link(s) below:

To all of you that booked or tried to book… thank you! Thank you for being a part of our village.

Trip News

12.29.20 More 2021 SCI Kayak Mothership Trips

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Would you believe me if I told you that we sold out of that newly added San Clemente Island 3.5 day kayak mothership trip? For realsies…

That means that we have sold 110 spots in less than two (2) weeks. This blows my mind. You wanna hear something else… there is still demand for these trips. We have over 60+ people still interested in our trips, including waiting list people and returning customers. So we have a proposal.

We have a sixth (6) and final San Clemente Island kayak mothership trip tentatively scheduled, creating the most opportunities EVER for southern California kayak mothership trips.

2.5 Day Kayak Mothership Trip

Sun 6/20 – Wed 6/23
2 full days of fishing

  • A $100 deposit is due within seven (7) business days of billing
  • The remaining $200 deposit is due on or before 1/29/21. You can make payments against your invoice  at your leisure.
  • Your remaining balance is due on or before 4/30/21. 

We are opening up booking once again. However, we will not bill nor collect money until we hit our minimum of sixteen (16) anglers booked. If we do not reach the minimum number of bookings in the next couple of weeks, we will be forced to cancel the trip. If we are successful, we will notify you and proceed with billing.

The time is now to book… don\’t wait until we are all booked up. Click on the trip links below to book or to be placed on the waiting list.

Trip DatesTrip LengthStatus
6/10 – 6/13 (CCKF)2.5 daysWaiting List Only
6/17 – 6/20 (Fresh n Salty)2.5 daysWaiting List Only
6/20 – 6/232.5 days12 spots open (as of posting)
6/24 – 6/272.5 daysWaiting List Only
7/1 – 7/42.5 daysWaiting List Only
7/4 – 7/83.5 daysWaiting List Only