Contact   Imprint   Advertising   Guidelines

Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Forum for kitesurfers
Hugh2
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1665
Joined: Tue Oct 30, 2012 3:38 am
Kiting since: 2005
Weight: 180lb/82kg
Local Beach: Clinton Lake in East-Central Illinois
Favorite Beaches: Cape Hatteras and Cape Town (also sailing around the world, this season crossed the South Pacific)
Style: freeride
Gear: Cabrinha Nomad 5.5, Naish Pivot 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11, Duotone Dice 12
Long Ocean 136, Eleveight Master C+ 136, Naish Global 6'0", RB Sixty 3 Matador 5' 8", Slingshot Hoverglide H5 foil and Alien Air 4' 6" and Converter boards
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 98 times
Been thanked: 284 times

Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby Hugh2 » Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:14 am

The last few days riding the ocean at Cape Hatteras there have been lots of Spanish Mackerel, silver fish about 18 inches long, sometimes in large schools, and in addition to jumping either randomly or chasing/being chased, they seem to respond to passing kitesurfers by jumping, sometimes head high. I nearly got hit by one yesterday and dodged some more today. Kind of reminded me of the videos of Asian carp jumping in the Mississippi River.

dylan*
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1047
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 4:33 pm
Gear:
Has thanked: 1 time
Been thanked: 17 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby dylan* » Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:06 am

Used to get hit by them all the time kiting in Florida. I actually got a shallow cut halfway up my calf from one of them that had sharp little fins as it jumped out at me while riding.

User avatar
Kamikuza
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 7057
Joined: Fri Jan 09, 2009 4:49 am
Local Beach: Sabae Beach
Favorite Beaches: Ol' Stinky
Gear: This, that, the other
Has thanked: 220 times
Been thanked: 193 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby Kamikuza » Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:50 pm

Good sized something-or-other jumped out and I got nailed in the thigh with it... Bit of a dead leg, like getting a gentle whack by a baseball bat.

I'd rather fish fly at me than mangy filthy seagulls flying into my lines and kite :o

Matteo V
Has thanked: 0
Been thanked: 0

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby Matteo V » Wed Oct 17, 2018 3:01 pm

Kamikuza wrote:
Wed Oct 17, 2018 2:50 pm
I'd rather fish fly at me than mangy filthy seagulls flying into my lines and kite :o

Funny! I have had 2 seagull/line hits while on the ocean. But here, in the dead center of the US, I had to abandon thoughts of kiting on a local reservoir because there were 10,000+ seagulls on the lake. I did not have any hope for kiting there, let alone the thoughts of "where is all the gull poop going" when thinking about getting into the water. And why was it only on that one (out of about 8 reservoirs this size) that the seagulls were on?

The pelicans on our other kiteable local lake are not as much of a problem. Ever had a gull hit and pop a leading edge?

BWD
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 3848
Joined: Thu Jun 05, 2003 3:37 am
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 81 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby BWD » Wed Oct 17, 2018 8:13 pm

I saw a 6 ft ray jumping in the bahamas, and a few minutes later foiled right over it. Glad it was done jumping.

User avatar
iriejohn
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2618
Joined: Fri Dec 18, 2015 11:04 pm
Weight: 80kg, 1.78m
Local Beach: West & East Wittering (UK South Coast)
Style: Make it up as I go along
Gear: Bars, Kites
Twintips, Directional
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Noviomagus Reginorum
Has thanked: 554 times
Been thanked: 284 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby iriejohn » Wed Oct 17, 2018 9:08 pm

I haven't dodged flying fish but they've dodged me many a time while sailing out beyond the reef in Barbados to pick up an incoming wave. While you're stuffing upwind flying fish will sometimes fly right past you, I guess because they think you're a large predator so they take to the air.

vela99
Frequent Poster
Posts: 225
Joined: Wed Aug 05, 2015 3:02 pm
Weight: 74
Style: Wave Kitesurfing
Gear: North Neo 6, 8 & 11, Appletree Applepeeler 5 7" and Gong Lethal 5 6"
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 10 times
Been thanked: 28 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby vela99 » Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:05 pm

I nearly got hit by flying fish a few times at spots on the Canary Islands. You have them frequently on very windy days outside.
(I always hope it was not a shark that made them fly but me or another sailor)

Mossy 757
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 1860
Joined: Fri Sep 11, 2015 5:10 pm
Local Beach: First Landing State Park, Virginia Beach Oceanfront
Style: Kitefoil
Gear: Delta Hydrofoil and board. Cabrinha Velocity 9m, Flysurfer Sonic2 11m, Ozone R1V2 15m
Has thanked: 41 times
Been thanked: 71 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby Mossy 757 » Thu Oct 18, 2018 3:40 pm

Bluefish, Macks, and cow-nosed rays are all over the place in Virginia Beach. It just got properly cold today, like 50 something so maybe things will change shortly as the water temp follows.

knotwindy
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 2385
Joined: Mon Sep 26, 2011 4:49 am
Local Beach: baja, gorge
Style: erratic to none
Gear: yes, I use gear
Brand Affiliation: None
Has thanked: 274 times
Been thanked: 319 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby knotwindy » Thu Oct 18, 2018 4:48 pm

In the Sea of Cortez east of Baja California we get needlefish jumping and ‘trying’ to stab you. Usually the second person through so maybe the first one scares them and they jump? Not really sure of the reason but if they hit you it’s a major problem. The needle nose breaks off in the muscle(or wherever you get hit) and tough to clean well and antibiotics are a must. Had people need hyperbaric oxygen chamber to stop the infection. Used to happen a lot but much less often now. Again, not really sure why.

User avatar
JakeFarley
Very Frequent Poster
Posts: 919
Joined: Sun Nov 27, 2016 11:54 pm
Kiting since: 2001
Weight: 92kg
Local Beach: Florida Left Coast, USA
Favorite Beaches: Any that are not crowded.
Style: Dinosaur style (Velociraptor)
Gear: Kites: Flysurfer Speed5 21m, Soul 12m, Cabrinha 16m Xbow, 11m Xbow, Best 14m HP Nemesis, 9m Yarga C Hybrid
Boards: Crazyfly 135 x 46 Pro, Cabrinha Spoiler 140, 6' custom surfboard, 122 x 46 custom twintip
Wing foil: Naish Hover 110l, Slingwing 6.4m, F-One CWC Strike 8m, Slingshot Hover Glide Fwing (Infinity 99), Slingshot Phantasm 926 and E 990
Brand Affiliation: None
Location: Pearl City
Has thanked: 187 times
Been thanked: 144 times

Re: Anyone else dodging "flying fish"?

Postby JakeFarley » Thu Oct 18, 2018 9:02 pm

If there is a school of fish jumping, they are running from some predator, like sharks. You do not want to crash under those circumstances, so I would stay away from schooling fish.

Also, mackerel have some nasty sharp teeth. I've been hit by some small fish, but most of the time I hit them such as some sharks. Last week I hit one that was about 5' long in 2-3' of water. Another rider gave me the fin sign and pointed to where it was but it was too late as I hit him with the edge of my surfboard and with the fins. Fortunately it grazed off of him and did not stop me dead in the water.


Return to “Kitesurfing”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: Bing [Bot], Brent NKB, Clew In, Da Yoda, DanielorDani, Google [Bot], knotwindy, Manxman, peppedurso, purdyd, rtz, suisd12 and 396 guests