10/16 La Jolla AM

[skrilla]

Life has kept me off the water for quite some time. Today was an exception.

Launched just before dawn in 1ft surf. Somehow found a way to get soaked. And of course, being a little rusty, forgot my phone was in my pocket. Fortunately my phone survived this one.

Beautiful surface conditions. Under the surface little to no current. Bait had absolute lockjaw. I did snag a french fry sized lizardfish and threw it in the tank just in case.

With little intel to go off of I paddled around to a few go-to spots for a calico here and a calico there on the scampi as well as on the metal. All dinks. Their coats were brown with faded white checkers. I guess I missed the spawn.

Water went from low to mid 60's throughout the morning. Sun blasted my face by reflecting off the glassy surface. Water was clear with a deep green tint but lots of clutter on top, kind of like a light dusting of some sort. Could see schools of macks breezing and also baby halfmoons under a few paddies. Birds would squawk everytime they saw macks puddle but that was it in terms of bird action. On the meter lots of marks spread out but again, absolute lockjaw. Noticed all the marks were down below a certain depth. Hint that there's a thermocline in effect. Decided to switch it up last minute before heading in.

Took a detour along the Southern edge of the canyon. Paddled over a random spot where the drop off would start around 300ft. Had a Spider Hitch tied with a heavy jig on the long end and a circle hook on the short end. Pinned on the lizardfish on the circle hook and sent it down. As soon as it hit bottom I got slammed instantly. Long fight up to about 150ft then dead weight. Got it aboard and had my fiirst vermillion in the bag.

Lizardfish died, unsurprisingly... sent it back down anyway. Same story but this time a starry hits the deck. 3rd fish, short greenspotted... slabbed it up and back on the reds. Rinse and repeat for about an hour or two. Finished just short of my limit of assorted cod.

Lots of cranking. More reds at around 350ft. More greenspotted passed 400ft. Nothing but bait stealers at 500+. Bigger ones came a couple cranks off the bottom. Sent the shorts back down, only needed to slab a couple.

Really wanted my limit but my face had enough sunburn for the day. Ran thru a school of leopards before landing. Always cool to see them as it's that time of year they hang out at the launch.

Fish and Wildlife survey dude wanted to ask 21 questions. I was in a rush ( to the bathroom ) and if he wanted to talk he'd have to walk with me. Had some questions of my own, usually what his fish counts have been lately. Says he hasn't seen a yellow in a couple months. Guess I missed the fun earlier this year. Oh well, there's always the next one.

[Tim524]

 Lizard fish was the hot ticket  Beats yard work any day

[Latimeria]

You have some of the best write-ups Len.  Thanks for sharing boss.

As for that damn lizard fish... I always hear they make great bait, but I don't recall ever catching anything with one except for maybe a turd roller.  I would have loved if you got a yellow on it.  LOL

As for the yellows, no word on any local yellows, but South Island has been getting 6-12 pounders.  That would be a hell of a paddle. 

Great report and did you get any whitefish? 

[BenCantrell]

Good report, and nice job on the rockfish!

[jrodda]

Good write up as always. 500 is a long drop for bait stealers.

[skrilla]

Great report and did you get any whitefish? 

Nada on the whitefish. Didn't fish bait in the shallows. Only the bass and one unlucky treefish wanted the artificials.

But on those deep drops I never swung when bit. I'd let the dinks nibble, crank it up slowly... then let mama or papa inhale the bait and let the circle do it's thing. Helps weed out the shorts and saves me the time and effort of cranking and descending.

[vdisney]

First and foremost, a great write up and read.  I cannot imagine fishing that deep, guess I'm getting to old and lazy to crank on a reel that long   

[skrilla]

First and foremost, a great write up and read.  I cannot imagine fishing that deep, guess I'm getting to old and lazy to crank on a reel that long   

Being stuck on land so much this year I didn't mind the extra time I had to put in for taco meat. My face getting toasted was the sand in the hourglass.