North County report
 

Fished in my backyard on Saturday (North County) w/ buddy John and Grandpa B (my father-in-law). Dad had never kayak fished before and was tired of all the 2nd hand stories. He is a little prone to sea sickness, but Saturday was incredible - no problem there. 1 foot waves and glassy conditions, so out he went.

We launched at gray light and it was FREEZING. Yeah, I know I just moved back from Hawaii and all and am not quite back in the groove, but this was ridiculous. Even John said it was cold. The early offshores numbed all 10 fingers. Bait was a pain to make and it didn't work out. We were bombarded with smeltasauruses. These smelt were literally 14" long. We gave up and headed out... and before long it was 70 degrees and incredible.

Other than some calicos in the kelp with plastics and buzz baits, we fished the bottom with single and twin-tail rootbeer scampis with squid strips and it was easy pickings. Too bad rockfish are out of season because I think I released about 15. Although there wasn't a lot of size going on there was at least a lot of action and specie diversity. I pulled up calicos, sandies, sheepshead, vermillion, starries, treefish, gophers, sugars, and a few other weird little guys. I kept one decent bass to pan fry for the kids and released everything else.

Although he didn't catch a ton of fish, Grandpa B had a great time and will definitely do it again. Here are a few shots of his day... never too late to try something new!

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/i...e_yakfish1.jpg

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/i...e_yakfish3.jpg

Awsome day...

I went out over at N. Island that day. Need to go out with you sometime up there. Everytime I go by myself I dont catch....

Glad Pops had a good time.

MKNOTT

thats what i am all about is getting my stressed out dad to enjoy a great time on the water and not just catching fish.. its everything about it. the scenery, the life, and hopefully huge fish

Gotta love those days when you can launch ANYWHERE. My dad is finally coming around to buying a yak to fish the lakes of east AZ.

Way to get pops-in-law out...that's the best. Perfect anywhere conditions this weekend.

I thought that might be you outside... I launched around 9 with a friend and worked the inside for a few green backs (they were a little sabiki shy but a 2 in castmaster at the end worked for me on the slow troll)... also found some of those larger smelties.

Nice job on the diversity, plastics kill it some times... perfect day out there for sure... too bad the yellows weren't home this time!

These days its hard to say what I love more, no surf and fishing north county... or good surf and barrels in mex.

That's the great thing... when there are waves, we get barrels... when it's flat, we fish. How bad can it be??? My own dad fished with me last year and caught a few, too. So both are now in the mix. Even better, Niko is now 11 and has the bug... all we need now is a tandem (had to leave mine in Hawaii... too much to ship).

The crazy thing was that when we passed the kelp going back in, there was bait EVERYWHERE!!! :doh:All kinds and all sizes... couldn't believe it. I'm almost thinking evening session next time... easy bait, bounce-ball, a Pacifico ballena and sunset.

Oh yeah, I did go over the YT spot and picked up some big marks on the bottom... unfortunately nobody home this time.

I surf w your Grandpa B at pipes from time to time..... we should fish sometime

Anytime... we have the Tres Generaciones out there (G'pa, me, and my son). Yeah... he's a little more "in his element" on the waves, but I think there's a YT in his future this summer!

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/i...uce_surf_3.jpg

Cool.....my son's still a few years away, but my dad is still holding it down in the water as well. Ive spear fished Nor County for years, but have kayaked mainly in LJ in hopes of taking down a larger model:yt: in the yak. In retrospect I should have fished closer to home, I KNOW Id have more to show for it! Ill ping you next time I fish or hoop in the area

Best,
Josh

Superbowl Sunday, my buddy had a party (lives on 3rd & D)... my buddy JJ (visiting from LA) swam out looking for :lobster:and ended up plucking this tasty little morsel with his 3-prong.

http://i260.photobucket.com/albums/i...JJ_halibut.jpg

Yup- many a flatty have been plucked between Cardiff Reef and Beacons. Biggest fish ive ever seen in these waters was a Hali off Traps. It was so large I couldnt figure out what I was seeing. Some weird fish I thought.
Turned out to be her gill plate! No joke upwards of 60# and at least 5' in length. I nearly shat myself and hesitated just long enough to watch the carpet sail away. Good thing im sure it would have drown me.

Your not talking about "halibut land" are you, or is it "lobster land," I forget? The vis is epic right now, go dive, better yet, go dive from your kayak! :lobster::lobster:

Bruce
 

Surfed with this guy yesterday......





saw him tuck into a few good ones, have to keep your eye on him though as he'll jockey you for position right quick if you're not paying attention:p

"too bad rockfish are out of season"

I disagree. :) It's open season until Jan 1, 2010.
http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mapregs5.asp

Larry

forgot to mention that the kelp line was teaming yesterday. Most likely cudas but did see a couple of nice blowups 20ft inside.....

Temp has droped ~3-4 degrees.

I fished it Sunday. Lots and lots of 'cudas and a few sandies. Need to get onto one of those 'blowups'.