Greetings SoCal Kayakers - YT advice
 

Greetings SoCal Kayak fishermen and fisherwomen!

First post here - hope this message finds all of you safe and healthy despite our chaotic times. I live in northern CA and go by the same handle on NCKA (Northern CA Kayak Anglers - http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/in...p?action=forum). IÂ’ve been actively fishing the San Francisco Bay and Pacific coast the last 3 seasons targeting chinook salmon and california halibut from my Revo 13.

I would like to learn more about targeting yellowtail in your waters. IÂ’ve been watching some great footage on YouTube and learning a few things on this great forum.

Are there any particular resources I should be reading? Any past threads that are informative? When is the best time in the summer months? La Jolla or Dana Point or ?

If SIP restrictions continue to ease, I would like to make a road trip down south and try my luck going after these beautiful (delicious) fish. As long as they are open, I also plan to hire a guide - probably the best way to learn a lot in a short amount of time (though nothing beats time on the water of course). If you can recommend any local guides that might be guiding this summer, that would be great too.

Any information greatly appreciated and happy to return the favor if any of you would like more information about targeting our species up north, or ever need a partner to meet up with on our colder, foggier coastline.

Thanks all! Tight lines.

Don't overthink it, there are times when they are active and will attack anything, there are times when they aren't interested. If you have a will to fish and the time to come down here and target them, try.


The big recommendations are to get fluent in braid to deal with the kelp, have a way of determining where the no-fish zones are, and to have a way to send some big critter like a Black Seabass back down in case you accidentally hook into one.


Other than that, you can target them how you see fit.

Sounds like a guide would be helpful - could you guys point me in the right direction?

I fish braid but much lighter - 30lb main with 17-25lb leaders and I’ve never wrestled w/ kelp beds. I have rods and reels that I think I can piece together for the task...

(Just so you know, I’ve been using the search and reading on this forum. Trying to do my research. Thanks!)

Just fly line a mackerel I use a circle live bait hook size depends on size of mackerel caught. Then use a floro carbon liter I use 30 pound and attach it to my bread with a triple surgeon knots. In about a 100 feet of water is where you wanna be drifting wind in your face lol hope it help.

[QUOTE=Warmshort;307712]Just fly line a mackerel I use a circle live bait hook size depends on size of mackerel caught. Then use a floro carbon liter I use 30 pound and attach it to my bread with a triple surgeon knots. In about a 100 feet of water is where you wanna be drifting wind in your face lol hope it help.[/

I usually get lucky when the tide is starting to move. I may go tomorrow 5am look for a camo hobie PA 14 lol bald headed fat dude

The braid is fine at 30 pound, you can go lighter even. The key is having the right texture to cut through kelp, I would pick a low PPI coarse weave type for this task. They don't handle well, but it's like a chainsaw for the algae.


As far as a guide is concerned, I don't know anyone currently offering this kind of service at LJ. There are things to pick up, but confidence in your ability is number one, time on the water is number two. With just those you can often will a fish onto the hook.

https://www.seasamurai.com/

No affiliation. No idea if he’s doing trips now. But he’s a hobie pro staffer and he can put you on fish.


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I asked him recently because I'm trying to catch some trophy fish before I move back to Texas in November. He said he's not doing any because he just got a boat to chase tuna this summer.

Another go to guy
 

Josh Pruitt. Aka The Dark Horse. He has a website. Check it out. Not sure if he is actively guiding at this time? Try running a search here or straight across the web directly. He has some really good writings and articles. Very informative.

Guide service
 

With Kevin and Josh not guiding at the moment try Captain Wade. He's been a guide around Southern California for some time and he does fresh and salt water.... https://captainwade.com/

Thanks for the suggestion and all the pointers everyone!
I’ll give Captain Wade a call!

Or just watch my videos and do it yourself... just sayin

Yup. Watch Chris's videos. There's like two decades of donkey-roping knowledge in there broken up into digestible chunks. He won't steer you wrong.

Welcome to tag along
 

If you have your own gear, you are welcome to tag along.

Wade moved to Florida years ago.

He's back in Oceanside area, posted some recent videos. Here is the link to one. <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/qMjD5s8LCvE" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

I stand corrected.