I headed to LaJolla Sunday, 3/12, in my perpetual quest for Yellow Tail. Unfortunately, my quest will have to continue another day, as all I caught were bait fish.
Still a great day on the water.
Launched 7:00am, off water by 1:30pm.
Surf: About 1-2 ft.
Lots of fog. I loaded a waypoint into my GPS after launching so I could navigate back to the beach in case the fog didn't clear up, which it didn't. I also have a small compass attached to my PFD and the Navionics app on my phone, all of which are necessary in such foggy conditions.
Water Temp: 59F.
As soon as I was west of the reserve boundary the bait seemed to be everywhere. Made it easy to fill the tank. I fly-lined Macs around the Kelp off the point, working north to south and back several times. Sea Lions helped themselves to my bait several times, although I learned this could be avoided by heading slightly west away from the kelp.
After landing on the beach I met two kayakers, each with a single, large Yellow Tail. One kindly reported that these fish were caught by fly-lining Macs high in the water column, and just outside the kelp.
On the bright side, I was able to find a good recipe for Mackerel. They tasted pretty good last night.