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After one of the busiest seasons in a long time I beg to differ. Three's a crowd? This past Summer had an entire fleet of boats pounding the Jewel. Reminiscent of '2005 and warm years prior. I'm talking dangerous levels of concentration. For a relatively small spot, anyway. Guys on powerboats running over trolling lines left and right. Guys screaming at other vessels for running over obvious schools of fish. A few days reminded me of that famous scene in the movie, JAWS. You know that one with overloaded vessels running a muck---armed with gallons of blood for chum, bows, arrows and dynamite!
Come on, that scene's a classic? Then news spread on Winter tails doing what they've done for eons of time. Albeit pretty much unmolested most years. When the meter hasn't shown so much as a school of Lizard fish, I have a habit of counting vessels. It's a nasty habit, but sometimes I can't help it. Thirty vessels (yes I'm counting kayaks here) has been the median average on most days for months. So if three's a crowd what in the hell is ten times that as an average occupancy? In the off-season no less---on one tiny spot. The weekend? Forget about it!
Maybe it's just a sign of the growing sport. Perhaps, this being the most likely, it's just that we've been blessed with some great Winter weather. Post-MLPA-Compaction rearing it's ugly head? Maybe somehow, someway, everyone's significant other (like a school of fish) decided to P.M.S. at exactly the same frequency in Southern California! Anything's possible, right?
All I know is it hasn't been the typical "lonely" Winter on the grounds. In years past, you'd have this place all to yourself in the cooler months. Barring, the randomly leaked squid bite, of course. Just to be clear this isn't a rant about an apocalyptic movement of plastic riding anglers. I'm all for the growth of the sport. It's just an observation. Perhaps, collectively, everyone's wife finally decided that kayak fishing is healthier than a glitter-faced-sweaty-dance at the local strip club. Cheaper, too!
It's all relative in the grand scheme of things. I know crusty locals that freak the f@@% out if you anchor three hundred yards away. And that's when you're the only other vessel on the water. There's also kayak anglers who'll welcome anyone with a pulse into their code group. Doing everything possible to expand that group; by any means necessary. Lets not forget about the commercial guys. They're just as bad as a cackling group of school girls. In summary, it's business as usual. The guys known for catching fish will continue to do so. Crowds, similar to fish cycles, will fluctuate and drift like ripples in the sand.
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With all the differing opinions I'm sure many would disagree, but the question still remains: Three's a crowd?