2/23 El Cap - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Iceman · 02-23-2007, 02:02 PM

I had to see my son off to school and then made the short drive to El Capitan Res. These turkeys were along the way. Got there at 7 AM. A friend was gonna meet me, but found out later that work got in his way. Weather over all was pretty good although there was a bit of hail that came through

I threw everything from crankbaits, spinnerbaits, dropshot, and crawdads por nada. They just were not biting. I talked to a few others and the best I heard was 2 fish for three guys. Took me back as I have not fished this particular lake since I first moved to Ca almost 20 years ago. Fun morning and I never had to rinse off the reels

Hopefully Otay will treat me better on Sunday.

Ryan The Sealion · 02-23-2007, 02:57 PM

I'll have to show ya how to catch them greenbass sometime andy

did you get a water temp..?

zeelaagee · 02-23-2007, 04:09 PM

anyone else here interested in hunting turkeys in a few weeks? i have the calls and decoys! archery or shotgunners fine by me.

Shirack! · 02-23-2007, 06:45 PM

Totally interested in turkey hunting. I am a bow hunter!

wildcat · 02-24-2007, 01:05 PM

Thanks for the report Andy...I bet that crappie bite in the spring would be a blast in the yak...C ya round..

Jim

bigeye · 02-24-2007, 01:16 PM

Andy, fished it last week and had ok fishing, but all the fish were dinks. Saw the board about LJ and realized I'd made a error on where to fish! Saw a guy trolling a rig that looked like a string of jerk baits with a small shiner at the end and he was nailing those huge El Cap crappie. he had one that was about three pounds! What about Cuyamaca? Cris

Siebler · 02-24-2007, 03:02 PM

Ill be turkey hunting very hard come the season opener. Shotgun and then bow to pick up those extra 2 weeks. Guess that the picture confirms rumors of the turkeys getting furthar west.

Ill get out there with you to catch some largemouth eventually Andy.

Iceman · 02-24-2007, 06:02 PM

CJ, ya I have heard Barona is thick with turkeys. Jim and Cris, I have been thinking hard about them black crappie. I was metering endless masses of them when I was crossing deep water. I think they would be a hoot!
I saw this stick up that looked like it had a rod tip on it,
so I started pulling it up, it was at least 20 feet long, like a fiberglass
crappie jack pole. I kept it

blackcloud9 · 02-24-2007, 07:28 PM

Andy never thought of you as a crappie guy. I have spent a number of days targeting them at El Cap, Otay, Hodges the last couple years. They are fun on ultralite tackle.

This very recent link below has a great reply by RoyM, and pictures of the El Cap crappie spots. Pay close attention to his first two pics, N Point, and his info. RoyM is to Crappie what Iceman is to LJ Yellows. And he targets them year round, reporting stringers of 50.

http://www.sdfish.com/forums/dcboard...ng_type=search

Here's a couple of shots of mine, I like Otay, El Cap and Hodges in that order for crappie. I always rent a boat but the yak would be great too:

Siebler · 02-24-2007, 11:42 PM

That couldnt have bee put better. Both RoyM and RoyJ are crappie masters. I would definatly attend a crappiefest at el cap on the yaks. Last time i did such a thing was Crappiefest at hodges 4 years ago. Molbasser, Flatbadge, and others were present. I bet we could get a few of those guys to go. Last time when we got done fishing we had a shore lunch then many went back out. It was awsome Crappie (and catfish) tacos and a fun day.

I could in fact take the skiff and be Bait headquarters as it has a large capacity tank that we could fill with shinners. Maybe i could get my buddy to man it while i yak.

MBF style anyone?

Iceman · 02-25-2007, 04:23 AM

Larry, cool pics. I used to fish crappie a bit in the midwest, mostly walleye, never have here.

CJ I'd be in for the crapfest. Pick a date.

Ryan, my through hull temp looked like 59.

Afran · 02-27-2007, 07:47 PM

Thanks for the report. I'm going to El Cap next week. Dude the reports have been wackin em. Bad day I guess.... it was the weather, trust me.

T-Rex · 02-28-2007, 12:47 PM

Nice report. I used to take my kids crappie fishing when we lived back east & it was always a blast on ultralight tackle. It was all C&R until a friend talked me into into keeping a couple for the table. I was really surprised to learn how tasty they were!

I never knew there was a thriving crappie fishery in So Cal.
Gonna have to break out the ultralight stuff and give it a try!

Iceman · 02-28-2007, 12:53 PM

Here is a great online resource for So-Cal lakes. This comes out every 2 weeks in FishRap.

http://thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=207072

02-23-2007, 02:02 PM	#1
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	2/23 El Cap I had to see my son off to school and then made the short drive to El Capitan Res. These turkeys were along the way. Got there at 7 AM. A friend was gonna meet me, but found out later that work got in his way. Weather over all was pretty good although there was a bit of hail that came through I threw everything from crankbaits, spinnerbaits, dropshot, and crawdads por nada. They just were not biting. I talked to a few others and the best I heard was 2 fish for three guys. Took me back as I have not fished this particular lake since I first moved to Ca almost 20 years ago. Fun morning and I never had to rinse off the reels Hopefully Otay will treat me better on Sunday. __________________

02-24-2007, 01:05 PM	#5
wildcat Amature Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Santee Posts: 13	El Cap Thanks for the report Andy...I bet that crappie bite in the spring would be a blast in the yak...C ya round.. Jim

02-24-2007, 01:16 PM	#6
bigeye Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: 4500' above sea level Posts: 27	Cap Andy, fished it last week and had ok fishing, but all the fish were dinks. Saw the board about LJ and realized I'd made a error on where to fish! Saw a guy trolling a rig that looked like a string of jerk baits with a small shiner at the end and he was nailing those huge El Cap crappie. he had one that was about three pounds! What about Cuyamaca? Cris

02-24-2007, 03:02 PM	#7
Siebler Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Richland Oregon Posts: 1,547	Ill be turkey hunting very hard come the season opener. Shotgun and then bow to pick up those extra 2 weeks. Guess that the picture confirms rumors of the turkeys getting furthar west. Ill get out there with you to catch some largemouth eventually Andy. __________________ CJ Siebler

02-24-2007, 06:02 PM	#8
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	CJ, ya I have heard Barona is thick with turkeys. Jim and Cris, I have been thinking hard about them black crappie. I was metering endless masses of them when I was crossing deep water. I think they would be a hoot! I saw this stick up that looked like it had a rod tip on it, so I started pulling it up, it was at least 20 feet long, like a fiberglass crappie jack pole. I kept it __________________

02-23-2007, 02:57 PM	#2
Ryan The Sealion Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 308	I'll have to show ya how to catch them greenbass sometime andy did you get a water temp..?

02-23-2007, 04:09 PM	#3
zeelaagee Member Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Carlsbad Posts: 37	anyone else here interested in hunting turkeys in a few weeks? i have the calls and decoys! archery or shotgunners fine by me.

02-23-2007, 06:45 PM	#4
Shirack! Junior Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 11	Totally interested in turkey hunting. I am a bow hunter!

02-24-2007, 07:28 PM	#9
blackcloud9 Kayaker Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Big Rock, WindanSea, La Jolla Posts: 413	Andy never thought of you as a crappie guy. I have spent a number of days targeting them at El Cap, Otay, Hodges the last couple years. They are fun on ultralite tackle. This very recent link below has a great reply by RoyM, and pictures of the El Cap crappie spots. Pay close attention to his first two pics, N Point, and his info. RoyM is to Crappie what Iceman is to LJ Yellows. And he targets them year round, reporting stringers of 50. http://www.sdfish.com/forums/dcboard...ng_type=search Here's a couple of shots of mine, I like Otay, El Cap and Hodges in that order for crappie. I always rent a boat but the yak would be great too: __________________ Larry. Hobie Revolution 13. 25 years of kayak fishing La Jolla. https://larryl.com/photos

02-24-2007, 11:42 PM	#10
Siebler Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Richland Oregon Posts: 1,547	That couldnt have bee put better. Both RoyM and RoyJ are crappie masters. I would definatly attend a crappiefest at el cap on the yaks. Last time i did such a thing was Crappiefest at hodges 4 years ago. Molbasser, Flatbadge, and others were present. I bet we could get a few of those guys to go. Last time when we got done fishing we had a shore lunch then many went back out. It was awsome Crappie (and catfish) tacos and a fun day. I could in fact take the skiff and be Bait headquarters as it has a large capacity tank that we could fill with shinners. Maybe i could get my buddy to man it while i yak. MBF style anyone? __________________ CJ Siebler

02-25-2007, 04:23 AM	#11
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	Larry, cool pics. I used to fish crappie a bit in the midwest, mostly walleye, never have here. CJ I'd be in for the crapfest. Pick a date. Ryan, my through hull temp looked like 59. __________________ Last edited by Iceman; 02-25-2007 at 04:47 AM.

02-27-2007, 07:47 PM	#12
Afran fishy Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: San Diego Posts: 219	Thanks for the report. I'm going to El Cap next week. Dude the reports have been wackin em. Bad day I guess.... it was the weather, trust me. __________________ warbaits.com Instagram @warbaits

02-28-2007, 12:47 PM	#13
T-Rex Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Rancho Santa Margarita Posts: 770	Nice report. I used to take my kids crappie fishing when we lived back east & it was always a blast on ultralight tackle. It was all C&R until a friend talked me into into keeping a couple for the table. I was really surprised to learn how tasty they were! I never knew there was a thriving crappie fishery in So Cal. Gonna have to break out the ultralight stuff and give it a try!

02-28-2007, 12:53 PM	#14
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	Here is a great online resource for So-Cal lakes. This comes out every 2 weeks in FishRap. http://thelog.com/news/newsview.asp?c=207072 __________________