Sunfish - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

dsafety · 09-12-2010, 06:50 AM

It seems like every time I go out, I see something that I have not seen before. Saturday was no exception. Several times during the day I saw a bunch of fins sticking out of the water, gently moving back and forth. Sometimes there were only three or four fins. Other times there were many more.

Now I have been told the YT sometimes do this. I can't say that I have ever seen the behavior but thinking that what I was seeing might be some puddling YT, I grabbed my jig stick and let the iron fly. The cast was perfect and the retrieve went right through the school of fish. No response. I tried again, several times and eventually spooked the fish.

A little while later, I came up on one of the larger collections of fins. They had surfaced less than 20 feet from my yak. As I slowly peddled up on the school, I realized that these were not Yellowtail. They were small Pacific Sunfish, sometimes known as Mola Mola. Similar to these guys.

309acdf40c8469d5c67df93be767a6a5.jpg

Alt_The%20Pacific%20Sunfish.jpg

Mola Mola can get to be as big as a door. These were small, less than two feet across. Very cool to see. Later I noticed that some of these fish were jumping out of the water. In the distance they looked like the mullet you often see jumping in the bays. When one jumped right next to me, I was able to confirm it was a sunfish.

I still don't know what a school of puddling YT looks like but at least now I know what it doesn't look like. Live and learn. I wonder what new experience I will be treated to on the next trip?

Bob

Iceman · 09-12-2010, 07:00 AM

Bob ,

Good meeting you yesterday. The molas also tend to jump similar to mullet and were all over out there. I confess to grabbing the jig stick on the puddling lil school of molas

before paddling over to them.

Regor · 09-12-2010, 07:01 AM

I was in the middle of a school of these guys. Looked over the side, there they were. I would have to guess that none were above the 10lb range for first fish in the tournament, so I left them alone.

Got out the camera to take a video underwater, but it spooked them away.

tunaseeker · 09-12-2010, 07:30 AM

I was wondering what those guys were. I too tossed an iron and nothing as I thought they were YTs also.... They came right up to the yak and were looking at me. It was cool. Loved the school of dolphins too yesterday. With those experiences catching any fish is a bonus.

Willy · 09-12-2010, 07:34 AM

Too funny,
I was out in my skiff a couple of day ago and I too tossed my iron over and through them.

How many others have done the same in that past week?!

Those fish are surely growing up fearless of the iron!

Willy

jrenteri2045 · 09-12-2010, 08:01 AM

I actually hooked one with the sabikis and took some pics.

dorado50 · 09-12-2010, 08:45 AM

They appear to congregate around kelp. Seems like everytime fishing offshore and there is a mola or more around a kelp paddy the palegics are missing. I'm assuming yt and mola don't mix. If I come across a paddy with mola are around I move on to the next one, hope I'm not missing the fish by doing this!. Just my observations.

Tman · 09-12-2010, 08:52 AM

We saw them jumping a bunch along the kelp lines, Clay had a blast chasing them and watching them jump.

Thanks for the sabiki catch pic, confirms what he kept seeing...

Regor · 09-12-2010, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dorado50

They appear to congregate around kelp. Seems like everytime fishing offshore and there is a mola or more around a kelp paddy the palegics are missing. I'm assuming yt and mola don't mix. If I come across a paddy with mola are around I move on to the next one, hope I'm not missing the fish by doing this!. Just my observations.

I saw a large school out in the middle of nowhere, half way between the kelp and the pier.

True, I caught no YT or WSB near them, but then again, I caught nothing of significnce all day

467echo · 09-12-2010, 09:49 AM

Thanks for the sunfish report Bob, I was wonderingwhat those were jumping out of the water on my "happy" paddle in. Nice seeing you again too!

Kahouna · 09-12-2010, 09:56 AM

Ahhh, I saw a few of them on Friday too. Baffled me and was wondering if I was noticing the obvious, glad to know I'm not the only one enjoying the little things seen out there.

FARRIER · 09-12-2010, 04:24 PM

Last month I saw a huuuuuge one! About twice the size on my car door. I had never seen one before so I was kinda spooked. We made eye contact and it proceeded to follow me and just stare at me. Man it was cool! after about ten or fifteen it swam away.

Fiskadoro · 09-12-2010, 07:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dsafety

Mola Mola can get to be as big as a door. ....

They get a lot bigger then that Bob.

I've seen some offshore that were as big as a volkswagen. We almost hit one off SBI that had eyes as big as dinner plates and must of weighed several tons. It's amazing that something can grow to that size just eating jellyfish, and other junk. They are kind of a pain in the ass offshore, as their fins can be mistaken for finning gamefish and the larger ones can damage an outdrive, prop or outboard if you hit one.

Jim

Iceman · 09-12-2010, 07:13 PM

I hit one years back on the skiff. Scared the crap out of me and spun the prop.

Gino · 09-12-2010, 07:17 PM

haha Wikipedia says japanese eat those... i swear what dont they eat over there.

they eat the organs...

Make sure you keep your plastic bags in the trash and not flying intot he ocean, just like sea turtles, mola mola eat mostly jellyfish, and the bags kills em.

wiki says thsoe thigns get to be 1500lbs or so. Slayride!

Fiskadoro · 09-12-2010, 08:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gino

wiki says thsoe thigns get to be 1500lbs or so. Slayride!

Still bigger...

Evidently they are the largest growing bony fish in in the ocean, reaching 11 feet and over 5000 pounds.

They start out so tiny and grow to great size that a full size adult weighs 60 million times as much as it did as an infant, it's like a sparrow growing to the size of the Titanic.

Yep those yellow lines are a parking place.

The one I saw at SBI was, just huge, the biggest thing I have ever seen in the water other then boats, subs, or whales.

I could never figure out why sharks did not eat them but it turns out thier flesh has a neurotoxin in it which is not that big of a surprise when you realise they are Tetraodontiformes or in the same family as poisonous pufferfish. Makes sense, probably the only way they could grow so big while moving so slow.

Cool stuff.

Jim

Iceman · 09-13-2010, 07:32 AM

here is a shot of the "puddlers"

the dude · 09-13-2010, 08:34 AM

I snagged one of those weird things about a month ago...jumped a few times too. Hard to believe something that's built like a beer keg can jump.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJOjIqzpAmk

Fiskadoro · 09-13-2010, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by the dude

I snagged one of those weird things about a month ago...jumped a few times too. Hard to believe something that's built like a beer keg can jump.

Hooked one off a paddy offshore once, not huge maybe 150 pounds, ate a sardine of all things right in the middle of a YFT bite. Thought it was an Opah until it cleared the water. Jumped several times and almost spooled me before I broke it off. I was kind of amazed as well, they certainly are not built for speed, but they can move.

Supposed to be one of the dumbest fish in the ocean. A 500 pound mola has a 4 gram brain the size of a walnut.

Jim

09-12-2010, 06:50 AM	#1
dsafety Olivenhain Bob Join Date: May 2008 Location: Olivenhain, CA Posts: 1,121	Sunfish It seems like every time I go out, I see something that I have not seen before. Saturday was no exception. Several times during the day I saw a bunch of fins sticking out of the water, gently moving back and forth. Sometimes there were only three or four fins. Other times there were many more. Now I have been told the YT sometimes do this. I can't say that I have ever seen the behavior but thinking that what I was seeing might be some puddling YT, I grabbed my jig stick and let the iron fly. The cast was perfect and the retrieve went right through the school of fish. No response. I tried again, several times and eventually spooked the fish. A little while later, I came up on one of the larger collections of fins. They had surfaced less than 20 feet from my yak. As I slowly peddled up on the school, I realized that these were not Yellowtail. They were small Pacific Sunfish, sometimes known as Mola Mola. Similar to these guys. 309acdf40c8469d5c67df93be767a6a5.jpg Alt_The%20Pacific%20Sunfish.jpg Mola Mola can get to be as big as a door. These were small, less than two feet across. Very cool to see. Later I noticed that some of these fish were jumping out of the water. In the distance they looked like the mullet you often see jumping in the bays. When one jumped right next to me, I was able to confirm it was a sunfish. I still don't know what a school of puddling YT looks like but at least now I know what it doesn't look like. Live and learn. I wonder what new experience I will be treated to on the next trip? Bob

09-12-2010, 07:00 AM	#2
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	Bob , Good meeting you yesterday. The molas also tend to jump similar to mullet and were all over out there. I confess to grabbing the jig stick on the puddling lil school of molas before paddling over to them. __________________

09-12-2010, 08:52 AM	#8
Tman BRTF...bought & paid... Join Date: Mar 2005 Posts: 1,247	We saw them jumping a bunch along the kelp lines, Clay had a blast chasing them and watching them jump. Thanks for the sabiki catch pic, confirms what he kept seeing... __________________ Adios Tman Gaffer for Clay the Fishcatcher

09-12-2010, 09:49 AM	#10
467echo Rookie of the Month Club Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mira Mesa Posts: 483	Thanks for the sunfish report Bob, I was wonderingwhat those were jumping out of the water on my "happy" paddle in. Nice seeing you again too! __________________ they are getting bigger....

09-12-2010, 04:24 PM	#12
FARRIER Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Cmont [] Posts: 314	Last month I saw a huuuuuge one! About twice the size on my car door. I had never seen one before so I was kinda spooked. We made eye contact and it proceeded to follow me and just stare at me. Man it was cool! after about ten or fifteen it swam away. __________________ "It depends on what the meaning of the words 'is' is." –Bill Clinton

09-12-2010, 07:01 AM	#3
Regor Greg Join Date: May 2010 Location: Chula Vista, ca Posts: 509	I was in the middle of a school of these guys. Looked over the side, there they were. I would have to guess that none were above the 10lb range for first fish in the tournament, so I left them alone. Got out the camera to take a video underwater, but it spooked them away.

09-12-2010, 07:30 AM	#4
tunaseeker TB Metal Art Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: San Diego Posts: 651	I was wondering what those guys were. I too tossed an iron and nothing as I thought they were YTs also.... They came right up to the yak and were looking at me. It was cool. Loved the school of dolphins too yesterday. With those experiences catching any fish is a bonus.

09-12-2010, 07:34 AM	#5
Willy Senior Member Join Date: May 2008 Location: La Jolla Posts: 189	Too funny, I was out in my skiff a couple of day ago and I too tossed my iron over and through them. How many others have done the same in that past week?! Those fish are surely growing up fearless of the iron! Willy

09-12-2010, 08:45 AM	#7
dorado50 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: La Jolla Shores Posts: 1,626	They appear to congregate around kelp. Seems like everytime fishing offshore and there is a mola or more around a kelp paddy the palegics are missing. I'm assuming yt and mola don't mix. If I come across a paddy with mola are around I move on to the next one, hope I'm not missing the fish by doing this!. Just my observations.

09-12-2010, 09:56 AM	#11
Kahouna Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 108	Ahhh, I saw a few of them on Friday too. Baffled me and was wondering if I was noticing the obvious, glad to know I'm not the only one enjoying the little things seen out there.

09-12-2010, 07:13 PM	#14
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	I hit one years back on the skiff. Scared the crap out of me and spun the prop. __________________

09-12-2010, 07:17 PM	#15
Gino Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 520	haha Wikipedia says japanese eat those... i swear what dont they eat over there. they eat the organs... Make sure you keep your plastic bags in the trash and not flying intot he ocean, just like sea turtles, mola mola eat mostly jellyfish, and the bags kills em. wiki says thsoe thigns get to be 1500lbs or so. Slayride!

09-13-2010, 07:32 AM	#17
Iceman Administrator Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: 1-2 miles off the point Posts: 6,943	here is a shot of the "puddlers" __________________

09-13-2010, 08:34 AM	#18
the dude Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Valley Center Posts: 271	I snagged one of those weird things about a month ago...jumped a few times too. Hard to believe something that's built like a beer keg can jump. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJOjIqzpAmk __________________ The dude abides.