La Jolla 5/6/17 Report

[DDS]

TL DR Terrible Conditions; No Bait, No Fish

Not the greatest day to fish; rain, wind, swells, but bought a used '17 Hobie PA 14 as an early fathers day gift and had to try it out so I braved poor conditions to give it a go.

Hadn't been out in LJ Shores in months...construction at the launch site makes dragging the boat from the parking spot a bear...at least the new boat is lighter....

Launched late at 6:00 AM, best part of the day was the launch with 1-2 foot waves making for a somewhat easy peddle out and got outside the MLPA with out much issue. Coming from a tandem island hobie with outriggers the PA 14 was stable but a little more squirrely without the side stability.

Tried to make bait but struck out using sabiki rig with weighted basket with shredded tuna in it to try to temp the little guys...decided just to troll rapalas outside for a while just to get some exercise and warm up, the wind, rain and bow breaking swells had drenched me pretty well...bad decision...

No other kayakers out and most the powerboats bugged out around 10am...swells increased, whitecaps about a mile and a half out...no luck on fish so turned back around and learned a valuable lesson...peddling/paddling into the waves of that size is MUCH easier than coming in...wind had kicked up, large swells coming from both the west and the south pitched the kayak in multiple directions as each swell passed on the way in...thought I was going to flip multiple times...found if I kept my paddle in my left hand and manned the rudder with the right while coming down wave faces I could drag the paddle and keep the bow pointed in the right direction...

Luckily I caught a fantastic break in swell on the way in and was able to beach without a yard sale in front of all the tourists heading out to kayak the caverns...

Anyway, boat is great, seating position is wonderful to fish and peddle from, can't wait to use it on a better day.

If you didn't fish today you didn't miss anything worth experiencing...