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The WX forecast didn't look very good so I decided to play it safe and stay inside the Bay. I don't fish inside the Bay too often because it is very popular and often crowded and heavily pressured. But I was looking to have a nice, mellow day of paddling around the big blue so I decided to launch from San Carlos Beach, next to the Coastguard jetty/Breakwater.

Met up with my friend Deva at 7:30 and unloaded my gear. I was lucky enough to swoop one of the free parking unloading spots. Unloaded the gear and carried my **** down the stairs to the beach, which is only about 50 feet. Easy portage compared to some of the other crazy bull**** places I fish.

Then took FOREVER to get my car parked and pay for parking! The first ticket-dispensing machine wasn't taking my debit card. So I went back to my car and got my credit card. Then had to wait for 3 other people to try to use the machine. Finally the parking attendant came by and tried it to no avail. So he told us to walk down to the next one (on the jetty) and get one thereD'OH!

Around 8:15, we launched into mini waves at San Carlos Beach and made our way out towards the red bouy to meet up with two other kayak anglers. We were originally set up on the left side of the beach but there were a few rocks in front of us so we dragged our yaks another 50 feet towards the jetty and launched there (amongst a class of about 30 newbie divers). The whole place was PACKED with divers. Not unusual. Just another reminder of why I don't usually fish there.

We ran into Allen Bushnell (kayak fishing guide extrodinaire) and fished with his crew for a bit. He was guiding a group of 4 anglers and they seemed to be doing alright and were having fun. We were getting a consistent bite from an assortment of rockies just outside the kelp: blues, blacks, gophers, grassies, coppers, etc. One of Allen's group pulled up a nice cabezon.

Then we paddled out toward the red bouy and tried to locate a reef that I had in my GPS. We eventually found some structure and a school of fish. Although, it wasn't right on the spots I marked last month. Maybe lasat time I was just over a school of fish instead of bottom structure..Hmmmm?

I pulled up a nice little ling on a white 6" scampi w/red 4oz leadhead but it was only about 21 inches so back he went. He fought really hard though, so that was cool. Then I pulled up a big copper and really got my blood flowing...thinking it was gonna be a good day. But it wasn't all that great. We had trouble staying on top of the reef, despite the zero wind and slow drift; they were going in opposite directions so it was kinda weird. Plus, we had a small boat w/four guys pull up on our spot WTF! It made me wonder if they were listening to us on the radio. It wasn't the worst thing in the world but it was kind of weird.

I ended the day with only 10 or 11 rockfish. Only a couple were worth keeping but I let em all go...except 3 sanddabs that I planned to use as bait. Never ended up using them so I brought them home. Deva got a big ocean whitefish. One of the other guys got a big vermillion. So all-in-all it was a good day. The WX was awesome. Although one of the other dudes said that it was windy earlier, like at 6:30-7:30 (see, another reason to arrive late LOL).

A couple of the fish were floaters because we were fishing about 130ft. So I stuck em on the shelton release and sent em back down. I keep an extra rod rigged with a big 6oz leadhead and a shelton release rigged inline just for such an occasion. It seems to work. Although, a couple fish got wrapped up and didn't come off so I had to reel em back up and untangle before sending them back down again.

I got most of my fish on the squid-tipped shrimpfly above my lure. But I also got a few on the lures too. Most consistent was the white scampi and also a 3.5oz Megabait jig. Last time there, the plastic wasn't working very well so I tied on a big Crocadile spoon and killed it. But I didn't bring any Crocs with me this time. And the Megabaits don't have the same fluttering action as Crocs. I think I'll go buy a few more for the next trip---then I won't forget to bring one!

Unfortunately I don't have any pics of my own to post because I have been using a disposable h2O proof camera, and I still have 8 pics left before developing them. D'OH! Shoulda took more pics. I do have a pic of Deva's big ocean whitefish that I'll post. One of the other dudes took it.

Hopefully next time we have the same WX but better catching!
PK