L.J. High Stick For The Day (Tues. 4/24 Late Report)
 

High Stick for making bait, that is...

Launched at 6:00 a.m. at the Shores. First beach launch and I couldn't have asked for better conditions at Lake La Jolla.

Paddled out past the cans and jigged up some quality macs, spaniards, and horse sardines. The 'dines were so big they looked like baby tarpon.

Went around the corner and worked the kelp line in around 70' of water. Did a couple of drifts (actually, a couple dozen drifts). Not much current, which I wasn't entirely too pleased with.

Changed bait religiously (every 10 minutes or so) until I was fresh out. Pedalled back in to the 40' range and loaded back up. Then pedalled back out.

About 11:30 or so, on the incoming tide, I sent a fresh salami mackeral (a biiiiiiig fucker) down about 15' or so and put the clicker on. Grabbed an American Spirit and lit it up. While puffing away and pondering when I'm finally gonna kick the habit, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz goes the reel. I gave it a good six count and put the reel in gear, when for some reason the mystery fish dropped the mac .

I gave it another couple of minutes just to see if it may come back and finish off the bait, but "no go". I reeled it in to find a dead salami, crushed with small patches of skin missing but no teeth marks. Hmmmmm..... I'm thinking :yt:?. I know it wasn't a seal because it would have been torn to shreds.

Any thoughts from you guys?

This was pretty much all the excitement for the day. La Jolla's a funny place. Scorching hot one day, then zilch the next. Virtually everyone that day was in the NW corner (3 sporties, about 8 kayaks, and a bunch of PB'ers). I did manage to spot some diving birds about 1,000 yards off the condo to the south west. I'm thinking.... "Should I pedal out there? Nobody's noticing it. Hell yeah!". I get to within 300 yards working my way in front of the activity and get my jig stick ready. No sooner had I done that when a doucher in a W/A (Seaswirl, I think) blasts by me at 25+ knots and proceeds to drive right over the now-visible slashing surface activity. It was actually comical because there was a guy on the bow with a jig stick and he actually proceeded to fire it off (into the wind and while the boats still moving at a very rapid pace). The birds nest must've been huge. I saw him picking at his reel up on the bow while the driver just kept plowing through the diving birds.

I guess he missed that part of the Fred Hall seminar where they teach PB'ers NOT to drive right into the fish.

The preceding "rant" of sorts isn't to demonize the PB'ers, but if they just took the time to learn some little things it would not only make their fishing experience more enjoyable, but also the others out there.

So there I am, bobbing up and down, scratching my head while the birds fly off in different directions not to return. I thought to myself, "Well, it's a mixed blessing, this fine place with all it's life. If it wasn't such a special place, there'd be no idiots to do this kinda stuff, but then again, if it wasn't such a special place it wouldn't be worth fishing in the first place."

Gotta take the bad with the good, and I'll certainly be back.

On a side note, I met a bunch of really cool kayakers out there. It really surprised me how many people had a hard time making bait today. I'm certainly no expert but I found it to be quite easy that particular day.

I took my father-in-law out with me, and he's of the opinion that we can figure this stuff out on our own. I'm of the following opinion: "Fuck that!".

I wanna learn from the guys that call this place "Home". Spoke to Pelicanus Occidentalis briefly at the launch in the morning. He had a client to take out so I kept it short and friendly to a handshake, a smile, and a future undetermined as-of-yet appt. with the La Jolla Dr. of Death.

Father-in-law started getting tired around 2:00 so we called it a day, started pedalling back in with my back turned to the hardcore guys who get results (you know, the ones who put in a FULL DAY and catch fish during a tough bite).

I don't know how others fared, but the ones who called it a day early didn't catch shit. I can say this for certain: The guys who put in the most time on Tuesday certainly had moments, however fleeting they may have been, to capitalize on a potential lunker.

Crushed, no teeth marks, that certainly sounds like a yellow.
Too bad about the jackass that could have made it productive for him and you with a little common sense. Visually speaking, from what you said, it sounds like a good school of yellows you might have had a chance at until...
Thanks for the timely report, better luck next time, and congrats on your first LJ beach launch.

Why thank you kind sir and madam. As far as luck goes, I'll need plenty of it. But just being on the water, learning to read conditions better makes me the luckiest guy in the world. The fish, when they do manage to scarf down my offerings, are just an added bonus. At this point, I don't really care about the fish (not primarily, but secondarily of course). It's about paying dues and learning how to maximize my productivity to accelerate my learning curve.

One thing I don't want is to go out when it's just stupid good out there. I won't learn a thing. I like the challenge of a tough plunker-style bite because it forces me to think outside of the box.

When I take the plunge and go with Josh, I hope it's on a day when conditions are a bit tougher. If I go out when it's easy (for him) I won't learn as much. I wanna see that guy work for a bite, which I am sure he does far more often than not after my experience on Tuesday.

Great report. Sounds like the mossbacks are starting to go for bait.

If it was, in fact, a forkie it must've been lost. I figured all those guys out at the NW corner had them all surrounded :D

My first inclination was that it was either a ghost or a dolphin, maybe even a halibut that came up off the bottom (fished adjacent to some non-rocky bottom). But after seeing virtually no teeth wounds on the mangled fatty I must conclude with you. Elementary, my dear Novotson.

Geeez Tuesday sounded horrible.

I had a guy in a seapro fly full speed into and on top of a spot of foaming fish not too long ago and look up at Dos Ballenas and I and said;
"Hey guys did you see those Yellows"

I couldnt help but laugh hysterically, not that kayakers are any better theres donkeys amongst us too, as well as legendary skiff drivers and sporty captains to balance things out, its not just PB'ers.

Sounds like the hype and the bite has gone to bed thank god.

Terrible Tuesdays..... ugfffffffffffffff

That run and gun to the YT can just make folks in to fools. Especially when there are other boats around. Thier mentality changes to race mode and just getting ot he boil first becomes the whole point. They can't move up wind and slow down because SOME ONE will get to the boil befor them. Makes me feel a bit sorry for the fish, every time they start to eat they get thier hair cut. Oh and of course the some one elses that don't get to catch fish either. Mike

Sounds a lot like last Saturday

it got kinda tougher later in the day
wind wipped up
and some white caps insued

i was also out there on tues
no prob with making bait
just no hits for me even after 11 hours

only saw Josh and client later on nerby
inspired me to stick it out and the afternoon settled down
but still nada

some birds werkin bait
later on too

I do hope you get your wish and have alot of tuesdays ahead of you. Just not sure of your logic?. Catching a good fish just adds to the experience and learning curve in my opinion. Three simple stages of fishing...1) find the fish 2) catch the fish 3)land the fish. Hope you can someday think outside the box and put all three together.

Not to 'dis' you, Jerry, but I'll agree with Dorado. You'll find plenty of tough days. But, getting that first yellow or white on a 'yak is experience worth achieving, ASAP.
Also, it may have been your first instinct in thinking what you did about that bite you had, but I'm sure you reconsidered once you saw the bait. The bait would have teeth marks if a WSB or halibut. A dolphin taking your bait is probably one in a million, or more. Julie and I've been doing the LJ thing for over 6 years, seen 10,000 or more dolphins come right by us, not once, did they even slow down when we were soaking 4 live mackeral at the time. They're generally way too smart for that. In fact in 40+ years of ocean fishing I've never seen it happen, nor had any bonafide report of it happening. I suppose it's possible, and someone will probably chime in that they heard/saw/etc...
Now, if you're only left with the head of your mackeral on a good bite, 99% of the time or more, it's a seal. They are getting annoyingly smart, and will take your bait, often leaving the head.
Your "want to learn" attitude is refreshing. Hope some of this info helps.

I guess I worded it poorly. Yes, of course, I want to catch fish. Otherwise I could have spent a helluva lot less money than I spent getting the Pro Angler. The thought I was trying to convey was that I'd rather learn and earn those fish than than simply catch a fish out of blind stupid luck.

Again your logic escapes me!. Alot of my(and others I'm sure) best and biggest fish were caught on "blind stupid luck". This type of luck is very welcomed at tournament time by the way. Fish are caught in a variety of ways,no matter how or why. A PA won't help you catch fish any better than a float tube. I hope you figure it all out someday......:D

Blind stupid luck hits all of us. My point was about learning taking a precedence over blind luck results. Yes, indeed, I want to catch fish. But I would like to catch fish knowing WHY I caught fish. That was my point, and my logic.

I wrote originally that as of right now my secondary priority was catching fish, not my top priority. What I meant was that learning was the top priority to me. The secondary priority would take care of itself if I took care of the top priority.

As far as the PA comment I originally made, I meant that if I had no interest whatsoever in catching fish I wouldn't have gotten it. Not sure what you were inferring regarding the float tube / PA in your reply as it didn't really have anything to do with my intention in the previous post when I made the PA comment.

Nice report, I like.
It's got that ol' school feel. :cheers1:
Ditto on likely yella' for that bite.
Sure you can figure it out yourself - hiring a guide will certainly shorten up the learning curve.
It doesn't sound like you're doing anything wrong - it's just the matter of time. ;)

Thanks Lamb! Certainly gonna hit Josh up when the schedule allows me. Can't wait to absorb what I can from him and you all on this site! Most definitely a wealth of knowledge abounds here.

Again, Jerry, not to discount your theories. But...
Julie and I are so old-school, if they still had 286 computers, that's probably what we'd own. I wouldn't own a cell phone if it wasn't for the need to be on alert for job interviews and such.
We don't have fish finders. We won't be getting peddlers, until we're in our 60s (less than a decade away), or our Fish 'n' Dives take a dive. Our bait tanks are great, but homemade, etc, etc.
If your #1 priority is learning, but also "paying dues", you're cheating yourself by going the guide route. How's that paying dues?
We never took the guide route. Back when we started, Jim Sammons was the "only" guide. But, if you want to learn fast and have early success, there's little doubt, both The Kid and Darkhorse can take you there.
We always joked about barnacles, our reference to someone following in your wake because they've read about your success, which often leads to ruining one's own chances at catching fish. Anytime, we'd see Iceman, Arne, Madscientist, etc, we might come by and say hello, but we never barnacle-ized to them, which is another thing you and others might learn here, from an etiquette standpoint.
Now, of course, if there was a bite going on in the area they were fishing, all bets are off. Short of running a PB at 10 knots smack into the middle of the "hot zone", everyone should be allowed to score when the right kind are biting.
If it's the learning by experience route you want, make bait where you can, fish like others, baits high and low, in the only places allowed by the MLPA, and you'll eventually get your fish, and experience.

Appreciate your input Aaron (or is it Julie), indeed I want to learn. Certainly I want to learn at an accelerated pace, which is why JP's phone will be ringing sooner rather than later. Yes, I want to earn my fish based upon what I have learned. Whether it be my own experiences or with a pro guide.

I kinda look at fishing how some look at a Hole-In-One on the golf course.... To get it to the green in one drive is pure skill. To make it directly into the hole on that same shot is pure luck. So getting on the fish, making bait takes "knowledge" but getting them to suck one down can be maddeningly random at times. :hmmmm: So, SK.... be one with the randomness... Be 100% satisfied with dumb luck, just be sure to keep a mental note of what, when, where, why and how high you were when it happened and eventually that randomness becomes surprisingly predictable. Dunno HOW that happens...?? :)

I'd definitely would hire a professional guide at first so you can get the feel of a catching a primo sized fish. I went out with the Sea Samurai last December and I must say a 41 lb. YT sure hits like a freight train! And now I know I can handle it by myself next time.

So now I have a bit more confidence, but I'm definitely still far from a good kayak fisherman. Only time on the water will help get you better.