Against my better judgement, Dana Point today
 

I can't make it out next weekend and wanted to hit the water so I loaded up and went down there this morning. Got a scoop of chovies from the barge and headed out to the outside. Made the turn around the break wall, run away, run away! Outside the wall was not for me, with those swells I'd be swimming for sure. Inside had its challenges too, tide was dropping, fast, it was like being in a river. Spent a few hours fishing inside the wall, you could hear big waves crashing on the other side, sometimes a good amount of spray/wave was coming over the top. Got one small calico on my 2nd to last chovie. Dropped some plastic after that, no luck, so I headed in for lunch and a beer. F&G met me on ramp, taking a survey. He said lots of people fishing from the launch this weekend, very few caught anything.

Chris

I'm not sure how familiar you are with DP but if the swells are a bit too much for you outside, you can try going to the left towards Doheny beach. The swells (and wind) there are usually sheltered some and there can be good fishing around that area too.

I actually did go there for a little bit just before coming in, current was strong there too and the same steady wind as elsewhere.

Overall I didn't mind the fishing I got in, the against better judgement part was more about being on the water on a holiday weekend. Tons of traffic. The rental place there can take a few weeks off now, they had a line waiting for things to come back in so they could go right back out.

I was out there too this am and launched from the ramp at 4:30 fished til 8:30 off the water and loaded up at 9. Work by 10, life is good.

The swell was up, surfline had waves at doho between 4-5 ft. waves were crashing over the outer break-wall. It looked pretty cool.

chovies from the barge were small and weak. Most died before 7 am.

headed south to fish near the beach, but waves were consistent and big. Stayed in 25 feet of water near the read bouey south of the harbor mouth. Manged 2 (of what I think) were bonito which is a first for me. Anyone else catch bonito before at dana?

Also in the mix. . . 1 calico 14 inches reluctantly released, a couple baby WSB and a huge surf smelt (i think).

If the go pro 1 button feature worked, I should have images to share when I get home for positive fish IDs.

The bonito have been tearing up my sabikis for a couple weeks now. Haven't seen any over 12 inches but there are acres of them out there.

Rossman- Thanks for clearing the Bonito question, they were in the mix of fish/birds feeding on the school of chovies. The ones I had were about 8-10 inches.

Here was the biggest fish of the morning for me. Some variety of smelt...

Not sure but I think those are called jack smelt.

you'd be correct!

Alan W, :"I'm not sure how familiar you are with DP"??

I know you're not familiar with Dana Pt this time of year. Sending people
to the left into Doho when the waves are crashing over the marina's
jetty is just plain wrong.

It's true, there's good fishing there, but, the waves are not sheltered there.
Since Doho faces south and the waves are coming in from the south.
On top of that, the place is crawling with surfers.

The lifeguards won't let kayakfisherman anywhere near the surfers.
Plus the surfers are sitting on top of the fishing holes.

If people are worried about the waves, this time of year, send them north
to the west facing beaches.

This is just a lesson. Don't take offense. Lots of newbies will see you're
from Dana and you've got a ton of posts, so they'll take you at your word.

Spend more time learning about the seasonal changes in your area before
guiding others.

I'll vouch for that. I went to doho on a south swell against my better judgement even though wave and wind predictions were low. Unfortunately if was one of the only days I had time to get down there, so I took my chances. Turned out to be fairly hefty south swells and solid wind. It sucked b-holes, and the waves weren't even crashing over the jetty.

No offense taken, and good advice given. I haven't been out recently but was out just about every other weekend from August till December and then again from January till about six weeks ago, and south to Doheny has been relatively calm the most of the time. That's why I said he could "try" going south to see how it is. I should have looked at the swell charts before posting. Going miles north when there are rough conditions is just not an option for me nor would I recommend it to anyone.

Also I'm aware of the surfers at Doho.. kayaks are not permitted to be within 1000 feet of the high tide mark at any time of year at Doheny, but south of Thor's Hammer (SUP launch area) is ok as long as you maintain minimum 100 feet distance from swimmers/surfers. Violations could cost you up to a $450.00 fine.

Doho can be a tricky place during these south swells and during tide changes. I've seen/been caught by outside sneaker waves during the day and at night, which can seriously mess-up your fishing/hooping session. Generally, you won't worry about boats buzzing you in this near shore area, your head needs to be on a swivel for these outside waves. Your also have to mindful of the wind, having to paddle back to the harbor against the wind could be more than you bargained for.

So to first-timers, if your visiting a new area... do your homework. watch for winds, swells, tides and overall conditions.