Newport Report 1/19

[Dark_Knight_9C1]

I am new at Kayak fishing and have only gone out 4 times out of Newport so far. Most I have caught is one Lizard fish but have been learning what it takes.
Anyway, on Saturday 1/19 the water was smooth and clear and 56 segrees. I went out to GPS mark some of the lobster trap areas for rockfishing in March but I did wet my line a few times in hopes of catching something. I went from the harbor to Balboa Pier then back to Corona del Mar and back into the harbor. Dropped my line in a few places my fishfinder found fish but not a bite. I did catch a whale on video as it passed withing 15 feet of my kayak. That was quite exciting. Overall a great day on the water and decided to pack it up around 3:30 and see if I could break the skunk from shore as the sun set.
Caught 7 surf perch by Balboa pier as the sun set. Seems the fish are scarce when the water is clear. But in the morning before the sun comes up and as the sun is setting the fish come out to play.
I hope to take the kayak out more in the future and look forward to posting a success story soon.

Cheers!

[socal_matt]

have you ever thought of trying the kelp off of corona del mar. I've fished off of newport countless times and there's much more to catch than just lizardfish. My advice, buy some frozen shrimp, have a dropper loop setup with two size 4 hooks with a 3 oz weight and then just drop down in between the kelp stringers. Thats what I did when I first started kayak fishing, I've pulled up some fat sheephead, good sized bass, sculpin, and other types of fish by using this method. When you do this, try to target the outer kelp stringers, since the inside is filled with little kelpfish that will destroy your bait.