Mid-term Exam, Friday LJ - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

dsafety · 09-25-2009, 10:44 PM

Last week, I spent the day with my friend the Darkhorse. It was supposed to be just a day when a couple of friends decided to go fishing together, but I’m no dummy. When in the company of a guy with Josh’s skill set, most people would probably pay close attention to what the white faced man was doing. I am no exception. To me, it was Yellowtail fishing 101. I paid very close attention, learned a lot and even managed to catch a nice fish.

Well, today was the Mid-term exam. It was my chance to see if I could catch a fish without Josh’s help. The short version of this story is that I passed the test and will be studying hard so that I can do well on the final.

It was an interesting day. I made arrangements to fish with my new good luck charm Chris, who has been catching fish on every recent outing and was nearby when I caught my fist notable fish last week. We met at the launch Friday AM and were joined by a number other LJ regulars. Josh was there with a new client. Frank, Brian and several other members of our little society were there as well. The surf was minimal and everyone launched without incident.

The problem was that the fog was so thick that as soon as you left the beach, all visual references were gone. I had not experienced this before. Without GPS, which Chris and I both lacked, it was virtually impossible to know where we were at any point in time. We were also very concerned about being run over by a power boat. Whenever we heard one in the distance, we started yelling, just to make sure we were on their radar. More on the fog later.

We made bait very easily and peddled to the “spot”. Actually, we probably never made it to the spot because we were never very sure where we were due to the reduced visibility. We could not even see the sun. The only clue we could occasionally pick up was a rare swell, heading semi-east.

The next couple hours were spent trolling our greenies, back and forth, back and forth. We were never sure where we were but tried to stay in the zone based on depth readings from our fish finders. This strategy can be problematic because if you troll in 85 feet because that’s where the fish were last week and this week they are in 120 feet, you will miss the party. While the fish finder was helpful in keeping us at the correct depth, it was no help when it came to positioning within the fishing grounds. At one point, we were fairly sure we were off the condo until we almost ran into one of the buoys marking the preserve.

Thankfully, the dogs mostly left us alone. They were probably lounging in their newly created, publicly funded sanctuary at the Children’s pool. (Please don’t respond telling me that the CP is now a Seal sanctuary not one for Seal Lions. I know the difference but just wanted to use this opportunity to make a lame political opinion statement).

Anyway, on with the story. At about 9:00 my bait started getting really nervous. This was the first bait of the day and it was still really frisky. There was a bump… then another and a third. After about 20 seconds, my line started peeling off. Fish on… maybe. The run stopped and then suddenly started up again. I put my reel in gear and we were off to the races.

The fish fought hard for fifteen minutes or so. Being relatively inexperienced at catching large fish, I was not sure what I had on. It did not feel like the YT from last week. There were periods of steady pressure when the fish took a hundred yards of line or more. There were other periods in which the retrieve was little more than dead weight. Chris, who was witnessing the event, suggested that it might be a WSB. I did not have a clue.

Eventually, I saw color. I was still not sure what flavor fish I had on. I continued to gently work him to the surface. It was a YT. Smaller than last week’s fish by a couple pounds, (I weighed it at home, it came in at about 17 lbs.)

In case I failed to mention it before, I am a fairly inexperienced fisherman. This would be the first time that I would have the opportunity to try out the shiny new gaff that I got as a Christmas gift. The bad news is that I have never gaffed a fish before. The good news is that this fish was so tired when he came to my kayak that all I needed to do was lift him from the water with my gaff. The point never penetrated his belly. I am sure that the next time it will not be so easy so if someone wants to give me gaffing lessons, I ‘m game.

I do not keep fish that I do not plan to eat and two big fish in a week fills my freezer. I was ready to head in but decided to keep fishing for a while to see if I could catch another nice fish and release it as my friend Josh often does. Not today.

There was a very interesting event that occurred while all of this was going on. One of our Kayak Fishing brothers peddled up to Chris and I and told an interesting story. I do not know this guy but have seen him around on his tiny Hobie Sport kayak. Someone told me his name is Leonardo, so I will use that name in this part of the story.

Apparently Leonardo was peddling to the fishing grounds, in the fog like the rest of us, when he ran across one of those LJ Cove swimmers who had lost his bearings. As the story was told to me, the swimmer had no idea where he was in the fog and was swimming the wrong direction. When Leonardo found him, he was in the middle of the fishing grounds, headed to Japan.

I got this story second hand and cannot vouch for the details. I did talk to Leonardo and confirmed that he took time out of his day fishing to drag the exhausted swimmer back to the Cove. Regardless of the details, Leonardo, (or whomever did this), probably saved a life today. As a former Lifeguard, I can appreciate this and would like to commend Leonardo for his efforts. Of course, we would all have done the same, but on this day, the swimmer was very lucky that Leo crossed his path as the visibility was only a couple hundred feet.

Back to fishing. Given the fact that I already had my fish early and was playing hooking from work, I headed in. I am not sure how the others that were out that day did. I do know that Chris, my fishing partner for the day, spent most of the day on the water with little to show for his efforts. This has been the way this summer has gone. It’s slow… then it’s not… then it’s slow again.

After nine months of zeros, I have two nice fish in about a week. The only thing I can think of that has made the difference is my little class with Josh. Thank you professor.

Bob

467echo · 09-25-2009, 10:57 PM

you seasoned vet Bob! Nice YT. You are real good with the photo shop fog in the backround too!

deepdvr · 09-25-2009, 11:26 PM

Way to go Bob!!!

I had the luxury of riding with Chris the day before and he undoubtedly helped me find my first kayak YT. Next time I go to Vegas.....I'm bringing him with me!

dniss · 09-26-2009, 09:45 AM

Gotta love that turn of phrase: "playing hooking" from work".
Thanks for the report. I got my first YT several weeks ago (a relative dink) and have had no luck on my several outings since, but I plan to keep plugging away. Your report is encouraging. One of these days I'll pony up for a lesson from zen master Josh, but I kind of like trying to figure things out myself first. Glutton for punishment, I guess.

dos ballenas · 09-26-2009, 09:47 AM

Now were talking!

THE DARKHORSE · 09-26-2009, 12:24 PM

[
"The fish fought hard for fifteen minutes or so. Being relatively inexperienced at catching large fish, I was not sure what I had on. It did not feel like the YT from last week. There were periods of steady pressure when the fish took a hundred yards of line or more. There were other periods in which the retrieve was little more than dead weight. Chris, who was witnessing the event, suggested that it might be a WSB. I did not have a clue." [Quote]

I guess it helps not having a guy holding onto your bow screaming "turn the handle, turn the handle, turn the damn handle, finish it now!"

.

On a side note, after my trip with you last week and in an effort to show some compassion for clients who just want to "enjoy the fight" (you know, relax and watch the rod bend while being towed around for a while). I had you in mind while trying not to scream at my client "turn the handle, finish it now!" yesterday. Then, had the pleasure of watching a Sealion rip my clients Yellowtail away...three feet from the gaff or one more turn of the handle. So that's it, I'm going back to what I know works.

This line might sound familiar to quite a few people out there: "you can fight the next one however you want, but this one's making it in the boat".

dorado50 · 09-26-2009, 03:32 PM

Nice catch! Next class "seamanship 101".....

Hypoxic1 · 09-26-2009, 05:06 PM

Bob,
truly a pleasure taking the ride with you yesterday. The most entertaining part of the day was watching that bass style pole bent in half, like Josh described in another post. I swear it looked like it was going to snap in half. The fog was disorienting and didnt break til about 1130 at which time I had an idea how truely close we were to the beach......abour 400 yds outside the sanctuary. You handled it nicely, a fish earned no doubt.

I went outside when I knew where the hell I was and got stuck with a bonito I wound up tossing to a seal to keep his attention away from another guy who seemed like he was lit up.

They call it fishing, not catching

What a great sport, met some nice folks that day.

On the swimmer, major darwin award winner. Im sure the kayaker saved his or her life that day.The soup was so thick that a disoriented swimmer in the water wouldnt have had a snowballs chance in hell of survival. I think the guys name is Leonardo, see him frequently on the water. Nice guy, probably saved a life Friday.

Congratulations Bob.
Get a more stout rod. You get into a big seabass with that thing you are toast.

Yor new friend
Chris

TCS · 09-26-2009, 05:28 PM

These last two posts do a great job of putting your great catches in the context of many outings and hours on the water and describing the near misses and temptation to thow in the towel. It makes the story of your catch a better one.

Congratulations.

After reading that, I think we'll all be out there tomorrow.

skatino · 09-26-2009, 06:20 PM

[QUOTE=THE DARKHORSE;45063][
"The fish fought hard for fifteen minutes or so. Being relatively inexperienced at catching large fish, I was not sure what I had on. It did not feel like the YT from last week. There were periods of steady pressure when the fish took a hundred yards of line or more. There were other periods in which the retrieve was little more than dead weight. Chris, who was witnessing the event, suggested that it might be a WSB. I did not have a clue."

Quote:

I guess it helps not having a guy holding onto your bow screaming "turn the handle, turn the handle, turn the damn handle, finish it now!"

.

On a side note, after my trip with you last week and in an effort to show some compassion for clients who just want to "enjoy the fight" (you know, relax and watch the rod bend while being towed around for a while). I had you in mind while trying not to scream at my client "turn the handle, finish it now!" yesterday. Then, had the pleasure of watching a Sealion rip my clients Yellowtail away...three feet from the gaff or one more turn of the handle. So that's it, I'm going back to what I know works.

This line might sound familiar to quite a few people out there: "you can fight the next one however you want, but this one's making it in the boat".

I was in the area watching your client work that fish. THAT SUCKS ABOUT THE SEALION. I watched it all happen.

Earlier just before your client hooked up, the guy I was fishing with (thanks again for letting me tag along Brian) hooked up on the right kind. Saw the dogs coming so he let it run, and the fish kelped him!

I am addicted now, even though I didn't hook a fish....hell to be honest, making bait was fun for me!

Steve

Sherm · 09-27-2009, 10:33 AM

Sounds like a great day on the water....even with the fog.

Fishing with Josh is a learning experience if you approach it the right way. I learned much from him and am batting 1000 on the YT since the last time we fished together. Too bad we didn't boat fish together Josh. That will be another day.

Again.....nice report and fish.

emrliquidlife · 09-27-2009, 11:09 AM

I'm new to the board. Is Josh a guide? I'd really like the opportunity to fish La Jolla before the weather turns.

Are there any other guides that people recommend?

dsafety · 09-27-2009, 12:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by emrliquidlife

I'd really like the opportunity to fish La Jolla before the weather turns.

The last time I remember the "weather turning", was sometime during the 20th century. Our rainy season seems like it is only a few weeks long and getting shorter every year. They say that this will be an El Nino year and that as a result, we might get more rain than normal. I sure hope so.

Even in the dead of winter, there are lots of hardy souls out fishing on their kayaks. The target fish changes from YT to rock fish and WSB but they are as tasty as the YT.

Bob

j mo · 09-27-2009, 01:31 PM

New Avi? That one you have now looks like your about to strum a tune on your fish banjo

09-25-2009, 10:44 PM	#1
dsafety Olivenhain Bob Join Date: May 2008 Location: Olivenhain, CA Posts: 1,121	Mid-term Exam, Friday LJ Last week, I spent the day with my friend the Darkhorse. It was supposed to be just a day when a couple of friends decided to go fishing together, but I’m no dummy. When in the company of a guy with Josh’s skill set, most people would probably pay close attention to what the white faced man was doing. I am no exception. To me, it was Yellowtail fishing 101. I paid very close attention, learned a lot and even managed to catch a nice fish. Well, today was the Mid-term exam. It was my chance to see if I could catch a fish without Josh’s help. The short version of this story is that I passed the test and will be studying hard so that I can do well on the final. It was an interesting day. I made arrangements to fish with my new good luck charm Chris, who has been catching fish on every recent outing and was nearby when I caught my fist notable fish last week. We met at the launch Friday AM and were joined by a number other LJ regulars. Josh was there with a new client. Frank, Brian and several other members of our little society were there as well. The surf was minimal and everyone launched without incident. The problem was that the fog was so thick that as soon as you left the beach, all visual references were gone. I had not experienced this before. Without GPS, which Chris and I both lacked, it was virtually impossible to know where we were at any point in time. We were also very concerned about being run over by a power boat. Whenever we heard one in the distance, we started yelling, just to make sure we were on their radar. More on the fog later. We made bait very easily and peddled to the “spot”. Actually, we probably never made it to the spot because we were never very sure where we were due to the reduced visibility. We could not even see the sun. The only clue we could occasionally pick up was a rare swell, heading semi-east. The next couple hours were spent trolling our greenies, back and forth, back and forth. We were never sure where we were but tried to stay in the zone based on depth readings from our fish finders. This strategy can be problematic because if you troll in 85 feet because that’s where the fish were last week and this week they are in 120 feet, you will miss the party. While the fish finder was helpful in keeping us at the correct depth, it was no help when it came to positioning within the fishing grounds. At one point, we were fairly sure we were off the condo until we almost ran into one of the buoys marking the preserve. Thankfully, the dogs mostly left us alone. They were probably lounging in their newly created, publicly funded sanctuary at the Children’s pool. (Please don’t respond telling me that the CP is now a Seal sanctuary not one for Seal Lions. I know the difference but just wanted to use this opportunity to make a lame political opinion statement). Anyway, on with the story. At about 9:00 my bait started getting really nervous. This was the first bait of the day and it was still really frisky. There was a bump… then another and a third. After about 20 seconds, my line started peeling off. Fish on… maybe. The run stopped and then suddenly started up again. I put my reel in gear and we were off to the races. The fish fought hard for fifteen minutes or so. Being relatively inexperienced at catching large fish, I was not sure what I had on. It did not feel like the YT from last week. There were periods of steady pressure when the fish took a hundred yards of line or more. There were other periods in which the retrieve was little more than dead weight. Chris, who was witnessing the event, suggested that it might be a WSB. I did not have a clue. Eventually, I saw color. I was still not sure what flavor fish I had on. I continued to gently work him to the surface. It was a YT. Smaller than last week’s fish by a couple pounds, (I weighed it at home, it came in at about 17 lbs.) In case I failed to mention it before, I am a fairly inexperienced fisherman. This would be the first time that I would have the opportunity to try out the shiny new gaff that I got as a Christmas gift. The bad news is that I have never gaffed a fish before. The good news is that this fish was so tired when he came to my kayak that all I needed to do was lift him from the water with my gaff. The point never penetrated his belly. I am sure that the next time it will not be so easy so if someone wants to give me gaffing lessons, I ‘m game. I do not keep fish that I do not plan to eat and two big fish in a week fills my freezer. I was ready to head in but decided to keep fishing for a while to see if I could catch another nice fish and release it as my friend Josh often does. Not today. There was a very interesting event that occurred while all of this was going on. One of our Kayak Fishing brothers peddled up to Chris and I and told an interesting story. I do not know this guy but have seen him around on his tiny Hobie Sport kayak. Someone told me his name is Leonardo, so I will use that name in this part of the story. Apparently Leonardo was peddling to the fishing grounds, in the fog like the rest of us, when he ran across one of those LJ Cove swimmers who had lost his bearings. As the story was told to me, the swimmer had no idea where he was in the fog and was swimming the wrong direction. When Leonardo found him, he was in the middle of the fishing grounds, headed to Japan. I got this story second hand and cannot vouch for the details. I did talk to Leonardo and confirmed that he took time out of his day fishing to drag the exhausted swimmer back to the Cove. Regardless of the details, Leonardo, (or whomever did this), probably saved a life today. As a former Lifeguard, I can appreciate this and would like to commend Leonardo for his efforts. Of course, we would all have done the same, but on this day, the swimmer was very lucky that Leo crossed his path as the visibility was only a couple hundred feet. Back to fishing. Given the fact that I already had my fish early and was playing hooking from work, I headed in. I am not sure how the others that were out that day did. I do know that Chris, my fishing partner for the day, spent most of the day on the water with little to show for his efforts. This has been the way this summer has gone. It’s slow… then it’s not… then it’s slow again. After nine months of zeros, I have two nice fish in about a week. The only thing I can think of that has made the difference is my little class with Josh. Thank you professor. Bob Last edited by dsafety; 09-26-2009 at 08:39 AM.

09-25-2009, 10:57 PM	#2
467echo Rookie of the Month Club Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Mira Mesa Posts: 483	you seasoned vet Bob! Nice YT. You are real good with the photo shop fog in the backround too! __________________ they are getting bigger....

09-26-2009, 09:47 AM	#5
dos ballenas Vampyroteuthis infernalis Join Date: Nov 2005 Posts: 585	Now were talking! __________________ ____________________________________________

09-26-2009, 12:24 PM	#6
THE DARKHORSE Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Seven minutes from the launch! Posts: 987	Making the professor proud indeed! [ "The fish fought hard for fifteen minutes or so. Being relatively inexperienced at catching large fish, I was not sure what I had on. It did not feel like the YT from last week. There were periods of steady pressure when the fish took a hundred yards of line or more. There were other periods in which the retrieve was little more than dead weight. Chris, who was witnessing the event, suggested that it might be a WSB. I did not have a clue." [Quote] I guess it helps not having a guy holding onto your bow screaming "turn the handle, turn the handle, turn the damn handle, finish it now!" . On a side note, after my trip with you last week and in an effort to show some compassion for clients who just want to "enjoy the fight" (you know, relax and watch the rod bend while being towed around for a while). I had you in mind while trying not to scream at my client "turn the handle, finish it now!" yesterday. Then, had the pleasure of watching a Sealion rip my clients Yellowtail away...three feet from the gaff or one more turn of the handle. So that's it, I'm going back to what I know works. This line might sound familiar to quite a few people out there: "you can fight the next one however you want, but this one's making it in the boat". __________________

09-26-2009, 05:06 PM	#8
Hypoxic1 Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Oceanside Posts: 215	Nice fish Bob< looks like you passed Bob, truly a pleasure taking the ride with you yesterday. The most entertaining part of the day was watching that bass style pole bent in half, like Josh described in another post. I swear it looked like it was going to snap in half. The fog was disorienting and didnt break til about 1130 at which time I had an idea how truely close we were to the beach......abour 400 yds outside the sanctuary. You handled it nicely, a fish earned no doubt. I went outside when I knew where the hell I was and got stuck with a bonito I wound up tossing to a seal to keep his attention away from another guy who seemed like he was lit up. They call it fishing, not catching What a great sport, met some nice folks that day. On the swimmer, major darwin award winner. Im sure the kayaker saved his or her life that day.The soup was so thick that a disoriented swimmer in the water wouldnt have had a snowballs chance in hell of survival. I think the guys name is Leonardo, see him frequently on the water. Nice guy, probably saved a life Friday. Congratulations Bob. Get a more stout rod. You get into a big seabass with that thing you are toast. Yor new friend Chris

09-25-2009, 11:26 PM	#3
deepdvr Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2009 Location: Carlsbad Posts: 591	Way to go Bob!!! I had the luxury of riding with Chris the day before and he undoubtedly helped me find my first kayak YT. Next time I go to Vegas.....I'm bringing him with me!

09-26-2009, 09:45 AM	#4
dniss Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Posts: 77	Gotta love that turn of phrase: "playing hooking" from work". Thanks for the report. I got my first YT several weeks ago (a relative dink) and have had no luck on my several outings since, but I plan to keep plugging away. Your report is encouraging. One of these days I'll pony up for a lesson from zen master Josh, but I kind of like trying to figure things out myself first. Glutton for punishment, I guess.

09-26-2009, 03:32 PM	#7
dorado50 Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: La Jolla Shores Posts: 1,626	Nice catch! Next class "seamanship 101".....

09-26-2009, 05:28 PM	#9
TCS Senior Member Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 478	Great Story These last two posts do a great job of putting your great catches in the context of many outings and hours on the water and describing the near misses and temptation to thow in the towel. It makes the story of your catch a better one. Congratulations. After reading that, I think we'll all be out there tomorrow.

09-27-2009, 10:33 AM	#11
Sherm Senior Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: San Diego Posts: 490	Sounds like a great day on the water....even with the fog. Fishing with Josh is a learning experience if you approach it the right way. I learned much from him and am batting 1000 on the YT since the last time we fished together. Too bad we didn't boat fish together Josh. That will be another day. Again.....nice report and fish.

09-27-2009, 11:09 AM	#12
emrliquidlife Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 59	I'm new to the board. Is Josh a guide? I'd really like the opportunity to fish La Jolla before the weather turns. Are there any other guides that people recommend?

09-27-2009, 01:31 PM	#14
j mo Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Encinitas Posts: 600	New Avi? That one you have now looks like your about to strum a tune on your fish banjo