Where was this caught?

[carbonbass]

I saw this pic on the front page the other day, will someone explain the times when we could paddle for albies? xD

[bubblehide]

I only know 1 person that can seriously provide a straight up solid answer to this question for kayak fishing. If your serious, talk to Jim Day.

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by bubblehide

I only know 1 person that can seriously provide a straight up solid answer to this question for kayak fishing. If your serious, talk to Jim Day.

Ha ha ha....

Yeah well I've considered it.

The only place you could do it without a mothership would be out of Avila in October when the current swirls in putting warmer water against the shelf drop off at 120 to 150 fathoms. When right the fish come within ten miles of Port San Louis. It's a straight out paddle directly uphill and upwind so once the wind comes up it blows you directly towards the launch. The launch sling doesn't open till 6am and there are no shipping lanes near there if you leave early in the dark you'd be out there before the locals and you wouldn't have to deal with boat traffic until the suns already up.

It's doable but it takes the right conditions. Every year I watch the bite and weather up there waiting for a shot at it. It's not lined up right for enough days in a row for me to get up there and hit it in a yak yet, but eventually I'm going to do it and it's definitely on my list.

I have hit it in small skiffs, and when the fish are there it's absolutely epic fishing.

The last good trip I had up there we were fishing a 18ft Parker, got bit when I first put out the jigs only eight miles out,. We then caught fish steady for four hours straight, on bait plastic and Iron.




It's a better grade of fish then we see down here. All the fish that day were over 35 pounds the largest was over 45 we kept maybe 6 a piece and released more then I could count.

Perfect flat conditions no wind all day. I have no doubt that if I had fished a kayak that day I could of gotten Albacore.

Occasionally little albis will come in to the 9 mile bank, but the closest I've seen them is down by the Coronados and that's really rare and never a sure thing. The difference is that if the conditions are right Avila is as close to a sure thing as you can get. One of these days I am going to get Albacore out of there launching a kayak from shore, I know it can be done up there.

Jim

[Iceman]

The photo is Pat Holmes, first documented to catch an albie from the yak via mothership. He caught several that day in Mexican waters among all the sport boats by trolling the plastic you can see on his rod.

[Saba Slayer]

We need another El Nino season for some local YFT!
I have caught local YFT only 2 miles out of Dana Pt. during the last big warm water El Nino. The fish came in really close to Dana that year and they were under the birds. Easy paddling distance to the fish from the harbor.
I just looked in my old logs and it looks like it was in '97 that the YFT and Dorado were thick that year.
We usually keep a kayak on the 55' Hatteras that we do our summer and fall tuna fishing from...but it seems like the typical "Albie weather" keeps us from launching the yak most trips. It's a blast to catch tuna from the yak...you can also try Rancho Leonaro in the East Cape for a chance at a kayak tuna!
Jim / Saba Slayer