6/9/13 - DP Yields New Species For Me

[iethinker]

Hello everyone at BigWatersEdge.com. This is my first post having only started kayak fishing this season. I have had some great fishing thus far anywhere from Del Mar to Dana Point to Belmont Shores.

Anyway, I hit Dana Point again on Sunday June 9th at 6AM. The water conditions were awesome being "glassy" all of the way out and during my session at the headlands kelp.



The catch consisted of many Calocos at least three being legal. Since I caught and tasted some of these last week, all Calicos were catch & release. I also hooked-up with two sheepsheads with one being well beyond legal at 16".



I must say the taste and meat yield of the sheephead was so good that I can't promise all catch and release for future legal sheepsheads. This is the best eating fish I have taken several years of fishing the southern California coast.

I look forward to meeting members of this forum in the future to swap advice and stories. Specifically, some advice on clothing for surflaunching and staying dry. Busting through waves has left me wet and cold at times.

[StinkyMatt]

Welcome to the nut house. This place can be a lot of fun and is full of info.


Great start to your kayaking.


As far as staying dry, the only advice I can provide is stay away from cotton. Invest in a shell top of some kind. Bass pro has a few cheap ones.

Good luck and post up.

Matt

[easyday]

Welcome to the madness. Nice sheep head

Try steaming it and using it flaked over a salad or on a sandwich.
It steams very well because its a very watery meat

Congrats on your fist sheep.

[Iceman]

Always been one of my wife's favorite fish. I just had some sheepie with Panko/lemon pepper fried in olive oil that was delicious.

[Hondatom]

You did alot better than I did on Saturday. My brother caught a 14" sand bass, and I must have had bananas in my yak somewhere cuz all I got was a tini calico.
Conditions for us were rough. Big swells and chop on the way back in.
Fish on brother.

[carbonbass]

care to share what you were using? Artificials? Live bait?

[yakety-yak]

a neoprene wetsuit is sufficient for comfort most months, anything that keeps you 100% dry is overkill here. to make the calico more palatable, try frying it in butter

[ReelNasty]

Just get a 7/5 dry suit...the only water you'll worry about is your sweat.jk. if you don't have them already..get some good waders..ones with a zipper for easy pissing access.its possible without the zipper but a pain in the a$$ to deal with. Pair those with a good water proof jacket. That should keep you dry and warm. Works for me. Also, be patient with the waves..there's usually a dead period, sometimes it takes a 5 min wait, sometimes it takes 30 min.. goodluck.

[alanw]

Originally Posted by carbonbass

care to share what you were using? Artificials? Live bait?

I bet he used ghost shrimp to catch it

[rieffer]

I cut off the top of an old wetsuit for the pants and got a nice water proof jacket. Make it light and breathable. I use the pants only 3-4 months out of the year, if that. Just trunks the rest of the time. If there dyin' try fryin' just olive oil, lemon for two-three minutes. lol

[Jimmyz123]

Very nice.

[Amish Ed]

Man, that's great conditions. I seem to keep getting wind and chop when I go out. Still haven't tried Mother-in-law fish. Bt, then again I don't like fish.

[iethinker]

Originally Posted by carbonbass

care to share what you were using? Artificials? Live bait?

The ghost shrimp guess was right! Both sheepheads came in on that. The Calicos came in on ghost shrimp, cut squid and cut sardine. I have also caught the calicos on big hammers.