"As the Water Cools".....

[forefrazier]

So far my 'yak fishing experience has only been limited to the warmer months as I just started this past April. I have noticed a definite slow down at my local launch (Dana Point) and was wondering what the best target species are through the fall and early winter months approaching?

Halibut comes to mind and I am running low in the freezer since this last catch a couple of months ago.....




What do most of you target now that the water is starting to cool down? I would still like to make the odd trip down to LJ once in a while as well if the drive is worth the reward.

Thanks,
Steve

[Zed]

I would look to repeat that hali this winter. Bass will bite. In spite of what steveooo's research showed, there's threshers off OC. Spring will brings shots at WSB --my research shows different. Ha.

I have got yt in Laguna while the lobster pots are out. But this year looks like we didn't get that push of schoolies up the coast. I have a feeling there will still be a bit of bigger yt in shallow around the Domes. The water is still nice.

Winter is just more gear to wear.

[Sherm]

Winter = Lobster season.

[Handymansd]

Don't underestimate the winter Home guard Mossback ! Usually, many more hours otw, per fish, go into finding the elusive winter YT, but past experience will show that they are larger, and fatter than the summer YT. Worth every minute spent searching and freezing your butt off! (Try the B/W Yo-Yo in your favorite spot, or a little deeper) The winter YT seem to prefer a little deeper water most of the time than the summer spots. Again there are many fishermen that know more than me... but there is my 0.02.

Or you can spend your winter months loading up on those California Spiney Lobsters. They go great with YT and Halibut... or anything else for that matter!

[Dennis]

with Chuck.. LJ HOMEGUARDS, Fo sho... More work, but it does pay off.

[Iceman]

Generally I forget about the flyline and get the lead out........and zinc. Wherever ya fish move your focus to deeper waters and further down the water column.

[buki]

Originally Posted by Iceman

Generally I forget about the flyline and get the lead out........and zinc. Wherever ya fish move your focus to deeper waters and further down the water column.

Do you use a dropper loop or a carolina rig? What is the typical weight? And do you troll when the bait is near the bottom?

Thanks in advance.

[steveooo]

Originally Posted by Zed

In spite of what steveooo's research showed, there's threshers off OC.

Try trolling backwards with your pinky up Zeds nose. I hear that works well.

[THE DARKHORSE]

It isn't winter yet, and the water temps have been bouncing around quite a bit, 62 morning and 65 in the afternoon. I'm certainly no expert when it comes to the O.C., thank goodness . As far as La Jolla goes, we are obviously spoiled, kinda like summer fishing year round . This time of year I tend to focus my time on the other local beaches for the flatkind. Find a sandy beach with bait running the surf, and concentrate your efforts just outside of the surfline. The Halibut zone for me has been around 12', lately, and GPS is king. I went to my spot from last week today, but the conditions were completely different, with murky water from all the surf we've had and windy. I questioned myself after launching late with 18 mph wind (Hobie), and thought about turning back to the car before even making bait (ugly ugly ugly), but went straight to my GPS spot and caught a 32" Halibut on my first bait that hit the bottom, then a barely short WSB and more Halibut in the murk, had fun after all.

La Jolla specifically, something's kinda fishy right now, or I should say not fishy. I know plenty of Yellowtail are around, but they aren't in the mood to play. I really think they are eating a resource out in very deep water that will make capitalizing on the bite a challenge to say the least. Hopefully they switch back to fin-bait soon and traditional methods will produce again, but I'm not holding my breath.

I agree with Iceman to an extint on fishing the lower column (especially when metering the majority of the bait on the bottom), but don't completely retire the most natural presentation, the flyline. I know for a fact that Yellowtail will cruise 3'-5' from the surface during every cold month of the year, especially during and after warm spells and sunny weather. After a string of sunny days, the warmest water is on top, right?. Even in January and Feburary I will have a surface-iron tied on, unless squid are present.