YT Season?

[Mr_Fixit]

1) Is YT season done? I dont see many people talking about catching much out there these days.

2) I have been wanting to fish the SD bay. I am not sure where a good launch point is, nor do I have any idea where to fish. I like to catch buts, but rockfish are also good. Anyone willing to give up some tips on this?

[kirkdavis]

Shelter island is a good launch. Use your free to find eel grass for sportiest and there are sandy areas such as the anchorage by shelter island for butts.

[Zed]

Free tip: There is yellowtail to be caught at LJ 365d/y.

If you react to someones report on a catch you will probably not get one the next day. Follow the bait. Fish deeper. Enjoy not seeing anyone.

[Mr_Fixit]

Originally Posted by Zed

Free tip: There is yellowtail to be caught at LJ 365d/y.

If you react to someones report on a catch you will probably not get one the next day. Follow the bait. Fish deeper. Enjoy not seeing anyone.

Its funny you say Enjoy not seeing anyone because the one time I caught a YT is when I went far away from the gaggle.

Thanks for the tip.

[Bruntoj]

I'm fairly new to kayak fishing so going through the same earning curve when it comes to fishing spots and launches. I trailer my PA14 so parking is an additional complication sometimes.

In SD bay so far I've tried Shelter Island (easy, official-and-free trailer parking) and also Tidelands over on Coronado (a little stressed about taking up 2 parking spots in case there was any localism). Both were easy launches. Saw a garbage can lid-sized ray hanging out in the shallows at Tidelands.

Unfortunately fishing was really slow back when I tried them so I can't offer any advice there. Been expanding into ocean spots since then (Carlsbad, Solana Beach and LJ)


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[addicted2sp33d]

I think this might be a legit question this year, given that the kelp beds which "anchor" the homeguards are significantly reduced.

What do the professionals/veterans think?

I was out in La Jolla this past weekend and it may have been the most quiet I've ever seen the place - just endless fields of buoys.

I spent time inside the buoy field, outside the buoy field, north of the buoys, west of the buoys, at one point I was literally about 2 miles west of the coast and almost into the South La Jolla MPA. Nothing.

The weather and water were beautiful, but there was just no active life that I could see. A little creepy, really. I didn't see any scuba chickens, sea dogs; nothing. I saw several pelican teams, but they were all formation flying somewhere further-offshore than I felt comfortable-with.

Maybe everything was just hanging out even deeper than where I was dropping lines.

It was my first legit-skunk (couldn't even make bait) in a LONG time.
I got a really good workout from the mileage I covered though.

[chris138]

In my opinion, winter yt fishing has been better than summer the last 3 years. Bigger fish, smaller crowds.

Also the "homeguard hypothesis" is not a simple as that. The fish are definitely full time residents in our local waters, but the LJ kelp bed is a small fraction of their territory. Most of the really big yt over the years have been caught on the canyon edge, not by the shallow shelves where the macrocystis grows. There have been times in the last couple winters when the best YT fishing is on the rockpiles in 300'+ of water.

[YakDout]

Originally Posted by addicted2sp33d

I think this might be a legit question this year, given that the kelp beds which "anchor" the homeguards are significantly reduced.

What do the professionals/veterans think?

I was out in La Jolla this past weekend and it may have been the most quiet I've ever seen the place - just endless fields of buoys.

I spent time inside the buoy field, outside the buoy field, north of the buoys, west of the buoys, at one point I was literally about 2 miles west of the coast and almost into the South La Jolla MPA. Nothing.

The weather and water were beautiful, but there was just no active life that I could see. A little creepy, really. I didn't see any scuba chickens, sea dogs; nothing. I saw several pelican teams, but they were all formation flying somewhere further-offshore than I felt comfortable-with.

Maybe everything was just hanging out even deeper than where I was dropping lines.

It was my first legit-skunk (couldn't even make bait) in a LONG time.
I got a really good workout from the mileage I covered though.

Im not an expert, but I was also out this past weekend. Didn't fish la jolla but just around the corner. I was drifting around for halibut (or trying to) and water movement was just piss poor. I was stoked when it got windy in the afternoon because for the first half of the day with no wind and no tide, it just wasn't happening. I have noticed some of my best days at la jolla are when that south current is just ripping you down faster than you can keep up. The fish like the strong water movement.

[makobob]

Chris catching big YT during the winters at La Jolla and else where in deep water around rock piles is much older then my 68 years. In the early 50's gramps used to fish them every winter. small rock cod and sand dabs were used as bait, along with sardines and macks. Worked then and still works now. Tight Lines.

Originally Posted by chris138

In my opinion, winter yt fishing has been better than summer the last 3 years. Bigger fish, smaller crowds.

Also the "homeguard hypothesis" is not a simple as that. The fish are definitely full time residents in our local waters, but the LJ kelp bed is a small fraction of their territory. Most of the really big yt over the years have been caught on the canyon edge, not by the shallow shelves where the macrocystis grows. There have been times in the last couple winters when the best YT fishing is on the rockpiles in 300'+ of water.

[taggermike]

YT are interesting fish; depending on season and conditions you can find them from the surf zone to hundreds of miles off shore. From the surface to hundreds of feet deep. On both sides of the Baja peninsula all the way up to Oregon (occasionally). They bite all year. Mike

[Sheephead]

YT are here yearround. You haven't heard anything because it takes like 200+ hours to make a single bait in LJ unless you win the lottery. SD bay halibut use mackerel and fish insanely fast currents. Faster the current = bigger hali's. And I seriously mean FAST!