The Pipe, 12-17-13

[Amish Ed]

Launched at about 6:15 from the ramp and headed right for the Pipe. It was a gorgeous sunrise to paddle into. No wind inside the harbor, not much just outside, lots out on the Pipe. Water was 59.3º and very clear outside. Slight uphill current.

The strong offshore made for lots of paddling and some funky drifts over the Pipe. For the first hour it kept shifting direction just enough be a royal pain. I'd setup on the downhill side, the wind would blow me downhill. I'd setup on the uphill side, the wind would blow me uphill. Hard to hit the Pipe when you aren't over it. I was fishing a 1.5oz head and rarely finding the Pipe for the first hour or so. The 5 times I hit the Pipe I was slammed and missed it, got broken off by a nice one, plus got 3 nice sized calicoes. About 7:30 Landwhale and the Iceman arrived and the wind settled into a steady direction. Setup downhill, get blown uphill. About 8:45 the wind slowly started to back off and by around 9:30 it was dead calm.

Only threw the 4" and 3" Flurry today. Fire Avocado was getting bit every cast until I lost my only one. Knew I should've restocked the box. Took a while to find another color they wanted, but eventually ended up with Minnow Magic getting bit a lot. Hot Sauce used for flavor of course.

I had to head in earlier than I wanted (around 11). I finished with 5 legals (biggest about 3.5lbs) and 6 shorts. Not a great haul, but better than a sharp stick in the eye. If it was an average day for this year it was definitely not as good as 2yrs ago, but better than last year.

Good hanging with Steve as always and good to see Andy too.