Solana Swell - 6/27/15

[iethinker]

This is a kayak fishing report for Solana Beach

The surf forecast indicated small waves today so I decided launch out of the Del Mar river mouth. For the launch, the sets were still notably larger than your La Jolla Shores variety. I filled the bathtub twice on the way out. Good thing I opted for my paddle pants last minute. The water was warm but a stronger than prediced wind would have made things (more) unomfortable otherwize.

Upon passing the surf zone and beginning my quest to catch Mackerel for bait I was struck by how the chop and swell seemed just as large as the waves coming through the surf. I peddeled out further to see if the chop/swell would be less but it was even worse. At 50-feet deep the chop and multiple direction short period swells made it unberable. Unsafe I suppose to.

I decided to head north in front of Solana Cliffs staying between 15 and 20 feet of water. Exertion was high because a double-digit wind was blowing out of the NNW. This is pretty much head-on for my path through this area. Even worse, the skies darkened and a rain storm came through. Great, even more wind! The surface of the ocean was just pre-white cap. 2-mph was difficult to impossible to sustain. If I was not peddeling then I was moving backwards.

I struggeled to rig my other poles for pursuit of bigger fish but this turned out to be unnessary. As I continued to work my Kastmaster for bait, I suddenly found myself in a sweet bite zone....WFO! There were many species all in a clear (no kelp) area. Most of the hits were from Calico Bass. Other species included Mackerel, Baracuda, Bonito and yes a Sand Bass on the surface!

It was cool to be able to fight Calico Bass out in the open on my light rod. Normally you have to yank these guys out of the kelp; basically an impossible place to use a Kastmaster anyway due to the trebble hook.

I ripped the lure fast almost right on the surface. When it would come down the swell face, I could see fish chasing it. Sometimes I would pause and then jerk the lure and the fish would hit it. Facinating. Many hits on the straight high speed retreive too. Power fishing indeed! Some Calicos came partially out of the water to strike. Easy double digits on Bass most being sub-legal size. (I don't keep exact count)

Here is the best guy. He is a 17-incher (measured) that was fun on the bait-rod. I set him free.


Here are two 15-inch +/- models that made it to the butcher table. I wonder what color will taste best?


Kastmaster yeah!


Despite the bite, I did not stay out as long as normal. The wind and chop where just too much. Oddly enough the surf during landing was even smaller than during launch. A few bigger sets came through but were easily timeable. Pretty much just paddled straight in when the moment was right. The big chop and swell off shore mostly did not make it to the surf zone. Less wind on the beach too.

Weird?