Carlsbad Report, Saturday, Nov 28

[spicolly]

Paddled out at Carlsbad for the first time. Decided to launch from warm water jetties in front of the power plant. Launched around noon, and the surf was small, 1’ – 2’. This surf launch was a little different than launching at LJ…current was a bit stronger and I got sideways real quick – lesson learned, and finally made it out. Also, the recent high tides wrecked the sand, so dragging the yak took some effort/work - not like driving on the sand and dropping off at boat launch in LJ.

Once past the jetty, the water was 65, wind was light, but there was some chop on the water. I immediately headed south, towards the kelp at Terramar. Found bait easily, and quickly pulled up 3 greenies on my first drop, then 2 more on my 2nd drop. Mac’s were decent, though a little small around 7”- 8”.

I planned to yoyo and jig…I didn’t plan to make bait, and so quickly. I had no idea where to fish, so I headed west to try to look for deeper water and structure. I found 90’ of water, with no structure and no markings. I decided to drop a mac anyway using a dropper loop. Nothing. At this point, I noticed there was a strong current pushing me south – I was at Palomar Airport Rd and didn’t even realize it! I left my line out since I could feel the mac and pedaled back north, looking for life, structure, etc.

I finally ended up just south of the power plant. Nothing. I headed back to shallow water, and maybe around 50’ I hit the kelp. The kelp was not visible from the surface, but it filled the FF. I dropped a fresh mac and got short on the bottom. It wasn’t a halibut rake, but definitely something that put a tooth mark in the mac. Decided to fish the kelp…and lost my last mac.

Decided to move closer in, around 30’ of water and dropped a 100g colt sniper on some cool looking structure. Hit. Bigger class mac, around 12’- 14’…perfect for LJ. Drop it again, and bam…another nice mac. Released both, but it was nice to have the line tugged. I moved on and drop the Colt Sniper again. This time, a nice calico, maybe 3# with a follower – that was cool to watch! Released him to go find his buddy.

So, not a bad trip. Overall, a fun day and I look forward to learning more about how to fish CBad. I selfishly was hoping for a nice class ‘but, or perhaps a homeguard YT. This season in LJ has spoiled me. But, a fun day on the water nonetheless…and a much closer drive than LJ. I was the only one out there today...and NO dogs!