Dana Pt, 3-3-17

[Amish Ed]

Slept in a little and didn't get to DP until 7:00. I found $5 that I didn't know I had and was able to use the boat ramp. This was good as there was some kind of Woody/SUP event at Baby Beach. Anyways, launched about 7:30 to a cool offshore breeze and clear skies. Water was 57º and change at launch and 60º when I came back in. There was a current break snaking around. Dirty on the inside, clean outside.

Tried the end of the long jetty briefly for nothing, and then headed for the Pipe. Wind wasn't bad for most of the paddle out and then near the Pipe it picked up quite a bit. Wasn't sketchy hard, just enough to be a pain. And shifty enough to be a double pain. Some drifts veered up hill, some down. Made it hard to set up a drift over the Pipe and I found myself missing it too often. But, I was out there and it felt good.

Due to the wind I stuck to a 3/4oz Warblade (sexy dine) and 1oz Warbait (firecracker) with a 6" Zman Swimmerz (calico candy and bad shad). The Warblade was still too light for my liking, but I got a chunky calico about 3lbs right away. Unfortunately, that was it for a while. Got some bites, but was too slow on the hook set. Plus the aforementioned drift issue didn't help as I kept missing the Pipe. Worked my way from 40' out to 50' and then back in to about 35'. In tighter the water was dirty, but I managed 2 more. A barely legal sand bass on a 1/2oz Warblade (the wind had died about 9:30) and a calico that was maybe 2lbs that ate the 3/4oz Warblade.

Headed in about 10:30 as I had to get home to watch the kids. So, a short day, but fun and gave me some much needed time alone with myself.

PS: this was my first time taking the Ride out on open water. It is slower than the Trident 13 for sure, but I really appreciated the added stability. The lack of a wet butt was really nice too. Finally, having a rudder is awesome. Big help in the wind and chop.