San O 6/16

[GregAndrew]

Got out to San O for the first time in a while to pretty snotty conditions. Onshore winds lasting thru the night, and not changing direction all morning made for some chop. Add in a couple of different swell directions and it made for one of those days you just wonder what you are thinking as you set up your kayak. Hit the beach right at low tide for a long drag over the reef to the water. Started paddling parallel to the beach in the narrow channel between the outside reef and the beach part, and realized my hat had fallen off on my drag to the water. 10 minutes later I am back at the end of the narrow channel, passing through the small inside surf. I get through that and know better than to let up now. A minute or two later, I am glad I knew better as I pass face first through a breaker. Wind was probably only 5-10 for the most part, with occasional bursts for a few minutes. The problem was that it had been blowing a long way in the same direction for a long time. It took me 2 hours to get out the 3 miles I was shooting for, with the occasional stop to catch some bait. Made some good summertime bait in 9 - 11" Greenies. Wind was blowing me right back at the launch, and I was not going to stay long if conditions did not improve. First drop in about 75' gets picked up for a Halibut probably in the teens which I released. Just continued the drift that I was on, all the way back toward the kelp line. About an hour later I get picked up with some big head shakes. Thought small shark for a few seconds, until it just went to dead weight with short runs. Ended up being a big gurl that was ready to pop with eggs at 31lbs 6 oz. Landing was uneventful except for 1 sneaker wave that I had to back paddle through. Sorry, it is a bit long to show the miserable conditions.
https://youtu.be/ZGO2Q0D9VhA
Ps: La Jolla was pretty poor conditions on Sunday, with very green water and about no light reaching over 85' all morning. Bait was a scarce mixture of grande Greenies and tiny Spanish.