LJ Report - 1-7-07

[Mr GreenJeans]

The wind forecast for this weekend hasn't looked good for several days. But last night I could see that a window of opportunity was opening up for Sunday. The wind was too brisk at DP, so I made a late decision to head for LJ.

Arrived at LJ at around 6:30 and drove onto the sand. A few minutes later, a guy in an earth-mover drives up and tells me he is going to block the entrance as soon as I leave. So I quickly unload and get my car over to the parking lot. Back at the boat, I surveyed the wave situation. The forecast was for 3-4 foot waves, but as usual, the launch was a little smaller at around 2-3 feet. I looked down towards the pier and could see they were running larger, at more like 4-5 feet. So I waded out and waited for a break in the set.

The water was 59 degrees, green, and visibility was maybe 7-8 feet. Down at the pier I made easy bait. Just dip the line in, jig a couple of times, and pull up greenies two at a time. I'm sorry to say that the best fishing of the day was right there catching bait.

Drifted a mac low in the area of the pier, thinking that if the macs were there, so might be the game fish. No such luck. Went over to the NW corner to let down a mac and yo-yo some iron. Zippo. Around 8:30 or 9:00 three guys paddle near me and let down their lines. On the first drop one of them ties into something big. He got towed around for most of an hour that I could see, but I never saw the end of the story. I heard them saying that it might be a thresher, and on the beach a fellow said he heard that it was a dolphin. Hopefully, someone will post the rest of the story.

Around 10:00 the wind started to pick up, so I made my way back to the first buoy. Good thing I have it marked on my GPS, because most of the buoys are missing. As I headed in I saw a fellow fishing inside the reserve. (How could he tell after all?) So I let him know and he pulled up his line and moved farther out. As I paddled in the breeze continued to build, so I was glad to be back near shore by 11:00. Lots of 3-foot waves were rolling in, but I timed it well enough and made land without incident.

All I caught today were macs and that was pretty much the story for others I talked to on the beach. Only saw the one hook-up with the mystery fish, and heard someone else might have hooked into a thresher.

Beautiful day on the water. All it lacked was fish of the larger variety. At least there were no dogs to bother me. I guess they read the post about the whitie sighting. Or maybe they know where the YT have gone to, and that's where they are.

David