First problem........parking-area/beach-closure......next, fish-finder fail......and then……………......

[iethinker]

......it turned out to be a good day......yay!

This is a kayak fishing report from 11/07/2015 at La Jolla.

Executive Summary
1. Del Mar dog beach partially closed due to construction
2. Lots of fish caught on the bottom but most kinda dinky
3. Rockfish, Sheephead and mystery fish
4. Saw a PB pull a YT on a jig by a lobster-pot.
5. Red Tuna Crabs are swimming through the area.
6. Need advice on FF maintenance, vent-tool and species IDs

Events

I set out to target Rockfish at Del Mar but unfortunately my parking area was closed. Also, four large construction project dozers/diggers were on the beach. Sand was piled 25-feet high and yellow do-not-enter-tape was across the path. It seems Dog Beach is undergoing some type of massive re-construction. Does anyone know what this is or when it will end?

Given the Del Mar situation, I drove to La Jolla and launched there. After passing the relatively calm surf-zone I set-up my fish finder. I could not however get it to turn on. It would blink the screen sometimes when I was holding the power button. I have struggled with corrosion in the connector and can no longer get it to work even by bending the pins. Hopefully someone can provide good advice regarding how to repair this economically. The unit has been in service for two years.

With no GPS and no Sonar, I debated re-rigging. It was going to be tough fishing the bottom without these tools. Well, I decided to just go and try and I'm glad that I did. The result was a day with as many fish caught as any other great fishing day that I have had.

One type of fish that routinely hit my various bottom rigs (droppers) are unknown to me and they do not appear to be from the Rockfish family. Also, I am not an expert on Rockfish and this was really my first effort to target them. Any help on the IDs for these would be helpful. I do recognize the female Sheepheads that I managed to catch. The photos below are samples of what I caught.

Mystery Fish

Species ID please - These were a dime-a-dozen during the first part of my session. And, I guarantee I caught over a dozen of them:


This one was a bit bigger:


Rockfish

Dink Rockfish variety #1:



Rockfish variety #2:



Rockfish double: Yeah these two were about 13-inches and came-up together. Two best models of the session all at once!



Rockfish variety #3: Treefish...allright I know this one!



Treefish use red lipstick:



Dink model from Rockfish variety #4:


I noticed that several of the Rockfish had to be nursed for a while upon release until they swam back down. Their bladders were sometimes displaced as well. Should these fish be vented before releasing? What's the best tool for this if so.

Sheephead

Sheephead: Yes this one did bite me! Those hillbilly teeth hurt!



This Sheephead was bigger so no more fingers in the mouth.


Note that I saw several Red Truna Crabs swimming around. It seemed the birds were grabbing them up. I also saw one power boater pull a Yellowtail on a jig near a lobster pot. He held it up real high for everyone to see as he deserved to!

HMMM...I wonder what people in other states do in November?

Shot of La Jolla on the way out. I'm glad I went:


All fish were returned to the ocean. So, I'm ordering pizza!

Enjoy,
Matt

[tacoshop]

First couple are white fish really good ceviche fish..

[viti]

Your mystery fish were ocean whitefish.

Matt

[iethinker]

Originally Posted by viti

Your mystery fish were ocean whitefish.

Matt

I wonder if they make good bait?

[iethinker]

Originally Posted by tacoshop

First couple are white fish really good ceviche fish..

UH OH

[Murray]

I took the same shot off la jolla shores drive earlier in the week when it was stormy. How blessed we are to live in such a wonderful area. Truly spectacular views.

[Cadillyak]

Whitefish are very good table fare. Deliciouso!

[TheToxicJon]

Was this all on squid?
Nice catches brotha

[fishing md]

Nice pics. what camera did you use??????

[onetriphudson]

Nice report!

Sounds like you need to re-wire your connections and this time coat them in dielectric grease. It will buy you a little more time until they fail from the salt and elements. I've had to do mine a few times, no fun getting out there to discover your ff doesn't work.

The sand dunes are most likely preparation for the el nino winter storms, meant to protect the homes. Wouldn't expect those to go away until Spring.

Those whitefish are tasty, a skipper one time told me they are also called dorado rockfish.

[MrPukaShell]

X2 on the Dielectric grease. This will keep the corrosion down to a minimum. Where do you keep your battery? Is it in a case or exposed to the elements?

Originally Posted by onetriphudson

Nice report!

Sounds like you need to re-wire your connections and this time coat them in dielectric grease. It will buy you a little more time until they fail from the salt and elements. I've had to do mine a few times, no fun getting out there to discover your ff doesn't work.

The sand dunes are most likely preparation for the el nino winter storms, meant to protect the homes. Wouldn't expect those to go away until Spring.

Those whitefish are tasty, a skipper one time told me they are also called dorado rockfish.

[scotty1369]

I got a good size white fish on Sunday. Taste really good.

[Rambo]

Very tasty whitefish done chinese steam fish style, but the sheephead are the best choice when it comes to super soft fish meat that just melts in your mouth.

[bolocop]

Venting is not recommended and it makes sense not to poke a hole in the air bladder.

What I have done in the past is make a recompression tool. I used a long-shanked hook and pressed in the barb. You attach the weight to the eye of the hook and attach the line to the bend in the hook. Yes, you use the hook upside-down.

You then hook the rockfish through the lower lip and drop everything in the water. At about 100 ft, yank up on rod and the fish will be safely recompressed.

No floaters, those are your trophy fish of the future.

[Kayak_Bernie]

So, the construction that you saw on the beach at Del Mar is due to the dredging of the channel of the San Deguito River. As part of the mitigation for the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station (SONGS) So Cal Edison restored 150 acres of salt marsh wetland in the lagoon (which acts as a nursery for many young open ocean fish) So as part of the mitigation project they are required to keep the river and ocean connected, so every other year or so they dredge out the channel and restore the sand to the beaches down to the south of the river. This shouldn't be going on for too much longer may a couple weeks at most. Then the river, lagoon and ocean will be more easily accessed by small fish and help enhance our coastal ecosystem. Let me know if you have any other questions I probably can help answer them

-Bernie

[dos ballenas]

Originally Posted by bolocop

Venting is not recommended and it makes sense not to poke a hole in the air bladder.

What I have done in the past is make a recompression tool. I used a long-shanked hook and pressed in the barb. You attach the weight to the eye of the hook and attach the line to the bend in the hook. Yes, you use the hook upside-down.

You then hook the rockfish through the lower lip and drop everything in the water. At about 100 ft, yank up on rod and the fish will be safely recompressed.

No floaters, those are your trophy fish of the future.

Well said!

Venting used to be recommended. But recent research has shown that venting is actually very bad. Venting pops the swim bladder which lead infection and death.



Recompression is the way to go..... aka dropping the fish back to the depths from which they came. Several recent studies have shown that the majority of rockfish that are dropped back to depth survive. One such study tagged dozens of large cow cod and vermillion rockfish out at the 43 fathom spot. Several of the tagged fish survived and made large movements... one fish that was tagged at the 43 was then recovered off Newport beach!

There are many different types of recompression devices available. Or you can make your own by crimping the bar down on a 3/o hook.




That said... I advise the original poster to learn how to ID rockfish.... the ocean whitefish is one of the most common species and easily identifiable.... if you can't ID an ocean whitefish you have a lot of learning to do!

[monstahfish]

cool idea bolocop! Also, fun fish fact of the day the ocean whitefish is actually a misnomer. They have no relations to actual mountain or lake whitefish you might see in the store. They are a small tilefish species some of which can get really big and are considered excellent fare.

[King Saba]

lol don't try lipping a larger sheephead next time. They crush clams and urchins you know. Nice variety for just randomly dropping down into the abyss.

[kareem korn]

ocean white fish. Pound for pound the toughest fighting fish in the ocean. Great on light gear.

[iethinker]

Originally Posted by bolocop

Venting is not recommended and it makes sense not to poke a hole in the air bladder.

What I have done in the past is make a recompression tool. I used a long-shanked hook and pressed in the barb. You attach the weight to the eye of the hook and attach the line to the bend in the hook. Yes, you use the hook upside-down.

You then hook the rockfish through the lower lip and drop everything in the water. At about 100 ft, yank up on rod and the fish will be safely recompressed.

No floaters, those are your trophy fish of the future.

OK...re-compression tool complete.

1. Snap/swivel means I can attach this to various rigs as/when needed conveniently.
2. I have a big spool of 25-lb mono so this is not a strategic choice.
3. The 6/0 EWG hook lets the line pull directly opposite the point of fish attachment for easy release with a jerk. Being wide, it should also be easy to engage the fish with. I pinched the barb off.
4. The loop-knot allows me to change weights.
5. The 1-lb weight is overkill for rockfish but it may come in handy for the BSB that we inadvertently find sometimes.

The re-compression tool:


I'm looking forward to the trophy fish of the future!

Matt