La Jolla Sunday 8/1

[jorluivil]

Finally got to do a LJ run on Sunday and man-o-man is LJ nice: clean water, clean neighborhood and lots of eye candy. Being that it was our first time there and the fact that we were desperate to get there to avoid the crowds we left my hood(Norwalk) right around 4am.

I missed my exit and ended up exiting La Jolla Pkwy instead of La Jolla Shores so we did a little backtracking. Drove around for a bit looking for a 7-Eleven, AM-PM, grocery store....anything that sold goodies!!!! We weren't to familiar with the area so we drove around for a bit until we finally hit the Vons on Torrey Pines and Grand....went in for some snacks and drinks...in n out in 10minutes.

We start to back track and finally get to Avenida De La Playa and do a quick scan of the area. I remembered reading some reports about trucks getting stuck in the sand but also remembered reading a post stating that high tide was earlier that morning so the sand would be packed and it was.

We pull up on the waters edge and start to offload our yaks and gear, got everything off and drove to the parking lot. I saw a few other yakkers there and talked to one guy, I believe he said his name was Chris, got a few pointers and off we went.

I was told that you cannot fish until after you pass the yellow bouy, is this true? We got past the yellow bouy and found bait all over but being that it was our first time making bait it was hard getting them on board, after and hour or so I ended up with a small, medium and huge mack, all caught on the edge of the kelp.

I started to troll a medium size mack, no more than 10 minutes pass and the reel goos offfff!!!! I couldn't believe that I hooked something that fast!! I get the rod, remove the clicker and pull to make sure the hook is set. No sooner do I set the hook and it starts to run.

I'm in bendo mode for the next few minutes, not wanting to loose what was on the other end I adjusted my drag and allowed the fish to run but still managed to gain on it when I wanted to. Roughly 10 minutes go by and I start to see color....MY FIRST WSB? MY FIRST YELLOW ON A YAK? MY FIRST THRESHER? NO, IT'S A HUGE BAT RAY!!! Not what I was looking for but fun to fight.

I finally managed to get it up to the top and grabbed my hook remover, it was hooked on one of its wings....this thing was huge, wing span was probably 4' long. I finally managed to get the hook remover set, pulled a few time and got it loose. That was pretty much the highlight of my day, fished the kelp, trolled macks and threw irons for nada.

We finally called it a day around 1230 and started heading back to shore. Our plan was to land in front of the lifeguard tower near the parking lot but decided against it for two reasons....crowds and some flag colors that I didn't recognize. Can you land anywhere on the beach or do you have to land between the flags near Avenida De La Playa? Rather than taking a chance of getting tossed I jumped off the yak in about 4' of water and walked it in.

We learned that we need to have everything that we need before we get to LJ, food, bait(squid) and launch early or expect crowds. We didn't land that WSB or the YT but we did have a good time. Got to meet a few yakkers out on the water, got some sun and also got to try out our sabiki rigs which I'll post pics of later.

[Hobi-Wan Kenobi]

I always tell my kayak fishing friends that if they ever have the chance to fish La Jolla, they should! Probably to the chagrin of the locals down there. But unlike surfers - who are a bit more territorial, I've always been met with friendliness and assistance in finding the ins and outs of the area. Maybe because i'm from so far away (Las Vegas), that I won't be crowding their spots.
From an easy launch, a marine reserve to provide a variety of fish (just be sure to fish outside), a family friendly beach and town, friendly locals - this place has it all.
When I make my next mil, I'll be moving here!

[Regor]

Originally Posted by jorluivil

I was told that you cannot fish until after you pass the yellow bouy, is this true?

True. This URL has a great picture of the Ecological Reserve, to include the Yellow Buoy layout.

http://www.sandiegobikeandkayaktours...l_reserve.html

[ReelNasty]

this is Ryan with the green tarpon......i saw you hook up. i was hoping that you got into something. i heard from those 2 girls that you caught a batray. I think you were the only one to catch something...except bait. i'd take anything on a day like that, since we have a little drive to get there... the bait started biting towards the end of my day.Or maybe cause i used a larger size sabiki...with tiny pieces of squid on it... couldn't keep much though since my bait tank was acting up.....its always gotta be something. finally got some decent bait and noticed that everyone pretty much went in. trolled around for awhile...on the way in pretty much drifted and no luck. i was hoping that since the bait started to bite that something else would bite. nada...nothin on irons, bait, squid.....i heard from another guy fishing plastics that he was doing alright for rock fish....thought about tring that..but iI didn't come all the way down there for rockfish...it was good talkin to you though. hopefully we see each other out there again.. i plan on giving it another shot in a week or two....next time maybe we'll see a .....hopefully in my lap

[Tinhman]

Thanks for the report havent been out there for a month was gonna go but damn its still slow out there