Dana Fog 10-17 - Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

steveooo · 10-17-2009, 09:07 PM

Short Story
3 Sandies
1 Calico
1 Red

Went to Dana from 6- 11 for nothing spectacular. Caught a few Sandies, a calico, a red, and missed two bites. No real wind, no real swell.
I was able to see Catalina not long after the sun came up. I could also see a pretty big fog bank behind it. I don't know the science of it all, whether fog actually needs to roll in, or it forms, or whatever, but soon the fog overtook the island, and was quickly approaching where I was at the point. By 9:30 it had completely caught me, and visibility had decreased drastically. I'd say that at times, visibility was less than 50 yds. Not too bad, but pretty creepy when you hear a boat coming for over a minute, and you try to position yourself where you think it won't be. I was comfortable out there, I have GPS, a compass on my yak, a compass on my PFD, and a VHF and a rape whistle. If you have ever fished Dana, you know that there is good fishing that is straight in line in between the Harbor Mouth and Catalina. Unfortunately, this is the line that most boats take if they are making a run to the island. I decided that it would be in my best interest to not fish there, due to the poor vis.
I went in to the boiler rock for 1 cali, and was going to head in. I came across three guys in a zodiac. They asked me which way land was.

Again if you know Dana, they were sitting directly inbetween the boiler rock and the jetty, yet they could see neither, and they had no clue where they were, or which was land was. Pretty scary stuff. Fog looked like it was starting to burn off when I got off around 11:30 am.
I've been in way worse fog at LJ a few times, but this was weird. Poor vis, no swell, no wind, and if you positioned yourself in betwen the Red whistler Buoy and the Horn on the south end of the long Jetty, it was hard to distinguish what sound was coming from where. Very bremuda Triangle-esque.
So, Moral of the story- be safe, go prepared, make a float plan, yada yada yada

Heres two pics of fish, where you can see the fog blanket starting to roll in

stairman · 10-18-2009, 02:52 AM

rape whistle....what were you expecting?

forcefed · 10-18-2009, 10:29 AM

Those sea lions can be persistant.

Vikingj · 10-18-2009, 08:55 PM

Good report. Thanks for the reminder re: kayak safety, fog, etc. It's always wise to go out prepared. I could see the fog from home today and it was unusually wierd. Perhaps we have a west coast Dana Triangle?
I went out to the headlands pt. last Fri.(minus fog) and talked to a yaker at the red buoy who had just had a mako snatch his bait and then jump out of the water in front of him. Otherwise it was pretty slow at the pt. but the bonies were keeping me busy to and from the harbor.
Wayne

crabkracker · 10-18-2009, 10:46 PM

It was that clear in the morning half...?

Was out there yesterday evening. Fog was thick when I arrived, almost didn't launch, but glad I did. Cleared up for a couple of hours, got a couple of

, then kicked off the water by mother nature as she re-blanketed the area.

10-17-2009, 09:07 PM	#1
steveooo Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2005 Posts: 1,921	Dana Fog 10-17 Short Story 3 Sandies 1 Calico 1 Red Went to Dana from 6- 11 for nothing spectacular. Caught a few Sandies, a calico, a red, and missed two bites. No real wind, no real swell. I was able to see Catalina not long after the sun came up. I could also see a pretty big fog bank behind it. I don't know the science of it all, whether fog actually needs to roll in, or it forms, or whatever, but soon the fog overtook the island, and was quickly approaching where I was at the point. By 9:30 it had completely caught me, and visibility had decreased drastically. I'd say that at times, visibility was less than 50 yds. Not too bad, but pretty creepy when you hear a boat coming for over a minute, and you try to position yourself where you think it won't be. I was comfortable out there, I have GPS, a compass on my yak, a compass on my PFD, and a VHF and a rape whistle. If you have ever fished Dana, you know that there is good fishing that is straight in line in between the Harbor Mouth and Catalina. Unfortunately, this is the line that most boats take if they are making a run to the island. I decided that it would be in my best interest to not fish there, due to the poor vis. I went in to the boiler rock for 1 cali, and was going to head in. I came across three guys in a zodiac. They asked me which way land was. Again if you know Dana, they were sitting directly inbetween the boiler rock and the jetty, yet they could see neither, and they had no clue where they were, or which was land was. Pretty scary stuff. Fog looked like it was starting to burn off when I got off around 11:30 am. I've been in way worse fog at LJ a few times, but this was weird. Poor vis, no swell, no wind, and if you positioned yourself in betwen the Red whistler Buoy and the Horn on the south end of the long Jetty, it was hard to distinguish what sound was coming from where. Very bremuda Triangle-esque. So, Moral of the story- be safe, go prepared, make a float plan, yada yada yada Heres two pics of fish, where you can see the fog blanket starting to roll in

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10-18-2009, 02:52 AM	#2
stairman Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 84	rape whistle....what were you expecting?

10-18-2009, 10:29 AM	#3
forcefed Junior Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: West of the Rockies Posts: 7	Those sea lions can be persistant.

10-18-2009, 08:55 PM	#4
Vikingj Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: Dana Point area Posts: 438	Good report. Thanks for the reminder re: kayak safety, fog, etc. It's always wise to go out prepared. I could see the fog from home today and it was unusually wierd. Perhaps we have a west coast Dana Triangle? I went out to the headlands pt. last Fri.(minus fog) and talked to a yaker at the red buoy who had just had a mako snatch his bait and then jump out of the water in front of him. Otherwise it was pretty slow at the pt. but the bonies were keeping me busy to and from the harbor. Wayne

10-18-2009, 10:46 PM	#5
crabkracker Junior Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: OC Posts: 23	It was that clear in the morning half...? Was out there yesterday evening. Fog was thick when I arrived, almost didn't launch, but glad I did. Cleared up for a couple of hours, got a couple of , then kicked off the water by mother nature as she re-blanketed the area.