Solo yak hoopin foggy style. 11-2-09

[Sherm]

I couldn't stand it anymore. I hadn't been on the water in a couple weeks and it was killing me. I was starting to become a real pain in the ass and knew I had to get on the water. I couldn't find anyone to go with so I said "screw it" and went solo. My buddy Brian was going to go but came down sick.

I hit the water and started the hour paddle to the spot. Set my hoops around sundown and let em soak for the first pull. The fog was threatening to move in but had not over taken me yet. You could see the fog bank just hanging out there but not moving. There was no wind and a big full moon started to rise.

The first two I pulled were empty. The next two were heavy. I reset my four hoops in that area and never moved. I watched the moon get higher in the sky and enjoyed a great stoagie. Padron anniversario series. MMMMMMHHHHHH. Then came the second pull. BINGO!! more loaded nets. That story repeated several times. Many shorts with a few keepers mixed in. All was right last night. Good tide movement, great weather conditions (warm and no wind) awesome moon rise, and a good crawl. Hell I only saw one sea lion the whole night and that one swam around me and my gear. There were only a couple other boats out and they were far from me. Life in SD doesn't get much better.

I hit my limit around 8:30. That's when I looked back toward the SI launch and noticed there were no lights down that way. It was just dark with no signs of activity at all. I forgot to pay attention to the fog. The next thing I knew it was pea soup all around and I still had a three mile paddle back to shore.

I turned on my light and headed for the beach. There was no wind and I still had a bit of tide behind me. It made for a nice paddle back. Luckily most of the boats were already off the water and I didn't have any issues negotiating the fog. Back at the beach at 9:30 and on my way home with 7 keepers.

A quick fun night that's for sure. Plus my getting on the water fix is taken care of and my attitude has improved 100%.

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