LA JOLLA 9-12-19 YELLOWTAIL CATCH & RELEASE

[FISH11]

Been trying to make it a weekly thing to kayak fish La Jolla and catch and release one or more Yellowtail per week. Last Thursday I though I had the run continue but ended up loosing one in heavy kelp in 49' of water at the end of the day, cut through a lot of kelp stringers but had the leader break right at the hook from pulling too hard trying to get it out of the giant loose kelp pile. This week's hook up happened in deeper water and outside the heavy kelp. Made it so much easier and had more fun allowing it to take line and make the Avet drag sing. Man I love that sound. So here is a short 59 second video I made using GoPro Quick. He got to go home after some video taken and a good luck, goodbye kiss. Hope to see it again when it's bigger.

[buckygoesfishing]

Beautiful fish!!! Thank you for the video, definitely going to show a few people.

If you don't mind me asking, what kind of rod leash are you using?

[FISH11]

The leashes are made of bungee cord with a velcro strap on the rod end and a small carabiner on the other to attach to the deck. I buy those on ebay and swap out the carabiner with one also bought on ebay that have a locking screw barrel on the opening for extra safety. They are great and saved me from loosing a $600 set up once. While fighting a 30+lb Yellow I was shifting position on the seat and got a little too relaxed and it took of to the left side and pulled the rod right out of my hand. I looked at the rod going into the ocean with a shocked stare and in a second when I realized what had happened, I grabbed the leash pulled the rod back to me from the ocean and proceeded to land the large Yellow. I use them the whole time I'm in the water, not just coming in through the surf. Here is a link I saved from the last purchase. https://www.ebay.com/itm/5-Kayaking-...d/281423212078

[jacksonbigtuna]

Thanks for the report! I saw you guys out there, I was in the red hobie tandem island with the motor! Nice fish btw. Were you just fly-lining or deep dropping live mackerel? I was fly lining some mackerels but they may have been too big...(10 inch). I never got any bites other than the seals stealing my bait. I ended up fishing for rockfish and hooked and released a big shark. What VHF channel are kayakers on here? Sorry for all the questions, I just moved here from Santa Cruz. I'm used to fishing salmon!!!

I'll be out there again tomorrow. I need to catch a yellowtail!

Thanks,
David

[Landlover]

Wow,incredible, fantastic release. Great catch 👍

[FISH11]

Originally Posted by jacksonbigtuna

Thanks for the report! I saw you guys out there, I was in the red hobie tandem island with the motor! Nice fish btw. Were you just fly-lining or deep dropping live mackerel? I was fly lining some mackerels but they may have been too big...(10 inch). I never got any bites other than the seals stealing my bait. I ended up fishing for rockfish and hooked and released a big shark. What VHF channel are kayakers on here? Sorry for all the questions, I just moved here from Santa Cruz. I'm used to fishing salmon!!!

I'll be out there again tomorrow. I need to catch a yellowtail!

Thanks,
David

Hi David, did see you out there and noticed the motor because I commented that you were able to move and cover a lot more water. Nice addition, that way you don't have to depend on the wind or direction and don't have to tack. We tried both flylining and added weight a couple times to try the lower water column. The Yellow was caught on the flyline. I caught a large Calico while on the bottom in 120' and a couple other bites that came off. I use ch68 on the VHF. No such thing as too big a mac. I love it when I catch greenback in the 10-12" range. Yesterday all I could get were Spanish in the 7-9" range. All the Yellows I have caught in the last 7+ year were caught about 50/50 on Spanish and Greenbacks. I prefer Greenback because of how they swim and how hardy they are. The Yellows don't care. Managed to keep the bait away from the seals this trip, but not last Thursday. I was talking to Bob (dsafety) who was fishing with me and he asked me if I was going to post about some of the strange bites we had. First we each had several short bites, hit line buzzes out for short run and when you check the bait the mac has some cuts and in bad shape. Those, I think are usually due to Bonitos (caught one yesterday on the sabiki) or Calicos that just did not commit enough to the bait. The others are, hit line peels fast but short run and the bait has no marks but is basically dead, those I believe are Yellows that take the bait and run but end up not swallowing it or the angler doesn't wait long enough for the Yellow to swallow it before engaging the reel. Yesterday there were a couple other strange bites. Bob had a couple that took off fast and pulled hard for a 1-2 minutes than came loose but bait was still on and no marks, Odd. It was not like seals who don't run that fast and after pulling hard for a short time take the bait right off your hook. I had one that was odd when using the 6oz torpedo weight attached to the line swivel between leader and braid. In 120' at the bottom FF had marks of plant/bait/struture and my bait get pulled hard, I bring it up cause I though it was a small rock fish and the bait is still alive but racked. So I quickly drop it down again and quickly something start pulling, like a fish is on. This time I wait 1-2 minutes and it pulling hard so i start reeling and it comes up slowly and hard to pull. It come up 10' after a while it 20' off the bottom. After about 4 minutes it is still pulling and I know it's not the current or kelp on the bottom. Suddenly as I'm pulling and reeling the line pops up and little pressure. I bring it up and the bait is still on the circle hook more racked than the first time, the weight is still on, but no fish. The way it felt, pulled and how hard it was to pull up I figure I had a large Hali. I was looking forward to landing it and all I can think is maybe he had swallowed the weight and was keeping mouth close and eventually opened it and the weight pulled out. I looked at the weight and the are scratch mark but none deep enough to tell. I guess the next time I'm going to drop down to the bottom I should also add a trailing trap hook. If any guy out there has any other idea of what it could have been or has had the same happen, we would appreciate your feedback. It's alway the fish that you couldn't see that bugs you.

[dsafety]

Now I know why you have all those cameras on your yak. Even though I was only a few feet from you when you fought and landed that nice YT, I think that the video was more fun than the live action. I missed you giving the fish a little goodbye kiss just before you released it. Nice gesture.

Bob

[jacksonbigtuna]

Hey Mark, thanks for the info. Your info helps out a lot! I went out again on Saturday with my girlfriend. We launched from mission bay, caught some mackerel at the mouth of the harbor and motored up to La Jolla. I trolled a Rap 10 for the distance we weren't in an MPA. We caught a bonito! We don't get bonitos up north. We sat on the reef at la jolla for a 3-4 hours. My girlfriend fished for rockfish with squid, couldn't get anything of decent size to take home. There was no wind so the drift sucked. I tried flylining a mack and also added some weight, no takers. Next time.

[jacksonbigtuna]

FYI...When we bottom fish with live bait in norcal for halibut I'll add a trailing treble hook so you might want to try that if your baits keep getting racked

[FISH11]

Yeah adding a trailing treble hook is what I was thinking next time I decide to drift it on the bottom.