Summer is here, and that means warm water and big hungry fish. I just haven't found those big hungry fish yet (unless that pelagic stingray from my last session counts). What I'd really like now is a big yellowtail, small thresher, or small mako. I've been trying to kill two birds with one stone by combining long distance paddling with fishing, but I think I need to finally separate the two. People are catching the fish I'm interested in two miles from the La Jolla launch. I still want to do long distance kayaking to get ready for a Catalina crossing this fall, but those days can be separate from fishing trips from now on.
On Saturday Anthony and I met up at La Jolla again. We agreed to put in some miles, heading north from La Jolla Shores towards Del Mar and back. We hoped to find surface action along the way, but as backup I marked a few rocky spots where we could drop for rockfish and lingcod. We trolled for the first 5 miles without any bites and then stopped and caught some fish off the bottom. I caught vermilion, flag, calico, starry, and greenstriped rockfish. The bigger ones went in the cooler, and the smaller ones were sent back down. Anthony caught a nice legal California halibut.
Vermilion Rockfish (Sebastes miniatus)
Flag Rockfish (Sebastes rubrivinctus)
We reached a good fishing spot a few miles out from Torrey Pines State Beach, but the wind was picking up, so we didn't stay long. I could see bait schools throughout the water column on my fish finder, and on my first drop I caught a big barred sand bass, but I released it without a photo. I'm sure there were plenty more fish to be had, but the wind was pushing hard towards shore, and we decided it wasn't worth fighting against.
When we were fighting the wind we could barely maintain 2 mph, but as we headed towards shore we were doing close to 5 mph! Even when we turned south and no longer had the wind directly on our backs, we still had no problem maintaining 4 mph. As we cruised past Black's Beach the fish finder screen filled up with a big school of jumbo sized mackerel. I caught about 8 of them to give to one of my shark fishing friends. I also had a small bonito hit my jig, and I was happy to add it to the cooler. It's been a while since I've caught one!
Pacific Bonito (Sarda lineolata)
We weren't ready to call it a day, so we decided to fight the wind again and head back out to one of the morning spots. It was a slow grind, and once we were there we caught a few more rockfish, but we were drifting back towards shore too quickly to make it worthwhile.
Miles: 19.38
Hours: 9:51
Water Temp: 73 F
Back at the launch I was definitely more sore than Anthony. I love my paddle kayak, but I can see why almost everyone else chooses pedals. It'll be nice to do the next few sessions closer to the launch.
July 18, 2020
The next weekend I fished La Jolla again, and this time I did a good job of keeping my mileage low. Mackerel and small bonito were easy to find, but I didn't have any luck with yellowtail. As a proof of concept I also brought a bait container and chopped up some frozen mackerel and sanddabs to use as chum. I paddled north between the kelp and the canyon so I'd have more room to drift. It didn't take long for a pelagic ray to show up. After I put my camera away he tried to climb on top of the bait container and came part way out of the water!
Pelagic Stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea)
I'll try chumming for makos again later this summer. When I do, I'll paddle up north of the canyon so I can have several miles of uninterrupted drifting, and I'll make sure to have a good supply of mackerel to keep adding to the container.
Miles: 7.43
Hours: 5:14
Water Temp: 74 F
Next up will be a high mileage day to train for Catalina. I'll bring one rod just in case I come across some surface action, but the plan will be to focus on paddling rather than fishing.
July 25, 2020
The wind and current forecasts looked great this weekend for my first 30+ mile paddle. I launched from La Jolla Shores at 5:15 am and headed northwest, following the contour of La Jolla Canyon. Sunrise wasn't until 6 am, but there was a little bit of light in the sky.
I had several waypoints stored in the fish finder to keep me on track. Around 10 miles in I passed a wave buoy anchored to the bottom. I must have been in over 2000 ft of water by that point, so the cable to the bottom was really long!
As I went past the buoy, I put my camera below the surface of the water and snapped a few photos looking down. There was a huge school of bait fish beneath me! I had brought one rod with me in case I came across any fish during my paddle. The jig I had on was about the same size as the bait, so I spent a few minutes jigging the first 100 ft of water, but I didn't see anything follow it up.
I had to fight the wind and current on the way out. As I was approaching the turnaround point, the wind finally died down, making the surface smooth as glass. It was a strange feeling knowing I was 15 miles from shore. I wouldn't say I was nervous, but I had a healthy respect for how far I was from other people.
The wind picked back up during the paddle back. It was blowing due east, and the current was moving to the south. The combination of the two meant that when I stopped paddling, I would drift almost exactly towards La Jolla Shores at 1 mph. That wasn't by accident!
The paddle back was pretty uneventful. Once I passed mile 25 muscle soreness finally kicked in, and I started taking a break after each mile. Sea sickness also started to creep in, and I had to force myself to keep drinking water. These sort of things are likely to happen when I cross the Catalina channel, so its good that I experience them during my training paddles.
Miles: 31.13
Hours: 10:32
Water Temp: 69 F
The day was a resounding success. I didn't catch any fish, but I paddled farther than I ever have before. Honestly that might be the longest paddle I ever do!
We reached a good fishing spot a few miles out from Torrey Pines State Beach, but the wind was picking up, so we didn't stay long. I could see bait schools throughout the water column on my fish finder, and on my first drop I caught a big barred sand bass, but I released it without a photo. I'm sure there were plenty more fish to be had, but the wind was pushing hard towards shore, and we decided it wasn't worth fighting against.
When we were fighting the wind we could barely maintain 2 mph, but as we headed towards shore we were doing close to 5 mph! Even when we turned south and no longer had the wind directly on our backs, we still had no problem maintaining 4 mph. As we cruised past Black's Beach the fish finder screen filled up with a big school of jumbo sized mackerel. I caught about 8 of them to give to one of my shark fishing friends. I also had a small bonito hit my jig, and I was happy to add it to the cooler. It's been a while since I've caught one!
Pacific Bonito (Sarda lineolata)
We weren't ready to call it a day, so we decided to fight the wind again and head back out to one of the morning spots. It was a slow grind, and once we were there we caught a few more rockfish, but we were drifting back towards shore too quickly to make it worthwhile.
Miles: 19.38
Hours: 9:51
Water Temp: 73 F
Back at the launch I was definitely more sore than Anthony. I love my paddle kayak, but I can see why almost everyone else chooses pedals. It'll be nice to do the next few sessions closer to the launch.
July 18, 2020
The next weekend I fished La Jolla again, and this time I did a good job of keeping my mileage low. Mackerel and small bonito were easy to find, but I didn't have any luck with yellowtail. As a proof of concept I also brought a bait container and chopped up some frozen mackerel and sanddabs to use as chum. I paddled north between the kelp and the canyon so I'd have more room to drift. It didn't take long for a pelagic ray to show up. After I put my camera away he tried to climb on top of the bait container and came part way out of the water!
Pelagic Stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea)
I'll try chumming for makos again later this summer. When I do, I'll paddle up north of the canyon so I can have several miles of uninterrupted drifting, and I'll make sure to have a good supply of mackerel to keep adding to the container.
Miles: 7.43
Hours: 5:14
Water Temp: 74 F
Next up will be a high mileage day to train for Catalina. I'll bring one rod just in case I come across some surface action, but the plan will be to focus on paddling rather than fishing.
July 25, 2020
The wind and current forecasts looked great this weekend for my first 30+ mile paddle. I launched from La Jolla Shores at 5:15 am and headed northwest, following the contour of La Jolla Canyon. Sunrise wasn't until 6 am, but there was a little bit of light in the sky.
I had several waypoints stored in the fish finder to keep me on track. Around 10 miles in I passed a wave buoy anchored to the bottom. I must have been in over 2000 ft of water by that point, so the cable to the bottom was really long!
As I went past the buoy, I put my camera below the surface of the water and snapped a few photos looking down. There was a huge school of bait fish beneath me! I had brought one rod with me in case I came across any fish during my paddle. The jig I had on was about the same size as the bait, so I spent a few minutes jigging the first 100 ft of water, but I didn't see anything follow it up.
I had to fight the wind and current on the way out. As I was approaching the turnaround point, the wind finally died down, making the surface smooth as glass. It was a strange feeling knowing I was 15 miles from shore. I wouldn't say I was nervous, but I had a healthy respect for how far I was from other people.
The wind picked back up during the paddle back. It was blowing due east, and the current was moving to the south. The combination of the two meant that when I stopped paddling, I would drift almost exactly towards La Jolla Shores at 1 mph. That wasn't by accident!
The paddle back was pretty uneventful. Once I passed mile 25 muscle soreness finally kicked in, and I started taking a break after each mile. Sea sickness also started to creep in, and I had to force myself to keep drinking water. These sort of things are likely to happen when I cross the Catalina channel, so its good that I experience them during my training paddles.
Miles: 31.13
Hours: 10:32
Water Temp: 69 F
The day was a resounding success. I didn't catch any fish, but I paddled farther than I ever have before. Honestly that might be the longest paddle I ever do!
