tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-30318571270065690952024-03-13T17:18:58.302-07:00Ben Cantrell's fish species blogExploring the exciting world of our diverse species of fish.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.comBlogger206125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-11825973729553375142021-11-28T05:00:00.000-08:002022-01-08T16:35:13.444-08:00Visit from George and deep drop with DomLater in November our friend George visited from central Florida. There were a few species Ally and I could help him add to his list, so we made the rounds to a few of our usual spots.<div><br /></div><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51808637011_b73ece123e_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div></div><div><br /></div><div>First up was freshwater goby, which George was able to catch right away, much to our surprise. We looked for striped mojarra as well but no luck. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but I don't think I caught a single fish at this spot.<div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51685726802_87fea0aaa6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51685726802_87fea0aaa6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Next we looked for bigmouth sleeper. George focused on the likely spots for them, and Ally and I fished for other stuff. George caught his sleeper, and we caught a few of the usual fish at this spot.</div><div><br />Florida Largemouth Bass (Micropterus floridanus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51686786518_f9fd0520f6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51686786518_f9fd0520f6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Much to our surprise, George didn't have a frillfin goby, so we made that our third target. They're easy to catch in the Indian River anywhere there's rocks or concrete. George got his goby, and my excitement for the afternoon was landing another angler's gafftopsail catfish. I wish I could catch one this big! The next morning we sent George to one last spot for molly miller, and later that night he emailed me several photos of ones he caught.</div><div><br />Gafftopsail Catfish (Bagre marinus)<img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51718676103_8719d9d3ca_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div><br />Two weeks later we got an invite from Dom to go deep dropping for swordfish. That's an invite you do not say no to! We headed far offshore to the area where he's caught them before.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712926611_1df7454a4e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712926611_1df7454a4e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Dom has a huge electric reel for swordfishing. The weight required to keep the line from bowing in the Gulf Stream current is around seven pounds. That's not a weight you want to reel up manually a third of a mile.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713191013_aef352f17f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713191013_aef352f17f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My fish finder can occasionally show bottom in over 1000 feet, but it's only reliable up to 500 or 600 feet. We tried for swordfish in over 1700 feet. Even if we didn't hook a swordfish, I was excited at the prospect of catching anything that lives that far down.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713190978_68c4c4d92c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713190978_68c4c4d92c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We didn't hook up with our target, but we did have one short bite. The bait was a whole squid with a skirt similar to what you would use for trolling. We though we saw a few small taps on the rod, and when we pulled the bait up the back half of the squid was missing.</div><div><br /></div><div>The plan for the rest of the day was to deep drop with smaller hooks around 1000 feet. Before we moved though, we saw some small tuna chasing bait on the surface. Ally threw a small Krocodile and hooked up.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712926511_dfd9e7e146_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712926511_dfd9e7e146_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We were glad she was the one to hook up, because it turned out to be her lifer skipjack! It got turned into a few days worth of sashimi and a couple of good shark baits.</div><div><br />Skipjack Tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713587404_d1cb505cbe_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713587404_d1cb505cbe_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The wind and current were pretty mild, so I was able to use my manual reel at the deep drop spot. I recently took off the 65 pound braid and replaced it with 30 pound. It helps me hold bottom much more easily. Right away we got bites, and I pulled up a pair of blackbelly rosefish.</div><div><br />Blackbelly Rosefish (Helicolenus dactylopterus)</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712134577_525074208e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712134577_525074208e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We took turns dropping, hoping for something new, and eventually I pulled up a red fish from 1025 feet that looked different from the blackbelly rosefish. We could tell it was a scorpionfish, but it took a few days to settle on the ID.</div><div><br />Longspine Scorpionfish (Pontinus longispinis) - new hook & line species #801<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713797435_1bfedc0b55_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713797435_1bfedc0b55_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We filled up an empty bucket with water so we could take photos of our fish submerged to better see the cirri between the eyes.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713587329_d893fc4d7f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51713587329_d893fc4d7f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Here's one more shot showing the top of it's head.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712134487_48880126fc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51712134487_48880126fc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Ally pulled up a longspine scorpionfish as well, but Dom wasn't as fortunate. He wasn't deterred though, and a week or two later he texted and said that he caught one from the same spot.<br /></div></div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-33199265181519576832021-11-07T05:00:00.192-08:002021-11-10T07:36:38.978-08:00Maryland fall 2021 - part 2<div>We arrived in Annapolis in the afternoon, driving past the Naval Academy on the way to our fishing spot. I didn't realize how much the people of Maryland love crabs, but now I know.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587976_73c13aaac4_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587976_73c13aaac4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div><br /></div>We poked around a public dock and a concrete seawall, hoping for blennies or gobies or maybe a spot croaker. Fishing was slow though, and we were ready to give up and move on to another spot. I left my bait sitting on the bottom a few feet out from the seawall, and when I checked my line I discovered a tiny funny-looking fish holding on to my worm! I don't even think the hook point had penetrated his mouth, but that doesn't matter. Skilletfish was my 800th species!</div><div><br />Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus) - new hook & line species #800<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784732_e143b7ec1f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784732_e143b7ec1f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Thanks Ally for capturing this momentous occasion.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666478595_9196d9cbdc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666478595_9196d9cbdc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><br /></div><div>We had time to try another saltwater spot. We parked a half mile from the water and hiked down to a jetty and small beach that looked promising.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784712_ca72f8b441_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784712_ca72f8b441_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We fished the rock jetty for blennies and other micros, but the only two species we could find were mummichog and Atlantic silverside. Both were very aggressive. I had no problem hooking them with a #14 hook and a large piece of worm.</div><div><br />Mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784652_f5942865d2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784652_f5942865d2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Atlantic Silverside (Menidia menidia)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587756_ab38cb3574_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587756_ab38cb3574_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The sun was getting low in the sky, but we kept fishing the jetty because the habitat looked perfect for blennies. I felt a fish bite when I dropped my bait between two boulders, but then I realized my hook was stuck. I pulled up on my rod, and when it came free there was another skilletfish on the end!</div><div><br />Skilletfish (Gobiesox strumosus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587741_d49d46bd24_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587741_d49d46bd24_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Despite the low light, I was able to get some good photos in a calm pool of water behind the jetty.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587721_0a3f296794_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587721_0a3f296794_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>One of the coolest things about skilletfish, or any clingfish for that matter, is that their suction cup is composed of several fins that have fused together. Their ability to cling to rocks or your hand is pretty impressive. </div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274104_e3e2ec4aac_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274104_e3e2ec4aac_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Ally had something take her bait twice, but she was using presnelled tanago hooks, which unfortunately weren't strong enough to pull skilletfish out of the rocks. I gave her my rod that had 4 pound line, but she wasn't able to find another skilletfish before we needed to leave. We'll find them again someday!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274074_8a388535b9_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274074_8a388535b9_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>The following morning we had time to check out a creek that had sampling data for rosyside dace. It was a small slow-moving stream in an urban park and again was easy to access.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665821938_49256f50cc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665821938_49256f50cc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We found fish in a small pool. Most of them were blacknose dace, but Ally was the first to notice that a few of them were rosyside dace. We each caught one, which made for a good end to the trip.</div><div><br />Eastern Blacknose Dace (Rhinichthys atratulus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666467400_f0cafcbe48_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666467400_f0cafcbe48_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Rosyside Dace (Clinostomus funduloides)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587486_467ff5f1a6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665587486_467ff5f1a6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Ally caught around six new species, and I caught three. We were both very happy with how we did, especially considering how cold it was. We'd like to go back to that area (not necessarily Marlyand though) to look for saltwater fish like striped blenny, skilletfish for Ally, gobies, and flounders.</div><div> </div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784452_430892a3b4_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784452_430892a3b4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Now back to Florida where it's 80 degrees!</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-79754583795078444992021-11-06T05:00:00.196-07:002021-11-10T06:25:24.008-08:00Maryland fall 2021 - part 1<div>It may be warm and sunny in Florida, but the rest of the country has been cooling off. Ally and I recently traveled up to Maryland for a three day weekend, and before we left we had to dig in our closets to find our winter coats to survive the frigid temps. Seeing the fall colors more than made up for the chilly weather.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588531_769094e2b6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588531_769094e2b6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We knew fishing would be tough, and most of the species wouldn't be colorful, but we picked out a few targets and made a plan to target them. First up was the Blue Ridge sculpin for both of us and a decent list of minnows for Ally. We fished a medium sized stream in the mountains and quickly caught a few different minnow species.</div><div><br />Bluntnose Minnow (Pimephales notatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588431_87670441b2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588431_87670441b2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Common Shiner (Luxilus cornutus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274839_b6487988b0_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274839_b6487988b0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>I switched gears to focus on sculpin, but I wasn't seeing any among the rocks. However, I did find a well camouflaged northern hogsucker tucked under a rock and pointed it out to Ally. She put a piece of worm in front of its mouth, and a few minutes later I saw her dashing up the bank with the fish in hand.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274769_4f4c9533be_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274769_4f4c9533be_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I moved upstream to the next riffle and continued poking around for sculpin. This time I had no trouble finding them. After two failed hooksets I finally got a big sculpin to take my bait and get him to hand. The unnotched caudal peduncle bar confirmed that it was a Blue Ridge!</div><div><br />Blue Ridge Sculpin (Cottus caeruleomentum) - new hook & line species #798<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274819_f90cf3b86f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274819_f90cf3b86f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>The chin pigmentation and median chin pores also support the ID, but because there is significant variation within the species, I think as a hobbyist you ultimately have to use location as the most important evidence for separating Blue ridge from mottled sculpin.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588336_b79f7db27f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588336_b79f7db27f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Ally captured my fish-in-hand-in-water photography technique, which is also the reason why my lower back is sore whenever we go microfishing.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664795552_01e61acdee_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664795552_01e61acdee_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><br /></div><div>We promised ourselves we wouldn't spend all our free time in Maryland fishing, so after we caught all the easy species in the creek we went for a trail run in the mountains. The views from the overlooks were pretty good.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588256_417e1aa5ee_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588256_417e1aa5ee_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>The next morning we fished an urban stream that had fallfish for me and tessellated darter and another handful of minnows for Ally. It was an easy stream to access, and right away we saw fish.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588196_4dac5d51dc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665588196_4dac5d51dc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We started off catching small minnows. Ally caught a satinfin shiner, and I caught a few creek chubs. We didn't see any fallfish or tessellated darters though.</div><div><br />Creek Chub (Semotilus atromaculatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274624_7469f12f8e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666274624_7469f12f8e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We worked our way upstream until we found a run with good flow and more rocks. We spotted a few darters and got to work fishing for them.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666468245_8aee72668c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51666468245_8aee72668c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />It didn't take long for each of us to catch a tessellated darter, and we also picked up swallowtail shiner. Neither was a new species for me, but both were much needed photo upgrades for my lifelist album.</div><div><br />Tesselated Darter (Etheostoma olmstedi)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665822498_37ec82040a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51665822498_37ec82040a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Swallowtail Shiner (Notropis procne)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51667036008_da49734e9c_c.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51667036008_da49734e9c_c.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>I scouted further upstream and found a deep pool with a fallen tree providing cover at one end. It had a few big chubs in it, so I tied on a larger #14 hook and put on half a worm. I dropped it in the shadow of the fallen tree, and a bigger chub dashed out and grabbed it. My first fallfish!</div><div><br /></div><div>Fallfish (Semotilus corporalis) - new hook & line species #799<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784962_a5ff42316b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51664784962_a5ff42316b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />With one more species to go to reach 800, we headed towards the coast to fish saltwater...</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-25915237640240796372021-10-30T05:00:00.076-07:002021-11-18T08:35:27.832-08:00North Florida road trip 2021 - part 2<div>On the third day of our North Florida road trip we ventured into the Osceola National Forest. This area is primarily pine forests with an abundance of tannic water ditches. Our targets were mud sunfish and banded sunfish, for both of us, and bluespotted sunfish for Ally.</div><div><br /><div><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51649194087_8ac5b4eb0e_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /></div><div>I had some new hooks from TenkaraBum called Akita Kitsune that I wanted to try out, and they ended up being perfect for small sunfish. Their shape is similar to New Half Moon tanago hooks, but they're larger and have stronger snelled line. It was a cold morning, but as the sun came up the fish slowly started biting. My first two catches were bluespotted sunfish, and after that I caught several mud sunfish, a flier, and a nice warmouth. Ally caught the same except for the bluespotted sunfish. We were very excited to finally add mud sunfish to our lists! They're a cool fish.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bluespotted Sunfish (Enneacanthus gloriosus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650020861_086a9e0e0b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650020861_086a9e0e0b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Mud Sunfish (Acantharchus pomotis) - new hook & line species #794</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650880865_c05bfd7623_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650880865_c05bfd7623_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Flier (Centrarchus macropterus)</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51649194182_3a6b963ccb_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51649194182_3a6b963ccb_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Warmouth (Lepomis gulosus)</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650685939_a7f7dd54a8_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650685939_a7f7dd54a8_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We had another spot marked for banded sunfish, so after a few hours we drove further into the forest to give it a try. I honestly enjoyed the fact that we lost our phone signals. It feels good to get off the beaten path from time to time! Several of the locals stopped to see what we were doing. An older gentleman in a beat-up pickup truck was excited to show us the spot on his chest where he recently had a catheter removed after he beat cancer. We were happy for him.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650252033_9e581d98a1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650252033_9e581d98a1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>This spot had plenty of flier, but we explored a little further down the road and found a small pocket of open water surrounded by vegetation. It looked promising, and much to our delight we each caught a banded sunfish there. Now all we're missing from the Enneacanthus genus is blackbanded sunfish!</div><div><br /></div><div>Banded Sunfish (Enneacanthus obesus) - new hook & line species #795<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650880365_909b09c753_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650880365_909b09c753_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We spent more time than we planned fishing the first two spots, so we had to skip a couple of boat ramps to the west and head straight to our last stop of the day, St. Mark's Lighthouse. It's a very fishy looking area with easy access to saltwater, freshwater, and everything in between.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650685074_c96dff6302_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650685074_c96dff6302_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We started off fishing the lagoon next to the parking lot, which had nice clear water. It was full of sheepshead minnows and gulf killifish. The male pupfish had bright iridescent blue marking on their heads, which I was able to just barely capture in the photo below. The gulf killifish were the largest we've ever seen. The one I caught was easily half a pound!</div><div><br /></div><div>Sheepshead Minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251793_c2202db890_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251793_c2202db890_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Gulf Killifish (Fundulus grandis)</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251573_baba82c325_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251573_baba82c325_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>I saw one longnose killifish mixed in with the other fish, but I lost track of it before I could get a bait in the water. Striped killifish, their close relative, like being in pure saltwater, so I suggested that we walk over to the Gulf and try the shallow sand flats. The wind was pretty strong.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251663_570bdbff40_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251663_570bdbff40_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Small schools of killifish were swimming around in a few inches of water. They were indeed our target, longnose killifish, and we each caught a few of them.</div><div><br /></div><div>Longnose Killifish (Fundulus similis) - new hook & line species #796<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650685354_757885db65_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650685354_757885db65_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>I like to use a plastic tub to put our catches in when it would be difficult to photograph them in their natural habitat. We learned a hard lesson while we were catching the sheepshead minnows and gulf killifish - the local birds like to eat them! We made sure to keep the lid on the tub when we caught the longnose killifish. No more free snacks!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650880225_5d4523ab02_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650880225_5d4523ab02_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We spent the night in Perry and then drove home on the fourth day. We had a few extra hours to fish, so we stopped at the boat ramp on the Santa Fe River to try again for madtoms. We had seen a few of them on the second day, but we didn't give them our full attention. This time we didn't bother trying for Suwannee bass or spotted bullhead and focused exclusively on madtoms.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650019916_4fec7abcb2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650019916_4fec7abcb2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>Madtoms can be very frustrating. I found a few of them, but they usually swam off until I couldn't keep track of them. Finally I found one that stayed in its hiding spot and immediately grabbed a bait when I put it in front of it. The two possibilities were tadpole madtom and speckled madtom, and I was very glad to see that it was the latter. My sixth new species of the trip!</div><div><br /></div><div>Speckled Madtom (Noturus leptacanthus) - new hook & line species #797<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251363_46ee8c4acd_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650251363_46ee8c4acd_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Ally was able to hook a couple of madtoms, but both of them fell off before she could get them to hand. It was a painful way to end the trip, but sometimes that's how fishing goes. We'll be back in the spring when its warmer and the water is still low. The Santa Fe still has a half dozen or more species for us to work on. We can't wait to go back!</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-50986100991086193192021-10-29T05:00:00.143-07:002021-11-17T08:39:53.546-08:00North Florida road trip 2021 - part 1<div>At the end of October Ally and I got around to doing a proper Florida road trip. We planned to drive to Gainesville, fish the Santa Fe River, continue on to the Osceola National Forest, and then finish up by heading west to the Gulf of Mexico. We left on a Thursday afternoon, and unfortunately we only made it a few hours before getting a flat tire that required a patch.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650021026_519c3f02c3_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650021026_519c3f02c3_b.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><div>The next day we fished several spots along the Santa Fe River, starting at a public boat ramp that several other species anglers have visited. It was cool and cloudy, and we hoped that the cold front that arrived the day before hadn't turned off the fishing.</div><div><br /></div><div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650686644_ece7eea3f4_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /></div><div>Microfishing produced two species, ironcolor shiner and Westfalls darter. I looked for ironcolor shiner many years ago in Illinois, where they are quite rare, so it was nice to finally catch one. The Westfalls darter was the last species on my list that I've caught but still needed a photo of.</div><div><br /></div><div>Ironcolor Shiner (Notropis chalybaeus) - new hook & line species #792</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650021431_879b29daac_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br />Westfalls Darter (Percina westfalli)</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650881550_9291369d89_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>We saw a few madtoms, but weren't able to catch them. Likewise we didn't have any luck with Suwannee bass or spotted bullhead. Our next spot was supposed to be good for the latter two species, so we moved there and fished some larger baits.</div><div><br /></div><div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650686424_10083a0ac9_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br /></div><div>Again we didn't have any luck with Suwanee bass or spotted bullhead, but I was able to get some nice photo upgrades for a couple other species. The size of the Seminole killifish really blew me away!</div><div><br />Redbreast Sunfish (Lepomis auritus)</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650021321_8974575f97_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>Spotted Sunfish (Lepomis punctatus)</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650686549_74c41421f3_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br />Seminole Killifish (Fundulus seminolis)</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650686604_d0168a40a5_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>Ally did some more microfishing, and she excitedly showed me a darter she caught. It was certainly not a Westfalls; it was a brown darter! She gave me a few pointers on how to find them (hidden in the green vegetation), and a few minutes later I caught one as well.</div><div><br />Brown Darter (Etheostoma edwini) - new hook & line species #793</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51649194622_ea0eb82fe8_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br />We had hoped to snorkel a spring for hogchokers, inspired by a video made by our friend Hunter, but it was closed due to damages from flooding earlier in the summer. We didn't have much daylight left, so we picked the next closest access to the river to fish for an hour. After throwing a few lures for bass, I got out my snorkeling gear so I could see what we were missing.</div><div><br /><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51649194352_90930e48ea_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>I saw a lot of largemouth bass and miscellaneous sunfish, but there was still no sign of Suwannee bass. What I did find were a ton of juvenile hogchokers. Adult hogchokers have tiny mouths, and these juveniles had mouths so small that even a tanago hook looked too big for them.</div><div><br />Hogchoker (Trinectes maculatus)</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650021126_fa8a714253_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br />I tried bopping the hogchokers on their faces with a tiny bit of worm on a tanago hook, but eventually I gave up and caught a few by hand. Next year we'll have to come back in the spring and look for adults when they come up the river to spawn. I don't think these tiny juveniles are catchable by hook & line.</div><div><br /><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650881660_16beeb32fb_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>There were a lot of shiners at this spot, but they looked the same as the ironcolors from the first spot. However, after studying my photos more closely, I'm pretty sure the ones from this spot were coastal shiners. Their dorsal and pelvic fins are positioned differently, and their black stripes are not as black as ironcolors.</div><div><br />Coastal Shiner (Notropis petersoni)</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51650881275_d980960c08_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>We wrapped up the day by driving up to Lake City to get dinner and spend the night.</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-37640606463913190112021-10-16T08:19:00.096-07:002021-11-27T06:52:08.324-08:00Florida mullet run fishing with MiciahThe fall mullet run is one of the biggest fishing events of the year on the east coast of Florida. It's been going on for a while now, but we haven't had a chance to fish it. My longtime friend Miciah is in Florida right now and wanted to meet, so it was the perfect opportunity to revisit the beaches around Stuart to fish for predators and hunt for new species. We arrived at high tide and started off throwing small Krocodile spoons. They were a good imitation for the small mullet, and the jacks went nuts for them.<div><br />Crevalle Jack (Caranx hippos)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600128291_10ea3c3181_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600128291_10ea3c3181_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>Ally and I each pulled in several large jacks and many more smaller ones. Miciah was fishing a smaller hook and caught small crevalle jacks and a few leatherjackets. We even saw a small shark chasing the schools of mullet in the shallows.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600344148_c4e44d7a63_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600344148_c4e44d7a63_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />When we were satisfied with the jacks we switched to microfishing gear. Each person had their targets. For me it was sand drum, for Ally it was palometa, and Miciah needed a several species. I dropped my bait around submerged rocks. The first two fish to bite were masquerader hairy blennies and juvenile black margates. I've called these blennies hairy blennies in the past, but I'm finally giving in to the consensus that they're masqueraders. It doesn't change my lifelist count. Eventually I'll go back and edit my blog and species list to make sure everything is consistent.</div><div><br />Masquerader Hairy Blenny (Labrisomus conditus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600344048_08234d2c00_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600344048_08234d2c00_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Black Margate (Anisotremus surinamensis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600128136_8d619bfaf1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600128136_8d619bfaf1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Miciah was fishing the pockets of open sand between the rocks, and he caught several species of interest. The first was a flagfin mojarra, one of the only mojarra species left that Ally and I both need. He also caught a sand drum, my target for the day.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600128091_9c4c030025_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600128091_9c4c030025_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Ally was also microfishing and discovered some juvenile permit. I seized the opportunity and caught a sand drum where Miciah had been fishing, and then I caught a permit where Ally had been fishing. This is a perk of fishing with friends!<br /><br />Sand Drum (Umbrina coroides) - new hook & line species #787<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51599302027_144ef6094e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51599302027_144ef6094e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Permit (Trachinotus falcatus) - new hook & line species #788<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600786254_03c2251570_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600786254_03c2251570_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Ally didn't find her palometa, but we all left the spot with new species. Miciah's family and lunch were calling, so we packed up and went to meet them at their hotel. On the walk out we stopped to watch huge tarpon and sharks blowing up on mullet just outside the breakers. It was REALLY cool to see!</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51601020555_b8dd0e1005_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51601020555_b8dd0e1005_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After lunch we headed into town to fish the river from a pier beneath one of the causeways. It was a sunny day, so we appreciated the shade. The water was murky, but we saw a lot of bait activity.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51678316662_cd5804de33_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51678316662_cd5804de33_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">Ally discovered the first new species here. She was using a sabiki with extra tiny hooks and pulled up a small anchovy. I had a larger hook for catching snapper, so I borrowed her rig and quickly caught an anchovy of my own. Thanks Ally!</div></div><div><br />Bay Anchovy (Anchoa mitchilli) - new hook & line species #789<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51601020455_150d0e67e9_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51601020455_150d0e67e9_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We were catching small mangrove snappers around the pier pilings. After an hour or two, Miciah asked if we realized that some of them were dog snappers. We thought they were just more colorful mangrove snappers, but he was correct! I hadn't been taking any photos of them, so I pulled up a few more fish until one of them was a dog snapper. Thanks Miciah!</div><div><br /></div><div>Mangrove Snapper (Lutjanus griseus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600343658_90a44eaf9d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600343658_90a44eaf9d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Dog Snapper (Lutjanus jocu) - new hook & line species #790<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600343543_ef8ed871a7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51600343543_ef8ed871a7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Our trip to Stuart ended up being one of my best species days since moving to Florida. Four new ones in one day is pretty rare for an area that you've already fished several times. I really owe all four of them to Ally and Miciah, so once again, thank you!</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51625561838_09ef6209ee_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51625561838_09ef6209ee_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>The next weekend Ally and I did an impromptu kayak session on the Indian River close to home. We started off fishing in the mangroves, but we also wanted to get some miles in, so we paddled out to an island. After stretching our legs we headed east towards Pelican Island. After getting soaked by the rain we paddled through a gap in the mangroves to a lagoon between the two halves of Pelican Island. </div><div><br />Red Drum (Sciaenops ocellatus) - new hook & line species #791<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51623267251_69da427b6d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51623267251_69da427b6d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I cast lures towards the mangroves, but after a while I decided to troll around the perimeter instead. I had one hit, and it wasn't a ladyfish or spotted trout or crevalle jack. It was my first redfish! We finished up our paddle in the rain as we worked our way back to the launch.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51625335436_6a37c7b245_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51625335436_6a37c7b245_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div>Miles: 8.5</div><div>Hours: 4:48</div><div><br /></div>Next up we have our first multi-day Florida road trip!</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-22863505509672770042021-07-04T17:00:00.001-07:002021-07-07T18:45:10.266-07:00Fourth of July snorkel and kayak<div>Happy fourth of July! Ally and I spent the weekend checking out new spots and trying out different ways of fishing. On Saturday we drove down to Stuart to try out the snorkel gear we picked up at a local dive shop. It was a hot day, and the water looked good.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51294648541_7b7e9e52fa_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51294648541_7b7e9e52fa_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>It felt good to get in the water, but the visibility ended up being pretty poor. There was some sort of brown algae making it difficult to see more than a few feet. Every now and then we found a patch of clear water, but within a few minutes the brown algae would move in. We swam out a ways looking for fish, but we didn't find any until we came back towards shore. Everything was in 2 feet of water or less! We saw assorted damselfish, including a possible new one, juvenile grunts, slippery dicks, silver porgies, hairy blennies, and molly millers. Most exciting of all was a big school of sand drum, which look almost identical to yellowfin croakers in the Pacific.</div><div><br />Sand Drum (Umbrina coroides)</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51294648556_b83c65a639_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51294648556_b83c65a639_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>We tried snorkel fishing with tanago hooks for a while, but the silver porgies and sand drum were too tempting, so we switched to regular spinning gear. I pointed out the school of drum to Ally, she flipped a bait out to them, and almost instantly she had one on and caught her lifer.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292622844_313fdd8580_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292622844_313fdd8580_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I expected to get one just as easily, but I shouldn't have been so confident! Despite having the school just 5 feet in front of me, I couldn't get a sand drum to find my bait. I did catch some nice silver porgies though. This species is similar to spottail pinfish, and I've held off on adding it to my list in the past, but I'm feeling confident with this one. I looked back at my old photos, and I think I probably caught silver porgy all the way back in 2013. Ah well.</div><div><br />Silver Porgy (Diplodus argenteus) - new hook & line species #746<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292201058_174fa2bf93_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292201058_174fa2bf93_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />It might not be a 100% foolproof ID trait, but in general the spot on silver porgies is a nice round circle and does not form a saddle. Spottail pinfishes have more variation, but instead of a spot they have a blotch that forms a saddle over the caudal peduncle.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291905911_76dff9426d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291905911_76dff9426d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My next not-a-sand-drum was even more exciting. I flipped my bait out, something grabbed it, and whatever it was actually ran fairly hard. I saw black and silver and was excited to see that it was my lifer palometa!</div><div><br />Palometa (Trachinotus goodei) - new hook & line species #747<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292912645_b13f638637_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292912645_b13f638637_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The tide was coming in, the school of drum scattered, and some dark clouds appeared to the north. It was last call, so I decided to get back in the water before we had to pack up. We had seen several nurse sharks when we were fishing, and it didn't take long for me to find one tucked in the rocks. I also saw a green tail which had to belong to a moray. We'll definitely be back to see what else is there.</div><div><br />Nurse Shark (Ginglymostoma cirratum)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292622599_0d8d2740b0_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292622599_0d8d2740b0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />On Sunday we celebrated Independence Day by getting out on the water. We wanted to try a new kayak spot, so we drove down to Fort Pierce to check out some artificial reefs with publicly available GPS pins. We'd finally get more than a mile from shore, but it wouldn't get deeper than 35 feet.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51293903312_0eb7356d24_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51293903312_0eb7356d24_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Getting down to the beach was easier than up near Sebastian. We picked a launch that we thought would be quiet, and it was, but we should have expected that it would be packed with people when we came back to land in the afternoon. The swells were less than a foot.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291163962_493012461d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291163962_493012461d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We paddled out to where the 15 foot reef drops off to a sandy 20 foot bottom and stopped to fish for live bait. I had rigged my kayak anchor with a bright red float, and this was a good opportunity to try it out. It worked great... until it was time to pull it up. The anchor got stuck between some rocks, and I had to abandon it. We paddled out to the first pin, which was an artificial reef made up of concrete culverts. We quickly caught some Atlantic bumpers and sent them back down as live bait. They didn't get any interest though, so when I caught a pinfish I swapped it in.</div><div><br />Pinfish (Lagodon rhomboides)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292625314_04b17e02c5_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292625314_04b17e02c5_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The pinfish didn't attract attention either, so I started bottom fishing with a 2 oz jig tipped with shrimp. It got a little more action. First up was the biggest porkfish I've ever seen, then a white grunt that came home for dinner, and finally a surprisingly strong smooth puffer. The puffer actually pulled drag on my spinning reel.</div><div><br />Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291908446_dac669dfee_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291908446_dac669dfee_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Smooth Puffer (Lagocephalus laevigatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292087348_05fb028f21_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51292087348_05fb028f21_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We paddled to the next pin, but I couldn't find the reef on my fish finder. I paddled around the mark in circles looking for structure on the bottom, but it looked like bare sand down there. That was disappointing, but it only got worse when we couldn't find the next two reefs. The numbers must be off, because I don't think a bunch of concrete rubble up and moved. I caught a blue runner to troll as live bait, and we headed back towards the shallow reef.</div><div><br /></div><div>I ended up trolling or drifting with the blue runner for at least two hours, and nothing went for it. Either the predators weren't around, or they weren't biting. We were getting tired, so we finished the day by sabiki-ing the reef. I caught a southern puffer, slippery dicks, blackear wrasse, a sand perch, and two damselfish that I identified as cocoa damselfish. They're a pain to ID, but at least I feel confident that it's one I haven't caught before.</div><div><br />Sand Perch (Diplectrum formosum)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291163707_5ca7c9afb1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291163707_5ca7c9afb1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis) - new hook & line species #748<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291163682_a669f1e441_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291163682_a669f1e441_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The wind picked up as it always does in the afternoon, so we packed away our gear and looked for a place to land. Before we did that though, I wanted to try to get my anchor one more time. I paddled back to where I left it, pulled with all my might, was ready to cut the rope, but then it was magically unstuck. I'm glad it came home with me.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291266787_97656d9e67_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51291266787_97656d9e67_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Miles: 8.4<br />Hours: 5:26<br />Water Temp: 82 F<br /><br />Landing was easy, but we had to do it about a 100 yards north of the trail to the parking lot. Ally and I agreed that we had a good time, but we weren't really successful in what we set out to do. We fished live bait almost the entire day, didn't have any bites, and we only found one of the four reefs we planned to fish. Next time we'll do better!</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-80145528378297078102021-03-28T05:00:00.230-07:002021-06-03T10:55:50.808-07:00Florida surf fishing for sharksMarch was a busy month! Shortly after arriving in Florida I saw reports that blacktip sharks were migrating through the area. It seemed like an opportunity that we needed to jump on, so Ally and I assembled our surf fishing gear and headed down to the beach. We had some frozen mullet from the bait shop and planned to catch fresh bait on light tackle while we waited.<div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51036682663_e5c1754600_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51036682663_e5c1754600_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Photo credit Ally Toth.</span></div><br />There were plenty of bait fish within casting range. We caught jack crevalle, bluefish, and ladyfish. Ally caught a huge ladyfish that turned out to be fantastic shark bait.</div><div><br />Ladyfish (Elops saurus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033604206_39ccb249b7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033604206_39ccb249b7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Everything was going well until the sharks showed up. I got picked up first. My rod doubled over, the drag on the reel started buzzing, and I quickly realized that I didn't stand a chance against the fish on the other end. It was taking line even with the drag fully tightened, and I was worried that the rod might snap, so I pointed the rod tip towards the water and used my thumb to put extra pressure on the spool. The braided line snapped.</div><div><br /></div><div>Less than a minute later, Ally's rod bent over. Another shark! Her experience was worse than mine. First her rod holder pulled out of the sand before she could get to it, and then in the process of diving on her rod she sliced her foot open. Finally, the shark somehow broke (or bit) through her 200 lb mono shock leader. We were clearly outgunned, and Ally needed to go to prompt care to get stitches, so that was the end of our session.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033604436_c6321c2b91_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033604436_c6321c2b91_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />A few weeks later Ryan said he wanted to drive over from Tampa, so we decided to try for sharks again. Ally and I bought new reels and stronger braid, and I brought a new heavy surf rod that I've been holding for my friend Marc. We brought the ladyfish from the previous session, chopped it up, and cast out two baits on the two rods. It didn't take long before the first shark showed up. I was ready to do battle with a 100 or 200 pound beast, but I was actually quite happy when I realized it was a much smaller model.</div><div><br />Finetooth Shark (Carcharhinus isodon) - new hook & line species #714<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011022375_6f72c5038f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011022375_6f72c5038f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />All three of us had completed the FWC online shark fishing course, so this was a good opportunity to practice a quick catch, photo, and release with a smaller shark. We kept it on the wet sand where the waves would wash over it while we unhooked it and took a few photos. Then it was back into the waist-deep water, and off it swam. Success!</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080301152_9c1a1efb19_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080301152_9c1a1efb19_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Ally's rod was the next to go off. She was using the 13 foot rod that I had used during the previous session, and it paired well with her reel. Her shark came in quickly as well. I'm sure she was glad it wasn't a monster.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079512163_f4a37b3a64_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079512163_f4a37b3a64_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Two sharks on the beach! This one was also a finetooth. It ended up being the only species we caught that day. Ally had caught a finetooth from a boat before, but this was much bigger one, so she was plenty happy.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079511893_84b0936c1b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079511893_84b0936c1b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We sent the baits out again, and this time it was Ryan's turn to grab one of the rods. It was a similarly sized shark again, and Ryan quickly got it in where I could grab its tail.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079511838_84af2a8099_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079511838_84af2a8099_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I'm really happy with how quickly we worked as a team to land, dehook, photo, and release these sharks. The practice will pay off when we catch something bigger next time.<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080207376_4cb45261d1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080207376_4cb45261d1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Congrats to Ryan on his first finetooth shark! I'm sure it was well worth the early alarm and 3 hour drive from Tampa.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011021135_3176ee7f84_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011021135_3176ee7f84_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We still had a few pieces of ladyfish left, so we kept casting them out and hooking up with sharks. At this point we were really hoping for something new. A blacktip would have been great. A small bull shark or bonnethead would have been good too.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011020995_9701e2386c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011020995_9701e2386c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />All five of our sharks ended up being finetooths though. And interestingly, all five of them were males. There was definitely a school of them out there hunting together.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011020865_359d86cf52_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51011020865_359d86cf52_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After a picnic lunch, Ryan was interested in going to the small spillway that we had fished before. He wanted a spinycheek sleeper, Ally wanted a bigmouth sleeper, and I wanted to try for the sailfin catfish and mountain mullet. When we arrived though, we saw gar and bowfin. And when you see big gar and bowfin in front of you, gosh darnit, you fish for big gar and bowfin.<br /><br />Longnose Gar (Lepisosteus osseus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080382456_c05cfe311a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080382456_c05cfe311a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Bowfin (Amia calva)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079530843_38662b5336_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079530843_38662b5336_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After playing with the prehistoric fish, we downsized our tackle to fish for new species, and unfortunately I kept catching the bigmouth sleepers that Ally wanted. I wasn't trying to. I was using a #8 hook with a quarter of a redworm as bait. I also got a blue tilapia with interesting colors.</div><div><br /></div><div>Bigmouth Sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080319397_429644d8e4_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080319397_429644d8e4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079530793_3acf29d814_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51079530793_3acf29d814_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The heat finally wore us down. Ally caught a really big blue tilapia, and then we decided to wrap things up. It's been a few years since Ryan and I have fished together, so we got a photo. Guys need to remember to get photos like this more often.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080319082_9105acca10_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080319082_9105acca10_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I didn't really mention how the hunt for sailfin catfish and mountain mullet went. It didn't go well, but I promise I'll keep trying.</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-12501649245542297882021-03-27T05:00:00.199-07:002021-06-03T10:56:21.056-07:00Hey everyone, I live in Florida nowHey everyone, I live in Florida now! At the end of February I packed my bags and headed east. A week later I arrived in Florida, ready to start the next chapter of my life. It should come as no surprise that I quickly started fishing.<div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51009402413_90fa07810c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51009402413_90fa07810c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My first new species came from an urban park near my house. It had an assortment of micros in the shallows - eastern mosquitofish, golden silverside, jewel cichlid, and juvenile bluegill. I was dropping my bait through small openings in the vegetation looking for something new. To my surprise I pulled up a swamp darter, one of the few Etheostoma species with a range this far south.</div><div><br />Swamp Darter (Etheostoma fusiforme) - new hook & line species #707<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51010108056_7d56f24c06_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51010108056_7d56f24c06_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Next I gave saltwater micros a try. There's plenty of public access in Florida, which means there are endless shore fishing spots to check out. I saw some small fish along the rocky shoreline near one of the local causeways, so I got out the micro rod and Tanago hooks to see what they were.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032873938_2e0bf56681_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032873938_2e0bf56681_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The fish I saw, which blended in very well with the sand, turned out to be goldspotted killifish. I didn't know they were in the area, so it was definitely a cool find!</div><div><br />Goldspotted Killifish (Floridichthys carpio) - new hook & line species #708<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033705227_ecfd6c1bd9_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033705227_ecfd6c1bd9_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />While I looked for micros, I also set up a medium-light rod in a rod holder with a piece of shrimp as bait. It got picked up twice, first by a small stingray and then by a striped burrfish. Neither was a lifer, but I got good photos of each of them.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032874468_4d3eedaf50_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032874468_4d3eedaf50_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Atlantic Stingray (Dasyatis sabina)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033705167_fea4829307_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033705167_fea4829307_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Striped Burrfish (Chilomycterus schoepfi)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033704022_6ff3332757_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033704022_6ff3332757_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The causeway bridge looked like a fishy spot. Ally joined me here, and we set up in the shade where we could fish the bridge pilings and rocks. Mangrove snappers were the most common (or aggressive) species, but after losing a few Tanago hooks I was able to catch a checkered puffer and frillfin goby to add to the list. The gulf killifish was also an interesting catch, because this is the northern edge of their range.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033601456_812cc7e0b2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033601456_812cc7e0b2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Mangrove Snapper (Lutjanus griseus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032873253_23d2765824_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032873253_23d2765824_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Checkered Puffer (Sphoeroides testudineus) - new hook & line species #709<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033703727_443fe374cb_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033703727_443fe374cb_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Frillfin Goby (Bathygobius soporator) - new hook & line species #710<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033703142_e3d8e083bc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51033703142_e3d8e083bc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Gulf Killifish (Fundulus grandis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032872738_57971a79b2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51032872738_57971a79b2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Usually I avoid posting photos of dead fish on this blog, but this sheepshead will be a rare exception. I like to take fish home for dinner, so I was excited when I hooked into this guy next to one of the bridge pilings. It was my first time cooking a sheepshead. My passion is photographing live fish that I catch and release, but keeping and eating local fish is also an important way that I connect with nature.</div><div><br />Sheepshead (Archosargus probatocephalus)<img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51049456853_f2b0e2a536_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br />Back to the microfishing! Ally and Damion had scouted out a spot where flagfish were known to frequent in the spring, and they tipped me off that they had showed up. Ally joined me there, and after catching a few other species, we both had our endemic flagfish. We also caught some incredibly colorful marsh killifish that looked nothing like the ones I caught north of Tampa several years ago. Ally caught her lifer sailfin molly as well. I'll have to go back for mine.</div><div><br />American Flagfish (Jordanella floridae) - new hook & line species #711<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51044944047_93d6bfab26_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51044944047_93d6bfab26_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Marsh Killifish (Fundulus confluentas)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51044120348_5ef8610423_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51044120348_5ef8610423_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />In the middle of the month we had a surprise visit from Uncle Pat and Lia, who were taking a much needed vacation from our nation's capitol. Pat wanted to fish a few of the local spillways, so we joined them early in the morning before work. The top targets were the various snook species, but they weren't biting, so eventually I switched back to micros. I didn't catch anything new, but I did get a really good photo of a crested goby showing off its namesake crest.<br /><br />Crested Goby (Lophogobius cyprinoides)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50999918145_dc1b360b9a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50999918145_dc1b360b9a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The next day we tried another spillway known for bigmouth sleepers and several other cool native species. Again the action was slow, but on my last cast I got a hit and pulled up a good sized sleeper. Pat and Lia stuck around after I left, and Pat texted me a photo of a juvenile bigmouth he caught further up near some rocks.</div><div><br />Bigmouth Sleeper (Gobiomorus dormitor) - new hook & line species #712<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51068400728_a89e3742a4_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51068400728_a89e3742a4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I forgot to mention, it's been FIVE years since Pat and I fished together. It's been way too long!</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51091006070_ca4a215007_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51091006070_ca4a215007_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My final new species came from another local lake. While on a morning run I saw a school of slender micros that could only be one thing. Golden silversides! I had failed to catch them at the other lake, but they were easier at this one. My 12 foot crappie pole made it easy to reach the school.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080208671_1b4bef9404_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080208671_1b4bef9404_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Golden Silverside (Labidesthes vanhyningi) - new hook & line species #713<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080301512_9562f9f6ef_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/51080301512_9562f9f6ef_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Needless to say, there will be plenty more Florida reports this year. Hope you're ready for them!</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-90779322846528348932021-01-19T08:00:00.003-08:002021-06-03T10:56:52.801-07:00San Diego January 2021It's a new year, and that means new blog posts and new fish. The first new species is a local nemesis that I've been trying to catch for almost 3 years. To my surprise, my friend Vince found a population of reef finspots in Mission Bay when he was in town for a visit. He found them by fishing at night with a headlamp, which is not something I've tried.<div><br /><div><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816320206_a5a90e1e2e_c.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I drove down to Mission Bay after dark, turned on my headlamp, and got to work looking for reef finspot heads poking out from under the rocks. Vince showed up and joined in the search. He spotted the first one and pointed it out for me to catch. In other words, I basically did none of the work for this one!</div><div><br />Reef Finspot (Paraclinus integripinnis) - new hook & line species #704<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816320296_41249d1279_c.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I was determined to find a reef finspot of my own, and as the tide dropped further I started to see them. In the next hour I caught 3 or 4 more individuals, which greatly helped my self esteem.</div><div><br /></div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50816424122_dfa2cec6c1_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br />The next weekend I took the kayak to La Jolla to give deep dropping another try. There's a list of flatfish in the California fishing regulations that are open year-round and can be caught from any depth, and of course there are always weird fish that don't make it into the fishing regulations. It was a beautiful day with lots of dolphins and birds around.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50841864008_35ebbbbe83_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50841864008_35ebbbbe83_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I'm a big fan of Google Maps satellite view for finding fishing spots, but recently I've been using Google Earth instead. The two websites are very similar, but Google Earth lets you rotate the view to help you see 3D structure, and it shows the ocean depth wherever you move the mouse pointer. I picked out a couple of small humps in the bottom of the canyon. The first was only 2 miles from the launch, so it was a quick paddle. I dropped a rig down 1150 feet with a chum cage filled with chopped up sardines, a green strobe light, and hooks baited with sardine chunks. I let it sit for a while, and then I slowly paddled around so the 16 oz sinker dragged along the bottom. The rod tip bounced lightly a few times, I lifted the rod up, felt a little more weight on the line, and then reeled up 1150 feet without slowing down or taking a break. I did not want that fish coming off! When I got it to the surface I saw that it was not a flatfish and not a rockfish. It was a sablefish, or black cod, the species that motivated Eli and I to give deep dropping a try nearly 6 years ago!</div><div><br />Sablefish (Anoplopoma fimbria) - new hook & line species #705<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50839817797_66837d29f2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50839817797_66837d29f2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I fished another small hump in 1100 feet and caught a second sablefish. As exciting as they were, they're currently out of season and have the same depth restrictions as rockfish, so I needed to keep moving spots to try for something else. I moved away from the humps and slowly dragged my rig along the edge of the canyon slope. Flatfish like slopes, right? I got one more bite but wasn't able to set the hook. It felt similar to the sablefish, so I'm guessing that's what it was.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50839817742_be49f55718_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50839817742_be49f55718_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The dolphins stopped by to say hello periodically throughout the day. They thought it was fun to swim under my kayak, and occasionally one would bump my line, which was very exciting for a split second. If you want to see what a dolphin looks like on a fish finder, see below. </div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50842674127_b133f7d169_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50842674127_b133f7d169_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I wanted to add a few extra miles to my day, so I paddled towards Blacks Beach and then turned south to go by the Scripps Pier. I've kayaked La Jolla dozens of times, but this was my first time taking a good look at the pier. A lot of cool research goes on there!<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50842588981_2569d1a493_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50842588981_2569d1a493_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />It was an easy day, with low swell and almost no wind. I got to finally see a species that I've been reading about for 6 years, and for that I am very grateful. La Jolla Canyon is still a huge mystery to me, but after today I feel like it's starting to share some of its secrets.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50841886098_65c80a5ed7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50841886098_65c80a5ed7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Miles: 6.5<br />Hours: 6:00<br />Water Temp: 58 F<br /><br /></div></div><div>It's turning into quite the busy month! I didn't plan to fish again over the 3 day weekend, but I couldn't pass up an easy new species. Chris, Carson, and Brayden were in town, and on their way out I sent them to one of my spots for cheekspot goby and mussel blenny. They fished the spot, but they reported back that all they could catch were staghorn sculpins. I don't have staghorn sculpin on my list, so needless to say I packed the car and headed up there!</div><div><br /></div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50850173358_c958a3a12b_b.jpg" width="640" /><div><br /></div><div>The tide was higher than I liked, and the afternoon wind was making it hard to sight fish. I moved down to a corner where there was a small break from the wind. Per Chris's instructions, I dragged a bait around the bottom and made sure to drag the split shot and bait over ghost shrimp burrow mounds. Like magic a sculpin appeared and grabbed my bait.</div><div><br /></div><div>Pacific Staghorn Sculpin (Leptocottus armatus) - new hook & line species #706</div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50850989232_1d9b3fa257_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>Once I had the technique figured out, it wasn't hard to catch more. I caught 3 more sculpin all around the same size. They do get bigger, probably over a pound, but in this case I'll take what I can get.</div><div><br /></div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50850895196_a287b985a5_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>After I released them I was able to get an underwater photo of one of them blending in with the bottom. Even though they have excellent camouflage, they actually spend most of their time burrowed under the sand so that they're completely invisible. They're a cool species!</div><div><br /></div><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50850173208_d229838e0a_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><div><br /></div><div>The month still isn't over. Can I get another new one?</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-18938287375836101322020-12-12T16:00:00.194-08:002021-06-03T10:56:37.310-07:00Newport Beach kayak fishingThis tumultuous year is almost over. I honestly wasn't sure if I'd get to kayak again before it ended, but my friend Anthony invited me to join him and a few other guys up in Newport Beach for a session on Saturday. It meant setting the alarm extra early in order to get up there by 6am, but Anthony has done it plenty of times to drive down to La Jolla, so I had no excuse why I couldn't do the same.<div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712624726_b02654e1e6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712624726_b02654e1e6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I unloaded in the dark and met Mike, who was taking his new bright green Stealth Fusion 480 out for the first time. He got on the water to meet his friend Quang, and then Fernando and Anthony arrived and started unloading when I was launching. The group assembled out past the jetty where we caught mackerel for bait.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712704222_3997fbb1aa_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712704222_3997fbb1aa_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />It was a breezy morning. I wanted to fish around 400 feet deep for hake, and I thought the wind would die down as the sun came out. Anthony agreed to paddle the 2.7 miles to the furthest pin I had marked to the north. The paddle wasn't too bad, but by the time we arrived the wind was really picking up. I was able to get my 8 oz jig to the bottom, but drifting at around 1.5 mph meant we couldn't stay on top of structure. I tipped the jig and the circle hook above it with pieces of mackerel and caught a variety of small bottom species. Birds and dolphins were feeding on bait fish in the distance, but they were always too far away to be worth paddling to.</div><div><br />Calico Rockfish (Sebastes dallii)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712619071_8cbfb7d19a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712619071_8cbfb7d19a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />California Scorpionfish (Scorpaena guttata)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712619001_0fd2050d18_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712619001_0fd2050d18_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Longfin Sanddab (Citharichthys xanthostigma)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712618956_57b112a3ea_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712618956_57b112a3ea_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The wind kept getting stronger, and the sky was getting darker to the west, so we decided to do the prudent thing and start paddling back to the jetty. I felt bad that I had talked Anthony into going on my wild goose chase, but he was a good sport about it. We gritted our teeth and paddled into the wind. At times we were only able to manage about 1.5 mph.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50711887413_0b743a1ef7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50711887413_0b743a1ef7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Once we passed Balboa Pier the wind started to finally lay down a bit. It was still blowing, but conditions looked fishable again. We paddled back out towards deeper water, but this time we kept the jetty within sight. Anthony wanted to fish a shallower spot that had good structure with the other guys, but I stubbornly wanted to try 400 feet a bit more for the hake, so we parted ways. I dropped some smaller hooks and quickly felt a few small nibbles. I pulled up two rockfish, one of which was definitely a halfbanded, but the other one looked like something new!</div><div><br />Stripetail Rockfish (Sebastes saxicola) - new hook & line species #702<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50711887363_d5a77e015a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50711887363_d5a77e015a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />It takes quite a bit to make me seasick, but the swell and chop were starting to get to me. Every time I looked down to deal with gear my stomach sent signals that it might do something unpleasant. I did what every fisherman does when it's time to head in, which is to declare one more cast (or drop in this case). I sent my rig to the bottom, felt small taps again, and this time when I reeled up I saw two slender silvery fish that could only be one thing. Hake!</div><div><br /></div><div>North Pacific Hake (Merluccius productus) - new hook & line species #703<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712703957_bbf513513a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712703957_bbf513513a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />One of my goals for the year was to catch a new non-rockfish, non-sanddab species from the deep. I envisioned it happening at 1000+ feet, but I think a pair of hake from 400 feet certainly should qualify. Thanks goes to Mike for posting a hake a while back that inspired me to try for them!</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712703797_8a8f6ce91a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712703797_8a8f6ce91a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Back at the launch Mike and Anthony were loading up their vehicles. Everyone was pretty beat from battling the wind all morning, but we were happy to get to spend the day on the water. Mike was happy with his Stealth. His only complaint was that it was a "wet ride" with water coming through the scuppers at his feet and in the seat.<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712618501_ed8dcfa5ec_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50712618501_ed8dcfa5ec_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /></div><div>Below is the screenshot from my Garmin watch. You can see by the lack of squiggles that we only stopped to fish a few spots. Most of the day was paddling and fighting the wind.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50722526588_8fd02f060c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50722526588_8fd02f060c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>Miles: 12.2</div><div>Hours: 7:11</div><div>Water Temp: 58 F</div><br />Thanks again to Anthony and Mike for the invite. I'm glad we got to meet up!</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-55942432438974242182020-11-21T08:00:00.321-08:002021-06-03T10:58:55.422-07:00Georgia Florida part 1 - mostly microsTowards the end of November I spent a week in Athens, Georgia visiting my brother and sister-in-law. Late fall isn't the best time to go microfishing, but since I was in the area I decided to check out Trail Creek in one the public parks it flows through.<div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50672778176_7c1976b01e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50672778176_7c1976b01e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I'm embarrassed to report that the first fish I caught was a new species, but I didn't get a photo of it. After a decade of fishing you wouldn't think I would make a rookie mistake like that! Here's what happened - I caught a Westfalls darter (a split from blackbanded darter), but my camera was about 20 yards away. Just then a dad and his three kids stopped on the trail above me, and the dad proceeded to yell at the kids about something they were doing. It felt like an awkward time to come scrambling up the boulders and surprise them, so I figured I'd wait for them to leave. The Tanago hook was still in the mouth of the darter, so I put it back in the water so it could breathe while I waited. The dad and kids left, I lifted up my rod, and the fish was gone. Yes, I am an idiot.</div><div><br /></div><div>This chain of events didn't bother me too much, because I figured it would be easy to catch another Westfalls darter. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. I caught five more fish, four of which were spottail shiners, and one bluehead chub. Ah well, I'm sure I'll be back someday.</div><div><br />Spottail Shiner (Notropis hudsonius)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50672030248_b5365311b1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50672030248_b5365311b1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Bluehead Chub (Nocomis leptocephalus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50672861907_066ae260ae_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50672861907_066ae260ae_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After my stay in Georgia I headed down to Florida to visit a few of my fishing friends, starting with Ally. She had a spot for platies that sounded like a sure thing, so we headed there as soon as I arrived. It was a nice little urban park with a ditch full of nonnative fish. Many of them were platies, but it took a while to get one to commit to taking the bait before a convict cichlid or mosquitofish got to it. We figured them out though, and we also caught a few female swordtails before calling it a day.<br /><br />Convict Cichlid (Amatitlania nigrofasciata)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802251_a9d1ff9c17_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802251_a9d1ff9c17_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Eastern Mosquitofish (Gambusia holbrooki)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802236_b334d4d93b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802236_b334d4d93b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Variable Platy (Xiphophorus variatus) - new hook & line species #680<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644891712_7ef25693da_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644891712_7ef25693da_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Green Swordtail (Xiphophorus hellerii)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802171_092282f99f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802171_092282f99f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Next we went to Sebastian Inlet thinking we might snorkel the sheltered area off the main channel. The cold water and poor visibility quickly changed our minds, but we could still fish the rocks for hairy blennies.<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644891552_d41f17bdf8_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644891552_d41f17bdf8_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />We didn't bring bait, and it turned out to be rather difficult to find something local to use. Eventually I was able to scrounge up a few snails and crabs, and we were in business. Fishing isn't always easy, and in this case the blennies were guarded by an army of militant damselfish. After battling the ranks of night sergeants and sergeant majors, we eventually got our baits to the blennies, and I was able to add the species to my list.<br /><br />Night Sergeant (Abudefduf taurus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644053393_9ea170da02_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644053393_9ea170da02_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Sergeant Major (Abudefduf saxatilis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644891512_a3bee65332_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644891512_a3bee65332_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Hairy Blenny (Labrisomus nuchipinnis) - new hook & line species #681<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802076_9c9c20f57c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50644802076_9c9c20f57c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The species hunt continued at a quiet pond along a local hiking trail. There wasn't much daylight left, so the pressure was on. Ally had previously caught blackchin tilapia here, so I hoped to pick up another easy one.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664878827_4eeaf3f8bc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664878827_4eeaf3f8bc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I only had my micro rod at this spot, so I was limited to juvenile fish hiding in the vegetation near shore. There were plenty of them, and in a few minutes I had caught several blackchin tilapia and jewel cichlids. It was nice to catch some colorful examples of the latter, because my only one from years ago wasn't very photogenic.</div><div><br />Blackchin Tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron) - new hook & line species #682<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664056928_669bfddb2b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664056928_669bfddb2b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />African Jewel Cichlid (Hemichromis bimaculatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664800316_e0e8643cca_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664800316_e0e8643cca_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The next day we did some urban ditch fishing, which is a right of passage for species fishing in Florida. We were armed with oats and bread so we could chum for mullet. The tilapia turned out to be equally excited by the chum, and when I dropped a single oat on a #14 hook into the canal, a big blue tilapia rushed over and grabbed it. This is definitely an upgrade over ones I've caught in the past!<br /><br />Blue Tilapia (Oreochromis aureus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50660662686_31e1bc507a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50660662686_31e1bc507a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The tilapia were the most aggressive fish, but little by little we were able to get the school of mullet interested in feeding on the chum. Pretty soon we had a steady supply of hungry fish. I was able to catch an adult blackchin tilapia, and after that I got my lifer striped mullet. Other catches included Mayan cichlid, striped mojarra, and crested goby, and there were a few other species that we saw but didn't catch. I am very excited that I don't have to worry about catching a mullet in San Diego now, since they are the same species!</div><div><br /></div><div>Blackchin Tilapia (Sarotherodon melanotheron)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50659930823_16e3e11ec2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50659930823_16e3e11ec2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Striped Mullet (Mugil cephalus) - new hook & line species #683<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50660754777_8a1b3400ae_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50660754777_8a1b3400ae_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Mayan Cichlid (Mayaheros urophthalmus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664056693_f4d46d4b44_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664056693_f4d46d4b44_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Striped Mojarra (Eugerres plumieri) - new hook & line species #684<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50660754672_65541d6b5e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50660754672_65541d6b5e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Crested Goby (Lophogobius cyprinoides)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664799986_f36e741f6a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50664799986_f36e741f6a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I never knew that crested gobies had translucent crests on their heads until I was editing the photos for this post. Who knew! Florida fishing was off to a good start.</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-38868018666041786592020-10-31T17:24:00.199-07:002021-06-03T10:58:36.286-07:00Solo San Diego species huntingSnorkel fishing the La Jolla tidepools was a lot of fun, so I was eager to get out and try it again. My nemesis the reef finspot was still out there, and I had another spot to try for them. The water was getting cold, so I figured this would be my last snorkel session of the season. I drove down to Mission Bay in my much too thin two piece wetsuit and jumped in the water. My first catch was a male bay blenny.<div><br />Bay Blenny (Hypsoblennius gentilis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542041303_3787056598_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542041303_3787056598_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The nice thing about snorkel fishing is that you don't have to deal with bycatch. I kept the baited hook pinched between my fingers while I looked for a finspot. There were a lot of fish around, but until I saw my target I wasn't going to bother fishing. The highlight of the day ended up being this octopus. I had recently watched My Octopus Teacher on Netflix (highly recommended), so I was inspired to reach out my hand in an offer of friendship. Sadly, my offer was rejected, because the octopus shot a jet of ink at me and swam away. Oh well.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542041158_cff561370e_b.jpg%5B/img%5D%5B/url%5D%5Burl=https://flic.kr/p/2k1eaYJ%5DPA241264%5B/url%5D%20by%20%5Burl=https://www.flickr.com/photos/64436841@N04/%5Dben.a.cantrell%5B/url%5D,%20on%20Flickr"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542041158_cff561370e_b.jpg%5B/img%5D%5B/url%5D%5Burl=https://flic.kr/p/2k1eaYJ%5DPA241264%5B/url%5D%20by%20%5Burl=https://www.flickr.com/photos/64436841@N04/%5Dben.a.cantrell%5B/url%5D,%20on%20Flickr" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I snorkeled for a few hours, but the cold water quickly wore me down. The reef finspots were outsmarting me, so I made the most of my time by practicing my underwater photography skills. Here's a selection of the fish I saw.</div><div><br />Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542768316_e891078986_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542768316_e891078986_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Spotted Kelpfish (Gibbonsia elegans)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542040993_b16f151bfa_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542040993_b16f151bfa_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Topsmelt or Jacksmelt (Atherinopsis sp.)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542905112_995d23dcc7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542905112_995d23dcc7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Opaleye (Girella nigricans) and Zebra Chub (Kyphosus azureus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542041068_13a8019b37_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542041068_13a8019b37_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Notchbrow Blenny (Hypsoblennius gilberti)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542905007_7efa7f5ac6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542905007_7efa7f5ac6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Dwarf Surfperch (Micrometrus minimus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542768266_4a88a9bca6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50542768266_4a88a9bca6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The following weekend I was ready to kayak again. We shouldn't be limited to having just one nemesis, and cabezon was definitely my second one. I planned to split the day between the wrecks of the Ruby E and the Yukon, and I started out at the Ruby E. I expected the bites to come quickly, but it was actually surprisingly slow. After moving spots several times, I finally hooked up with my first fish, a sharpnose seaperch. The bite turned on then, and I caught some nice gopher rockfish, sheephead, and ocean whitefish to take home to eat.</div><div><br />Sharpnose Seaperch (Phanerodon atripes)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016542_3eb5daf194_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016542_3eb5daf194_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />A dive boat arrived, so I politely began packing my gear up to leave. On my last drop I felt a few small bites, and I was delighted to pull up a small but boldly colored goby. I knew from dive videos that blackeye gobies were common, but I didn't expect to catch one from my kayak!</div><div><br />Blackeye Goby (Rhinogobiops nicholsii) - new hook & line species #677<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50550154793_6bb9b94674_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50550154793_6bb9b94674_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I paddled over to the Yukon and put one of my rod handles through the loop at the end of a buoy rope, so I wouldn't drift away. When I've fished the Yukon in the past, I've always used a small hook size in hopes of catching a pile perch. This time, however, I used a larger circle hook on a dropper loop and fished a big piece of mackerel. I caught a variety of smaller fish - rock wrasse, blacksmith, and a very ambitious sharpnose seaperch, but then I felt the thump of a bigger fish. It was my cabezon!</div><div><br />Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus) - new hook & line species #678<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016322_efe373c094_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016322_efe373c094_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Not only was this my first, but it was a good sized one too! It was definitely big enough to keep, but I had to let it go. It was just too cool.<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50550154728_39c62a29d8_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50550154728_39c62a29d8_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The afternoon wind was picking up, so I detached from the buoy rope and drifted back towards the jetty. I fished while I drifted and caught a bunch of sanddabs, a couple bass, and this olive rockfish, a species I haven't seen in a few years.</div><div><br />Olive Rockfish (Sebastes serranoides)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016277_0cb384d97a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016277_0cb384d97a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Pacific Sanddab (Citharichthys sordidus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50550888936_a5be834a21_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50550888936_a5be834a21_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Back at the jetty I watched the crane pull up rocks from the bottom for a while, and then paddled past it back to the launch. They've been working on the jetty for quite a while.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016152_d2044950c2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50551016152_d2044950c2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Normally this route is about 7 miles, but I had to backtrack from the Ruby E to the Yukon, because there was a dive boat anchored there. The trip ended up being less than 10 miles, which is pretty reasonable for me.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50562021286_468c75e87a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50562021286_468c75e87a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>Miles: 9.86</div><div>Hours: 8:07<br />Water Temp: 66 F<br /><br />My only fishing session in November was a tidepooling trip to Sunset Cliffs. I had a few leads on reef finspot, and I wanted to look for them at low tide. The habitat looked good - tidepools with seagrass. It was an extremely low tide, so there was a lot of territory to cover.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752127112_fd8ccb29ce_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752127112_fd8ccb29ce_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The good news is that I found my target, two of them in fact! The bad news is that neither was caught by hook & line. The first one jumped clear out of the water as I was walking past a tidepool and got stuck in the seagrass on the surface. It was so ridiculous it made me laugh out loud. The second one I caught by hand by cupping my hands under an overhanging cut in the rock and getting the finspot to swim out into my palm.</div><div><br />Reef Finspot (Paraclinus integripinnis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752018191_f6b7ac1b1e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752018191_f6b7ac1b1e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Even though the fishing has been good, 2020 has been a tough year. I followed the trail back up to my car and sat there and enjoyed the sunset. It felt good to be in the moment.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752018086_c3502f214a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50752018086_c3502f214a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Next up I travel to Georgia and Florida to spend some much needed time with family and friends.</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-2659206278763048052020-10-16T20:55:00.166-07:002021-06-03T10:58:21.200-07:00San Diego's fall smorgasbordThe things we do to help our friends catch fish. Steve, Mark, Chris, and his two boys were in town, and they wanted to try for guitarfish and rays using fresh sardines. The only way to get fresh sardines is from the bait barge, so guess who got volunteered to paddle out to the bait barge to get some. If you guessed the guy with the yellow kayak, you are correct.<div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503613402_3c07c9e509_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503613402_3c07c9e509_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />On Friday after work I drove down to Shelter Island and launched from the beach next to the boat ramp. It was a short paddle to the bait barge, but I figured I would make the most of it by trolling a pair of small Yo-Zuri lures like I used to do with my old kayak. The smaller of the two was the hot lure that day. I picked up a pair of barracuda and a handful of Pacific chub mackerel and jacksmelt.<br /><br />Pacific Barracuda (Sphyraena argentea)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503458576_690b9e5210_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503458576_690b9e5210_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Jacksmelt (Atherinopsis californiensis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503613542_2a9a29e2bb_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503613542_2a9a29e2bb_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I delivered the fresh sardines to the guys on Harbor Island and stuck around for a few hours to fish with them. After a couple smoothhounds and round rays I called it a night and drove home. When I was less than a mile away Steve texted me a photo of himself grinning with a banded guitarfish. This upset me, so I refused to respond to him. In the morning I came right back to the same spot in hopes that I could get a daytime banded guitarfish. A heavy fog rolled in, and it was a peaceful morning for fishing the bay.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503667442_b804dc8178_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503667442_b804dc8178_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I didn't get my guitarfish, but I did catch a nice selection of fish including two sizeable diamond rays. The bigger of the two was probably 25 lbs, and the smaller was 10-15 lbs. It was a challenge landing them without any help, but this wasn't my first rodeo. I got them up in the grass quickly to unhook and take photos and then carried them back down the rocks to the water for their release.</div><div><br />Round Stingray (Urobatis halleri)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503512001_ecdf090038_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503512001_ecdf090038_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Spotted Sand Bass (Paralabrax maculatofasciatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503511931_2fb2b3a6ec_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503511931_2fb2b3a6ec_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Gray Smoothhound (Mustelus californicus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503667177_9069643221_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503667177_9069643221_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Diamond Stingray (Dasyatis dipterura)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503667112_8909e4615e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503667112_8909e4615e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />In the afternoon the guys wanted to fish the La Jolla tidepools. I've been wanting to give snorkel fishing a try, so I packed my mask and snorkel and met them there. Tidepool snorkeling was a lot of fun! I got to immerse myself in a world that I had previously only looked into from above. Schools of opaleye and zebra chub watched me cautiously, and small sculpins and blennies hunted around on the bottom.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503849527_fa2567bfe1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503849527_fa2567bfe1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I was on the lookout for reef finspot, my tidepool nemesis. I'm pretty sure I saw one, but I didn't have my camera or fishing gear ready, so I have no proof of the sighting. I spent most of the time taking photos of fish, but I did use my microfishing gear to catch a zebra chub. It turned out to be much easier than catching one from above.</div><div><br />California Moray (Gymnothorax mordax)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503694586_daed7899d7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503694586_daed7899d7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Woolly Sculpin (Clinocottus analis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503694556_45e59246cf_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503694556_45e59246cf_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Spotted Kelpfish (Gibbonsia elegans)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503849472_5a1b3c2fb1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503849472_5a1b3c2fb1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Zebra Chub (Kyphosus azureus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503694371_35fbcd096c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50503694371_35fbcd096c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />To round out the long weekend, on Monday we went out in a boat to fish a few of my kayak spots. We started out at the wreck of the Yukon to try for sharpnose seaperch. After catching most of the other species on the wreck, Steve finally caught his perch. We put some keeper sheephead and rockfish in the cooler, and we also got to watch Mark pull up a nice cabezon. That's a species I still don't have, so I vowed to come back and catch one for myself.</div><div><br />California Sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510851876_67abea0f8b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510851876_67abea0f8b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Rosy Rockfish (Sebastes rosaceus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50511015812_2235c1cdc5_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50511015812_2235c1cdc5_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Cabezon (Scorpaenichthys marmoratus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510139273_e9fd3f894c_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510139273_e9fd3f894c_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Next we fished the edge of La Jolla Canyon so Steve could catch his sunset rockfish. I used smaller hooks and baits to see if anything unusual was down there. The result was a few species I don't often see, including swordspine rockfish and greenblotched rockfish. Steven had no trouble catching his sunset, and in fact he submitted a new IGFA world record for it.</div><div><br /></div><div>Swordspine Rockfish (Sebastes ensifer)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510851731_a768b870d1_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510851731_a768b870d1_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Pinkrose Rockfish (Sebastes simulator)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510139118_d63456850b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510139118_d63456850b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Greenblotched Rockfish (Sebastes rosenblatti)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510851461_a5cc500535_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50510851461_a5cc500535_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>Finally, we headed out to a deep flat area next to the canyon to fish for sanddabs. I usually catch a mix of Pacific and longfin sanddabs there, and Steve needed the longfin. We pulled up sanddabs six at a time on our sabikis, but all of them were Pacifics. Steve got one really cool surprise though, a longspine combfish, a species neither of us has seen. Years ago I saw Eli catch a shortspine combfish in Redondo Beach, so it was cool to see it's sibling.</div><div><br />Longspine Combfish (Zaniolepis latipinnis)</div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50511015407_b06d7f6cb7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50511015407_b06d7f6cb7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Even though I didn't get anything new, it was a fun weekend fishing with the guys. The banded guitarfish, reef finspot, cabezon, and longspine combfish got me fired up to keep chasing new local species!</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-87298558241075971472020-09-23T09:28:00.110-07:002021-06-03T10:58:05.263-07:00Catalina without the kayakUnfortunately, this is not an epic blog post about an epic kayak trip. I spent the week leading up to the departure date watching the wind and swell forecasts for San Pedro, Catalina, and the channel between them. My self imposed limit for wind speed was 10 miles per hour. The forecast was showing 12 mph winds and swells of around 3 feet. Those numbers would probably be doable, but I couldn't risk the forecast getting worse after I drove my kayak up to San Pedro. So, I did the prudent thing and bought a round trip ferry ticket on the Catalina Express.<div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391216826_95a6648b12_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391216826_95a6648b12_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I checked the weather forecast again before getting on the ferry. The winds and swell had both dropped to well below my criteria for kayaking, but it was too late to change my plans. Sure enough, the ferry ride across the channel was calm and pleasant. It would have been the perfect day to solo paddle the roughly 24 miles across.<br /><br /><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391392012_2825dbcf64_b.jpg" width="640" /><br /><br />Several years ago I fished with Eli just off Catalina, but this was my first time stepping foot on the island. The views were beautiful, and it was an enjoyable hike from Two Harbors to the campground where I'd stay for the next three nights.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391391807_4f078ab34a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391391807_4f078ab34a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />My pack was already heavy with camping gear, but I stubbornly brought along my mask, snorkel, and flippers so I could snorkel and check out the fish in front of the campground. I went out twice and saw all the usual suspects. I hoped to see something new, such as a bluebanded goby or rainbow scorpionfish, but everything I saw was also common in areas such as La Jolla.</div><div><br />Garibaldi (Hypsypops rubicundus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390524198_ccec87050b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390524198_ccec87050b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Pacific Barracuda (Sphyraena argentea)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390524123_49221d2aa2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390524123_49221d2aa2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />California Salema (Haemulon californiensis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391216066_fe2e65c682_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391216066_fe2e65c682_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Zebra Chub (Kyphosus azureus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390524013_2881e17c5d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390524013_2881e17c5d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Topsmelt or Jacksmelt (Atherinopsis sp.)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390523898_803f79ac74_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390523898_803f79ac74_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Giant Kelpfish (Heterostichus rostratus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391215751_0638575bc0_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391215751_0638575bc0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Halfmoon (Medialuna californiensis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391215661_7273c53189_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391215661_7273c53189_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The rest of the trip was spent hiking, including a tough hike to the top of the ridge to see the open Pacific on the west side of the island. The weather was great, and I really enjoyed not having a phone signal for three straight days.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390523058_b43538377d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50390523058_b43538377d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The surf was fairly rough the morning I would have paddled back. It would have made the launch before sunrise a challenge, but it looked doable. Out past the surf the ocean looked calm with slow sets of moderate swell.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391389997_83a6491cd7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50391389997_83a6491cd7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I'll consider planning a Catalina kayak trip again next year.<br /></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-84859616023783081962020-09-14T08:00:00.362-07:002021-06-03T10:57:51.624-07:00Prepping for Catalina<b>Sept 5, 2020</b><br /><br />I've been hinting at a Catalina crossing for a while now, and I suppose it's time to announce my intentions. Weather permitting, I'll kayak from San Pedro (west of Long Beach and Los Angeles) to Catalina, camp for three nights, and then kayak back. There are a lot of variables at play, most importantly the weather and surf forecasts and my wrist, but if everything lines up I'm ready to do it. I've spent all year training, practicing skills, and spending time on the water. I've paddled 330 miles on my Trident, including several days over 20 miles, and I've practiced flipping and self rescuing. I bought a satellite communicator so my friends and family can track my progress during the crossing, and it has an SOS button I can press if I need the Coast Guard.<div><br /><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50309943062_777b2b2e48_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Letting my wrist heal up after the 30 mile paddle in July has been my biggest concern. To ease back into things I did a relatively short outing in La Jolla. I tried some powerlifting wrist wraps, which kept my wrist from moving, but they also made my fingers go numb. More importantly I'm working on my forward stroke technique, making sure to minimize wrist movement as I lift the paddle blade out of the water. While I was paddling I also did some fishing and caught a good mix of species.</div><div><br />California Salema (Haemulon californiensis)<br /><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50309105508_3fc7727070_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Kelp Bass (Paralabrax clathratus)<br /><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50309105458_00f56ecc51_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Ocean Whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps)<br /><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50309774026_74f62eb94e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Honeycomb Rockfish (Sebastes umbrosus)<br /><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50309774006_5c3b3b1aed_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I tracked my outing both with my watch and with my new Garmin inReach Mini satellite communicator. The tracks lined up well, but the inReach only records the GPS every 20 minutes, so the total distance was a little less than what the watch recorded. I'll use both when I do the Catalina crossing, and I have an external battery pack to recharge everything before the return crossing.</div><div><br /><a href="https://draft.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="427" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50318055552_64345252c7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Miles: 8.71<br />Hours: 6:08<br />Water Temp: 69 F<br /><br />Next up will be a "dry" run of the surf launch in San Pedro.<br /><br /><b>Sept 12, 2020</b><br /><br />The following weekend I did my last training paddle before Catalina. I wanted to learn as much as I could about the launch in San Pedro, so I practiced everything exactly how I would for the crossing. I unloaded my kayak on the surf side of Cabrillo Beach, parked my car up the hill where there is multi-day street parking, and then launched at sunrise.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343531112_968b5a358b_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343531112_968b5a358b_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />As I paddled out to the shipping lanes I noticed plenty of activity both on the fish finder and on the surface. I could see strong marks below schools of bait on the fish finder, so I dropped an iron down and aggressively reeled it back up. It got hit on every drop.</div><div><br />Kelp Bass (Paralabrax clathratus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370636_79b578ef71_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370636_79b578ef71_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Barred Sand Bass (Paralabrax nebulifer)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343530947_165f1c2cc0_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343530947_165f1c2cc0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Here's what the action looked like on the fish finder.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343531007_cb242c32f4_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343531007_cb242c32f4_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I planned to fish a few wrecks in 100 feet of water and then fish deeper in the canyon. There was some haze from the wildfires and fog, but visibility was good enough to see the cargo ships using the shipping lanes. I wasn't anywhere near the big ships, but I was in the path between Long Beach and Catalina, so I had to keep my head on a swivel and make sure none of the smaller boats ran me over. As I was approaching the wreck coordinates, I came across a midshipman splashing on the surface. Something seemed to be wrong with its swim bladder, but I didn't see any external trauma.</div><div><br />Specklefin Midshipman (Porichthys myriaster)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342691188_8d155bd5d0_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342691188_8d155bd5d0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Fishing was slow over the wreck. I got a few short bites but didn't connect with anything. The boats going full throttle towards Catalina made it hard to relax, so I didn't fish the wreck for long. I pulled my line up and paddled over the canyon to try for rockfish instead. The bite was slow there as well. I let the current push me along at about 0.5 mph. When I reeled up to check my bait, I felt a little extra weight on the line, but I refused to get my hopes up. That made it all the more exciting when I saw color, and then I saw that it was a new rockfish species for my list!</div><div><br />Blackgill Rockfish (Sebastes melanostomus) - new hook & line species #675<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342691163_88fd004e2d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342691163_88fd004e2d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After sending the fish back down with my descending device, a bank of heavy fog rolled in. Visibility was less than 50 yards. The combination of fog and boat traffic made me pretty uncomfortable, so I pointed in the direction of the beach and started paddling.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343530712_6ecaf0e2f7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343530712_6ecaf0e2f7_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I passed by a private fishing boat on the way back, and they asked if I needed help getting back to shore. I assured them that I was fine, but it was nice knowing that people are looking out for each other. When I was about the 2 miles from shore the fog began to dissipate, and by the time I landed on the beach it was a bright sunny day. Funny how it worked out that way.<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343598972_823b3e16a2_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="426" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343598972_823b3e16a2_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Miles: 10.26<br />Hours: 5:23<br />Water Temp: 68 F<br /><br />That evening I had white perch on my mind, and a friend from Instagram said they were biting in Ventura, so a few of my fellow species hunters and I decided to head up there and try for them. One white perch was caught, but it wasn't by anyone who needed it. I caught shiner perch, topsmelt, jacksmelt, and white croaker.</div><div><br />Shiner Perch (Cymatogaster aggregata)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370316_221824280e_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370316_221824280e_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />White Croaker (Genyonemus lineatus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370286_f4887e6660_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370286_f4887e6660_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><b>Sept 13, 2020</b></div><div><br />The next morning I headed back in the direction of San Diego, but I took a detour into the northeast suburbs of Los Angeles to check out a spot with an invasive population of pond loach (also known as Oriental weatherfish and Dojo loach). The Bobcat forest fire was burning just north of the freeway, and when I pulled up there was white and gray ash falling like snow.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342690668_6f2d105c83_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342690668_6f2d105c83_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I scouted out the stream before I got my microfishing gear out of the car. To my surprise, there was a HUGE loach just chilling in the middle of one of the deeper pools. I figured they would be hiding during the day. I got the gear out of my car and got to work finding bait. A small crayfish was the best thing I could find. The big loach was nowhere to be seen, but I walked upstream to a spot with more rocks. I saw a set of whiskers poking out from under a rock. The whiskers got excited when I put my bait in front of them, and sure enough their was a loach on the other end of them.</div><div><br />Pond Loach (Misgurnus anguillicaudatus) - new hook & line species #676 <br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342690853_541115f15a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50342690853_541115f15a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After the first I was able to catch two more loaches, and I saw a few that I didn't target. They're definitely one of the most common fish in this stream.</div><div><br /></div><div><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370176_569f1ff44d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370176_569f1ff44d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The stream had minnows as well. I guessed that they would be fathead minnows or some other invasive species, but I was happy to find out that they were native arroyo chubs. They were easy to catch, and this one in particular posed nicely for a photo.<br /><br />Arroyo Chub (Gila orcuttii)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370126_2f79c8e4dc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50343370126_2f79c8e4dc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Next up is Catalina!</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-7825610932210685522020-08-31T08:00:00.165-07:002021-05-02T13:26:45.385-07:00Southern California micros<div><b>Aug 22, 2020</b></div><div><br /></div><div>It turns out I'm not invincible. My wrist decided to call it quits after that 31 mile paddle, and as a result I haven't kayaked or fished in the past 4 weeks. Eventually I realized I could still go fishing without using a kayak or my left hand, so I dusted off my Tenkara rod and drove down to South Bay to check out a spot where people had seen sailfin mollies.</div><div><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50256550037_84b5ee940a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I arrived at low tide and saw a huge school of topsmelt out in the open and smaller schools of mollies cruising close to shore. Finding your target is the first challenge, so at least I had that out of the way. The next thing I noticed was that there were small chameleon gobies coating the bottom. I couldn't believe how many there were.</div><div><br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/3031857127006569095/782561093221068552#"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50256550312_697af1ceaa_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I baited my Tanago hook with a small piece of worm and set to work targeting the mollies. It wasn't a surprise that they wouldn't bite, but I figured if I tried for a few hours maybe one would break character and go for my bait. Every now and then I'd get bored though, so I'd catch one of the other species I saw: chameleon goby, California killifish, and topsmelt.</div><div><br />Chameleon Goby (Tridentiger trigonocephalus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50256550447_1b7fc0e8a0_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50256550447_1b7fc0e8a0_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />California Killifish (Fundulus parvipinnis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50255707218_dd9a71d0cb_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50255707218_dd9a71d0cb_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Topsmelt (Atherinops affinis)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50255707178_77a2444c97_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50255707178_77a2444c97_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />The mollies refused to eat anything other than microscopic bits of nothing, so finally I dunked my camera under water and took some photos of them pecking at the rocks.</div><div><br />Sailfin Molly (Poecilia latipinna)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50255706988_a965165a9d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50255706988_a965165a9d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br /><div>I meant to bring bread to chum with and try for bait, but I forgot, so that will have to be something I try next time. Maybe if I chum with enough different baits I can find one that interests them. Honestly, it's kind of nice having a new nemesis, especially one that's easy to find.</div><div><br /></div><div><b>Aug 29, 2020</b></div><br />The following weekend I continued my microfishing adventures, this time combining fishing with a road trip. I kept seeing online that Big Bear Lake has a booming population of introduced prickly sculpin, and Lake Gregory, 45 minutes to the west, has a population of introduced tule perch.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284249442_d540ec0e8f_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284249442_d540ec0e8f_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Both species seemed like easy targets, and I was in need of a lifelist confidence boost. First stop was Big Bear, which according to the signs has actual bears. I parked near the dam and scrambled down the rocks to the water. It took a minute to tie on a hook, but once my bait was in the water it took around 5 seconds to catch my first sculpin. They were under every rock!</div><div><br />Prickly Sculpin (Cottus asper) - new hook & line species #673<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50283415928_e51e5bdcbc_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50283415928_e51e5bdcbc_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Green Sunfish (Lepomis cyanellus)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50283416123_dbf86e1e4d_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50283416123_dbf86e1e4d_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />After catching about 20 sculpin and a bonus green sunfish, I hit the road again and headed west to Lake Gregory. The drive through the mountains was scenic. Big Bear is at an elevation of 6750 ft, and Gregory is 4550 ft, so the air temperature was noticeably lower than Los Angeles.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284095661_36bd27f182_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284095661_36bd27f182_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Again I parked near the dam and set up in a corner where there was some submerged tree branches. My first tule perch took a little longer than my first sculpin, but it was an easy catch as well. They're small fish with small mouths, but they would come out of heavy cover to investigate my bait. Tule perch are the only freshwater surfperch, and their reproduction and life history is fascinating if you want something to read about online.<br /><br />Tule Perch (Hysterocarpus traskii) - new hook & line species #674<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284249297_a83bfeb02a_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284249297_a83bfeb02a_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I had some extra time before I needed to head home, so I stopped by the Santa Ana River in Riverside to check out a spot where I had caught arroyo chubs a few years ago. It's a pretty sketchy area with a number of homeless camps, so I bushwacked into a more isolated stretch of the river to avoid the bridges and areas where I thought people might be. I still came across a few people hanging out by the river, but it was mostly families who had driven in (how I don't know) and parked their trucks by the water to let their kids play. Considering that the Santa Ana River is 100% fed by a waste water treatment plant about a mile upstream, this didn't seem like a great idea.</div><div><br />Largemouth Bass (Micropterus salmoides)<br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284095591_7b43cd85d6_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284095591_7b43cd85d6_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Unfortunately I wasn't able to find arroyo chubs this time, but there were plenty of largemouth bass, green sunfish, and black bullheads. Hopefully the chubs are surviving somewhere else in the river. They're one of the few native freshwater fish in southern California, so it would be nice if they stuck around.</div><div><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284248992_7069835ed3_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="428" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50284248992_7069835ed3_b.jpg" width="640" /></a><br /><br />Fishing takes you to some crazy places.</div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-4468053292710954742020-07-15T16:23:00.041-07:002020-07-30T16:13:50.782-07:00It's a bonito summer in San Diego<b>July 11, 2020</b><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> Vermilion Rockfish (Sebastes miniatus)<br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105239883_284039c5e8_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /><br /><div> Flag Rockfish (Sebastes rubrivinctus)<br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105239803_86857e7b0a_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105239758_7bed9bba28_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> Pacific Bonito (Sarda lineolata)<br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50106047012_621435e4e4_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50105404088_20f0e7e59e_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /> <br /> Miles: 19.38<br /> Hours: 9:51<br /> Water Temp: 73 F<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /><b> July 18, 2020</b><br /> <br /> 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!<br /> <br /> Pelagic Stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea) <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50127282757_c30d1f03b3_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50127061356_ef72de3f45_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /> <br /> Miles: 7.43<br /> Hours: 5:14<br /> Water Temp: 74 F<br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /><b> July 25, 2020</b><br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50154921703_71ebc84ff1_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br />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! <div><br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50155712337_d05122a294_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> 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.<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50155477491_3900a35a9c_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br />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.</div><div><br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50155711932_d1397d20b1_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br />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!<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50155711902_4b39c82fa6_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br />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.<br /><br /><a href="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50160260883_c1c2b9e4e7_b.jpg"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/50160260883_c1c2b9e4e7_b.jpg" width="655" /></a><br /><br /> Miles: 31.13<br /> Hours: 10:32<br /> Water Temp: 69 F<br /><br />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!</div></div>Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-29665813024229769952020-06-21T08:00:00.000-07:002020-07-05T16:26:18.145-07:00The kayak trolling continues<b>June 20, 2020</b><br />
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Finally, I have a rudder on the kayak! It isn't necessary on the calm days, but there have been a few trips where I've ended up pretty far from shore when the wind picked up. Even if the wind is at your back, it's usually not pointed exactly in the direction you want to go. This leads to weathercocking (it's a real term, Google it). There have been a few times when I've had to paddle several miles with only one arm to stay in a straight line. I'm happy those days are in the past. OEX San Diego did the rudder install for a good price. Definitely give them your business if you live in the area.<br />
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http://www.oexsandiego.com/<br />
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On Saturday I launched from Mission Point Park and paddled south along the length of Point Loma. I stubbornly wanted to troll lures again, even though I haven't had any luck with them outside the bays. It's been a few weeks since I've been out, and I've been seeing reports of barracuda, bonito, and yellowtail. I'd be happy with anything big enough to go for a Rapala Xrap Magnum 20 or 30, so those are what I trolled. I caught my first fish on the 30, a calico bass. I replace the trebles with singles on my trolling lures, but unfortunately the front hook tore up its belly during the fight. I wonder how often that hook is the one the fish gets hooked on?<br />
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Kelp Bass (Paralabrax clathratus)<br />
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There were bait schools all along the outside of the kelp. I fished a small jig to see what they were, and they turned out to be jack mackerel. Strangely enough, I haven't caught one of these since before I moved to California when Eli and I rented a boat and fished out of Redondo Beach. I should take a break from trolling and fish some of these as live bait next time.<br />
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Pacific Jack Mackerel (Trachurus symmetricus)<br />
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The calicos were out in force. I ended up catching two of them on the Rapalas and seven of them on the jig. Hot pink was definitely working with the overcast conditions. I caught four of the jack mackerel on it as well.<br />
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That's it for the fishing report, because around 10 am the wind began to blow. I snagged the Rapala on kelp, and I wasn't able to break it off, so eventually I had to cut the line. In that short amount of time the wind really picked up. I was about 8 miles south of Mission Bay, so I stashed the fishing gear and focused on getting back safely. It was slow going, and the rudder absolutely saved the day. It would have been brutal without it. This was my first time having multiple waves crash over my side while I was paddling, and one of them nearly tipped me over. I made it back around 2 pm in one piece, happy to be off the water.<br />
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Miles: 16.53<br />
Hours: 7:44<br />
Water Temp: 69 F<br />
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Looking on the bright side, I got the chance to really test out the rudder. I checked the wind history, and while I was paddling back the wind was 14 mph with 16 mph gusts. It was a little more than I was comfortable with, so I think I need to do a better job of checking the forecast the morning of and even checking for an update once I'm out on the water.<br />
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<b>June 27, 2020</b><br />
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I'll keep adding to this post since last week's report was short. On Saturday I took the kayak out again, this time launching from La Jolla. I met up with Anthony and his friend Fernando, and we agreed to focus on yellowtail. I had one rod for bait, one rod with an iron, and one rod with a trolling lure. All we had to do was find the fish!<br />
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We paddled out of the MLPA and spent some time catching mackerel. There were schools of them everywhere, and they were easy to catch. Then something crazy happened. As I was pulling a mackerel out of the water, a big stingray came right up to the kayak, stopped, and just sat there looking at me! After a few seconds it realized I wasn't going to feed it, so it slowly dropped down out of view. My good judgement went out the window, and I quickly cut up a mackerel, put a chunk on the iron I had ready for yellowtail, and let it sink about 15 feet below the kayak. I waited about 20 seconds, and then the clicker started going. That was the easy part, now I had to figure out how to safely handle the thing! (Thanks to Anthony for taking these pictures.)<br />
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The stingray had plenty of energy when I got it to the side of the kayak, and even though it was hooked in the mouth it insisted on coming at me tail first. I must have tried a dozen times to turn it around, but each time that tail with its 3 inch barb came swinging at me. Anthony suggested I let it run for a bit, so I gave that a try. I brought it back to the side of the kayak, kept the head pointed up, and got my hand in its mouth. It wasn't going anywhere, and its tail couldn't reach me. Anthony took about 20 photos, and then I let it go. I'll be perfectly happy if this is the one and only time I catch this species!<br />
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Pelagic Stingray (Pteroplatytrygon violacea) - new hook & line species #672<br />
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We spent the rest of the day looking for yellowtail inside the kelp, just outside the kelp, and out in open water. There were a lot of bait schools on our fish finders, and we saw a few marks that looked like bigger fish, but we didn't connect with any of them. Anthony pulled a piece of kelp up from about 90 feet, so at least he got to practice reeling something heavy in.<br />
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I didn't want to stay out too long, so around noon I turned around and trolled my way back around the point. The calico bass were biting, and I ended up getting 7 or 8 of them. Most of them were on an X-Rap 15, one was on an X-Rap 20, and one was on the iron. The heaviest one of the day was 3.25 lbs.<br />
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Kelp Bass (Paralabrax clathratus)<br />
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The wind was much lighter than last weekend, which I was thankful for. I was surprised though at how much the current going past the point slowed me down. Between trolling the two lures and fighting the current I was only able to go 2 mph. Once I reached La Jolla Cove though I was able to maintain 4 mph without any problem.<br />
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Miles: 10.61<br />
Hours: 6:41<br />
Water Temp: 70 F<br />
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I'll take the next weekend off, but after that I'll be out there again!Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-27144068245398489072020-06-16T21:03:00.000-07:002020-06-21T11:24:42.599-07:00The big Arizona summer road tripIt's been a tough year for those of us who enjoy traveling. I had to cancel trips to Puerto Penasco and Fort Lauderdale this spring, but the big Arizona road trip on my calendar in June still felt doable. Chris and his boys have scouted out a ton of fishing spots around the state, and we worked together to make an itinerary that would put me on as many new species as possible. In particular I wanted to catch Gila trout and Apache trout, so they became the anchor points that we planned the rest of the trip around.<br />
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The fishing started at the same urban ponds where I caught common carp in December. My targets were Nile tilapia, koi, and inland silverside. If we somehow knocked all three out with time to spare, then we could head down the road to the Lower Salt River and try for a pleco. Chris met me at one of the ponds, and we got out the micro gear to fish for silversides.<br />
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I have no idea where the silversides go in winter, but in summer they're easy to find. Most of them were small, but we walked around the ponds until we found some large ones. A little piece of bread in the water would get them feeding, and then a tiny piece of bread on a Tanago hook would catch them. I had my first new species of the trip!<br />
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Inland Silverside (Menidia beryllina) - new hook & line species #662<br />
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We saw quite a few individual koi as we walked around the ponds but not any big groups. After quite a bit of walking we decided that chumming a spot with corn was a better strategy than trying to sight fish individuals. It took some time, but eventually four or five koi showed up and started feeding on the corn. I got a few bites, or maybe the fish just bumped my line, but I couldn't connect with one. Chris wandered off to check a few other spots. He gave me a call and said he had a koi in front of him that was feeding on algae on the surface. I was torn on whether or not I should abandon my spot, but finally I decided to catch up to Chris and try for the one he saw. It was still feeding on the surface when I got there, so I put a ball of bread on my hook and set it on the algae next to where it was feeding. When it's lips touched the bread, it swung it's head over and sucked it in! I set the hook, and after a short fight Chris had the koi in the net!<br />
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Amur Carp / Koi (Cyprinus rubrofuscus) - new hook & line species #663<br />
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Chris said if the the tilapia were biting we should be able to see them from shore. We didn't see any, and by the time I caught the koi the sun was setting, so we called it a day. The next morning I hit the road early and visited a stream where Chris and his boys all caught Gila trout. The Arizona Game and Fish Dept stocks them frequently, so it wasn't hard to find them or catch them. Walk upstream from the road crossing and fish the first deep pool you find, and the trout will be there.<br />
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I had the pool all to myself, and it was a nice cool morning. I put a small white plastic worm on my size #8 hook and flipped it up towards the head of the pool. It sank out of sight and almost immediately my line went tight, and I caught my first Gila trout! I repeated this process and ended up catching ten of them in about an hour. A few of them had body sores from the hatchery, but most of them looked good. The biggest one I caught posed perfectly for my lifelist photo.<br />
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Gila Trout (Oncorhynchus gilae) - new hook & line species #664<br />
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Chris suggested I check out another access point just up the road because he saw micros there in the past, including juvenile suckers. I didn't want to spend too much time there, but I walked the bank for bit, and sure enough there were speckled dace and juvenile desert suckers cruising around the rocks. It took a bit of patience to get past the dace and entice a sucker to chase down my bait, but eventually one of them went for it!<br />
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Desert Sucker (Catostomus clarkii) - new hook & line species #665<br />
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And of course I'll include the obligatory sucker lips photo. Remember folks, if you catch a sucker, you have to take a shot of its lips before you let it go. Desert suckers are interesting in that their upper lip develops into an algae scraper as they mature. They look downright weird as adults, and I'd love to catch one someday.<br />
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From there I headed northeast where I would eventually meet Chris and his boys in Show Low. I took the scenic route, driving a good part of the way on fire access roads. It's been a long time since I've done a good road trip in the Subaru, and I think it was happy to get dirty.<br />
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I stopped at one creek along the way but didn't get out fishing gear. It had speckled dace, fathead minnows, red shiners, and western mosquitofish, and unfortunately only one of those is native. There were probably other fish in the deeper pools, but I didn't stick around to find out what they were.<br />
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The plan didn't have us trying for Apache trout until the next day, but Chris said there was a stream just outside of town that had them stocked. We had about an hour to fish before the sun set, so it was worth a try.<br />
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It took a bit of walking and quite a few casts to find fish, but eventually I ended up with two rainbow trout. Chris caught a big speckled dace, and all of us caught crayfish. I don't know how they managed to grab on, but I caught several crayfish on my plastic worm while it was being actively retrieved.<br />
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Rainbow Trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss)<br />
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While we were fishing I spotted a pronghorn grazing in the field behind us. I saw my first pronghorns in Idaho a few years ago when I was visiting Matt Miller, but I didn't realize that their range extends down into Arizona. They're strange looking mammals!<br />
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The next morning the four of us drove our two vehicles to a stream that has both wild and stocked Apache trout. The elevation here was nearly 9000 feet, and the water was cold! It took us a while to find fish, and it was Chris and his boys who finally found a hole with several trout. I was the only person in the group who hadn't caught one, so they were very generous to call me over and let me have the first cast.<br />
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I didn't bother with anything fancy, just a worm on a small gold jighead. It took me several tries to get the jig to land in just the right spot, but with three people looking over my shoulder I finally got it right and hooked the trout that grabbed it. Success! In two days I was able to catch Arizona's two native species of trout. They were stocked fish, but I'm happy knowing that my fishing license is going towards keeping their populations intact.<br />
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Apache Trout (Oncorhynchus apache) - new hook & line species #667<br />
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Chris and his boys each caught Apache trout as well, which they wanted for photo upgrades. After they were finished I leaned out on a dead tree trunk and stuck my camera in the water to try to photograph the trout in the pool. This shot below turned out pretty well.<br />
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Next we headed south to Lee Valley Reservoir, which is stocked with Apache trout and arctic grayling. We walked the shoreline and fished artificials, but it was getting windier and windier, and we didn't get any bites. We chatted with an AZGFD officer who was checking fishing licenses, and she suggested Aker Lake for grayling. Aker Lake was actually going to be my next stop, but I was happy to hear that people had been catching grayling over the past few days. We got a group photo before we parted ways, since Chris needed to get back to Phoenix.<br />
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When I arrived at Aker Lake I had it all to myself for the first half hour. It's tucked away high in the mountains and definitely a special place. The surrounding hills and pine trees did a good job of blocking the wind.<br />
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Grayling were actively feeding on insects on the surface. I had a small box of flies but no fly rod, and even if I did I wouldn't know how to use it. I tried casting a fly with spinning gear using a bobber as weight, and it got two half-hearted swipes. I also spent some time with a small gold Kastmaster, and it got hit twice. I hooked one of the fish and had it on for a few seconds, but it was able to throw the hook. I was running out of time, so finally I got out the Tenkara rod, put a tiny plastic grub on the Tanago hook, and sight fished a small grayling near shore.<br />
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Arctic Grayling (Thymallus arcticus) - new hook & line species #668<br />
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As I was releasing the fish, a big grayling around 13 inches casually cruised past right next to shore. I was ok not catching one like that, because I think it was the universe telling me that I should learn how to fly fish. I headed out and unfortunately had to backtrack to the north to avoid wildfires that had closed the highway to the south. My detour took me east into New Mexico, and it was a long drive to make it down to the town of Willcox where I had a motel booked for the night. New Mexico was beautiful though, and I enjoyed stopping to take in the views.<br />
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I was a long ways from San Diego, so most of my last day was spent driving. I had time to stop at one creek in the southeast part of the state. It had a mix of minnows and juvenile suckers, and I caught some longfin dace there and got a few photos.<br />
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Longfin Dace (Agosia chrysogaster)<br />
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Most of our time was spent in forests that you wouldn't typically think of when you think of Arizona, and I got to see a lot of wildlife. Mammals included pronghorn, deer, and jackrabbits, and Chris and his boys said they saw elk that I somehow missed. Birds included roadrunners, quail, and hummingbirds. As I was leaving the last spot I stopped to let a flock of turkeys cross the road.<br />
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Thank you Chris and everyone in your family for being so generous. I had a great trip, and my list of fishing targets in Arizona is considerably smaller now. I'll be back for the Nile tilapia and a few more native species in the future!Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-71251646524020277612020-05-25T09:31:00.002-07:002020-08-01T16:08:34.291-07:00First attempt trolling La Jolla<b>May 24, 2020</b><br /><br />At this point I can confidently say I have bottom fishing from the kayak figured out. It's been good for adding to the lifelist and filling the freezer, but it's time that I start challenging myself with other ways of fishing the ocean. There have been reports of yellowtail, bonito, and barracuda showing up, so I decided to spend a day trolling lures. I launched from La Jolla at sunrise and paddled west until I passed the kelp. For the rest of the day I trolled a Rapala Xrap Magnum 15 on one rod and a Magnum 20 on the other. The red tide has mostly cleared up, but the visibility was still very low, around two feet several miles offshore. I didn't notice any marks on the fish finder in the top 30 feet of water, so it wasn't surprising that I didn't get a bite all day. It's a good thing I enjoy the exercise! To avoid being skunked I fished the seamount west of La Jolla for a few minutes and caught some rockfish - squarespots, blues, and vermilions. This squarespot in particular was a huge improvement over the one on my lifelist.<br /> <br /> Squarespot Rockfish (Sebastes hopkinsi)<br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49932030551_8b4a080063_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> Blue Rockfish (Sebastes mystinus)<br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49932030456_c206437691_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> Other than the rockfish my only catch for the day was a mackerel. As I was paddling back to the kelp I ran into one of my neighbors. I've seen him driving past my house with his boat countless times, and we often chat about fishing, but this if the first time I've run into him on the water. Right as I showed up one of his rods bent over hard, and I hung around for a while to see what was on the end of his line. To their and my surprise it was a medium sized sevengill shark!<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49932341762_0b53805796_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> I added a deck mounted compass to my kayak, and this was my first time using it. You can see a few straight segments on my route where I maintained a heading for a few miles. I'll probably never actually need the compass, but it's a good backup in case my electronics fail on a day where I'm far from shore and dense fog rolls in. You never know!<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49933971908_0685d4cd8c_b.jpg" width="654" /></a> <br /> <br /> Miles: 13.37<br /> Hours: 6:39<br /> Water Temp: 65 F<br /> <br /> Next week I have a rudder kit arriving, so this was my last rudderless trip in the Trident. I'm feeling pretty confident with my long distance training, but I think the rudder will up my game even more for covering long distances in open water.<br /> <br /><b> May 30, 2020</b><br /><br />Ok sorry, I lied. The rudder kit did come last week, but after looking over the instructions I decided it would be best if a kayak shop did the install. OEX will be open in June, so I'll have it on sometime in the coming month! Yesterday I got out to La Jolla again, and I was able to meet up with Anthony, another kayak angler from http://www.bigwatersedge.com/. We were on the fence as to whether or not we should go out with the wind and swell forecast, but on Friday we made the call that conditions were good enough and we'd make the most of it.<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49953941917_a5024daa30_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> We both wanted to troll and jig for yellowtail, but I asked Anthony if we could load up on rockfish first. I've been giving away a lot of the vacuum sealed fillets in my freezer to friends, and I wanted to restock my supply. We dropped in the usual spot along the edge of the canyon and were quickly pulling up rockfish from the bottom.<br /> <br /> Greenspotted Rockfish (Sebastes chlorostictus)<br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49953655256_b2edca7a10_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> Between the two of us we tried a variety of different jigs. I used a 5.3 oz knife jig with a single assist hook at the top and an 8 oz glow jig with treble hook at the bottom. Anthony used a big flatfall with an assist hook at the bottom as well as a few others. They all produced fish, but I put a piece of shrimp on the hook for most of my drops, so I can't really conclude which jig style was the best.<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49953156563_6771ec80c0_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> I caught my limit of 10 rockfish with 9 of them being sunsets. The two biggest ones were 3 lbs and 3.5 lbs. The freezer will once again be well stocked! I feel very fortunate given everything that's going on this year that I can get out and source my own food and share with friends.<br /> <br /> Sunset Rockfish (Sebastes crocotulus)<br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49953156418_277b31803b_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> While I was switching my gear over for trolling, Anthony hooked into something big. I stopped what I was doing to see what he pulled up. After several minutes of cranking, he got whatever it was to color. We saw something large and brown, but then his line went slack and the fish disappeared from view. The hook had come out! We were pretty sure it was a big halibut, and it's a bummer we didn't land it, because it would have been the fish of the day.<br /> <br /><a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="438" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49953156378_11908b21bc_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> Anthony fell for the same temptation that I do on many of my trips, and that's to spend most of the time bottom fishing despite having other targets. While he finished rockfish hunting I spent a little time trolling a big lure around, but it didn't get any hits.<br /><br /> <a href="https://www.blogger.com/#"><img border="0" height="437" src="https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/49955633233_07cba16883_b.jpg" width="655" /></a> <br /> <br /> Miles: 9.29<br /> Hours: 5:56<br /> Water Temp: 64 F<br /> <br /> Overall it was a good day. We agreed that the rough wind and swell conditions were good practice and a good reminder to take the forecast seriously. We didn't make any progress on yellowtail, but we got out there and caught some fish. Next time we'll leave the rockfish gear at home.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-85436410317837409062020-05-10T09:46:00.002-07:002020-05-16T13:09:28.004-07:00Red tide rockfishing in La JollaRed tides are gross. For the past few weeks southern California has been dealing with phytoplankton blooms all up and down the coast. The organisms that cause them are called dinoflagellates. They turn the water an opaque reddish brown, they stink, and they use up oxygen in the water, leading to fish kills in the lagoons. As far as I know they don't affect bottom fishing though, so I headed out to La Jolla yesterday to try for more deep canyon fish. I started out in the center of the canyon targeting anything but rockfish. I didn't feel any bites, but I did have one hook come up with its squid missing, so maybe there's something down there!<br />
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After a few hours of entertaining the fish at 1000 feet with my excellent jigging techniques, I made the call to come up to legal rockfish depths of 450 feet or less. I dropped at a few spots along the canyon's edge, but the only bites I got were from small halfbanded rockfish. Everything changed though when I swapped my squid out for shrimp. Instant bites!<br />
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Vermilion Rockfish (Sebastes miniatus)<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Edit: The vermilions in this post are probably the closely related sunset rockfish, Sebastes crocotulus. From what I've read, adult fish in less than 328 feet are usually vermilions, and those in more than 328 feet are sunsets. Sunsets also tend to have a yellowish-orange hue to their sides, whereas vermilions are more of a brick red.</span><br />
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I switched to a 6 oz jig with a teaser circle hook about 12 inches above it and added shrimp to both of the hooks. The jig only caught one fish, the small vermilion in the picture below. All of the other fish caught were on the teaser hook.<br />
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After a few more vermilions I pulled up a small, bright red rockfish that I didn't recognize. I made a note of the depth (425 feet) and took lots of photos to make sure I could ID it when I got home. Eventually I settled on pinkrose rockfish, and just to be safe I had Milton Love confirm it.<br />
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Pinkrose Rockfish (Sebastes simulator) - new hook & line species #661<br />
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Shrimp on the teaser hook continued to get bites, and it only took two hours to catch my limit of 10 rockfish. Towards the end of my session there were a couple of bocaccio, and the rest of them were decent sized vermilions.<br />
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Bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis)<br />
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Many of the fish were puking up red crabs and small shrimps, which explains why they bit so quickly on shrimp. The bocaccio were the only ones spitting up anchovies. One of them had a few hanging out of his mouth and a few pushing out through his gills.<br />
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Northern Anchovy (Engraulis mordax)<br />
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I caught my limit before 11:30, and after that I took my time paddling back. There were a lot of dolphins, including more juveniles than I've ever seen before.<br />
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I also came across a pair of harbor seals.<br />
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One of the bait boats was out working, which was good to see. Last week there was a line of them docked in San Diego Bay.<br />
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I landed on the beach shortly after noon. There were quite a few people out walking around, which wasn't surprising. I couldn't believe how many people were swimming and playing in the water though! I guess red tide isn't enough to stop people from getting in the water when they've been cooped up in their houses for the past two months.<br />
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<span style="text-align: center;">It was nice to have a shorter session for a change. I've been getting a little crazy with those long paddles.</span><br />
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Miles: 7.76<br />
Hours: 6:49<br />
Water Temp: 70 F<br />
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Next time I'm going to see if those 1000 foot fish like shrimp!Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-41532357551534814572020-05-03T15:31:00.003-07:002020-05-04T10:24:08.196-07:00Kayak tour of San Diego BaySix weeks of no kayaking and no fishing. The coronavirus pandemic will likely continue the rest of the year, but we had some good news this past week when San Diego opened up its beaches and bays. The surf forecast for La Jolla looked a little rough, so I planned out an epic tour of San Diego Bay. My goals were to catch a fish (so I could post about it on this blog) and do my longest paddle to date. I started in South Bay at the Pepper Park boat ramp in National City.<br />
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I launched at 7:00 am, and the water was calm and flat for most of the morning. My fishing gear was the bare minimum to catch a fish: one trolling rod and a couple of crankbaits. I trolled a Rapala Xrap Magnum 15 in about 20 feet of water and quickly hooked up with a spotted bass.<br />
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Spotted Sand Bass (Paralabrax maculatofasciatus)<br />
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With my first goal out of the way, I packed away the fishing gear so I could focus on the longest paddle goal. If everything went well I'd be in the open ocean before noon and make it back to the boat ramp by 4:00 pm. It didn't take long to make it to the Coronado Bridge.</div>
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I've kayaked both ends of the bay plenty of times, but this was my first time doing the middle section, so checked out all the touristy sights. There was a farmers market in Seaport Village and a couple of kayakers and checking out the USS Midway. It was a good day to be out.</div>
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A Disney cruise ship was docked a few spots down from the Midway. I wonder what its story is with everything going on.</div>
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The outgoing tide was moving along at a pretty good clip, so I was able to paddle the length of Harbor Island and Shelter Island very quickly. My Garmin shows my two fastest miles averaging 4.4 mph through that part of the bay. When I planned my route I told myself I'd stop at the end of Shelter Island and decide whether or not to continue to the end of Point Loma. Conditions looked good, and I was ahead of schedule, so I gave myself the green light to keep going.</div>
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Around 11:00 am I reached the end of Point Loma. After taking the photo I paddled out a little further so I could be sure that I was in the open ocean.</div>
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There was another cruise ship anchored offshore. I looked it up when I got home - it's the Celebrity Eclipse, and it has 63 coronavirus patients currently on board. The Disney ship I saw earlier is the Wonder, and it has 46 patients. That's awful!</div>
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I waited for several fast moving yachts to go past before I crossed the channel. The boat traffic was picking up, especially the sort of vessels that have slips in the marinas. The rule that only people from a single household could be on a boat was definitely not being followed.</div>
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The other side of the channel has a (mostly) submerged jetty that was becoming exposed at low tide. Pelicans were taking advantage of the rocks. I paddled north towards the Navy base on Coronado, and the going was a lot slower than in the morning. Slack tide plus chop from the wind and boats meant I could only maintain about 3 mph.</div>
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As the bay curved to the east my pace improved. Having the wind at my back helped, and there were fewer boats once I was past the busy marinas. I stayed close to the Navy base to avoid the boat traffic while staying far enough away from the docks and shore to avoid having one of the Navy boats come over and yell at me.</div>
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I'd like to say it was easy paddling for the rest of the trip, but it actually got quite miserable once I passed the Navy docks. Having the wind pointed directly at your back is good. If it's coming from any other direction and strong enough, then it becomes almost impossible to keep a rudderless kayak going in a straight line. I paddled from the Coronado Ferry Landing back to Pepper Park pretty much only using my right arm. When it really got bad I would paddle for a few strokes on the right side and then use the blade on the left side as a rudder to correct course. My average speed for the last few miles was 2.5 mph.</div>
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Eventually I made it past the Navy fleet and Mile of Cars and rounded the corner into the channel leading to Pepper Park. The wind was at my back again, and I paddled hard, keeping the fish finder's GPS speed at 5 mph until I reached the dock. It felt good to get out of the seat and stand up straight.</div>
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Miles: 27.50<br />
Hours: 9:03<br />
Water Temp: 68 F<br />
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With a rudder I think the crossing to Catalina is completely doable. Who wants to join?Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-60922073738756057922020-03-22T15:36:00.001-07:002020-03-24T18:08:04.085-07:00Social distance kayakingI think we can all agree that these are interesting times. The coronavirus pandemic has changed day to day life in California and around the world. Our governor recently issued a stay at home order, so I've been wrestling with whether or not I should go kayaking. The order says that outdoor exercise is allowed as long as social distancing is practiced. I felt that a solo paddle certainly fit that description, so yesterday I headed out for my longest paddle to date. I launched at 5:17am, a full hour and a half before sunrise. Paddling in complete darkness is pretty unnerving, but I had all of the lights and safety gear required for non-motorized vessels, and I was dressed for immersion (wetsuit top and bottom). Swells were 1.5 feet, and the wind was 5 mph. I stopped to take this first picture about an hour after I launched after I had paddled a little over 3 miles.<br />
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The sun was finally lighting up the sky when I reached my first fishing spot, a rock pile in a little less than 200 feet of water. I expected the usual mix of rockfish, and I planned to focus more on bringing home food than catching new species. I also wanted to try out a couple of heavier jigs that I recently purchased, hoping they would attract bigger fish.<br />
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I switched back and forth between a rod rigged with dropper loops and one with a jig. My first fish on the dropper loop was a flag rockfish, definitely big enough to bring home. It looked like it would be a good day of bottom fishing!<br />
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Flag Rockfish (Sebastes rubrivinctus)<br />
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Next I sent down a pink speed jig with an assist hook at the top. It didn't take long for something to grab it, but I was amused when I saw how small the fish was. The starry rockfish that came up wasn't much longer than the jig! I'm pretty sure this is the first fish I've caught with an assist hook.<br />
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Starry Rockfish (Sebastes constellatus)<br />
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Next on the dropper loop was a former nemesis of mine, the elusive squarespot rockfish. This is a species that took me years to find even though all of my friends, including some who have only been to San Diego one time, have caught. I got one a few month ago though, so the curse has been lifted. Also on the dropper loop were numerous calico rockfish. They were the annoying little species of the day (there always has to be one).<br />
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Squarespot Rockfish (Sebastes hopkinsi)<br />
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Calico Rockfish (Sebastes dallii)<br />
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Once the sun was up it was hard to imagine that I had paddled all that way in complete darkness. On the way to my second spot I came across a kelp paddy in 260 feet. As I approached it I envisioned a huge school of halfmoons and blacksmiths underneath it, with yellowtail cruising around nearby. However, when I reached the patty there were no fish to be seen, either visually or on the fish finder. Ah well.<br />
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The second spot was another rocky area, this time in 275 feet of water. I caught another fish on the pink speed jig, an ambitious scorpionfish. Sadly on my next drop the jig got stuck in some structure, and I wasn't able to pull it free. On a side note, it's pretty difficult to break off 40 lb line from a kayak!<br />
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California Scorpionfish (Scorpaena guttata)<br />
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The bites were steady at this spot, and I added several more species to the day's count. Not pictured are ocean whitefish and Pacific sanddab. I figure my readers have seen enough of them in my recent kayaking posts and would appreciate the break.<br />
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Rosy Rockfish (Sebastes rosaceus)<br />
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California Lizardfish (Synodus lucioceps)<br />
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Greenspotted Rockfish (Sebastes chlorostictus)<br />
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My third spot was a seamount due west of Mission Bay, and it was the furthest I would be from shore, about 6 miles from the jetty and 7 miles from where I launched. As I approached the GPS pin someone in a small boat waved to me, and lo and behold there was Emerson and his dad. They decided to fish the same seamount and had already put several nice vermilion rockfish and a keeper lingcod in the boat.<br />
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It took a bit of paddling around in circles before I could find good structure, but eventually I got a vermilion of my own. It wasn't big, but I added it to the cooler, which was beginning to fill up with similarly sized rockfish and whitefish.<br />
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Vermilion Rockfish (Sebastes miniatus)<br />
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I looked at my watch and saw that it was a little past noon, which meant there was no way to make it back by 1:00pm, which was my original plan. The wind could start picking up any time, so I said to myself "one more fish" and dropped two fresh strips of squid down to the bottom. My one more fish turned out to be a new species, a speckled rockfish!<br />
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Speckled Rockfish (Sebastes ovalis) - new hook & line species #660<br />
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Emerson and his dad had drifted out of earshot, so I gave him a call to let him know about the catch and tell him that I was headed back to shore. I turned towards the east and took this picture, which at first glace looks like the open ocean. If you look closely though you can see the coast, which gives you an idea of how far I had to paddle back.<br />
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I decided to skip the last pin I had marked, but when I saw it on the fish finder screen I decided I needed a break. Also, I had a 6 oz chrome diamond jig in my tackle box that I needed to try out. I sent it to the bottom, jigged it up and down a few times, and almost immediately got bit. This fish was bigger than anything else I had caught, and it turned out to be a decent bocaccio, weighing in at 2.5 lbs.<br />
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Bocaccio (Sebastes paucispinis)<br />
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I sent the jig down again. This time I had to jig it up and down a bit longer, but another decent fish hit it, and I knew it would be my last fish of the day. It was a nice big vermilion, weighing 3 lbs. The cooler was completely full, so it was definitely time to pack it in.<br />
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Vermilion Rockfish (Sebastes miniatus)<br />
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The wind picked up more and more as I paddled back towards the jetty, which made the water pretty choppy. It wasn't enough to make me uncomfortable, but it slowed my progress. I stopped a few times to let the lactic acid drain from my arms and drink water, and eventually I was back at Mission Point Park, where I had launched 9 hours and 40 minutes earlier.<br />
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Miles: 19.90<br />
Hours: 9:40<br />
Water Temp: 61 F<br />
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I was surprised by how many people were hanging out in the park when I was loading my gear in the car to head home. It was disheartening actually, as it made it impossible for people to maintain the recommended 6 feet of distance from each other to avoid spreading the coronavirus. It's making me rethink whether I can in good conscious go to public places like Mission Bay or La Jolla Shores to launch my kayak. If things get worse, I'll probably hold off on any more outings.<br />
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Stay healthy everyone, and take care of each other! We'll get through this.Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3031857127006569095.post-6648560393758370452020-03-09T08:00:00.000-07:002020-03-10T19:25:33.002-07:00Bottom fishing La Jolla with BrandonRockfish are back in season in Southern California, and this past weekend my buddy Brandon was in town looking to catch some fish, so naturally we had to take the kayaks out and bottom fish La Jolla. My friend Kam once again lent me his faithful Scupper Pro, which Brandon and I greatly appreciated. We got an early start because we wanted to paddle out to a spot 5 miles from shore. The moon was about to set when we pulled up on the beach to unload gear.<br />
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The sea was pretty rough for the first hour or two, and our progress was a lot slower than I had hoped. It didn't help that I realized I wasn't wearing my PFD when we were about 200 yards from shore, so I had to go back to the car and get it. The water was pretty choppy, but I assured Brandon it would smooth out when the sun came out. It was a wet and bumpy ride, but eventually my prediction came true. To be honest though, I was starting to worry a bit.<br />
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I wasn't sure if we'd make it to the 5 mile spot, so we stopped to fish along the way while we waited for the conditions to improve. Our first stop was just outside the kelp beds in 60 feet of water. We caught a few ocean whitefish and small rockfish.<br />
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Ocean Whitefish (Caulolatilus princeps)<br />
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I found a rocky looking spot on my phone, and we paddled another mile west to it. Surprisingly, the bottom stayed at 60 feet the entire way. We stopped when I noticed structure on the fish finder, and we dropped our baits. Brandon caught a few more rockfish for his list, and the ones big enough to keep went into a cooler. I also caught one sheephead, but it was too small to keep.<br />
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Kelp Rockfish (Sebastes atrovirens)<br />
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California Sheephead (Semicossyphus pulcher)<br />
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Gopher Rockfish (Sebastes carnatus)<br />
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Around 10 am the water was finally nice and calm, but I expected the afternoon wind to pick up around 1 pm, so we didn't have time to finish the paddle out to the original spot. I looked on my phone again and found another rocky patch that would be in deeper water. Sure enough, the bottom steadily dropped off to 150 feet. We switched to heavier sinkers and gave it a try.<br />
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The decision to move paid off, because Brandon was able to add several more species to his count including flag rockfish (a big one!), honeycomb rockfish, and longfin sanddab. Surprisingly we didn't have much overlap, besides the ubiquitous ocean whitefish. I caught rosy rockfish, starry rockfish, and treefish. The treefish was the first one I've caught and photographed from the new kayak.<br />
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Rosy Rockfish (Sebastes rosaceus)<br />
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Starry Rockfish (Sebastes constellatus)<br />
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Treefish (Sebastes serriceps)<br />
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A little after noon we packed up our gear and paddled back towards La Jolla Shores. The wind was picking up right on cue, and I could tell that Brandon was starting to feel the long hours sitting in the kayak. Once we made it to the shelter of La Jolla Cove he looked much more upbeat. He had seven new species on his lifelist, which certainly helped!<br />
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I zoomed out on the Garmin app to take a screenshot of the route so it would show our original target on the far left. Our first fishing spot is hidden behind the text of La Jolla Cove. Our second spot is to the southwest, and you can see how far we drifted back towards shore due to the wind. Our third spot is the furthest we went from shore, and you can see that the wind barely pushed us around.<br />
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Miles: 10.53<br />
Hours: 6:34<br />
Water Temp: 63 F<br />
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After we loaded our gear, we grabbed a quick bite to eat and then headed in the direction of the La Jolla tidepools. Sadly though we didn't make it. The Subaru's clutch failed, and we had no choice but to call a tow truck to take it back to my house. Kam also has a Subaru Crosstrek, and it's also out of commission at the moment, so unfortunately he's going to have wait a few days to get his kayak back.<br />
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Brandon is in town for the rest of the week, so I think he'll get to catch a few more species before he heads home. I'm really glad this trip worked out for him so he could see what ocean fishing from a kayak is like!<br />
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Next up for me is another long paddle day. Stay tuned...Benhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12266664117710044781noreply@blogger.com0