976-KayakHoopNetting October 30th

Yes, I finally got up the nerve to go out “at night” on my kayak hoop netting for lobsters. Will I do it again? Of course; it was fun!

I reached the harbor just before sunrise and launched my kayak.

Sunrise as I was getting ready

Tim Boyer arrived shortly thereafter bearing gifts - warm breakfast burritos for our travels. Good thing too because when I got back to my kayak, the seagulls had filched my bran muffin and were pecking it to crumbs on the dock. Tim launched his kayak (a new Hobie prototype) and we left the harbor around 8 am. Our goal was to make bait for the evenings lobster fishing. We had our Sabiki rigs on our Ahi Rods (which contain the Sabiki inside the rod for storage) and our old standby – rods rigged with the Berkley Gulp Jerk Shad on 3/8 ounce leadheads.

It was quite warm out and the sky was filled with high and wispy white clouds. I felt more like I was in the desert than on the ocean.

Morning on the water

I had to take off my outer layer of clothing immediately as it was t-shirt and shorts weather. The water was 66 degrees with a north running current and glassy calm. When I looked out to sea, I could just make out Catalina Island on the horizon and when I looked inland, I could see Saddleback Mountain peeking over the cliffs along the shoreline.

Saddleback Mountain peeking over the cliffs

“Dense fog along the coast and a high in the 60’s” was the day’s forecast. I guess the meteorologist forgot Dana Point is “along the coast.”

The water was crystal clear with visibility down to 40 or 50 feet. It was great!

Looking down in the clear water at a kelp stringer

I could just drop my jerk shad down and watch the fish chase it back up. It was great to sight fish like this. I watched calicos ambush the bait as it passed a kelp stringer, or I would wait until I saw a school of bait then drop down the Sabiki rig. I found lots of smelt and sardines in the kelp but the mackerel were in open water close to the kelp line so that’s where I concentrated my time. Around the red buoy at the headlands was a good place for mackerel as was the northern edge of the kelp line at the headlands.

Fishing the Sabiki rig brought up little greenies and loads of smelt while fishing the jerk shad produced the larger mackerel plus a small bonito for me. When the tide slacked and the current slowed in the morning, I dropped down the Sabiki rig, set it in the rod holder and cast out my jerk shad. I hooked a nice big mackerel on the jerk shad at the same time a school of little greenies attacked my Sabiki. Now what? Do I bring the little greenies up first or go for the big mack? I had visions of being the only person in the boat tangled with myself. I brought them all on board (the big mack first) without a tangle. A small miracle.

The afternoon was beautiful and the temperature was in the 80’s on the water.

Late afternoon on the water

Around 3 pm we worked our way back into the harbor and tied up our kayaks at the Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center. We unloaded fishing rods and readied the boats for hoop nets. I cut up all the fresh bait and the bait that Tim pulled out of his freezer except for the salmon heads which he cut up. The heads were still frozen too hard for my hands to handle.

Bait for the evening

Tim said there were about 10 of us heading out tonight from the Kayak center including Tim’s son, Chris. Gradually the others showed up and started getting their gear ready.

Hoop Net Preparation at DP Jet Ski & Kayak Center

I borrowed hoop nets from Tim. I used the 32 inch standard hoop net rather than the eclipse style. Each hoop had a small float for the surface with an empty plastic water bottle attached. Tim handed me 5 light sticks and said to put them in the water bottle just before setting the hoops out. I stuffed each bait holder in the bottom of my 5 nets with a combination of frozen fish heads and fresh chunks then stacked the nets on the back of my kayak.

My kayak loaded with hoop nets

I put back on that extra layer of clothing as it was surely going to be cold out there tonight. I donned my hat with a headlamp – with both white and red lights, filled out my DFG Spiny Lobster Report Card, turned on my fish finder, SPOT, the marine radio to channel 71, put on my floatation vest and climbed aboard my kayak. Was I really paddling back out of this harbor just two and a half hours after returning from seven hours of peddling already today?

Heading out for Hoop Netting at 5:30 pm

There was plenty of daylight left when we set our nets along the breakwater. There were already several sets deployed by other hoop netters.

Breakwater while setting our nets

I had hoop netted with the Fleck Brothers in their skiff previously but this was my first time doing it on my kayak. Not only was I concerned about being seen and being able to see waves, swells, kelp or other hazards, but also about where the right spot is to drop the net, remembering to break the light stick and put it in the bottle; making sure the line isn’t tangled so the net falls flat, and not getting tangled in the buoy line when I drop the net on the spot I had selected with my fish finder. It took me about 30 to 40 minutes to set out all my hoops. Tim said “now we wait.” We needed to wait till just after dark for the bugs to crawl into the nets.

As I paddled back to my first net I tried to recognize my own buoys. Mine were small with a green glow stick. There were also small buoys with a blue glow stick. There were large buoys with green, red or white glow sticks and there were large and small buoys with reflective tape. Tim offered me a beer while we waited but I declined preferring to keep my wits about me out there in the dark. In the dark, it looked much like Halloween with all the glow sticks. I took a few pictures but as you can see, they look more like surrealistic paintings than an ocean dotted with buoys and glow sticks.

Glow Sticks on Hoop Nets as seen from a bobbing kayak

We started pulling hoops around 7 pm. Tim instructed me on my first pull – grab the buoy, constant pull, and throw the line in your lap. I appreciated his help. I found nothing in the first hoop, second hoop, or the third. The fourth hoop contained one lobster. Tim noticed that I kept dropping the lobster every time I tried to grab it because it flipped and squeaked. He came along side and showed me how to grab the lobster across its carapace (back). He measured it and threw it in my bag. I had my first legal lobster (carapace over 3 1/4 inches). Fifth hoop – empty again. Peddle back to the first hoop and wait 20 minutes until the next pull then repeat the process. Second pull at 7:30 which produced several short lobsters, and, Brady (one of our other kayakers) saw me struggling to measure a lobster after I had successfully grabbed the flipping, squeaking bug. He was kind enough to come along side to show me how to grab its head and tentacles leaving the carapace exposed so I could measure him. Just 1/8 inch short. Drat! Back into the water!

The weather was still quite warm and I was faced with stripping off my outer layer of clothing again. The other kayakers were all friendly and polite. Unfortunately the few boaters fishing the outer breakwater with us were neither - preferring to drop hoops on top of ours, shining bright lights in our eyes and gunning their boats creating wakes for us to navigate.

We continued pulling nets every 20 to 30 minutes getting less bugs every pull. At 9:30 pm we called it a night and pulled the nets up. Tim got his second legal lobster in the last net he pulled in. Tim fished all Eclipse style nets and had significantly more bugs in every pull than I had. It could have been the nets or Tim’s experience that made the difference.

When I pulled my kayak out of the water at 9:30 pm, my fish finder indicated I had traveled 17 miles and spent almost 12 hours on the water at an average speed of 1.13 mph.

Fish Finder at the end of the day

We emptied the bait out of the holders (to be frozen) then cleaned up our kayaks and gear. I was so anxious to get home after such a long day that I forgot to take any photos of my lobster either in the trap or on dock. I didn’t remember to take a photo until I was ready to cook it the next day.

Areas fished October 30th - Pinpoint labeled "Me" is the bait making area; pinpoint in the middle indicates hoop netting area and the pinpoint on the right is the Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center from which we launch our kayaks.

I feel it was a long and successful day. I overcame my fears of hoop netting on a kayak (at night) and was rewarded with one male spiny lobster, the tail of which weighed 8 ounces and was positively delicious!

8 ounce male lobster tail

My half of the lobster tail. Mike's half looked just as good!

P.S. Non-fishing related notes:

1. Congratulations to my youngest son, Chris, who received his PhD in Physics yesterday from UCLA

2. I’ve been asked about not posting reports from September 15th until October 18th. The answer is that there was nothing to report as I was unable to do my usual 10-day trip scheduled for that time period. Instead, I consoled myself by embroidering fish on T-shirts. As you can see, I did a lot of consoling!