976-KayakJan 2-8-11

Yes, I finally got back out on my kayak. Why did I wait a year - it's called "safety." My schedule just didn't mesh with my kayak fishing friends last year. We fish outside of the harbor and usually a few miles from the harbor. I feel it is important from a safety perspective to fish with a friend in case something goes wrong. So rather than go out alone, I just didn't go out fishing on my kayak.

What was great about this kayak fishing trip is that it was with a regular Tuesday Retirees Kayak Fishing Group that was started by Tim Boyer, owner of Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center. There were 9 kayakers on the water and this was a cool day, misting rain, with water conditions a little rough and a water temperature of 59º!

We were all on the water by 8 am and on our way to an area referred to as the pipeline (because there is a pipeline running along the coast off-shore). Apparently there have been big bass caught there. It is a mile or so southwest of the entrance to Dana Point Harbor. It took a half hour to get to the area traveling at 3 mph.

Kayak Fishing the Pipeline in February

Fishing was slow (I only had two short bites) fishing a Gulp Jerk Shad. Tim caught a short sculpin and Jack caught a short calico both on dead squid. I heard that a legal sand bass and a legal calico were also caught by one of the anglers but I didn't actually see them. The current was pulling north at 1.5 mph which required constant peddling to stay in the area.

I called it a day around 1 pm. My fish finder said I had traveled 6 miles during the day. I cleaned up my kayak and put it back on its rack and was home by 2 pm. Nice!

This was the first time I wore my waders and Hobie waterproof top that I purchased a year ago for just these conditions. Sure glad I did because they kept me dry and warm.

I'm already looking forward to next week. Weather forecasters are predicting rain for next Tuesday, but I'm hoping they are wrong.