Hooping in San Diego Bay

I headed to San Diego Tuesday morning loaded with my lobster gear and plenty of warm clothes. I spent a little time at Fisherman's Landing chatting with friends while the Royal Polaris unloaded it's catch from a trip to the big fish grounds. It's always amazing to me how empty the parking lot is at this time of the year while it's impossible to get a spot during the summer months.

Conditions were predicted to be tough for lobster fishing this night - full moon, strong tidal movement (6 feet) and the lobsters hadn't been crawling lately.

Jason and I agreed to meet at Shelter Island to launch his boat. We loaded all my gear into his boat, launched and headed to the bait receiver for sardines. We added these to the leftover tuna guts and bloodlines that Fisherman's Processing so kindly provided for our lobster cages. We baited our cages then headed to our desired hooping location.

We dropped our 10 hoops by 5:30 pm and drifted while we had a light dinner. Traffic in the bay was horrible - lots of boats, boats towing barges and military watercraft. Many of these came close to or ran over our hoops even though we were not hooping in the main channel and our buoys were lighted or well marked.

We made our first pull at 6:15. It was a good news - bad news situation. We got two legal lobsters but we lost two nets - floats, ropes and all. We assume someone ran over them. We dropped the nets again and now we had the sea lion problem. We made 3 more pulls without getting a single lobster and the sea lions were merciless. They bent open the metal bait cages and cleaned every one of them out and they stole two entire cages.

We picked up our nets and moved to another location and dropped them again. The move paid off as we picked up another two legal lobsters but we lost another net. When Jason grabbed the buoy, there was nothing attached. At midnight we decided to cut our losses. I managed to get home by 1:45 am.

Even with all the problems, we had a wonderful evening in San Diego Harbor with clear skies, a big full moon and no wind. It was a beautiful evening to see the harbor skyline.

Next day was clean up day – wash down all the gear and clean the lobsters (a nice way to say I killed them).  I’m sure it will all be worth it when we sit down to our lobster dinner tonight.

   

Lobsters pleading for their life!

New Year, New Knee!

I got to try out my new knee fishing with Jack and Tim on Jack's Whaler last Monday. It was great to get back on the water - I almost felt normal and the knee performed well. We departed about 9 am and the weather was cool but sunny but it quickly clouded up and became cold - at least it was cold to me (I've only regained 5 of the 15 pounds I lost during my knee replacement adventure).

We picked up some beautiful, well cured anchovies at the receiver and decided to make a pass across the pipeline before heading north. I fished light - 15# test with half ounce sliding sinker and a 1/0 92677 Mustad hook. After a couple drifts, I connected with a nice 18 inch sand bass which I released.

Shortly after, Jack caught another sand bass, also released. We made a move north of the headlands and tried our luck there. My luck was a lizard fish but Jack caught a short halibut and Tim caught a sand bass – both released.

We tried a few passes around the headlands before heading back to dock. By then, I was chilled to the bone and ready to call it a day. Our bait was still in excellent condition - in fact there were no dead baits in the bottom of the tank and the tank was still full. We saved the anchovies and put them in Tim's receiver for another day.

I sincerely appreciate the opportunity to get back out on the water. I think the excitement of getting back out and the chilling weather was a little much for my recovering system as my surgery was only 2.5 months ago. My body decided I needed to rest the next couple days to recover.

For those that don't know, I had my right knee replaced November 22, 2012. My intestinal system couldn't take all the medications especially pain medications, so in addition to intense stomach pain, I was unable to eat therefore the 15 pound loss. The knee surgery though was a big success. Before surgery, my knee was in constant pain and I was unable to walk without a cane and brace on the knee. Now the knee pain is minimal and I walk normally but I'm still working through the intestinal issues (it appears the medications killed all the good bacteria in my system and it takes time to replace them). I have finished physical therapy (my knee will bend 135 degrees and stretch out flat), I am back working out at the club and I am enjoying some of my other passions - cooking and quilting. I seem to have acquired another passion, afternoon naps! I guess I'm doing what my surgeon suggested when he said: "Why not act your age?"

My knee before & after surgery – and my knee today.  Did I mention that I love my new knee?