Kayak Wednesday 9-9-15

Jack is the Yellowtail specialist!  He caught another 25 lb. yellowtail on a live sardine with a Mustad 92677 hook.

There were 6 to 8 kayak fishermen out on Wednesday including Jack, Jim, Tim, Mike and I.  Jack, Jim and I launched from Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center around 7:30 a.m. and picked up some nice sardines from the bait receiver.  Tim and the others joined us later.  Tim received a load of small anchovies.

The water temp was still 73 to 75 degrees but this week it was very dirty.  Scraps of kelp and eel grass was everywhere.  There was very little breeze under a bright, hot sun.  Not much traffic on the water.  Such a change from Labor Day crowds.

We headed to the pipe and worked the area for an hour or so without much luck.  Much different from last week.  Then I realized we were working the tide change.  I was enjoying the day anyway as this was my first day out fishing on my new Hobie Sport Fish kayak.  It is so much more comfortable and convenient than my 2008 Sport Fish. Many improvements.  I also upgraded to a color fish finder - Lowrance Elite-4.  Sweet machine.

I guess it was the day to have issues with our bait tanks.  When I first launched, my bait tank wasn't priming even when I put water in the tank.  The pump just wasn't bringing water in.  I went back to dock and Tim started to remove the tank and it started pumping.  Not sure what was going on but when I got back, the screen was gunked up.  Jim's bait rolled right away but he wasn't sure if it was his tank or bad bait.  Tim's tank got clogged with anchovies and they all died.

Jim, Jack and I worked our way out to the barber poles while the others stayed at the pipe.  

We worked the area between the first and second pole.  I caught two cormorants and lost many baits to these nuisance birds.  They dive down 20 feet to take a bait.  I decided to move since they were on me like flies.  Jack started to bring his bait in to follow and got nailed with his yellowtail.  Needless to say the rest quickly joined us.  We continued to work the area until a little after noon but that was it for the day.

I didn't see any sharks this time but one of the new guys said he saw the hammerhead.  From the size of his eyes, I'm sure he saw something that scared him.

After we cleaned up our kayaks and gear, Jim and I spent some time going over Tim's rods and reels that he should take on the Excel 10 Day trip September 27th. It is Tim's first 10 day trip on a long range boat.  That should be a fun trip.  I'm looking forward to Tim catching his first wahoo!