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Posted by Brendan on 16:24:00 03/09/03
Toad (my oldskool fishing buddy since 6 yrs old) and I left Santa Cruz Friday night to head down to Big Sur. Slept outside on a bluff above Jade Cove (near Sand Dollar Beach, Pacific Valley), shooting stars crisscrossing the sky and the sound of the waves pounding on the rocky shores below. Woke before the sun rose, cooked a hot breakfast off to the side of the road, coffee, sausages, quesadillas and cereal. Packed our gear into our metal frame backpacks, fishing poles sticking out and odds and ends hanging off the sides and hiked our kayaks down the slope and through the fields to this protected little cove. Launched as the first rays of the sun were pouring down through the rocky crags on the mountains behind us, illuminating a calm sea and giant rocks far offshore. Out on the water, paddles nothbound into the bull kelpbeds. Calmness and the cries of gulls, rocky shorelines and clear water. Big Sur is my favorite place to fish on the California Coast. We saw whales and otters that day, and even what I think was an endangered California Condor. And the fishing was phenomenal. The schools of blue rockfish were up on the surface and you could often see them boiling and crashing around in the kelp beds. You could drop your jig down and pull it up fast and about ten of them would chase it to the surface. The olives were pretty active too, adn alrge at that. The average was around 3 lbs or so, and we caught, and released, these until our arms dropped off. The water was so clear you could drop your fishtrap down and watch them come swooping out of the kelp to inhale it, and then it was on. And the lings, reds and cabezon were just as active. In the hunt for the elusive halibut, I probably caught, and released, around 20 lings (no joke... if you've been to big sur you know what I'm talking about). The biggest one was porbably around 15 lbs, and about 1/3 the length of my kayak. They were so feisty yesterday that they would often hit your jig before it even got to the bottom. We also caught some pretty big reds, and 3 good sized cabezon (4-5 lbs). I was using 12 lb line and an assortment of rubber jigs, 6 inch white scampis, and light coloured 6 inch fishtraps on 2 oz heads. On one stop, we pulled up on two strands of bullkelp and every single drop down resulted in a BIG ling (5-8lbs). And toad did just as well, and at one point we both dropped down and pulled up two fat reds at the same time. We took some pictures with a disposable camera, but he accidently dropped it in the water... ooops... Aside from the fishing, the best thing was that the water stayed CALM all day long... Minimal swell, and even at 3 in the afternoon there were only a few tiny white caps and a tiny breeze, which is rare for this time of year down there. Big Sur is a fishing dream come true, so treat this area with respect. My secret spots down there are only so good because they are hard to get to, and often a bit daunting upon a first glance. I'm gonna be organizing some more trips down there so if you are interested get in touch with me through my email address.
Zen Fishing
Brendan
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