Half Moon Bay Heads up!

A relative has his boat berthed at HMB and I just got off the phone w/him.  My intent was to get some fishing pointers, but along with some general info, he shared some safety concerns from a boater's perspective. 

Many of the participants haven't fished out of HMB, so I thought this info may be useful.

#1.  The Harbor Master should be notified of this event.  (Bill/Chuck, not sure if you guys have done this yet, but it makes sense).  Some times the Harbor Master is out enforce near the entrance, telling boats to slow down and watch out for kayakers.  If we let him know of this event, the HM will be on patrol, looking out for us.

#2.  He also cautioned that if its foggy, its not a good idea to fish the entrance area.  Although this area SOMETIMES holds stripers/butts if the bait is thick, it's a high traffic area.  A lot of boats don't slow down until they are on the inside (unless the Harbor Master is patrolling).

#3.  For those not familiar with the reef, be aware that its not advisable to go inside the green bouy (as you head out the jaws).  The waves may break there and it can be dangerous. Many of us will fish this area, so we just need to be aware of the reef break and assess the conditions that may arise on Sunday.

#4.  Watch the wind if we head south.  Might be a tough paddle coming in, as the weather forecast calls for strong winds.

Cheers,
Stuart

Stuart,

I appreciate your concern for the safety of others, especially those like myself who are less experienced. 

As a former ER doctor and scuba diver, I have great respect for the ocean having unsuccessfully tried to save a few anglers and divers that the Coast Guard coptered in.  Hence, maybe I'm a bit too safety conscious.

I wonder if you have any further advice for fishing on Sunday given the current weather report, that I didn't think looked all that inviting.  I am a fairly new kayaker and have never fished out of HMB before. Also, it is not entirely clear to me how the weather/wave forecasts translates into kayaking conditions.  In the past I've read reports for Santa Cruz that looked pretty rough, and then gone down to see a very calm ocean and have the guy at Kayak Connections say it was one of the calmest days they had seen.

Doug

Marmite,

With the forecast calling for 20 -30 knot winds and a pretty large swell, its going to be an interesting day.  I hope the weather on Sunday is better than fcst. 
Additionally, a big swell often times slows down the rockfish bite and sends the rockies to either deeper water (less swell impacted) or holed up, at least that what most folks think.

Given the poor weather conditions, I believe our catch will probably be lower than average.

With 30 something entrants, its going to be all luck, given we are fishing out of the harbor and there doesn't appear to be any special hot spots.

I'm a newb when it comes to fishing just outside the HMB harbor.  I fished via boat many, many times, but we never fished close to the harbor, except for a few times when salmon/stripers were running off the jetty/beach area.

A ling cod off one of the reefs is most likely going to win the tourney.

Suggestions I rec'd was that there is a long reef, which runs from N to SE,  starting off the radar station down to the Red can.  That stretch can produce rockfish/lings, as well as the area around the radar tower.  If you go to google earth, you can make out some of the shallow water reefs as well as the area off the radar station.

Incidently, lining up the entrance and the green can, and just east will be sand, as is to the south, so there is a chance at halibut there.

After mulling it over with Fred "Savage", we'll be targeting a ling either off the radar tower or along the above mentioned reef.

See you on Sunday.  Both of us will be in yellow P15's.

Stuart

I just spoke to Dan Temko, the harbormaster at HMB, to remind him again about our event which he is well aware of.  He says conditions are excellent -- warm temperature, mild wind, low swell inshore and near the reefs.  He joking said conditions are so good right now as expected for tomorrow... he's "afraid one of will sink our yaks with too many rockfish."  I hope he's right. 

This information is coming directly from the harbormaster at HMB, so who are you going to believe.... the offshore forecast or the harbormaster onsite?

I'm also getting live reports from Bob Neal who's already parked there with his camper.  He says things are looking good out there.

I agree with the Stu's tips above.  Just be cautious fishing the reefs, stay away from traffic zones and everyone should have a safe fun time.

I think you guys will be fine.  Newbs will be intimidated but they should be safe.  It's one of those "it's okay
to be scared kind of things'.

One thing that is a good idea for a newb is to paddle out, but don't try to stay out for hours and hours.
It will get worse when the wind comes up around 10.  The ocean is something that is best learned in
relatively small increments, not all at once. If you are an ocean newb, paddling out, catching a fish,
declaring victory and paddling in would be nothing to be ashamed of. You can't be the SAVAGE in
one day. It takes years.

Personally I think the winner tomorrow will not be a newb, it will be one of the seasoned guys like Stu or Savage,
because of the conditions. It will certainly not be a so-cal visitor,  .

The swell is pretty big for summer, it is surfable with a 10 second period, but it is small compared to winter.

It's not real short period either so it's pretty comfortable for the seasick prone (unless a short period windswell
gets layerd on top of it overnight,  ).

But you will have to stare down some swells that look about 10 feet tall. They are probably only 6, but they
will look mighty big from the kayak.

Probably can't fish tomorrow, but today I fished the davenport area today from 8 to 11
(didn't do that great, 3 coppers, 2 gophers and an underling,  , I guess I was not on
the reef enough, I need a friend with a FF,  )

It was a marine layer early and
pretty nice with no wind, but by about 10:30, we were pretty interested in getting ashore as the fog and
wind came in pretty good. We had beach launched through a slot in the reef and we had to land through
the same slot. I had to stop and paddle backwards over a large one, but after that I had a straight shot
to shore.

good luck all you guys!

J

you mean to say your not gonna pull your surfboard out of your hatch and surf mavericks tomorrow??? the kayak surfers were out there in full force last saturday at the reefs south of the radar tower. 

Nope, but that story was pretty funny, I was laughing hard on that, even on the re-read,  .

Today, I slept in and then poured boiling water on my hand trying to make coffee,       

But I did get some fresh albacore from the farmer's market. albie poki for dinner!