Golden Gate Ft Baker Oct 29

Let's get this started...

The motley crew that showed up today:  Ben, Randall (Bigfoot), Ty, Don (?) and Paul in the red Hobies, John (jdyak), Duane, Troy, Etienne (sackyak), Gordon.  John Mairey was that you calling on channel 69 for radio checks?  Sorry if I missed anyone.

First time launching from Ft Baker for me and it was a pleasant surprise. There was parking right next to the launch, a ramp that empties out into a protected harbor, a coast guard station in the harbor and no parking/launch fees.

The weather was overcast but not that cold.  The wind was a problem.  It was blowing pretty hard into the bay so it was difficult to get around the corner by the north tower and have a chance to fish further up the Marin coast line.  By the time I got around the corner I was pretty tired from paddling against the wind.  On the return trip I just let the wind push me back into the bay. 

Special thanks to John and Duane for bringing bait and sharing it with us.  Too bad there weren't a lot of fish to use them on.

Not a lot of fish caught but I did leave before the guys that fished up the coast had come back in.  Ben had 3 rockies and I caught one.  I hope the guys that fished further up the coast got into some halibut or quality rock fish.  I had to keep reminding myself that this was not Bean Hollow and there's always a learning curve when you fish new places.

When I did take a break to look around, the bridge is pretty awesome.  It spans a huge distance between the two towers and I got a better appreciation for that when I was paddling underneath it.

Randall and Ty, I hope you guys had a safe drive back to Chico.

Gary

Safe and sound back in Forest Ranch. what a wknd! 670 miles all in all. Saturday,a great tour of Monterey Bay U w/ daughter, Lunch w/ Sackyack, Randay and Pat. Great Seafood Tacos and burritos, great company, beautiful weather. It is absolutely killing me, I want to live on the coast so bad I can taste it! Sunday Got there extra early only to almost have my car door ripped out of my hand by a gust of wind. It did not look good. But when everyone finaly showed It had calmed down a little. Ty and I hung back and watched everyone get settled in and you could tell getting "around the horn" was a topic of conversation but eventoally everyone but us forced ther way out and up. As soon as we poked our head past the N tower I had to give Ty the bad news we were staying inside the bay. It was probably doable but Mother hentook over and I called what I called. I know Ty wanted to call me something  with Mother in it and it had chicken in it too, but no Hen. Even with the small tide we needed 4 OZ to stick to the bottom. I caught a crab so I know i was there. I caught 7-8m, lost a few and kept 4 for tacos. Ty struggled and caught a few and lost the biggest of the day to a Seal due to my mistake. I got to close and snagged my line on his kayak. The poor guy was fightihg the fish trying to reach back and unhook my line. I was so worried he was going to flip in the Sit-in-side I'm yelling for him to just leave the line alone. He messed with it long enough that he said he felta hard yank amd it was gone. about 4-5 seconds later the seal breached next to Ty looking for seconds. It will be along time before he lets me live that down. we came in around 1130 and visited-packed up and left around 1 PM. All in all a great first time launch in salt. I was going to say ocean but tec. we missed by 40 yards or so of making it out of the bay. I think Troy had the biggest fish of the day w/Duane coming in a close second. Ben thanks for the sticker and Thanks to all for advice, bait, and company.   Randall

It was great seeing you guys for some local lunch this weekend.  We have been ACHING to hear the details of this adventure.  What an epic location........and the darn wind to prove it, eh?  Keep the stories coming guys.

Yup, it was blowing hard. When I got there it looked like a tourny, great call on the hook up, would definalely do again with better conditions hopefuly. I fished with Jdyak and SandMan going "around the horn", not easy. Pretty cool fishing under the GG. We made it to kirby cove and a little relief from the wind. I fished with a 6 oz torpedo sinker with 2 stinger hooks on the top,got that idea from Tote, thanx buudy, it has proven deadly in its simplicity, and drops right to the bottom. I lost my oversized bait tube, oh well time to make a better one, I guess those gobys are goners. We paddled back in the bay and fished with Bigfoot and Ty for a while before calling it a half-day. Would have stuck it out but was too damn cold and wet. Yummy fish.Great crew. What were the big fish? Mine were pretty small, threw a few back, kept the ones from the deep water and one fair sized from the shallows. Had another good sized one that missed its mark on the game hook and went the way of my bait-tube.
As SandMan was saying on the water, "We got spoiled at the Bean!"  Tight lines, Ben

Great to meet everyone and man that wind was  .  After the first two Hobies went around the corner of the N. tower it took a while for the paddle drives to make it.  At one point we were all hanging just inside the bay and a large freighter went out making a big stern wave that broke as it approached.  I paddled into it then turned to make a push out the gate.  It was full on dead into the wind and I gave up and let my self get pushed back into the crowd.  I hooked up with a small rockfish inside (C&R) drifted toward the opening and waited for the wind to drop befor pushing hard out and around the corner.  It is a really great feeling getting out past the gate.  The water surface changes and you really get the feeling of being out in the ocean compared to the bay.  The rest of the paddlers followed and we inched our way out toward the coves.  There was a strong funnel of wind to push through to get around each point and the chop was steep so I took many waves over the bow.  The fishing was slower than I had expected but I found lots of structure.  I ended up with one decent Rosey Rockfish that I kept.  I also caught one small blue rockfish that ended up being live bait for nothing.  While I tried to target halibut off the beches the drift was really fast and I found the best fishing was close to the points and out of the wind where there were a few rockfish.  I left about 12:30 after taking some photos on the way in.  I will post them from home later.  That was some of the funest paddling I have done in a while.  The chop, wind and current made it challenging.  After returning the wind really made me cold so I left quickly.

Maybe Saturday was the day, I understand it was not as windy and warmer.  I should have guessed.  The bay area never has three warm days in a row.  After that much nice weather the valley heats up too much and the seabreeze  kicks in strong and brings the fog.  I really did enjoy the location, easy launch and great company and scenery.  Let's do it again next year.

Pat,  Thanks from Natalie for the Hanuted Barn? tip.  She went Sunday and had a good time although she did not share many details with me.     

That was a great turnout.  Of course, the beautiful weather I saw at the Gate all week long couldn't hold for just ONE MORE DAY!  Oh well, now we know that spot is doable with a little weather to contend with.  As everyone has said, that wind made paddling out the Gate a challenge.  Everyone seemed to linger at first just inside, where a few fish were caught.  In fact, my friend Bill who had never fished from a yak before (but is an experienced paddler) caught two RF from this spot on one drop within the first few minutes!  Nice.  We eventually made it out and all the way to Bonita Cove.  As Sacyak said, the best spots were in tight and in shelter from the wind.  That's where I got my only RF, a nice copper (I think) in tight between Kirby and Bonita coves.  As Sandman said, this is a very convenient launch spot (access, parking, protection, etc.).  Could be great for Dungies at Kirby and Bonita Coves - let's keep an eye on those tides for November!  I could have sworn I saw 2 yakers crossing the Gate from the Baker Beach side and having to outrun a frieghter to make it, around 11:30 or so.  Who was that??     Also, can't wait to hear what JTF's "plan B" was as we were all sure he didn't even attempt the Treasure Island to the Gate paddle!  Here are a few pics I can post now.  I have a couple more at home I will add tonight.

Andy

Forgot to mention I did troll an Apex hoping for a Salmon on the way back in.  My clicker started clicking good just under the Bridge (how cool would that have been?) but there was nothing by my 2lb ball when I reeled up.  Not sure what caused that as I thought I was in pretty deep water at that point...Since there are no Salmon at Dux (see Blue's post), none in the rivers (see Alfredo), and none anywhere else people are trying for them, maybe this was going to be the spot.   Not.

You guys "stayed the coarse" and did it! Hats OFF! I would have been staying in the bay
Thanks for the pics! all week was great weather,until.........sun.

Andy,

The hit you had was probably a rockie.  As I was drifting back into the bay I got hit hard right underneath the bridge and it felt like a ling.  It fought for a bit and when I pulled it in I realized that it was the current that was giving the fish a little extra boost.  I tried to stay the required 25 yds away from the north tower and was marking 55 ft of water when my swim bait got bit.  There's probably many rockies that wait in the rocks in ambush mode.  It was about a 3 lb fish so it was served for dinner last night.

On the way out of the harbor I did pick up what I thought was dead weight and it turned out to be a crab.  It happened again in another spot inside the cove so come Nov 11th, this would be a good spot.  I'm a little pissed off too because the second crab cut into my swim bait with its claw.  Anybody recommend a good glue for repairing my swim bait?

This area was busy...  We saw racing skulls, racing outrigger canoes, sea kayaks and many PBs.  I wouldn't be surprised if it were sea kayakers that were crossing the Gate.  Any respectable fisherman would have stopped at the south tower to catch a few.  Sea kayakers don't stop for anything, my kayaking friends were throwing up at the idea of stopping and fishing.

Good to see everybody and we'll definitely have to do this again.

Gary

Anybody recommend a good glue for repairing my swim bait?

use a candle and heat both ends - connect - and it will bond 

Sorry I missed you guys! I was helping my sis move to her new house the entire Saturday so I was really beat. I also got an early 5AM message - Sunday morning - form Randall about the conditions so I figured I'd be better off just takling a day off.

Thanks again for the call Randall

I'd deifintely be game for a future trip

There is a specific glue for plastics, I will search for it for you.

In a pinch superglue will work.

MolBasser

Here you go.

http://www.prosoftbaitglue.com/

MolBasser

looked like fun.  No pics of the GG bridge?

Jason

looked like fun.  No pics of the GG bridge?

Jason

I'll post some more pics that include the bridge tonight.  Blue, it would have been more adventurous with a bigger tide, although the wind was the wild card yesterday.  Once you're down there and in it (witht the right equipment - nuts included!) it doesn't seem so bad.  Regarding "next time" the Friday after thanksgiving is looking pretty good!   

11/24/2006 Fri 02:53AM LST 4.4  H  06:40AM LST 3.6  L  12:45PM LST 5.9  H   
11/25/2006 Sat 03:45AM LST 4.5  H  07:41AM LST 3.6  L  01:37PM LST 5.6  H 
11/26/2006 Sun 04:36AM LST 4.6  H  08:59AM LST 3.5  L  02:38PM LST 5.3  H   

I also have some bridge photos I will try to post this evening.  It is really cool how when using a digital camera on a moving kayak how the straight towers of the bridge can appear bent and curvy.  Photos to follow.