Hi people,
I haven’t been out in a while, well over a year. I’ve been working on a project that’s just consumed me. But I’m finally near the end…

One of the main reasons I got into kayak fishing is that I wanted to target halibut. In the close to twelve years I’ve been in NCKA I’ve never fished for halibut seriously. (Mostly due to time constraints.)

Anyway, I watched a bunch of Utube videos and developed a plan. (Thanks Santa Cruz surfcaster.) Never fished Santa Cruz before, so I didn’t known where I was going.
I met up with my son at Santa Cruz harbor at six, picked up some anchovies and were paddling/pedaling out before seven.

Pedaled straight out to about forty foot and dropped down. (Did you guys know there’s a reef out there, while I never fished it I have talked to people who have have and was left with the impression that it’s all sand and no fish.) My bait kept getting taken, landed a decent sized brown rockfish, hmmm. Ok, one I’m not over sand and two my fishfinder isn’t working.
So I hit reset on the fishfinder and bumped to deeper water. Dropped in again at around fifty foot. Fishfinder is working again and now showing structure, the weather is gorgeous no wind, glassy conditions, the current is taking us south. It’s a pleasant day.

So around 10:30, at about sixty foot, I get some tip action, I wait a few, slowly raise the tip, it feels heavy, bam, I set the hook and wait, after a bit I raise the tip and feel a protest. I got him. I keep tension on and bring him to the surface I can see he’s legal, I grab the gaff, but change to the net, I pick his head up and thrust the net, got em.

The rockfish got most of our bait, so we were left jigging swimbaits. The wind picked up and we moved closer to shore no more luck, called it about 12:45.

So I landed a 27 inch halibut using a halibut rig with an 8 ounce weight and an anchovy in about 60ft of water. Had a great lunch at Seabright Deli, most importantly got to spend some quality time with my son.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Andy and Dustin.  Sorry guys but certain letters on my comuter are not working making it difficult to write.

I was just trying to purchase my fishing license, but there was no button to add an ab report card to it.    Anybody else run into this problem?
The DFG says it may take up to two weeks to receive your license so get them now. 

Picked up a cuda 300 from Coyote Bait and Tackle. Thanks for the heads up.

Need an idea for the water bath, (see picts below.) Right now it's looking like a piece of 4in dia ASB.

Hi everybody, I've just started purchasing basic gear for my first kayak. I plan on getting the Hobie Revolution. I'm just waiting for the sportsmans Expo, and hoping there is a show special (not sure I can wait that long.) In the mean time I have to gear up. I have most of my safty gear, and I just bought the Tule Glide and Set racks for my Ford Ranger (it's a four door with cab mounted racks.) I've done a lot of research on this site about gear. It seems most people prefer farmer johns. After I get some experience (and take a few classes) I would like to try spear fishing and ab diving. Sooo, my question is, would a full wet suit be a better purchase? I'm thinking comfort here.

Side note: To gain experience I plan on practicing out of out of the Alviso marina. It's close to where I stay (near down town SJ,) but I'm open to suggestions about gaining experience.

Lastly, I did go out back in February with BMB at New Melones (thanks again for letting me test drive your Adventure Ben,) and I thought it was a great group of people, and reading many of the posts here I see that it is not limited to that group only. I look forward to fishing with you guys.

Joe