Santa Cruz Sunday 9/5

Fish Santa Cruz again today with skyfight. It was quite foggy in the morning. After fixing my reel, I totally lost the orientation and don’t know where the mile buoy is. First time used Navionics and it didn’t give me the orientation which seems weird. Ended up using maps.me that pointed me roughly the right direction.
  The fishing was decent. Caught two lingcods, 23” and 22”, and a cabezon 14.5”. Let the cabezon and 22” lingcod go ( too close). Also caught quite a few nice rockfish. We found a big school of mackerel next to the bout. It was fun to catch mackerel. Most of them are 12” or so. Finally I caught one about 7”. Use that live bait, and a few minutes later, caught that 22” ling. Then the wind kicked up. And we started trolling back to the harbor. A kayaker I talked to there caught a 10lb halibut with live mackerel. Wished I found that school of mackerel sooner.

This is the 14.5” cabezon. Forgot to take any lingcod pictures.

Thanks for the report, JY.

You did really well!   It's real easy to get turned around in the fog - just reeling in a fish will be enough time to do it.
 
In case you didn't figure it out:The Mile Buoy makes a continuous "groaning" sound in almost any swell, it's actually annoying when it's clear, but lovely to hear when it's not;  the Harbor Lighthouse makes a horn sound, maybe every minute, in foggy conditions, about like a trombone's pitch.  And from just about anywhere in SC/Capitola, if you have a compass, head North and you'll get close enough to shore to see where you are or hear the surf if it's up at all.

If you press the arrow bottom at the bottom left it should orient the map based on the direction you're facing.

If you press the arrow bottom at the bottom left it should orient the map based on the direction you're facing.

Thanks for pointing that out. I kind of figured it out after I came home. I wish that orientation is automatic.

You did really well!   It's real easy to get turned around in the fog - just reeling in a fish will be enough time to do it.
 
In case you didn't figure it out:The Mile Buoy makes a continuous "groaning" sound in almost any swell, it's actually annoying when it's clear, but lovely to hear when it's not;  the Harbor Lighthouse makes a horn sound, maybe every minute, in foggy conditions, about like a trombone's pitch.  And from just about anywhere in SC/Capitola, if you have a compass, head North and you'll get close enough to shore to see where you are or hear the surf if it's up at all.

Thanks for the tips. I guess I was confused by the groaning sound vs the horn sound. But it’s a good lesson.

If it's really foggy, there is a horn at the harbor entrance as well as a horn on the Santa Cruz Wharf.  Between those two and the deep whislte from Mile buoy, you should be able to triangulate.  Every kayak should have at least one compass aboard.  If f you have GPS you can set it so it always orients  with "up" as the direction you are traveling.  I orient my GPS static with "up" always as North.  My GPS will show a line indicating the direction my boat is pointed or direction of travel. Also, I have the 'track' function ON so I can track my progress or drift.  Zooming out on the GPS allows you to see where you are in relation to the land mass and your launch point.

It's kind of fundamental to be familiar these orientation techniques BEFORE taking the kayak out ocean fishing.  Oh yeah, if all else fails, use your ears to listen for the sound of breaking surf.  Then paddle away from that sound so you don't get dumped.  thick fog= at least a whistle to warn PB's that you are there.  Airhorn is better.

Bushy

Thanks for the report!    Live macks sounds like fun fishing for those predators.  Cant wait to get out there and try it myself 

I gooped a pocket "Boy Scout" compass (has a clear plastic rectangle backing) on my yak right between my legs where I can see it at a glance, used a little denatured alcohol to clean the surfaces well before the goop.  It's helpful even when it's not foggy to keep a steady heading toward an area -even ball buoys disappear from sight with swell/fog.

Whistle/horn: It's required equipment on small vessels per this USCG Power Squadron chart.  I put my whistle on a leash on my PFD in case I fall in and my yak floats away.  I think it can be heard the required distance, but an air horn would be louder, if harder to carry on the PFD.

If it's really foggy, there is a horn at the harbor entrance as well as a horn on the Santa Cruz Wharf.  Between those two and the deep whislte from Mile buoy, you should be able to triangulate.  Every kayak should have at least one compass aboard.  If f you have GPS you can set it so it always orients  with "up" as the direction you are traveling.  I orient my GPS static with "up" always as North.  My GPS will show a line indicating the direction my boat is pointed or direction of travel. Also, I have the 'track' function ON so I can track my progress or drift.  Zooming out on the GPS allows you to see where you are in relation to the land mass and your launch point.

It's kind of fundamental to be familiar these orientation techniques BEFORE taking the kayak out ocean fishing.  Oh yeah, if all else fails, use your ears to listen for the sound of breaking surf.  Then paddle away from that sound so you don't get dumped.  thick fog= at least a whistle to warn PB's that you are there.  Airhorn is better.

Bushy

Busy, Thanks. I used maps.me and saved harbor location so I can always head back to harbor in the worst case. After this trip, I learned how to navigate with Navionics. I think I can use my garmin striker 4 as navigation tool as well. I should use my fish finder as navigation tool more often than just as depth and fish finder. Navionics on cell phone works too except I have to constantly unlock my phone.

Sounds like a nice day! great report, thanks
I caught one of those bigger Mackerel in MB last week, and brought it home

Navionics on cell phone works too except I have to constantly unlock my phone.

I turn off authentication on my iPhone, so it's just a swipe to get to the Gaia GPS app I use.

John, nice to fishing with you yesterday. When pressing “Start” button on navionics, it will keep recoding/showing your track with a line to show you the direction. The speed will also be shown in vertical screen mode. It is a nice feature.

Regarding Santa Cruz fishing today, I also caught a nice size lingcod with some good size rock fish. I  saw two kayakers catching halibuts around the mile buoy within couple minutes. They are there!

John, nice to fishing with you yesterday. When pressing “Start” button on navionics, it will keep recoding/showing your track with a line to show you the direction. The speed will also be shown in vertical screen mode. It is a nice feature.

Regarding Santa Cruz fishing today, I also caught a nice size lingcod with some good size rock fish. I  saw two kayakers catching halibuts around the mile buoy within couple minutes. They are there!

Thanks for the tips, Qiu. I am happy you caught a good sized lingcod.