My wife and I are about to celebrate our lucky 13th anniversary . She chose a couple days in  Monterey and insists we take the kayaks....gotta love her. 

Does anyone have any recommendations  for kayak-friendly (ie good and safe parking areas) hotels in Monterey?

I just wonder if I could convince her to let me go fishing one day.....

Thanks for any recommendations.
Marc Mc

I hit Del Valle this morning from 6am to 11:30pm.
The south part of the lake was quite overgrown with weeds.
I had one blow up on the topwater frog pattern, but that was it for flyfishing.
I caught 2 bass and one catfish on Mooch's shadrap...on the troll. I will attempt to attach a photo.
I had forgotten how uber slimy those things are. You just cannot grab them with one hand.
I was amazed that it hit it on the troll at all. He had that shadrap in a death grip.
I caught them on the west side across from the boat launch and south. I meter'd fish and just kept trolling through the area. I went north, but some oldtimers returning from the area said it was dead, so I headed back south.

Fun day. It was like glass until about 10ish.
Marc Mc

Hey folks. I know we kayakers tend to be very safety conscious, but sometimes a slap in the face kicks the cobwebs out of the brain. Below is a story from one of the guys at San Jose Fly Shop who just lost a coworker and friend at San Louis this past week. He said he is making it his mission to get people to wear PFD's so I thought I would help him along. Most of you aren't flyfishers, but the guys at SJ Fly Shop are top notch.

Marc Mc



From www.danblanton.com
Author: Tom Malech of SJ Flyshop

For the last two mornings, I have been on the face of San Luis dam going through the turn of events that ended a young and fine man’s life late Wednesday. Jeff Ketelson, who survived the incident, told me the story of how it happened. This is basically what I heard. Jeff is the only person who could probably tell us exactly how it happened.

Apparently, Mark and Jeff had been fishing in the safer, less windy areas of the lake when the wind died down. They decided to make a run for their current favorite spot near the trash racks. For those that don’t know the lake, the trash racks are a series of structures near the face of the dam. They hooked a few stripers then got into a double. Neither one had notice a small amount of water splashing in the back of the boat. By the time they realized this, they were drifting close to the dam. They immediately tried to start the motor and bilge pump and both were failing. After a few minutes they were able to start the motor and decided to get the boat running fast so they could get the water out. With so much water in the boat, the engine was riding low and when it got wet, it failed. Soon the boat capsized and they were in four foot waves with the sun going down. For a while they were able to hang on the boat but the air bubble holding it up disappeared the boat was sinking. They had a small piece of debris and fuel tank to grab onto. Mark was struggling and Jeff pushed the piece of wood to him and made a swim for the fuel can that was quickly getting away…Soon after they lost sight of each other and Jeff made it to a cable near the trash racks where he hung on to life for the next three hours before being rescued just before midnight.

I guess the message here is that not only do things happen fast; they are usually a series of events that create a catastrophic ending. Mark was not a strong swimmer and was wearing jeans and heavy shoes. Mark’s boat, a 15 ˝’ Cobia, was not a “floatable”. Even I assumed it was. It’s easy to say they should have done XYZ. Jeff told me they knew there were some problems mounting. The thought was that they would be able to take care of it. Not until the boat was capsized did they realize how serious the situation had become. I asked about the life jackets. He said that when they realized the boat was going to flip it was too late to grab them. They thought they could float with the float safely back to shore, not knowing it was going to sink.

The whole thing is just a tragedy. I can’t do anything to save Mark at this point. What I can do is tell you that although they look funny and can be uncomfortable at times, life jackets are usually the difference. When you go out in your boat, pontoon, float tube, or even a dangerous stream, remember this story. I have made it my personal pilgrimage to make sure more people are wearing their life jackets.

There will be a memorial fund set up for Mark’s 3 month old son, Andrew Mark III or “Tre”. I’ll get that out as soon as I find out. I have passed on many messages to his wife Lisa, and she said to tell all of you it really helps, so thank you.

I needed to get out and try the new fish finder. It was sweet. I expected to have to do a little tweeking, but filled the cup with water and set off. Of course, you do need to remember to plug in the battery unit....just a slight hiccup.

As for the fish.....I ain't no KayakJames....'nuff said? I had a couple hits and one explosion on a frog fly, but other than that....not much love. I spoke to a few people and that seemed to be the story for bait guys as well. One fish was caught here and there, but not much.

I was trolling between likely fly-fishable spots. Besides going topwater with frog patterns, I put on the sink tip line and went with some streamers. The water was still stained, so I used contrasting colored flies like clousers, and goblins.

It was a great paddle. I don't know how far I paddled, but it felt good just to be on the water again. It was fun to hear people go by and say..."and he's got a fishfinder on that thing."  I would give them a wave and a smile. I was suprised at how fast some of those boats were going, but it made for some nice rolling. The wind really came up at about 11:30.

Ahhhh...trout season opener this weekend....East Walker, Owens, & Hot Creek here I come.

Marc Mc

I didn't want to take over the DFG thread with this topic so....

I noticed a few Rockies I caught had worms in the meat. Can you prevent them? How do you do it? Is cleaning the fish out on the water the best way? It would seem to attract those seals more.

If you do find worms in the fish, what do you do with them: 1) Cut out the affected sections, or 2) forget about them as you are going to cook the fish anyways?

I ended up cutting out the wormy sections, but wonder what others do. Those worms just give me the heeby jeebies and I hate to waste fish.

Thanks!
Marc Mc

Saturday - 10/22/05

The calm before the storm.

Seeing how Sunday was going to have the big swell, I decided to hit it this morning. There were two fisherman already on the water and three others just getting unloaded when I pulled up at 7ish. A couple free divers also showed up.

I paddled out of the cove and to the right to fish out from the tiny little shacks no to far down. I was into pretty good action all day. The green magic zzinger (iron type lure) produced the most. Rootbeer fish traps fished along the edge of the kelp produced the bigger olives. Shrimp flies produced a lot of small fish, but two fish on at a time is kinda fun.

I ended up keeping a couple good olives. I did get to see a big sea lion pop out of the water with a big bright red vermilion. He quickly munched it down.

The freedivers said there were some nice fish 20-30' from the rocks just as you exit the cove to the right.

FYI - It was cold out there.

Good luck if you are going out tomorrow.

Marc Mc

I have never been to Disco Bay, but am thinking of hitting it soon for bass or stripers. Can anyone suggest a launch area?

Thanks a bunch!
Marc Mc

Have any of you saltwater flyrodders found a good solution for holding your rods in a milkcrate? I have found the cork handles all tend to flare out near the reel making traditional PVC solutions less effective. You can get them to work, but they tend to damage the cork.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks!
Marc