Pigeon August 8

We went for Pigeon Point today.  It started off somewhat auspicious, as I slept through my alarm.  I loaded up in record time, but in my haste forgot my main paddle.  Fortunately my spare was in my kayak.

I headed down the coast, past the guys getting ready to go at Bean.  I waved to Darius as I drove past him (I was in the gray x5 with the t15 on the top), and gave Dave a nod as I went past him (you were leaving the lot with your yak on top).  Next time I'll stop and say hello, but I was late.

I got to Pigeon, and it looked pretty good.  The threats of 5 foot swells augmented by 3 foot wind waves were just that, a threat.  There was an onshore breeze (odd), and some 3 foot rollers.  We launched from the beach (not the lighthouse) and never got wet.  The wind was blowing us out, but it died around 8:30.

Fishing was slow.  We were scratching a rockfish here, a cabezon there - nothing steady.  I ended the day with a monster cab (kept), and a few rockfish (released).  My buddy Bill W. caught a big vermillion, and contemplated letting it go given it was probably as old as him.  I told him I never liked old people, and he should eat it (sorry conservationists).  He caught a few more black rockfish he kept as well. 

We saw a great dolphin show.  Big gray ones (not the same gray fin I saw on Wednesday), throttling across the top of the water chasing fish.  It was a pod, maybe a dozen of them.  Looked like bottlenose, and were working hard with some full breaches.

My best lure today was a money minnow.  I switched to a 5 oz speed jig later in the day, and finally hooked a ling.  Got it next to the kayak and it broke off.  Disheartened, I took this as a cue to go home.  We surfed the waste-high waves for 30 minutes before tiring of the lull between swells.  We were off the water by 11:30.

Today was a great example of checking the surf yourself if you really want to go.  NOAA would scare even the hardiest of souls, but the actual conditions told a different story.

I'll be going mid next-week, as the swell should be way down.  I plan on trying the beach before the lighthouse (south of Bean) - happy for company.

Sounds like a good trip.  Thanks for sharing.   

 You guys picked the better of the spots today, the bean had wind waves bobbing us up and down like a yo-yo.

Thank you for the nice report and pictures Mike.

Thanks for sharing, nice fish.