Half Moon Bay 9-20

Well, I couldn't make the tournament (bummed) but was able to finally hit the water today (stoked!).  The wife wanted sardines to grill so I headed to Pillar Point.  Looked for company but I guess everyone blew their weekend WAF points yesterday, so I fished alone.

Hit the water around 8:00, launching at the secret launch spot.  Unbelievably, this was my first time (kayak) fishing in HMB...I've spent my time focusing on Santa Cruz and southward since I got my yak three years ago.  So with no company and never having fished the area I was pretty much winging it.  Not that it mattered for the sardines, of course.  I got a quadruple hookup on my first drop, which played havoc with the sabiki I brought back from Japan last January; the dines turned it into a tangled mess.  The darn thing was too long, and wouldn't you know it - I'd left the 2nd sabiki pack back in the car.  After spending five minutes trying to untangle the mess, I decided "screw it" and paddled back to the car.

(Yes, I said "paddled".  In a fit of girlish excitement over finally being able to go fishing, I had left my Mirage drive at home. Gah.)

After reloading my Seeker rod with a more manageable 4-hook sabiki, I resumed catching sardines.  I dropped as many as I caught, but it was loads of fun.  Kept almost a dozen, just enough to salt, pepper & shoyu and toss onto the grill tomorrow for the family.

Around 11 I decided to head out the jaws and see if I could snag a rock fish or two.  The wind was up, but not bad...swells were okay also.  Unfortunately, I had no freakin idea as to where I should fish.  (First time here, remember?)  I zigged & zagged about, keeping an eye on the FF for any reasonable structure.  Dropped a baby octopus - tipped jig here and there to no avail.  Guess I need to hit the area with someone who can point me in the right direction.

Got off the water around 1:00, arms tired but smiling because I'd been fishing, not doing chores or teaching classes.  Hopefully it won't be so long until the next trip.

Oh, my Optio is still at Pentax waiting to be fixed (I hope) so no OTW pics.  I knew that Abking would give me crap if I posted without photos, however, so here are a few that I took once I got home.  To make up for the lack of OTW pics I've tried to be creative... 

love the photos, sounds like a fun day even if the fish werent cooperating, better luck next time, cameron

Luv the smiling monkey I got a laugh out of it. How do you cook the dines?

Luv the smiling monkey I got a laugh out of it. How do you cook the dines?

My wife is Japanese so she has several ways of cooking these up, but our favorite right now is simply sprinkling them with sea salt and ground pepper, then drizzling soy sauce over them as they sit on the grill.  We bought some last week at the local farmers market (yeah, I know...) and they were delicious.