HMB Sat 7/29

Made the decision to see if I had learned anything from the tournament.  Arrived there at 7:30 and ran into Tim the kayak surfer and his two surfer friends who were headed towards Mavericks.  Otherwise it was me and some PBs.

Once outside the break water the ocean came alive and it was rocking and rolling.  Paddled due west and stayed away from the breaking waves north of the breakwater.  When I arrived at the first green can I started marking structure so I stayed there the whole morning.  There were pinnacles but I couldn't stay long enough to work them thoroughly due to the current.

Came home with 4 rockies about 2 to 3 lbs a piece.  Caught a bunch more but they were small so they were C&R.  I got a good sized ling to show color and then it made a power dive straight down, stripped off line and popped the hook.  I caught a couple of King Fish on the shrimp fly and they became bait...no takers though.  Lots of action as long as I was over some structure.

There was a triathlon going on and one of the challenges was kayaking from the harbor, around the two green cans and back into the harbor.  I believe they also had mountain biking and swimming.  Not sure if they included a run, otherwise it would be a quadathlon?

As the day progressed it got hotter but the wind picked up and the swells stayed the same.  The swells came from different directions at times so I always straddled my kayak when I was fishing, just in case. 

Gary

Gary... good report.  Glad you caught a few to take home.

The race you saw explains why all of those inflatable kayaks were there yesterday.  I bet paddling one of those to cheap boats to and from the green can would suck.

good job on the fish.  I am looking into a tri and paddleing instead of swimming is one of my prereqs.  Maybe I investigate that one.

Jason

Nice report Gary, are you ready for a surf launch yet, hmb is convenient, but it seems I really have to work my butt off for a fish there. 

John,

Yeah, the surf launch and exit at Linda Mar has my respect.  The first time I didn't do so good and had big waves crashing in my lap.  The second time I did it I did much better but I came real close to the rocks on my exit.

Interesting I've caught more rockies out of HMB than I did at Linda Mar.  However, I'm still in awe of Danglin's striper at Linda Mar and the old reports of the salmon runs there.  Jason routinely finds big lings at Linda Mar as well, so I'll have to give that place another shot.  I'm a firm believer that if I put in my fishing time, good things will happen.  At least I'm bringing fish home now.  Earlier this year Troy and I spent our time at Oyster Point making up lame excuses for not having anything to show for our fishing trips.

Today was a great day for a triathlon because of the cool weather but I wondered if anybody got seasick on the kayaking leg.  Now that would suck big time.  The swells were rocking today and if they tried to go through the breaking waves to get to the green can, they may have ended up swimming whether they like it or not.

Mark your calendars, Devil's Slide is supposed to reopen the first week of August.  So if the waves are too big at LM pretty soon you'll be able to cruise down to HMB in a reasonable amount of time.

Gary

Good report, Gary.  Nice results, too!