Pebble Beach rockifsh 11.11.08

My friend Jeff and I launched into Stillwater Cove around 8 and paddled out around the point. There is a lot less kelp in the main cove now, which is nice because I go all the way around it during summer when it's in full bloom--that stuff is a beeyotch to paddle through. But this time it was a nice easy paddle. Oddly, there seemed to be a lot more kelp than usual on the outside. The wind was blowing 5-10 from the north-west but it let up around 10 and it was actually quite nice.

We potholed in the kelp for a few hours, only catching small blues and gophers. Man I hate gopher rockfish! So we decided to paddle out towards deeper water. I think the big swell we had last wknd put the fish down into their hidey-holes. And a south swell tends to screw up the bite too.
Anyways, we found some solid structure in about 120ft. The drift was pretty fast and I missed a lot of hits because I was constantly adjusting my yak or paddling upwind to get my line vertical. My standard scampi wasn't getting hit very well, except for MORE gophers. And Jeff was doing good with a 3oz kastmaster w/bucktail so I switched to iron. Got a few on 3oz diamond, 3.5oz megabait, and 4oz coleman special. Mostly blues and olives with a few vermillion, starry, china, and copper rockfish. Most of them were on the small side, unfortunately.

It was getting close to leavin' time so we decided to make a detour and paddle back by going around the north and west side of the Pinnacles SMR. Looking at my GPS, I could see some amazing depth contours over there. So we started the long paddle. I got sort of disoriented and it took longer to paddle out than anticipated. And just my luck, as soon as we got to the spot, the wind picks up big time. We couldn't get a good drift and it was pretty miserable. Defeated, we paddled back across the reserve, fighting the wind, whitecaps, and current. It sucked.

Once back to the cove, we took a breather and dropped our lines. The fishsing was decent. Makes me wonder why I paddled my butt off when I coulda stayed right here. Pulled up some more small-to-medium size rockfish and called it a day. I brought home 2 verms and a copper. Jeff had a nice assortment of fish. No lings, but believe me--I tried!
We talked with some spear fishermen on the beach. They reported similar results--mostly small fish and only 1 ling among the group. But it was a very nice ling, about 40 inches. He also had a nice sheepshead.

Time is running out on rockfish season. Better get'r done while you can.
PK

Nice verm, what did it measure? Tough out therre lately.

The big one on my stringer was only 19 inches. I think Jeff's biggest verm went 17 inches, but he had more than I did.

Nice work, PK and Jeff.  Thanks for the report.   

Thanks Sin Coast for the report. I noticed the same thing about the kelp bed thining out when I was out in October. I had some divers comment on the good fishing on the rock formation as you first paddle out from the cove. Makes for a very short paddle. I have not been out to see if that was a good suggestion though. Have you ever gone east towards Carmel State Beach to see if the fishing is any good there?

Thanks for the report Pk,
Glad to see someone was able to hit the big blue this week
Trying to arrange for a shot at stillwater on the 23rd (weather permitting).
Was hoping to hit the North end of the reserve, but maybe I'll try more in the cove and save some paddle time.
Eric

Xcellent!! Solid VERMS and solid report!!  I hate them gophers in my yard, the same as the ones out there too. WTGet out and Get'r done!!
 i'm so jealous, everybody is hookin Verms, but I can't seem to find them! 

Nice job on the reds Sin...We gotta hook up soon!

Man I hate gopher rockfish!

You guys....... give in........ bow down............ accept your masters............ they're taking over the world...... forever

glad you made it out.  Verms have been hard to come by at SW.  We all say we will fish in close, but after the third small blue, we stray to greener pastures.  But DAMN man the other side of the MPA?  Dude that is some serious paddling.

  Dude that is some serious paddling.

According to my GPS, we paddled 5 miles. I'm a little sore today. But I feel really bad for Jeff--he had to drive home to San Diego last night!

One last note here, the fish we caught in deep water (100-130) were coughing up these weird prawn/shrimp creatures. They ranged from 2-4 inches long, not counting the antennae—their antennae were really long. They were light pink color w/white splotches. Almost looked like small spot prawns but I know those are usually caught in 800+ feet of water. Anyways, it was the first time I’d seen those type of sea creatures. I've got to look them up online to see what they might have been. I considered using them for bait but then remembered that area is part of a SMCA.