carmel beach spearing 1-11-09

lots of surge and got knocked around by some big waves going in. lots of rf out for the taking. vis 20-25 ft in 35-50 ft of water. lots of decent black rf mimicking kelp fronds in groups of 30-40 and giant schools of blues all over. for those new to spearing you could have shot a limit of medium sized rf from the surface. the schools were about 2 feet below the surface.

saw no lings, cabs or sheeps. considering the surge and wind i was surprised so many rf were out and about. did some drops out around 50-55 ft deep but no luck with vermillion, cabs or sheephead.

low swell but big wind waves rolling me and taking me out as i entered, after getting out where i was to start diving i had to rest for a while to get a decent breath hold.

that beach is nice to spear at and seems to have lots of life. well, maybe 5 fewer life signs now. lots of fish compared to some other spots.

as i cleaned and scaled before going in a group of leopard sharks started circling so i went in asap. maybe not a good idea to do this. i went in around 10 and came out around noon.

Very cool, Chryss thinks spearing would be a good idea for us to try...
what thickness wetsuit do you use for short trips such as this?

Jim

Couldn't find a prettier spot on the CA coast. Very fishy too. Thanks for the report John.

Very cool, Chryss thinks spearing would be a good idea for us to try...
what thickness wetsuit do you use for short trips such as this?

Jim

i use a 2 pc 6.5 mm thick suit. i dont usually get cold these days due to extra poundage and a more complete filling of my suit with my chunky body. its warm and i can probably last easy over a few hours in the water. i think the fit of the suit is crucial. make sure its snug and has no loose spots or else the inevitable flushing of water will chill you down.

if you go there go out on the main beach and south side. youll come upon a lot of nice structure shallow - deep. if there is a lot of surge just let the surge take you wherever and youll see the fish doing the same. rather than fight the surge work with it and it halves the energy you spend in the water.

have fun!

Jeez...nice report!  Makes me want to pick up a used wetsuit (gave mine to a fellow NCKA'er a year or two ago because it had "shrunk".    I already have an old Scubapro speargun that I bought in the late '80's that hasn't been wet in probably 15 years...hopefully it still works because I don't think Scubapro is in the speargun business anymore.  Hrm...I wonder if my WAF account is strong enough to support yet another hobby? 

Great report, John - those Boogieboarding rockies are looking very appealing!   

i would have taken my kayak but my wife is pregnant and the civic is more comfortable than my old cherokee which squeaks, bumps and sputters. so i took the boogie board. i got rolled by some good waves and remember there was one that just started curling as i hit the base of it and all i remember was my mask slipping down my head and i was churning for several seconds in sandy water. in cases like that i bail off the board and hold onto the float line and just pull the board over to me when i am back to reality again.

just make sure your boogie board has clips to anchor everything down so if its rough you can bail and then pull everything back via floatline after.

i rode a small wave back to shore at the tail end of my outing and when i went sideways i rolled in about 6" of water and flopped onto the shore. dogs came over and started sniffing the fish and i was covered in sand. i used to read of people flopping up onto beaches and thought it was just a figure of speech but it actually can happen in very little water. i was in awe.

that place is wonderful though, lots of life and on a calm and less windy day it would be ideal for people who want to learn in clear shallow water. i have never been there when the vis was bad though, i dont remember ever having less than 25-30 feet of cool clear water there.

i cant wait to go again. i'd go every day if i could.