Santa Cruz 6/9/09 No butt I got a ling.

  I really tried to fish all morning for flatties, went from out in front of the harbor to east of the buoy to west of the buoy to toward Indicators, then along the kelp out from the lighthouse.  Tried sardine-colored storm bait and dead squid.  Couldn't jig up any live bait, and Bocci's is out.  I could see some specks of bait on my finder, but no schools.
  I'd gotten out early-6:30- and by 9:30 I'd lost patience. It probably didn't help that a decent south swell was rolling in on low tide.   So I tied on my go-to trolling lure and headed west past Mitchell's.  Close to the kelp I got a ling about 14" long, then a 29" ling that had me thinking butt, because it was tangled in kelp that it brought to the surface and made a couple of ling-like dives to the bottom, trying to get back into the kelp, with me paddling backward and keeping tension on the line.  After that I got another mini-ling and a small copper, just kept the one ling.
   Low clouds all with almost no wind all morning, actually looked like it might rain, then it got brighter and was mostly sunny by the time I got back to the harbor at 12:15.  It was good to meet and fish for a few minutes with Diamond Jim out near the lighthouse.
   I talked at the dock with a guy who paddles a thin little sit-inside yak year-round.  He says he's seen very little bait in the water, unlike the lots he saw last year.  He says the sea lions on the rock near the lighthouse are mostly immature and have bones showing, they don't know they have to go elsewhere for food, and he hasn't seen many pelicans, and the ones he sees fly right on past, they don't dive.   
   I think the real test will be if the harbor doesn't turn the aerator pumps on this year to keep the anchovies from dying in the harbor.  I think that normally happens later in the summer.
 
   

Sorry no Halibut for you today but a 29" Ling is a nice catch.  Thanks for the report.

WTG on the ling...sounded like it was still a great day OTW!!!

Thanks for the report...

Tom,
  This is Paul Diamond ( I think I like the name Diamond Jim better) the guy who was fishing near you. Congratulations on the ling. I wound up with 2 nice rockfish and also no halibut. I am under the name 2karats for this website.

                 Paul

Can't complain about a ling.

Congrats on the ling Fuzzy Tom.

Jedmo

trolling tom turns tragedy to triumph.  I too am having little halibut love but a ling is always a nice bonus

2Karats:  I don't know where the "Jim" part came from, tho I guess there's a weak explanation for the "Diamond" part, but it just goes to prove that I was losing it trying to force myself to sit still waiting for a hali to bump into my bait with its mouth open.  As I was paddling those miles back, I was thinking of you, hoping you'd hooked up with a monster butt just after I left. Nice to meet you.
   E2G: Trolling Tom is Tired Tom this morning.   Maybe I should get one of those thin sew-up sit-insides to make it easier on the arms.  But then I'd need to hire someone to sea-sherpa all the gear I take on my Prowler!
   

You really hit all the spots.  What a day of cruising.  Finishing off with a keeper Ling really does make it all worthwhile!