Otter Cove/Pt Pinos 7/2, 7/3 and 7/4

Went out fishing each morning (7/2 - 7/4) from Otter Cove launch.  This is my first rockfish season so  I was super excited to get it started.  Unfortunately the weather was not my friend for the most part and 7/2 and 7/3 were short trips where I never even made it out of the cove.  I managed to snag a few rockfish each of those days but the wind was cold and the kelp kept breaking when I tried to anchor to it so I was off the water early.   I forgot my radio on Monday but I saw 2 people fishing from a tandom kayak early in the a.m.  Was that Seabreaze and Randy?

7/4 started out looking the same way but instead I got a break and the conditions were nicer (if not totally nice).  I was able to leave the safety of the cove and paddle a good ways up towards Asilomar SB where I got into massive schools of blues and olives.  They stole all my bait before it could entice anything else . . so when the bait was gone I took it out on them with a 5inch swimbait worked through the tops of the kelp strands.  Not what I was looking for but a blast on my light set-up, none-the-less.  The water was clear enouh that I could see them pouncing on the lure.  Total fish count . . have no idea . . but somewhere in the area of 40-50 blues and 25-30 Olives.  1lb squid, 4 swimbaits and 2 very sore thumbs worth.  I just kept catching them cast after cast for hours.  I finally got bored of it and paddled in, fishless but happy, at around 11:30.  I took a picture of the first Olive I ever caught.  I had no idea how many more of those I was about to see:).   I used 5inch FishTraps on a 1.5oz head in Halloween color but I think they would've hit anything at all in any color.

Took a break today but am gearing up for some more later this week.  I think next week I will be ready to venture to some new spots.

Cheers,

Chris

that is a nice looking fish. my favorite among the rockfish i have caught in that area. you may also get lucky and catch calico bass in the kelp there. i have seen some larger ones 20" + they are always quick to leave when they spot me diving though.

out of otter, go out about 1/4 mile and then a little left there are nice deeper reefs and pinnacles. all along the rocks south of there too towards coral street. nice lings and cabezon in failry shallow, 30 ft water.

john

Hiya Chris,

Good you are enjoying your first season even with the snotty conditions.

Randy and I were out on Monday, but launched from Lover's and fished towards Hopkins.  We each have prowler 13's.....his is blue/white, mine is yellow.  We also saw the folks in the tandem.

It was the weirdest RCG trip for us.  Not only were condtions sucky(see picture of Randy), but we caught only one kind of rockfish.......kelp?/brown?

Pat

yup, that sure does look like a kelp rockfish. they are the majority in that area i think. i think the blues and then the olives, yellow/blacks. come to think of it that is all i usually see in terms of rockfish in that area.

It was just weird to catch only one type of rockfish.........and that not be blues.  I don't believe that I have EVER been fishing in this area and not caught a blue rockfish.......regardless of what I was angling for...........they tasted quite good.......

I have to second John's comment that last rockfish is a kelp and not a brown.  Brown's have a dark spot on the operculum (gill cover).

Brian

Hooray.  That's what I thought.  So, why doesn't the DFG folding guide have a kelp rockfish on it?

Thanks, Pat - I'm enjoying the season tremendously so far.  I've only been out about a dozen times now but I'd say I'm pretty hooked.  I was even pretty sold on not catching halibut . . so now that it's rockfish season . . woohoo.   I've been meaning to actually rig my kayak .. but I can't keep it dry long enough to goop anything.

I'm going to go tomorrow before work and, if it's flat enough, try the coral st beach launch.  One time this winter when I was shore fishing there, I saw 2 guys come in from fishing on kayaks.  The swell was probably 8-10 feet or more and the waves were breaking there about 4 or 5 feet.  I couldn't believe they were going to land there.  The first guy came in right away without stowing rods or anything . .paddling like crazy and dodging rocks . . and unbelievably he made it.  The second guy lingers out there for a while.  Now that I think about it - he may have been stowing gear.  Anyway . .he also makes it.  I'm quite a ways away from being able to do that myself . . but that was one of the cooler things I saw this winter.

Yep.  There is a narrow path for landing at Coral St.  I prefer to launch/land on flatter days than we've had these last couple of weeks.  I'd rather launch Lover's and paddle up to Pt Pinos.....but that's just me.

I agree, fishing is nice but catching is lots more fun.