El Niño Fishies in Monterey County

Went out early Saturday AM to an area where I saw a male Sheephead last month.

Little bit of a trek from car to water so took the Kraken 13.5 instead of the 15.5.

Was nice to be able to just carry the kayak over my head easily without having to use wheelez or anything.

The 13.5 handled the shore break fine and was able to get me up and over some large offshore swells that form where the water goes from super deep to super shallow.

Definitely would benefit from a rudder cuz doesn't track as well as the 15.5, but it still was a really nice ride and has all the other nice Kraken features that make these yaks excellent dive platforms.

Once to the spot I started hunting between 40 and 55 feet of water looking for sheep and whatever else I could find.

Saw 4 sheep (including the male) but was only able to get close enough to shoot a small 19.75 inch female. Still stoked I got one! 

Highlight of the day though was getting buzzed twice by schools of BONITO!! 

I had noticed a ton of bait in the water and birds crashing and seals jumping (like a NatGeo special!), and the thought crossed my mind that there might be some bonito or other pelagics around...

Both times I was laying on the surface in about 40-55 FOW and they cruised right by me...the first time they bolted as soon as I swung the gun around. The second time I had just dropped for a dive and they came right by...thought I was within range with the 90cm gun and took aim and fired. Missed!   

Oh well! Still awesome to be in the water with them!

Didn't find any other real exciting fish (no big Lings or verms or coppers etc), but took a big (for me) greenling for a DOTY upgrade, three small Lings (24/25/26 inches), a 17 inch cabbie and a nice Olive.

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/1913

After 90 dives I called it quits and paddled back to shore and was home by 2pm, in time to go with the family to two birthday parties. 

Anyway, here are some pics and little vid...of course the GoPro battery died early and I didn't get any sheep or bonito action on vid. 



 

Sincerely,

Jim

That's Awesome Jim! Wish you could have shot a Bonito or two! Sashimi Bonito will change your life!!!!

Anyway, here are some pics and little vid...of course the GoPro battery died early and I didn't get any sheep or bonito

So.....it didn't happen then


Cool stuff jim!

 

Nice work, would have been really cool to capture the bonito on film. A couple of summer ago I had the chance to hunt some small tuna off Europe- damn, but that's hard shooting. Part of it is how hard it is to gage distance in open water. No rocks or anything for reference.
Didn't quite see how that first ling got stunned? Did you bounce a shot off his head first so you were able to jus t pick him up?
Cool vid (as always!)

Nice work, would have been really cool to capture the bonito on film. A couple of summer ago I had the chance to hunt some small tuna off Europe- damn, but that's hard shooting. Part of it is how hard it is to gage distance in open water. No rocks or anything for reference.
Didn't quite see how that first ling got stunned? Did you bounce a shot off his head first so you were able to jus t pick him up?
Cool vid (as always!)

Thanks dude! Yeah, bummed I missed but I've never taken a shot at a fish that fast in open water before so not surprised. 

Yep, I shot him in a crack and there was a rock right behind his head that I couldn't see....shaft stopped and flopper didn't deploy.

Reloaded and swam down to shoot him again and he was out in open all stoned and stupid...just grabbed his tail and brought him up. 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for the report, video, and pictures Jim.

In your first pic, it looked like the sheepshead was in the process of changing into a male.

In your first pic, it looked like the sheepshead was in the process of changing into a male.

Think that was just the shadow in the pic mostly Howard...she was a pretty uniform red in real life.

 

Sincerely,

Jim