Maiden Voyage Report and Questions (Carmel)

SeaScum -- If you have old surfing wetsuits you can also consider cutting the upper half off of one to make high waist pants. I use that and a neoprene jacket -- solves the need for a relief zipper and gets more use out of an old suit retired due to a busted zipper.

Cheers,
Brad

Right on, Brad. Thanks for the tip.

Armed with the advice gathered on this here thread, I gave it a second go Saturday (8/6) morning off Carmel. What a great time! I ended up catching a total of 15 (8 RF and 7 what I believe were sand dabs?). Despite a bit of wind and combo of NW windswell and S swell, drift was not an issue at all. I did have a kelp clip rigged up and ready to go, but did not need to use it. Also, I wore a 3/2 wetsuit with waterproof pants and was very warm and comfortable. More importantly, I felt much safer should I end up in the drink. I used a feather rig with squid. Constant action from about 6:00 - 10:00 am. No lings or anything or notable size, so I'm sure this is just another day in the office for you experiences guys, but I had an absolute blast! Can't wait to get back out there. Thanks again for the help!

Nice job dude!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Way to step up your game with the gear!

You can also pay to have a relief zipper added to one of your surfing wetsuits. Check out Blown Out Wetsuit Repairs in Santa Cruz. They'll fix you up.


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I had the same problem out there around the same time frame. I keep a 8 ft. tow rope on the front of my yak and tied off to kelp and that worked great but still no fish, just a nibble teaser  lol. Hope you do better in the future, I've caught huge lings there!