Garrapata Sp - Sunday 6/3

Well, after listening to your encouragement I decided to give Garrapata a try this morning.  My fishing partner Ryan and I met up at 6am, loaded the kayaks and headed south.  Yeah, I know...6am is late, anything earlier would have felt like work.  After driving past the spot and checking a couple of trails south of Whalers Knoll (no launch there, BTW) we finally figured out where to park and launch.  On arrival we found two gentlemen in the process of lowering their kayaks down the drop, which gave us an idea of what to expect.  The guys were spearfishing on SCUBA...I told them about the NCKA.org site so maybe they'll join up.

Anyway, the weather was overcast/foggy, with no wind to speak of, and the water looked very calm.  After getting all the gear down the hill and across the ankle-biter rocks we hit the water.  Almost immediately (it seemed), the wind picked up and the water got choppy.  Not knowing which way to go, we headed north against the wind and swell so as to have an easier trip back.  I was reading a lot of fish on my Matrix, and tons of structure.  After moving northward for about 15 minutes we dropped our lines and fairly quickly started picking up blacks.  The wind and chop was constant pretty much the whole time we were out, but the fishing was suprisingly good.  I caught 5-6 decent blacks, 2 gophers, a 20" underling, 12" China and a fat 17" red.  Everything C&R but the red and China.  Ryan brought up a bunch of blacks and a couple of lings, one legal.  I'll let him jump in with his details.  Overall, not WFO but a nice day considering the wind. 

The swell had picked up by the time we got back to the launch around noon, but we both timed our landing right and the waves just rolled us up onto the rocks, easy-peasy.  Boy, hauling everything back up the hill is sure a chore though.  We'll definitely go back...my guess is that without the wind the fishing would have been outstanding.

On the way out we drove by Monastery and saw a couple of yakers loading up.  They waved and I honked...NCKA'ers, perhaps?  We stopped for lunch off Rio Rd. and saw another 4-5 yaks drive thru the parking lots, as well as several on the road home.  Good day to be on the water, it seemed. 

ON a side note, I got home, ready to holler at my wife to bring me a beer and the Tivo remote before she filleted the fish...only to realize that she was working today, and I had to do it all myself.    Now, try to keep the laughter and jeering to a minimum, but I have never filleted a fish before.    Suprisingly, I did a pretty good job of it, although I won't say how LONG it took me...    The only thing that was somewhat disturbing was the fact that the China was still alive...pretty much throughout the entire process.  It was sort of freaky to have it gasp every now and again, evan after the job was finished.  I'll get over it though, once I put him into a tasty fish taco. 

It was a low tide. More slippery rocks are exposed, which makes more ankle biting. High tide seem make things easier. From pics, water condition was similar to BH's water - wind waves. W/o, the place is awesome. Thanks for report.

Nice report and fish. Always wondered how people launch out of Garapata. Doesn't sound like fun but will probably have to give it a try.

scott

Nice report and fish. Always wondered how people launch out of Garapata. Doesn't sound like fun but will probably have to give it a try.

scott

Yeah, it's definitely a 2-person job and a pretty good workout.  That said, I can't wait for better conditions so I can try it again. 

Thanks for the report guys!
Good job on conquering Garrapata! That is quite a haul.

I saw a couple kayakers at Monastery on my way back from fishing the south coast too. Alien waved at us as we drove by.
Then we went to Carmel crossroads and ate at RG Burgers. Maybe you saw MByakker and I in the parking lot there? Gold Chevy with a blue Drifter and a red 4Runner with a blue Prowler? That was us.

PK

Thanks for the great report.  We also experienced some lumpy seas and I got my first seasick of the season.    

It's those short period swells that get me everytime.

I've never tried that carry but it sounds tough!