Monestary Beach - July 4th

Although I didn't really have a plan I got up at 4 AM and loaded up the kayaks ready to fish somewhere, just not sure where.

A short while later when Liz pulls up we get into the truck and head towards 17 on 85, thinking Santa Cruz.  But as we get close to 17 I start thinking that we've never fished MBK so we continued down 85 to 101 and then to Monterey.  When we got there there were "no parking" signs pretty much everywhere, including the MBK parking lot which I thought was kind of weird.  I guess it was because of whatever 4th of July celebration they had going on.  Rather than try to figure out the parking situation I decided to get back onto highway 1 and hit Monestary Beach.

At Monestary beach the parking lot (side of the road) was empty...no yakers, divers, or any other "ers"...just one guy sitting on the beach enjoying the view.  Wondering if everyone knew something we didn't we were a bit apprehensive about it but figured the wind wasn't too bad and the swells didn't look all that bad from shore.  So we went ahead and unloaded.

As we approached the shore we could see that although the conditions weren't too bad they sure weren't what they were last week when we went out there.  After a few minutes we launched from the south side of the beach.  After paddling out about 200 yards I parked the yak and tied on a sabiki tipped with some squid hoping to catch some live bait but nothing seemed to be interested in what I was offering so I put the sabiki away and tied on a largish swim bait and a teaser.  We paddled out to about 200 yards or so from where the reserve begins and started fishing.

Liz hooked into a smallish black on her way out there while semi-trolling.  Once we got out there the wind started to pick up a bit and the swells seems to get a bit bigger.  We paddled around for a bit looking for fish/structure but the wind made us drift too quickly.  We'd have to keep a constant eye on the GPS to be sure that we weren't drifting into the reserve.

About an hour after launching I feel a bit of a tug but then nothing.  I pull up on the rod and feel some weight but it feels like I caught some kelp.  So I shake the rod a bit and pull up...still heavy but slowly coming up.  After a minute or so of reeling in the line I see that it's a ling on my line about a foot below the water.  I'm thinking "wow, my first ever yak ling!!".  I reach for the gaff but then realize that he might not be legal so I'd better not put any extra holes in him and instead grab the net.  When I reached for the net I must have pulled his head out of the water because he finally started to thrash around a bit.  But after an easy net job he was in the boat all twisted up in my net.  Measured out to 25".  Not huge by any means but he was my first yak ling and although I still wont be anywhere near a contender it will give me my first points for the AOTY.

A short while later the wind and swells kicked up a bit more so we decided to call it a day after only being on the water for two hours.  We had a ling, a black, and most importantly we were getting out of Monterey before the place became a mad house so it was all good.

Part of the ling was made into the typical fish tacos with home made salsa, guac, and crema...along with beans and rice.  The rest of it, along with the fish we caught last week, will be going with us to Horshoe Bend tomorrow morning on our camping trip and will be a part of our group (~20 people) dinner most likely Friday night.

Good times, I love summer.

P.S.  Thanks to Marmite for the GPS numbers to the reserve and the tip to save it as a route.  Sure made staying out of the reserve a lot easier.

Congrats primo 

Nice job.  I was wondering if anyone was out yesterday.  We were part of the zoo in Monterey (at least partially).  We hit the parade in the morning and made sure we were out of there by 2:.  Then after the afternoon at home we watched the fireworks from the dunes in Sand City.  Nice show and clear night but chilly.

thanks for your report, congrats on your first ling from your yack.

james

Yeay! what a nice report!  I hope to have similar luck tomorrow, if I can get out that is.  Congrads on your first legal ling from yak!  Now if I could only get one...

 I'm thinking "wow, my first ever yak ling!!". 

Always cool to catch a new species, especially the good eating kind.

-Brian G

Hey Angel

WTG on the ling. Sorry I didn't say hello last Saturday at Monastary.

Scott

GRATS on the LING Bro! them TACOs read GOOD!   I can't wait to get my FIRST!!  Gettin up and out is the easy part, finding cooperative conditions and participants(fish) is the HARDPART   (i got skunked at my 4-sure-thing-secret-hide-out for the 4th.)

Nice report, Angel. 

First kayak ling = always worth a pic or two!   

First kayak ling = always worth a pic or two!  

I took some pics, even one for AOTY, I'll post them up later today if I can.

congrats on the ling and not being part of the annual carmel traffic jam.  I was at our annual 4th of July block party but gotta admit, kept thinking about fishing carmel...in other words I was there in spirit!