capitola 6/27

halibut are there, got me a 24" and saw lots of smaller ones. i forgot 22 was min.: )

go when you can!

john

congrats!

how deep?

water cleared up some?

J

Oh wow! John, what was the vis like?
Usually Capitola vis is measured in inches instead of feet.

Very nice John.  vis was ~10 feet in some spots today near the point.

I was there yesterday. Only saw one small halibut caught off the beach. Saw a couple of HUGE stripers working a bait ball off the wharf. They were too stuffed to mess with anybody's bait or lures.

sorry for the late update, my gps got smashed and broke, i had to work on the car, we have ants in the apartment that needed spraying... i had to take care of some stuff: )

as for the butts in capitola, i got the 24" in 4 feet of water. i still had to dive down to look at the sand because it was murky. i think the winds and mini swells had something to do with this. that place is a creepy place to snorkel. cant see much. i went out to the kelp and as i touched it it just flaked off and made vis bad. real brown. no rf whatsoeved to see.

when i saw the halibut they were all real shallow. i went to 20-25 feet and there were none but in shallow in the "warm" thermocline i saw them laying there. most so small they looked as if they were sand dabs which were supersized.

i hit cowells and saw nothing, vis was worse there. i went to capitola and got the 24", i even took a scouting trip to monterey and saw 2 just over legal but i didnt have spear in hand and was snorkeling from the coastguard jetty to mcabee. the 2 legals were in about 12 feet of water , clear and clean sugary looking sand, completely buried but you could tell the shape and the mounth.

i think this weekend it will go off, low swells and a little warming. even the monterey waters along cannery row was warm and that means the butts will come in. the two legals i saw were about 10 feet apart laying parallel to the beach and in the direction of the slight current running towards the jetty.

im going out saturday with my wife.

i lost all my gps numbers so now i have to order a new one and start from scratch. my magellan got a crack on the side and water leaked in as i paddled the kayak.

: (

john

Hey John,
Did you try the very north end of New Brighton Beach, where the shoreline basically transitions from a sandy beach to shear cliff?  Call it the south capitola/north newbrighton, right there in the "corner".

It must get stack up with mini butts about 50 yards (150 feet) off shore @ high tide, as I had seen shorefisherman pulling in on after another (approx 18-20") butts and a few just legal ones too.

Havent been there in a while, but was amazed with the quantity (not quality).

Stuart

Hey John,
Did you try the very north end of New Brighton Beach, where the shoreline basically transitions from a sandy beach to shear cliff?  Call it the south capitola/north newbrighton, right there in the "corner".

It must get stack up with mini butts about 50 yards (150 feet) off shore @ high tide, as I had seen shorefisherman pulling in on after another (approx 18-20") butts and a few just legal ones too.

Havent been there in a while, but was amazed with the quantity (not quality).

Stuart

that place looks good and i bet the vis is better there. i am out of shape, well i am in shape of "round" and did not feel up to snorkeling to that area although i could see it well. i just stayed close to the pier.

i was amazed how warm the water is, almost no hood needed pretty much and when i got to monterey later in the day with the clearer warm waters i was reminiscing like i was snorkeling in maui looking for puffer fish and humuhumu nuknuk something somethings...

the water in monterey was much better and the sand was so clean and rippled. the halibut i saw there were easy to spot as they layed there in the sand spaced by ripples from the water movement.

i always like seeing halibut , although i dont see many usually. its always exciting to see the divots in the sand or the shape of one lying there.

i remmeber the first time i hunted halibut in monterey, i went in at 8 am and got out at 9 am with a 35 inch halibut out of 7-8 feet of water. the halibut was shot in the middle and took off with my speargun as i fed it float line. when i first saw it i could not believe how calm it was sitting there, i even dove down to make sure i was not seeing things. when i saw the mouth move a little i knew it was time to order dinner. in this area i also saw the most humongous electric ray of my life, this thing was over 2 feet accross and just sat there. i was afraid it was going to charge me as some have done before.

sometimes i go out and see divots and shapes and follow them in the direction they are pointed, a few times its taken me to the halibut that probably left the marks there. they seem to swim in straight lines or something. there are places i have seen halibut yearly as they seem to spawn in the same areas or parts of beaches.

this saturday my wife and i will snorkel monterey and see how it goes. she hasnt been in over a year's time now but she always liked halibut hunting. i usually get a halibut a year but this year im feeling especially greedy for some reason. maybe i'll try harder if i can get away each now and then.

john

It must get stack up with mini butts about 50 yards (150 feet) off shore @ high tide, as I had seen shorefisherman pulling in on after another (approx 18-20") butts and a few just legal ones too.

Havent been there in a while, but was amazed with the quantity (not quality).

They are still getting lots of little ones down there this week.  5 or 6 fish each, which sounds pretty fun. Its amazing how many halibut there can be when they outlaw the trawlers.  

Good luck in Monterey John, I think I might try the westside today and maybe head down south on Friday.

I fished from kayak yesterday between pier and New Brighton - drifting in clear areas between kelp beds 100~200 yards from shore with live anchovies (available on pier) then frozen squid.  I'm guessing 20 feet of water. Landed some nice rock fish and had quite a few stripped/raked bait - which I'll assume were small halibut

I chatted up a Santa Cruz Rob (Rod?) out in a yellow kayak - who says hello to Mooch and others on the board.

Gordo