07-16 The Moss Landing Mooch does it again...!

Arrived at Moss Landing this morning. Pat, Randy and Ken were in the parking lot getting ready. (I hope the you guys were able to get into them this morning.) Launched at about 5:00am into heavy fog. That really sucked but, the water was fine. Paddled out and north for a bit. Trolled for a while with little luck. Caught one shaker. After, getting turned around in the fog, I paddled southward. Trolled the southern edge of the canyon for a while. I ran into Joel at about 7:00am. Looped back north to Pajaro. No luck... we decided to mooch once we got to Pajaro. Joel (who is now known as the "Mooch") mooched some bait off of me. At 10:00am I hooked into a small but, legal fish. The little guy put up a nice fight. Right after that, "Mooch" hooks up. He claims that it wasn't anything really big... maybe 10lbs. Yeah right... Joel goes mano a mano with another hog. After fighting the fish for what seemed like forever, he was able to net it. Good job... but, he doesn't have a club to put the beast down. Note to Joel... invest in a club or mooch one off of somebody... I paddle over to him and let him use my club to subdue the fish. Joel, in his excitement, gaffs the fish instead of clubing it. Brain bashing done... The Mooch does it again. The fish tipped the scale at just over 24#. Catching the 27#er on the yak was pretty incredible, Joel follows that feat with a really nice 24#er. Both were caught on bait that he mooched. Note to self: unless, I want to get out fished by Joel again... don't get him any bait... Nice job Joel but, I think you may have blown your wad a day early. I think you already caught your derby winner.  I can't wait to see the pix. Post them when you get them.

Freddie

Wow, nice job guys! I cant imagine catching a salmon that big on the Kayak.  Where is Pajaro and how deep were you mooching?  I'm not registerred for the tourney, but hoping to bring home some salmon on Sunday.  Are other folks headed to Moss Sunday?

Nice job Mooching, Moocher!!!

Gabe,
Pajaro is north out of Moss a couple miles.  Its basically where you see the Condo's starting to sprout up along the beach line.  Right next to the condos is the Pajaro River.

BTW, I was talking to Fred and Brendan (who was working the dock counting fish) on the cell phone.  According to Brendan, the PB fish count was pretty low.  He estimated it at about one fish per boat.  Most were on the small side and Joel's was the biggest.

Dude, you shoulda saved that one for tomorrow.

Stuart

Hey "Mooch"..... Congrats AGAIN for another fine slug

The name fits you well.  Strangers will think the name "Mooch" means you like mooching for salmon, but your friends will know that's only half of the real reason.

Pics? Nice job again!

Way to go joel! This is what Linda Mar Provided me.  

Jason

Nice work Mooch! Knocked me out of second place!

Glad to hear they are still out there, good luck at the tourney tomorrow.

Mooch! Mooch! Mooch! Mooch! Mooch! Mooch! Mooch! Mooch! Yea Mooch!

Thanks fellas!!!

I learned an important lesson on the last two slamon trips at Moss....NEVER BUY YOUR OWN BAIT.....just mooch it baby!!!  

Fred P "Savage": thanks for letting me mooch bait from you.....and for letting me mooch your club as well   I'd also like to thank the gentleman we met at the parking lot (when we paddled in) for taking digital photos of me and my fish.....yes,I mooched off him as well. I told him about our site - he kayaks too but never imagined fishing from it. I'll be getting an email from him with my pics soon!

BY the way, Pierre had mentioned on an earlier report about using your fist   to knock the fish out (if you don't have a club handy)

next time, for get about the bat, make fist and take that rouge fish out with one good blow. it really does works well

....well Pierre, guess what? I tried punching the fish several times (before I called Fred for his club) and it only pissed him off even more and nearly jumped off the net = BAD IDEA   I also bruised my knuckle cause I missed the 8th punch and hit the deck instead   Another lesson learned: don't listen to Pierre's advise and buy a club ....and get a digital camera soon...and maybe take some boxing classes / watch more Bruce Lee films

Fred and I REALLY DESERVED our catch - cause we paddled EVERYWHERE to find the fish. We trolled most of the day and never came across a bait ball....not a good sign at all When we hit the yellow can at Pajaro, we were just about to give up on mooching for salmon and try for some halibut instead.....and that's when Fred Savage hooks up with the first taker....

Oh, and to top it off - we saw a HE-UGE whale!! It actually displayed itself with a nice jump  

What a day!  

I plan on changing my handle from "Hana Pa'a" to "Mooch" --- after all, a nickname is something given to you or "earned"  

I plan on changing my handle from "Hana Pa'a" to "Mooch" --- after all, a nickname is something given to you or "earned"

Good move, Joel.  "Mooch" is way cool and easier to say.  

Mooch... I never said you didn't deserve your catch. We worked hard for what little we got... or should I say, what I got. You got another monster. You're happy and I'm happy for your you LUCKY A$$... Man!!! If I didn't witness it first hand... I wouldn't believe it. Also, a word of advice to you... you know you have a desk job, therefore, you have soft hands... you need a fist like a hammer to knock a fish out. It probably felt like you were slapping that beast instead of delivering the kill shot. Get a club. Let's get'em again...

Freddie

Joel you need to take a few salmon heads and spend the next year hitting them 100 times a day, everyday until you have built up enough strength to dispatch them by hand.  

ummmmmm.............and stock up on LOTS of hand cleanser, Mooch, if you expect to be around anyone but us after your salmon slapping practice  

you guys are killing me  

I do the crocadile dundee thing with my dive knife while the fish is still in the net.  Got to bleed it out anyway..