Gualala 4/11 - 4/14

Went to an annual friends/family event in Gualala over the past weekend called Mussel Trek - some of the self proclaimed "Old Farts" have been doing this for about 40 years . . . It was a bit smaller this year with only 15 in attendance usually we are 20 or more. A couple of guys were there all week prior, most of us arrived Thursday night. The weather and water conditions were as perfect as I have seen there. Visibility was 10-12 feet, some nice little minus tides and near glassy surface lasted through Sunday.



Friday morning six of us hit the low tide mark to hunt for Abalone and spent about 45 minutes in the salt. We looked around a while before picking then each grabbed our three. The smallest Abalone from this outing was 8 ^3/4" with the largest at 9 ^3/16". After doing our homework project, three of us then harvested 10 pounds of mussels each.



We shucked, sliced and pounded 6 abalone for our dinner on Saturday up in the adjacent hills at another buddy's house, (Hey, our fish table was in full sun and too hot for us us winter weather wimps!) cooked and ate a HUGE pot of mussels while sipping Great White, Red Tail, Sierra Nevada and domestic beers while the potatoes baked and the rib eyes were grilling.







We spent some time mowing and picking up dead wood from the property for a  bonfire.






One of our cooks had a kart race to attend on Saturday afternoon so three of us gifted him an Abalone each (properly tagged and documented of course!) to take home as he was going to miss the feast.

Saturday morning my buddy Joe and I loaded up my DiveYak and paddled out for a little Abalone hunt and Rock Fishing expedition.



We were hoping to snag a 10" Ab in a little go-to-hideaway we know but could only manage some more fat 9" Abs - we were happy. After the Ab dive and requisite paperwork, we rigged our poles, I baited with squid, Joe with Ab guts. First cast I got a strike, set the hook and lost a fish (barbless all the way!) . Second cast I landed a nice little Rock Greenling followed by a Black and yellow. That spot quieted down so I moved to the other side of the rock by where we dove and I had sighted a nice Cabbie. I proceeded to catch an undercab (14 ^1/4") and then a decent 16" Cabbie that was not the size I was looking for so he went back in, too. A little time passed and I got on to a bigger Cab in the 17" range which I kept. Sorry no photos of that! 


Upon return, clean up and shower, we grilled Oysters for late lunch, then played some horseshoes. While our buddy Wild Bill fished the rocks below and snagged a nice Cabezon.







Great weather, nice tides, great vis, awesome food and friends - a good time was had by all. I can't wait to return and fish FROM the yak!

Most all of the guys are avid hunters and tales from the latest hunts abounded. Some duck sausage was shared, along with smoked pheasant and smoked albacore.

The rogues gallery:

Great report, JHFish.  Those kind of get-togethers make for highlights of the year.  You guys got some great weather and ocean conditions too.  Thanks for sharing it.   

Nice party!!!! GREAT report.

It was a nice party, I wish I had photos of all the fish the rest of the guys caught to share, too.
There were also a lot of whales moving by - some WAY to far to photograph, there were just spouts of mist and such, but there was one that was idling by North that we saw a lot of, I am going to try to edit/zoom them for a post. No promises on that, but it was very cool!

John

That's a SWEET REPORT!  Friends and Fun in the Sun!
Thanks for the pics of Gualala....I was there once, as a very young lad.