El Cañon De Diablo

 .TONIGHT...SW WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING W AFTER MIDNIGHT. WIND
 WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. NW SWELL 2 TO 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS AND S 2 FT AT 12
 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG.
 .SUN...NE WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...BECOMING W IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND
 WAVES 1 TO 2 FT. NW SWELL 2 TO 4 FT AT 9 SECONDS AND S 2 FT AT 12
 SECONDS. PATCHY FOG. SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS.

El Cañon De Diablo

After debating late into the night as to where to hit tomorrow it was Rustic Andy that stepped up, took a deep breath & muttered those faitfull words, "El Canon De Diablo...".

Sweat was poring off his forehead, he stared fixed on the horizon, GB2 & I looked at each other &  said, "man he looks nervouse, this place must be the bomb."  We followed Andy in the morning, throwing out the names of other spots that would very likely be accessible on a day like today.  Andy just kept repeating, "El Cañon De Diablo.  I've been dreaming about the place for years & never had the chance to hit it."

I had only fished with Andy a few times before & he seemed to know a lot about the area so I figured he knew what he was talking about.

The Launch,
We slide down a 100' terrace to a beach that consisted of large bolders.  The launch was a "bolder launch" into direct swell.  I turned around to put on my wetsuit & I saw Andy cruising out through the kelp, "this guy is on it" I thought.  There was no easy way about it, all you could do is drag your boat down to the water, wait for a wave to push in, hop on & paddle.  It didn't help that the bolders along the water line were covered with this strange green moss.  It was know that there was a sort of marine anomoly in the area the consisted of unusually warm areas of water.

We paddle out through extremely thick kelp, thicker than I've ever seen anywhere, Cap Du Sur-Cap Du Nord, anywhere.

The Fishing
After 30 minutes Andy has next to nothing, a couple Gophers.  Myself & GB2 are doing about the same.  "This place is a bust" I said, "I think the Tequila went to Andy's head!"  We decide to move & no improvement.

A Bizarre Hook Up
We head further south into the domain of El Diablo.  At a large boil rock I get weird weird strike.  My fishtrap gets hit, "fish on, yes! it feels like a decent one".  The fish runs straight up from 30 feet of water & seems to stop just below my boat.  My line is completely slack...the only thing that would explain that is a seal.  I bring tension on the line & the thing bolts 40 yards in 4 seconds, no joke, for real.  "It must be a seal".  I tighten down my drag & begin to take line, it feels like it weighs between 50-100 lbs,

I bring it back toward the boat & I tense up thinking this thing could freak out.  It darts off again for another line-breaking 40 yard run.  The weird thing is that a bead of tail is sticking out of the water, it looks like a fin?  I repeat everything again & see color on the fish...it's a 4-5' Thresher Shark!!!

I yell for Andy & GB2, Andy gives me my options & I think, "it ain't coming in the boat with me & I don't have any type of serious gaff or bat I could kill it with?".  I get color on it again, GB2 swings into postion & Andy shoots a pic or 2 with the shark in the water.  It comes up tail first with the line rapped around it, GB2 grabs the tail & the shark goes bizerk, snap, see ya!!!  I begin to think Andy is for real, awesome day!

We Move Again
"Let's go further in." Andy says as his eyes glaze over.  I can sense he's drawn by something, obsessed even.  We find another reef & begin to catch good sized fish.  Andy gets a good Verm, Scott is catching fish & I get a good 22" Verm but loose it in a wad of kelp @ the surface, "Damn!".  I circle back & sure enough I get another lunker.  It's him again, gaffed boated & on the line.  If the day ended here I would be totally stoked, thanks Andy.

We keep fishing down the reef, GB2 & Andy take the outside of the reef, I take the inside & pickup a nice stringer of Verms, Browns, Blacks & lose another Olive @ the boat.  "The fish here are FAT!" Andy yells out.  He's right, these fish are unusually thick, they look like they're well feed & feisty.

We keep working down the reef & I hit Verm #5 @ healthy 20+ inches.  "Damn, I've got 5 Verms from 18-22", had a Thresher Shark, I'm down with this place!"  GB2 & Andy head out to a reef in deeper water, I stay put, why leave fish for fish?

I pick up my 6th Verm & a few seconds later, a fat boy running all over.  "Ling!" it fights hard & I'm stoked.  True to everything in this bizarre little microcasm it is fat & feisty.  "What a day, I've got 9 fish & easily have over 40 lbs total."  I hook up w/ GB2 & his stinger is sick!!!  He has a 24" Verm, the biggest we've ever seen in these parts, leave it to the master.

I get a few more here & there but nothing worth putting on the stringer.  As I paddle back I stare off into the distance & mutter, "El Canon De Diablo..."

Thanks, Andy, you da MAN!!!  Thanks Scott!!!

PJ

p.s. more to come from Rustic Andy & GB2

Dude! That is awesome!

Outstanding!!!

 Awesome Report...

That's some thick stuff...kelp also...nice

boy, we can really count on you guys for some GNAR fishing. way to stick 'em.

Man, 10:00 and I just finished cleaning fish, what a day. I will make a more detailed post tomorrow, but tonight I will add my 2 cents to the PJ vs the Thresher story. We had been fishing for an hour and things were really slow, then PJ starts yelling. I couldn't make out what he was saying, but it looked like he had a big fish on and was on a sleigh ride. I paddled over and he said he hooked a shark. I was thinking, that is not a good sign for catching rock fish so I paddled off a good distance to fish and wait for PJ to wear the fish down. He finally get's the fish to deep color and I paddled back to take a look. The shark was several feet long and and then the tail which was another 3-5 ft. After some group discussion on how to land the fish, Andy suggested grabbing the fish by the tail because he saw some SCAL guys do it. I was thinking, that I saw a Jim Sammons video where he grabbed little fish by the tail, but a thresher?  After some thought, it seemed like it might be fun so I put my fish gloves on and paddled to where the shark was.  PJ had about 2 ft of the tail out of the water and the fish was verticle (head down) with the tail wrapped 2-3 times. I was feeling kind of sorry for the shark so I was thinking I would unwrap the tail, un hook him and let him go. I gently grabbed the tail and started to lift him up when he starts beating the s**t out of me and my yak with his tail. I let go and the line breaks and off he swims. The fishing turned on right after PJ put the hurt on the thresher so I think at the end of the day it was all good.

Scott

I was feeling kind of sorry for the shark so I was thinking I would unwrap the tail, un hook him and let him go. I gently grabbed the tail and started to lift him up when he starts beating the s**t out of me and my yak with his tail. I let go and the line breaks and off he swims.

Man, the central coast serves up another doozy.  You are such a masochist GB2!  Incredible stringers.

Nice!  I am so jealous!  You're right though, the slimy rocks at that launch are a biatch...  Looking forward to pics of that thresher! 

Yeah, PJ, fantastic report!   

That's good reading there.  Good Times.   

Well done all around. Sounds like an amazing day...
Nice stringer Scott!!!!

he starts beating the s**t out of me and my yak with his tail.

 Amen to that!!!

When I caught mine @ Coyote Point, it was the same Bizare, Electric Fight, but this puppy spent more time jumping out of the water than in it. I got the quick net on him because ..

1. He slammed the side of my Yak and stunned himself...

2. Broke my Reel, totaled the level wind on it's first run...

3. 2 Minutes left in the tournament and had to be in the Boat,

That's when the Fun began, with it's head down by my feet and the Tail Thumping my Face...

Another thing to Consider is I bled it out on the Yak out there and they Bleed like a Stuck Pig,

What a Mess and I couldn't Have been happier,  don't know if I want to start my Day like that though,

especially with the Great Fishing you guys got into after that,

Just trying to make ya feel better about losing the Thresher,  Great Report, Guts Fishing,

and Fun read........

that place look so cool, that kelp is thick.. awesome report guys..

Hooked up with PJ at San Simeon at 6AM and put his scupper pro on my car and headed to Limekiln. Got there only to find a large no trespassing sign from the county sherif and the same one at Mill Creek. Had a pow wow with Rustic Andy and he suggested ECDD. We get there and it looks super fishy but getting the yaks to the launch involed a 100 ft cliff drop/slide and a boulder drag. We start working the edges of the thickest kelp I have ever seen. It was so thick, I actually got stuck for a minute. After about an hour I had not even a bite and I was thinking it didn't look good. Then there was the PJ vs Thresher and we headed south a mile or so to fish some deeper water kelp in 50-60 FOW. Andy hooks a nice ling and several rockies then loses his stringer overboard,  , unfortunately I have been there and done that. Gave Andy my extra game clip and we worked the kelp edge for about an hour and it was WFO. Padlled further south with Andy to another kelp bed but the bite turned off around noon as fast as it turned on. Maybe the thresher had something to do with it. Paddled back and landed OK except the boulders were so slippery I fell a couple of times. Andy pulled the yaks up the cliff by rope, thanks bro, I owe you a beer for that.  Ended up with 3 verms, 3 blacks, 2 grass bass, and a 25" ling. One of the verms was a personal record, 24" - 8.5#.  Really a great day and as always good fishing with the SLO boys.

Scott

for one of my drives through baja I bought a 'come-along', its a hand-operated winch essentially. it's for helping to unstick a vehicle stuck in sand. but I'm starting to think us kayakers will need this for all the lowering and raising of kayaks up and down cliffs. at least us small weak old guys with big heavy kayaks,  , maybe not guys like andy!

scott, I'm surprised you don't have a winch already mouted to the bow of your yak! 

andy sounds like the e2g-du-sur when it comes to kayak raising!

great report, awesome fishing.

on the thick kelp, did you guys try drafting?  The lead boat tends to push the kelp down, allowing the boats behind easier passage.  At least it works with me in front and my flyweight son behind me.  You then rotate like the bicycle guys in the tour de france.  Tour De SLO