NY Day spearing in Pac Grove

As my friend David Laird always told me when i was at the dive shop. New Years Day is always a good day to dive. This held true this past NY day as i ventured out to Pac Grove to spear after 6 months off. My wife and I headed down around 730 and arrived around 930 after getting breakfast. She stayed on shore knitting while i was on the kayak looking for places to spear out of otters. I anchored in 30 fow and started looking around. Found many nice pinnacles bare of all the plant life we get during the summer with lots of rocks holding rf everywhere. i came home with 2 black rf about 18" shot from the surface and fed a ling cod so i may go looking for him when the season opens an eternity from now. I had never seen big black RF until this day at this location. they were about 3 feet below the surface. numerous small lings and greenlings but not a single cabezon.

The water was real blue and clear outside of the cove and i worked depths to about 50 feet. i was warmer in the water than on top of it on the kayak. i like how stable the sea temps are. the cold air temps really make for clear water too.

Also a lot of kelp still there to dive around and most strands holding decent RF for the taking with a spear. broke a band but lucky i have 2 on the gun.

The fog lifted and it got sunny and warm as well which was a bonus. winds died down around noon and we saw a whale from shore and a pod of many many dolphins flipping and feeding not far from shore.

I would recommend getting out and doing some diving when you can between the periods of rough swell and winds. its worth the trip and go as often as you can!

feels good to be back in the ocean. is it me or does there seem to be a lot of big ling cod around right now? come opening day i am sure many will have left for new locations.

would be fun times to do an NCKA RF spearing tournament. Maybe make real specific rules (2-3 fish?) and watch everyone have a lot of fun: )

john

Glad to hear you got out, it's been a while for me.

Pac Grove is the place where I first seen a semi-large school of fish. They weren't very big but it was cool to swim trough them.

great report, glad you got out.

got a freedive book for christmas and my 13 year old son has been itching to try snorkeling/spearfishing monterey bay.  Hard to find a suit his size though.  Probably will just take him with his surfing wet suit to be sure he actually likes it.  Otter Cove is a lot calmer than Coral Street right?

Eugene

great report, glad you got out.

got a freedive book for christmas and my 13 year old son has been itching to try snorkeling/spearfishing monterey bay.  Hard to find a suit his size though.  Probably will just take him with his surfing wet suit to be sure he actually likes it.  Otter Cove is a lot calmer than Coral Street right?

Eugene

otter cove is generally more protected but it has it has some rare rough days. if you want to snorkel only with your son i'd recommend lovers cove. if you want to spear with a new diver try otter cove and go straight out and left in front of coral street. there is fish real shallow there.

another option would be stillwater cove in carmel / pebble beach where you can launch the kayak and paddle out and left to some nice shallow spots where you can get fish real easily. my wife likes it there and some of the best days were real calm and lots of fish in shallow. beware of the seals and pups though, thats where i was bitten when i was not paying attention.

i personally have not gone out of coral street but only have launched at otters and headed north or south.

enjoy!

John

Coral Street slowed down a lot this year. We dove it a bunch last year, and didn't see nearly as much there this year. Otter Cove can be great, and yes, there are a lot of shallow areas that are great for kelpies and cabs.

Another place to try would be Carmel River Beach. If you get in on the north side of the cove by the stairs and rocks, you've got easy access to some great diving, and most of it less than 30 feet. Just be careful here, as it can be hard to find a calm day.

thanks for the suggestions.  Forgot about Lovers Point probably a great first 'get wet' site for me and the bambino.  We will worry about the fishing later!

And ya, coral street used to be my "go to" fishing spot but it was really slow this year.

Thanks for the motivating report jgp! Hey, I know Mike Laird David's brother! If the water looks good friday, it will be my first dive for 09'. Good job out there!

Thanks for the motivating report jgp! Hey, I know Mike Laird David's brother! If the water looks good friday, it will be my first dive for 09'. Good job out there!

The Laird brothers are all great hunters. I know Mike has a Martial Arts studio but have not been there. He's a really good person and I have spoken to him a while back when i worked at Wallins.

Does he still spear?

Forgot about Lovers Point probably a great first 'get wet' site for me and the bambino. 

Just remember to swim around to the south side of Lovers Pt to avoid the SMR. Or, better yet, enter the water on the south side, near the stairs across from Lattitudes (decent grub).

Forgot about Lovers Point probably a great first 'get wet' site for me and the bambino. 

Just remember to swim around to the south side of Lovers Pt to avoid the SMR. Or, better yet, enter the water on the south side, near the stairs across from Lattitudes (decent grub).

that is right, i always forget about that but always remember that point holds reefs with some big olive RF for the taking even outside of the SMR lines. I usually hit that area at least once a day when diving out of otter.

vis can be real good there and the kelp can hold a lot of fish sometimes.

we've also taken sheephead and calicos there as well.