I went rockfishing in yesterday. And today. Rockfish is open south of Point Conception. So I drove down. From San Francisco. So did Peteb. His buddy was also there. He's from Mendocino. The three of us met up with RHYAK and Littoral on Monday and we fished the kelp beds west of Refugio state beach for nada. Then I slept in my car and tried again today. Gave it 6 and a half hours. For nada. Then  I drove back. Round trip total of 694 miles.

I need to rethink my priorities.

There were a lot of pluses; I met some more great NCKA'ers.  . I hope to fish with you all again soon.

A whale breached off the end of my bow, not more than 40 feet away. That was amazing. We saw a few more, as well as tons of dolphins.

So, yeah, the company was great, the conditions were perfect, the location very pretty. But the fishing sucked. We even dispatched Peteb on a freedive to see if there were any fish down there that weren't biting. There weren't. Ah well. It didn't kill me. So I'm a stronger person. Is how I believe the saying goes.

Here is a photo. Rockfishing with palm tree's. Haven't done that before.

Wow, you guys really hardcore anglers    Thanks for the report and picture.

Wow - sorry about the unexpected skunk, Guys - it's happened to me in the best of spots up here too.  Sometimes there's just nothing you can do to make the fish bite.  You're better for the experience, and you need to keep looking for half-full parts like that...   

Sometimes everything is perfect except the fishing.  And that's OK.  This was a recon mission and I got a lot out of it. 

The weather and the company and the location were really amazing.  The beach launch was right in front of the parking lot, under the palm trees.  What we should have done, folks, is just tie up right to the outside edge of the first kelp bed and just watch the whales and dolphins go by.  Fishing optional.  There were so many dolphins out there that it was almost worth the trip right there.  The whales swam really close; about 30' away from a couple of us... someone said they were attracted to all the pink pool noodles on my rods!

Sure, when I put on the freediving gear I noticed the bottom was mostly sand and flat rock, which is really different from NorCal, where kelp=rocks=tacos.  Hey, maybe that is the habitat they like.  It was also in a single tiny area of these huge kelp beds.   Water depth was 25' and I did not have enough weight so I was not able to enjoy much bottom time.   What was strange was diving around for a half hour and not seeing a SINGLE fish of any species.  wow.  The average North Coast tide pool has more going on than that. (maybe the pool noodles scare away calicos...).

I am having a problem posting pictures but will keep trying (HELP BILL).  A very agreeable place to go.  The only thing missing was fish.  Maybe through these posts we will guilt-trip a SoCal expert into taking us to a REAL honey hole down there.  (somebody pm me. please.) 

Many thanks to Rhyak and Littoral for setting this up. 

I took my first beach dive right there in front of those palm trees in 1991 (I grew up just south in Goleta).
I didn't want to jinx anything so I stayed quiet on the hookup thread (hoping things had changed in last 10yrs), but for all the stories of halibut, white seabass, and calicos from that spot I have never, never caught anything other than perch or mackerel off Refugio.

However, I have some fanatical fishing freinds & relatives down there, and the report I got yesterday had rockfish, calico, and even a 26" ling caught just a few miles south of that beach. Too bad the ling had to go back, as that's a relative rarity.

Well, at least the weather cooperated for you guys, and you managed to have some fun.
Thanks for the report!

.....BRUTAL.... gotta be fish down there somewhere....north of Gaviota...??? I would say the Moon Phase but Pete dove and saw nothing.... At least you got the hook up and know where not to go...

Next time...

Gue

A+ for the effort.

I didn't want to jinx anything so I stayed quiet on the hookup thread (hoping things had changed in last 10yrs), but for all the stories of halibut, white seabass, and calicos from that spot I have never, never caught anything other than perch or mackerel off Refugio.

Buddy let's make a deal.  The next time you see me getting ready to drive FIVE HOURS to fish a place you absolutely KNOW is lacking any fish whatsoever, can you send me a secret pm to let me know?  Write it in code so no one else can figure it out...  how about: "Hey Pete don't do it, there are no f---ing fish there!"   

AND... if I hear you getting ready to fish in the polar bear pool of the LA Zoo, I will let you know I don't think that's a good idea either!    I'll watch your back you watch mine.

I mean, I went and looked and there was no life whatsover.  Even the sea urchins looked skinny.  The three largest fish of the day were caught at the same time on a sabiki rig.  We were competing with the whales for the little protozoa that were probably the only things checking out our 6" swim baits. 

There has gotta be some SoCal lurker who has been quietly attending hookups here for years while keeping his sweet honey locked up tight.  Take us fishing you lurker!