694 mile Refugio State Skunk

Damm NB and peteb...

 You Guys are Serious Fishermen....

 ConGrats on Your Obsession.... 

I think some people in NorCal don't realize just how good we have it.  IMHO it just doesn't compare to Northern Cen Cal & Northern Cal.  No ways no hows.

Sure there are spots here & there, some good times of the year, but in general, on an overall assessment it's structureless & over fished.

I do miss the shit out of the warm water in the summer & the chicks on the beach in bikini's.

PJ

Here are the photos I took.  I think I reduced the size of the file enough. 

In one of the underwater shots see if you can see the two starfish doing it.  (the high point of the dive). 

It was nice meeting all you guys that made the drive.  My wife and I had a great time out on the water whale watching with all of you.  For what it's worth... we fished further south at Leadbetter beach in Santa Barbara on Saturday and there aren't any fish there either.  I look forward to getting together on the North Coast when the season opens.  Thanks again for a great day. 

Matt

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!

As many may have not I have caught Calicos there as well as Mr. Grumpy him self, along with rockfish not any reds but rockfish none the less.

Pete jumped in shallow water and in my experience diving Socal the good structure USUALLY does not start till at least 20ft. Sometimes it does sometimes it does not but usually at least in SoCal.

As mentioned we are spoiled with great structure on the Nor Cal coast and I love it.

But to say a spot the does not get fished often due to location doesnt have fish. Well Im done...

Group of guys fished Point Dume down south and got the skunk as well which is one that usually always puts out limits after limits of rockfish... as it did the week before...

I will probly fish Refugio again a time or two before rockfish season gets underway as well as might make a trip down to the BU.

But non the less Refugio is a great location if and when the bite turns on as is any place that holds fish...

I do believe the fact that it never got dark effected it... I mean we could have fished all night and seen fine with that beautiful moon we had...

But I cant wait till rockfish 2009 opens up here above Pt. Conception.

It was pleasure fishing with all of you it was nice meeting all of you. Look forward to meeting more as well as fishing with more...

The three largest fish of the day were caught at the same time on a sabiki rig. 

Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I was actually really happy when I found the bait and saw those flashes of silver under the yak. I thought at least I can bring home a cooler full of macks or sardines for the grill. ......nope, they were smelt. No matter, I thought, smelt are hardy and make good bait, I'll fill my sloppy waterlogged drifter seatwell full of them they'll live for hrs. I jigged up a bunch and then set up my live bait rig. That day was also the first time I'd been on the ocean without scupper stoppers. When I tried to find the smelt I discovered they'd all swum out through the scupper holes. D'oh. That was when I really knew it wasn't going to be my day. I guess technically I can say I didn't get skunked!

Man, you guys are GANGSTER!

Like Ben said, A++ for the effort.

If nothing else your guys' trip made for a very entertaining thread!

Awesome pics too, Pete.

sounds like fishing in capitola.  . I have pulled a 30" ling and 28" halibut from capitola, in no more than 20 feet of water even tho there is no structure or fish there either. 

you just never know. One thing for sure tho, fishing any place for the first time is often not easy.

great report.

John

Check out Pete's gear load, and this doesn't count what's below deck!
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By the way, I decided to dump out all the various chargers I have for everything onto the floor and take a picture.   This is ONLY the contents from one small overnight bag. 

Check out Pete's gear load, and this doesn't count what's below deck!

Last Refugio post I swear.  It may seem like I am not organized.   Correct, I am not.  I decided to dump all the electrical chargers etc out of my bag and here it is!  (I think the space shuttle has less gear.)   Many of these I've helpfully labeled as "kayak."

Littoral, I had to put in something to show the scale, so I picked a pool noodle...

Littoral, I had to put in something to show the scale, so I picked a pool noodle...

 

I refer to them as multipetes now.

Pete
Wtf jeez man you are a tech whore!