Abs from the Yak in Humboldt - 4/1/09 - Video Added

I've got a mini-permagrin goin' here.     Good Times on the coast today.  No vis, but easy water and some cool Nature interaction.  The movie's going to be good.   

Here's the only still shot I took today.

Deep fried Abalone and Ale... Yum ...yum... 

Nice Sierra label...you shop at the Grocery Outlet too? Oh wait.....
 

Dude that looks delicious! Thanks for the report.

Lovin' every minute of it. WTG Eric

Nice!  So did your 10" count go up?  I can't wait to see the video, they always rock.  Without visibility, are you touch/feeling and then popping your abs?  I have never had luck getting them off after the suck down.  Also sticking my hand where I can't see it is a little eerie.  But then again, I am not the Abking!

Matt

I'm guessing he's busy editting/uploading the video clip 

Hurry up Eric! Tic...tac...tic...tac...

I'm hungry looking at that pic... any size to the abs?

Nice!

I'm finally done fixing ab for the fam (second deep frying prep and execute in one afternoon is a bit much...) and getting everyone done with homework...etc.  I'm going to start the movie, and maybe I'll finish it late tonight...

10" count definitely didn't go up.  Went back to some farmer abs I found in years past and left for just such an occassion.  The vis was truly 0" at the bottom and about 1.5 - 2" on top.  Mud - plain old mud.  That's what's cool about a minus tide though.  I pulled both of these guys in about 4' of water - both around 8".  My stepmother and I devoured one for lunch with some french bread and a few brews, then I came home, cleaned up gear and prepared the slightly bigger one for the fam with some rice, bread and brocolli.  The eaters were pleased.     It's shocking though how much more meat I get from an oldgrowth 9"+ than these little guys...

Matt - it's all about feeling it, getting in there on it and finding the little gaps where you can place your iron, and executing the attack plan.  This is shallow rockpicking though.  You can't just go dive 10 or 20' and do this in zero vis and surge...  Sticking your hand into the unknown is way easier than you'd think once you get used to it.  I have given up wearing gloves too - I have that much better a feel of what's there, and I'm used to being careful about urchins.  I bleed often, but ocean wounds heal so nicely...   

Remember too that "Abking" isn't my title as much as a way of thinking about resources and outdoor pursuits.  Years ago I was abbing solo along a remote section of the Humboldt coast.  I found a rock the size of an easy chair and reached up under a huge ledge beneath it.  I felt a huge ab on top of another huge ab and decided to pull it.  It was a 10.125" on top of a 9 and 15/16.  There were several other huge abs under that rock, but I had more than I needed.  I called the spot "Double".  Over the next year and a half I came back to my rock at Double and pulled 3 more tens off of it, each on different trips.  The limit was 4 at the time.  That's what Abking is all about.   

Good report and great looking grub!

Thanks Abking for the beer and Ab appetizer. I am primed up for diving now! Guess I showed up in just in time. I was impressed with the breadcrumb mix, way good.

I posted a little note about the firewood on GMSIII. So we will have to get a head count a few weeks prior.

To you and yours- Thank you!

   Great video Eric. I hope the night surf fish will be running for The Big Event. Fresh abalone on the beach....you are right....doesn't get any better than that. While watching your video I realized that those of us that have been free diving and tank diving have been practicing self rescue for years.

could you send me a handful of that sand?