One Last Report - San Diego Bay - January 2 2010

So I had a nice little trip to S.D. even though the weather down there was just awful.  Nothing like up here.  Temps in the mid 70s, light breeze, little to no cloud cover.  How can those So Cal folks handle it year round like that?  ::shakes head::

well damn the weather, i went down there to fish and gosh durnit I was gonna fish.

My goal was to go and chase down a bonefish....one of those rumoured denizens of the big bay.  

We arrived the day before around noon, shortly after I took my shrimp pump in hand and went to the local flats for a little hunter-gathering.  Found plenty of ghost warriors, although they were much smaller than the ones up here, around 1 1/2 - 2" long.  regardless, these should work for bones.

The next morning I woke up bright and early and proceeded to get myself lost on the way to the launch.  This is a super top secret launch spot for the south bay, one that may or may not be listed on the plasticnavy.com "Kayak Launch Maps" and rhyme with Moola Christa.

As soon as I got there, I was wishing to be back in NorCal as the launch conditions were so difficult (just look at that wicked shore break):


I paddled out and met some of the local kayak fishermen.  They seemed friendly enough and gave me a bit of info to assist me in my hunt.  Of course on the way out the birds were working heavy - there was likely a big school of pinhead chovies in the area and the other kayaker I met had been kicking butt on small grade spotted bay bass.  Never missing an opportunity to catch a fish, I made a few casts while slowly working my way south...


Ended up doing decent on a slow pick, definitely would have caught dozens of these guys in short order if I hung around, but I was looking for better things:



BTW, spotted bay bass have teeth.  Small and sharp ones, nothing that will hurt you too bad but they will scratch your hands up if you're not careful.

I worked my way to the south end of the bay and proceeded to thread on my ghost warriors.  I cast out in some shallow and uncharted (at least to me, but isn't all of it uncharted?) territory.  Not exactly the most scenic area, as it was covered in trash that had been washed down through the tidal swings..  I made my casts and found nothing but eelgrass. Lots of eelgrass.  One could say epic eelgrass.  I slowly worked my way towards the power plant, looking for warmer water.  I found a nice little channel and casted towards the bank, letting my boat drift slowly.  I felt a tick, tick tick...i ignored it figuring that I might just be dragging across rocks..but the tick tick continued.  I reeled up a little and felt the slightest little tug.  I reeled in my line and found the cutest little....



After chopping him up for sashimi, I continued to move along the banks, casting and retrieving as I went.  I found a few prime looking areas, but they were also choked with eelgrass.  every cast was fouled.  I decided that my hunt would not be successful, and the wind had kicked up again, so I moved back towards the launch...


I of course never stopped casting and retrieving, and quickly got tap, tap tap in a channel around 15ft deep. Curious....my fish finder was all blacked out.  What the heck was down there?  I kept up my pace and kept getting continuously tapped.  Soon, I finally hooked up with my quarry:


The little punk milted all over me.  I am actually quite concerned now that I might be pregnant.  I suddenly have cravings for peanut butter and waffles.  I wonder what a baby of a smelt and a man would be?  a Smellan?

Anyways, after solving the mystery of the blacked out fishfinder and picking up a few more smelt for fun, I worked my way back to the launch where I waited for a family friend to show up and try out my kayak.  I also brought my pump back out for the low tide and found some more ghosties to play with.  

Anyways, I <3 SD!  So much fun that I must go back and try it again sometime in the future..I didn't get my targeted quarry, but I did get three of the fish that live in the big bay.  Spotted bay bass counts as a spotted bass for AOTY right?    I didn't measure the halibut turbot, but it was as big as my hand, and my hand is 24" across so it should count in AOTY too!!  Just kidding craig.

This was my biggest bass for the day, just to show you how small they really were..


A little parting shot from my little halibut turbot friend.


'Til Next Time....maybe?

Thanks for the trip report and pictures Ben.  Was this trip this year or last year?

The flat fish is a turbot . I used to catch those in the bay when I was a kid .I'm headed down there on thursday !

The flat fish is a turbot . I used to catch those in the bay when I was a kid .I'm headed down there on thursday !

you are correct, I am bad on my flatfish ID.  that would be a diamond turbot now that I'm looking it up.  thanks for correcting my error.  

and thanks for the correction sonny, it was last week.  still rockin' like its 2009 though.

I wonder what a baby of a smelt and a man would be?  a Smellan?

I think it called "Smelly-man" 

Nice work Benny.  I was down there for new years vising Levi.  We fished the bay on the 30th.  Caught lots of spots, a few baracuda and undersized halibut.  But it wasn't nearly as warm that day.  More like norcal.  Felt right at home.

Jim

Let me know next time you go I have some good intel and some honey spots for ghostshrimp .

thanks for the offer tigerfish, I will have to take you up on that.  I plan to head down there again in march or april so my wife can see the flower fields in cbad.

We are heading down next month to do the lobster thing again, and I am goin to get my woman out there with me at night on the water, it will be a first for her.

cool report ben..
thought of you earlier today when I was freezing on the Delta.
did you haul down everything in your Civic ?

I tried to find out about yak rental whne down in SD...but they are on the other end of Coronado where the ferry drops me off. so I have been just fishing off the pier with a sabiki.

dave

Do not know about rentals on San Diego Bay.  But Allens Kayak now Hike Bike and Kayak near the Roller Coaster in Mission Beach rents.

cool report ben..
thought of you earlier today when I was freezing on the Delta.
did you haul down everything in your Civic ?

yes I sure did, except I drive a subaru outback. My adventure, fishing gear, wife, parents in law, plus I picked up a mini x to help a fellow nckaer

Yeah, cool report, nice to see some different fish, how about a yellowtail??

Great report Ben 
Nice pics

Yeah, cool report, nice to see some different fish, how about a yellowtail??

we'll see about that next time, but to me, bonefish > yellowtail plus la jolla would have been a longer drive for me and I had to pack light