Monday @ Malibu

Launched in easy 2-3 foot surf.  First I fished the kelp for NADA.  Then I got live bait; Only Huge Smelt which I drifted and trolled for NADA.
The bait tube works great!  Light weight, little drag, and bait in awesome condition.
Decided I wanted a Sculpin.  I have until Dec 31 to get one before its too late
Back to the kelp; One small rockfish, a cabezon (Woo-Hoo).   Caught a SandBass that had the treble
stuck in his gills ,  I think he made it.
Paddled to a pocket in the thickest part of the kelp.  This turned out to be my honey hole.
I must have caught 20 rockfish. 
My 5/8 ounce kroc tipped with squid wasn't at the bottom for more than 30 seconds before it would get picked up again.
First fish I caught was small, then each succeeding fish was a little bit bigger.
Finally the bigest fish of the day was a Sheephead(female).
Also caught a undersized Ling. 
I grew tired of this and headed back to the outer edge of the kelp, looking for Halibut.  Again NADA.
Paddled back to shore, timed it right, for a perfect landing.

Looks like this coming weekend, the conditions might be too rough to head out.

Took pictures of the day, when the camera started to go bizerk.
The last shot I took was of the Ling.  Guys/Gals I believe my camera is dead.
I'm going to see about getting it fixed, but that can take up to 6 weeks, and even then they might say it would
be better to buy new than fix the old.  Not happy about losing my camera, but I do understand these things happen;
That's life, deal wiith it, and move on.  Tomorrow is another day.  Hope to start posting pics soon!

how deep do you think that hole in the kelp was?

sorry to hear about the camera, we all lost on that one,  .

After trying my hardest yesterday to get the camera to turn on again, I gave it one more try.
This time it work!   There is still something wrong with the camera, and I'll have to send it in for repair.
Here are my pics.
The Ling didn't make it.  It would have been nice to have the Sheephead, not too often do I catch those.

Notice the 5/8 kroc.

Yea, I know, they are small.  No fish peeled my line that day.  It was still fun.

great photos as usual!

potto, as you know most jigging irons are heavier near where you attach the hook.
when you pull them up, they invert and drop down.

also, people are putting the hook at the wrong end of the jig, to avoid snagging.

it occurs to me that one could attach the line at the wrong end of the kroc and
it might jig better. it might also snag slightly less. If you aren't casting but are basically
dropping and then jigging, maybe this would work. what do you think?

any idea how deep you were when you caught these guys? to get the bottom with
a 5/8oz kroc, it seems like it should be pretty shallow?

Forgot the battery for the FF, no matter, I've been here so many times.
I wouldn't use the 5/8 ounce at anything greater than 50ft.  Kelp stops growing around 60ft here.
The honey spot was at maybe 35.  Tipping it with squid gives it a little more weight.

Very dangerous to be using a treble hook in the kelp.  But the 5/8 ounce treble is tiny and gets snagged less.
I guess I could switch it around,  but this way works fine.  No casting here, just droppin g it down to the bottom then
jigging.

IMO the krocs are more for water displacement.  I have seen them fall, and they seemed ok when they drop.
I don't see them flipping over.  At most at 90 degree angle.   

Since I am shallow, tied on to the kelp, and not much current.  A treble hook is usually safe from being snagged at the bottom.