Long Day in Monterey - October 31, 2010

that jelly fish is cool. I gotta get a waterproof camera

Nice pics ! Thank you gentlemen.

Just to add a little to what ChuckE had to way. We typically use ch. 69 on the vhf. The die hards in Monterey have been using that ch. for a long while. I switch to a different ch. when I fish there. If need be I can put a short call on ch. 69 and say switch to who I am trying to reach. Then switch to the predetermined ch.  As a safety thing I always carry a cell phone there. It is easier to get a hold of who I want on the water on the cell.

As far as the squidders go they will most likely hit someone in the near future. I have seen a few close calls within a paddle length or so. When they come at me I wave the paddle high so at least I know they can see me, hopefully avoid being run over.

Last, that was a nice day to get out on the water. It is truly special to see that much life in a small area.

Cool ocean critter shots.  Sounds like a great hookup.   

Maybe someone will get a video or even a picture of the aggressive squid boats one of these days... 

I took this pic then thought," Is that a plastic bag?" No, its a different kind of jellyfish I have never seen before.There are 2 jellies in the pic.

Way to go out there and give it a try fellas!! Too bad about the break offs.

The view at first light at Lovers Point is just way nice.

Your not kidding Craig, I got a picture of sunrise at LP that I look at all the time.. wishing I was down there chasin ghosts 

Maybe someone will get a video or even a picture of the aggressive squid boats one of these days...

Just to reinforce, I don't think it would be accurate to describe the Sea Wave as "aggressive" in the sense of what Mooch described. More "I guess they'll get out of my way". Mostly that kind of stuff is just annoying. On the other hand, if your back is to the bigger boat, and the wind is blowing towards that bigger boat, they can be on top of you before you catch on [btdt]. And if you don't have a drift-sock out, you can indeed, usually, get out of the way.   

This was more like a bad driver on the highway that leaves you shaking your head. Also, we were a bit outside the edge of the [smallish] fleet, if memory serves.

Just have to drive defensively.


Ben

Sorry no WSB for the yakers on Sunday. I heard that the PB did well that day including my buddy and his dad both catching their limit. I hope to do one more run
before the WSB moves down south. Hey Craig, wasn't that a blast being pulled
around. Those fish are super strong maybe 2 or 3 times stronger than the sturgeon.

Jedmo

It was a nice day out. I would agree that there was a lot of squid in the water.  The dolphins are breaking all over the place. At one point I was a little worried that one would jump and land on my kayak (That's how close they got). No action for me either. Probably should have worked the deeper water for them, but got lazy and decided to say around the yellow can and fish fresh squid for next time.  Good to here some of the fellas got action. 

LA

I don't mean to threadjack or go on a rant, but it's sad to see how the crazy WSB action over the last few months, and the selfishness of a few boaters (and a few kayakers too) have resulted in tensions around Monterey Bay.  My bit of advice to everyone when there's a hot bite and lots of boat traffic is to be extra considerate, lay low on the VHF chat, and do your best to stay out of everyone's way.

Chuck, This deserves some further explanation. Please explain which kayakers were being selfish and exactly what actions they were doing that you felt was selfish. I've only been out six times for wsb so far but in that time I haven't seen any kayakers being selfish unless you consider the occasional accidental crossing of someone else's drift to be selfish. What have you personally seen? jim

Out of the seven or so squid boats OTW on Sunday there was only one that, again, deliberately tried to run down a kayaker. All of the other squid boats gave us room as we were out there first. They can't start up operations until around noon on Sunday. I saw this near miss first hand as the boat passed about 40ft or less from my kayak and I watched as M2's brother paddled hard to avoid being rammed for sure. Just before I saw M2's brother directly in the path of the squid boat I saw a deckhand on this boat looking down at me from the deck, saw how close his captain had got to my kayak, and I heard him say "Oh shit". We were fishing in that same spot all morning. It was FAC. None of the other squid boats hastled us. After the close call the same boat came again within 40ft of me and dropped his net where I was fishing. I've already heard all of the excuses, "our kayak's are too small/they can't see us", "their livelihood takes precedent over recreational fishing", "if you don't like 'the treatment' then move", "kayaker's deserve what they get because they are like snobby Prius drivers", etc. But there is no excuse for this bs and I continue to be surprised that some of my fellow kaykers continue to blame their kayakfishing brothers as if we're doing something wrong. I don't know if this got reported or not but I would be happy to be a witness if needed as this happened right in front of my face and was clearly deliberate. jim

Ten hours OTW= not a bite but plenty of wildlife and a beautiful wx day for sure. Michael it was a pleasure meeting you and good to see all the other guys again as well.  I saw only one wsb boated all day by a pb. I think in this instance staying on the edge of the fleet in the morning and then not following the fleet out to deeper water in the afternoon resulted in the zero score for kayaks. I heard a few radio fish caught but never anywhere nearby. Going to invest in some waterproof marine binoculars when I can afford them. jim

I don't mean to threadjack or go on a rant, but it's sad to see how the crazy WSB action over the last few months, and the selfishness of a few boaters (and a few kayakers too) have resulted in tensions around Monterey Bay.  My bit of advice to everyone when there's a hot bite and lots of boat traffic is to be extra considerate, lay low on the VHF chat, and do your best to stay out of everyone's way.

Chuck, This deserves some further explanation. Please explain which kayakers were being selfish and exactly what actions they were doing that you felt was selfish. I've only been out six times for wsb so far but in that time I haven't seen any kayakers being selfish unless you consider the occasional accidental crossing of someone else's drift to be selfish. What have you personally seen? jim

Jim, I've seen a few kayakers get too close to some power boaters and their fly lines.  I don't know if they're NCKA'ers.  The guys I fish with know better than that.  One seasoned local ghost buster named Rod called me at home and told me about how one alleged NCKA'er kept hounding his buddies on the water for turn by turn driving directions to MBK, where to park, and then where to launch.  Rod said it went on so long that an annoyed power boater interrupted with some angry comments.  All of that radio chatter could have been avoided with a little homework or a cell phone call.

Looks like a great day out there , it's just too bad no WSB hook-ups. Hope you all get another chance to get one this year.

Radio chatter is nothing. Getting too close is bad but can be dealt with a friendly conversation. Neither have anything to do with that one squid boat's actions. Jim