Monterey - Friday 02/24 - Crabs and Sand dabs

I'm planning on launching from CG station at 6 am. Would love to have company and any useful intelligence.
Cheers,
C-

If you find crabs there it would be the first I've heard a bout it (from a kayak).  But it could be fun, never know what your going to find in a crab trap    There was a recent report on dabs in monterey that said they weren't being found in the red buoy area.  You may want to try out farther like GB2 suggested in the 130fow. 

Last year my best dab day was fishing in the deeper 130 zone. Once we drifted in to 100-90FOW the dabs got smaller and less concentrated.
wish I had Friday off, the weather is so nice out. Beware the winds, but good luck on the dabs!

Wish I could join ya, but I took half day off yesterday to fish that general area. Ended up catching some targeted AOTY fish in the morning, then decided to end the day with some dabs for the gf to replenish some GAF pts 

As everyone said, the dabs are much further out than usual. Did couple drifts with no luck around 130 mark, so I had to paddle my ass much further out (closer to 150'). Did 3 quick drifts in that general depth and caught a handful of dabs, of which I kept 3 big sized dabs.

As Piscean said, be careful of the winds. Although it was nice out there yesterday, the winds do pick up to make that paddle an exhausting journey back in. That 40 min paddle against the wind was a great workout, got my upper body sore lol!

Good luck out there!!

Wish I could join ya, but I took half day off yesterday to fish that general area. Ended up catching some targeted AOTY fish in the morning, then decided to end the day with some dabs for the gf to replenish some GAF pts 

Out of curiosity, what are the AOTY fish you go after during this season?

btw, thanks all for the tips.

Wish I could join ya, but I took half day off yesterday to fish that general area. Ended up catching some targeted AOTY fish in the morning, then decided to end the day with some dabs for the gf to replenish some GAF pts 

Out of curiosity, what are the AOTY fish you go after during this season?

btw, thanks all for the tips.

Basically perch is what I was chasing after. Although I got my fish, I might have been couple weeks too late in getting the larger sizes when they were in shallow. Couldn't get out there sooner with the swells we had past couple weeks. Seems that most of the striped perch have finished their spawn and left toward deeper waters.

Glad ya asked that question because ya better make sure you're not fishing for something our of season. While I was fishing out there, I had DFG boat pull up to me check my license as well the inside of my yak. Was happy to see them; even they were caught off guard that I was happy to see em lol.

Nothing else to going on really until April when Salmon opens back up 

Good luck. My dad and I are going to try launching from lover's point for the first time. We'll scope out Moss Landing first to see how the swells are...but most likely will do Lover's Point since 8-10' swells are already making me queasy thinking about them.

LP Seems to be closer to deep water and less of a paddle than from the CG station.  From the charts it looks like you hit deep water in the 160-200' depth by 0.5-0.7NM launching NE from Lover's Point.  In comparison it's 1 - 1.5NM to the red buoy from the CG pier ... and you're still only at 130' depth which most people have reported little or no dabs.

If you see two yak'ers northwest of you that'll prob be us.  We'll be on channel 69.

Good luck. My dad and I are going to try launching from lover's point for the first time. We'll scope out Moss Landing first to see how the swells are...but most likely will do Lover's Point since 8-10' swells are already making me queasy thinking about them.

LP Seems to be closer to deep water and less of a paddle than from the CG station.  From the charts it looks like you hit deep water in the 160-200' depth by 0.5-0.7NM launching NE from Lover's Point.  In comparison it's 1 - 1.5NM to the red buoy from the CG pier ... and you're still only at 130' depth which most people have reported little or no dabs.

If you see two yak'ers northwest of you that'll prob be us.  We'll be on channel 69.

Make sure your not fishing in the MLPA LP is cut in half by it. Good luck and post pics of your catch!

I'm planning on launching from CG station at 6 am. Would love to have company and any useful intelligence.
Cheers,
C-

So I launched from CG station at 7 am and it was a beautiful day. I started "dabbing" at 160 fow: nothing. I moved to 190-210 fow and got some action. The dabs were small and I realized Sibiki rig is not the right set up: the hooks needs to be much closer to each other and the weight at the bottom. Additionally it's better to use a rig made of wire. I was getting 2-3 each time but they were very small. Looks like one needs to go way deeper.

Cheers,
C-

Good luck. My dad and I are going to try launching from lover's point for the first time. We'll scope out Moss Landing first to see how the swells are...but most likely will do Lover's Point since 8-10' swells are already making me queasy thinking about them.

LP Seems to be closer to deep water and less of a paddle than from the CG station.  From the charts it looks like you hit deep water in the 160-200' depth by 0.5-0.7NM launching NE from Lover's Point.  In comparison it's 1 - 1.5NM to the red buoy from the CG pier ... and you're still only at 130' depth which most people have reported little or no dabs.

If you see two yak'ers northwest of you that'll prob be us.  We'll be on channel 69.

Make sure your not fishing in the MLPA LP is cut in half by it. Good luck and post pics of your catch!

So we launched from Lover's Point and peddled/paddled out 1/4 mile. ( We have Hobies. ) I turned around and... I flipped. Dad came by and helped me back in my yak. But in the process, he flipped too. I finally got back in my boat after a couple tries. Then we tried to get dad back in his Hobie Revo. Tried, tried, and tried but every time he tried, the yak flipped. Turns out that it was half filled with seawater. After 15 minutes of trying, he started to get hypothermia. He used his radio to call the coast guards. Soon, police and the fire department came. After them cam the coast guards. The coast guards went thru the kelp and got dad aboard. I was told to hold onto his boat. They came by and helped me up onto their boat. Then they my boat out of the water and onto the their boat. They tried to get the revo on as well but it was too heavy. They let it drift off. We got to the CG pier in no time. The fire department came and wrapped dad in blankets and put some hot packs with him. They did a health check on him, asked a few questions, and had him sign a few things. When the fire department thought he was better, they loaded my yak and the other stuff that they got into a truck. We got into the truck as well. They drove us to our car and helped us unload our items onto our yak mobile. They then left us. We went down to the beach where we launched to get the revo that drifter back to the beach. When we got to the beach, one coast guard was there along with a reporter. The coast guard left but the reporter stayed. The reporter asked a few questions and took a video. Then he left too. We drained the yak as much as we could and thought of the items we lost.
What we thought of:
-a Contour ( that is still filming on the bottom of the ocean ) ( in a yellow water proof case with a plastic stick on bottom ) REWARD IF FOUND
-a nice rod and reel ( on the bottem of the ocean ) ( reel with yellow braid on it )REWARD IF FOUND
-a carbon fiber paddle ( that we found broken later )
-a shell jacket REWARD IF FOUND (a women's White Sierra jacket light blue )
-dad's waders ( in a blue bag ) ( We saw it floating away from shore )REWARD IF FOUND
-a fold-able net REWARD IF FOUND
-a bamboo gaff with a white string and silver duck tape handle REWARD IF FOUND
-dad's one shoe ( after that, he was walking bare foot until we got home )
After the yak drained out, we luged it up the hill to the car and drove home.
END OF OUR STORY

HOLY SHIT! Glad your safe!! Can't believe this happened to you guys  glad your safe and brought your radio! Glad the coasties made it out to you quickly and that you at least recovered both your yaks. Do you have Gps coordinates of where you tipped? I have scuba and free dived that area before and might be able to look around out there if the current hasnt taken it.

Wes

Good to hear that you and your dad are alright. Heck of a survival story.

Hope you find some of your gear and perhaps the reason why the revo had taken on water. 

Vesper, I'm sorry to hear about the sucky incident you and your father had. I actually watched the news and saw that video clip. I was very relieved to see that you and your father were ok!

You and your father were pretty well equipped for that unfortunate situation. Don't fret too much about the lost items; hopefully some will turn up, others can be replaced. I, too, have taken a dump in the ocean and have sacrificed handful of items to mother ocean And I still continue to accidentally dump things over lol!

Lover's Pt is generally an easy launch. I saw on the news clip that the swells outta LP were pretty strong. I tend not to launch outta LP when swells are up; I'll opt for the Coast Guard Jetty or the Del Monte Beach in front of MBK.

Next time you and your father wanna do some fishing, shoot me a pm. I'd be glad to join ya and hopefully show ya both a better day I'm proud of ya both, and look forward to meeting/fishing with ya!

I'm glad t hear you guys are alright. Just out of curiosity , Did the Coast Guard Bill you for the Service?

I'm glad t hear you guys are alright. Just out of curiosity , Did the Coast Guard Bill you for the Service?

Not sure if they would bill us. They only had our address, names, age, and phone number.