Linda Mar 5.4.06

Got to Linda Mar and met with Jmairey.  birds were working in close behind the surf and the swell was way down.  Looked better than it was. Sunny, which normally means wind in these parts, and of course Wind.  Definately gusty at times and it made heading out of the cove not desirable.  Needless to say I got the ok from the wife and John made it down so I headed home and loaded up. 

Launch  to tricky conditions not bad at all but timing was important today.  The south swell was showing it's face to us. It was small none the less.  Got past the break and began trolling a yozuri trailing a dodger hoping to find some bait with stripers.  didn't last long as the FF was marking nothing and the wind was blowing me into the surf line.  Decided to troll for salmon and put a watermelon apex on. Paddled for fifteen minutes looking for some close bait balls and hoping some salmon were in the cove. It appeared that the bait was in the north end of the cove but with the wind coming from the south it didn't look like much fun.  The windsurfer was having a blast though. 

Decided to head in and save some WAF after only about 45  minutes on the water. Being so close I dont' have squeeze every ounce of water time, it is better to save it for when the action heats up.  J and I landed quite differently but both effective.  J bailed in about 4 1/2 5 feet of water I rode in some decent south swells that pushed me far south.  Stayed dry and called it day.

J, and Tim, who showed up as I was leaving decided to give it a second try. Hopefully they have better things to report!

J I wish I could have had better things to show you and better conditions to fish in.  Hopefully the next time you come we can head out past the cove and get a few salmon!
Jason

Jason, I went out at Linda Mar this morning, launching around 7.  Surf wasn't bad getting out, but the breeze at that time of morning wasn't welcome.  I made it out past the point into about 90' of water, but not marking much at all.  Drifted / trooched north about even to the point separating Rockaway and LM, then paddled upwind.  There were some pretty significant gusts with a steady 10 knot southerly wind -- not fun.

I sat and watched the surf for about 20 minutes, putting my reel, FF, etc. in a dry bag and tucking my rod into the front hatch straps and lashing the handle onto the side of the kayak.  I knew what was likely.  Thought I had things timed pretty well, but the last wave pushed me broadside and over and under I went.  Popped up on the other side of the yak to see my fishing license floating by and grabbed it.  I certainly haven't mastered LM suf yet.

Still, the whale, dolphin, and sea lions were worth it...

-- Dave

Jason, thanks for the detailed report.  I remember last summer every time I went to linda mar seemed to be the same conditions, but that was in July.  Hopefully this kind of weather moves on and the bait moves in.   JTF..

Dave,

I should have known you were out there, isn't you and I that bring the gusy wind and unpredictable swell?   Just kidding.  I was hoping you would have scored in the morning with some good weather.  I don't have advice about landing at LM but I can say this.  I have not bit the dust since the I went backward with Joel. I have had an incident or two but nothing dramatic.  Today was touchy but I used a technique chuck and I practiced last summer where when the swell/wave starts to push you you force yourself backward until it is under you.  Once it goes under, paddle like hell on the top and ride it in.    

JTF... May traditionally is windy, especially in the afternoon. The beginning of June is similar July and especially mid to late July and early August we get some pretty good water, just in time for the Fish!!!
Jason

I had a fun time meeting Jason and Tim and I went out for a bit with both separately, first Jason, then Tim. 

For such a young guy, Tim has a lot of good fishing stories!

Due to wind, we stayed in the cove basically, no deeper than maybe 45 feet?

I got a lot of kingfish? bites on my anchovies and lost one set of gear to something when I got to close to the
rocks, maybe a ling. that's about it. There were birds working, but not a ton and
nobody seemed to mark any real bait in the cove yet.

So it's not quite happening, but it was great to paddle lindamar for the first time.

Later Mooch stopped by to give me a grade on my second landing using the human sea anchor approach.
How'd I do mooch? No yard sales!

All in all great fun, but I am still paying for the time as I haven't put anything away yet (the next day!)
and I got work to do. sigh. Came close to losing WAF as I didn't make it clear when I would be
returning. oops! I think I survived that one tho.

I did not lose any gear landing, and I launched and landed twice, but somehow my crazy wooden
paddle ejected itself from my truck driving down 280 and I could not find it.  The guy that made
it shut down his shop, so I'll have to get something different. Oh well, live and learn.

I hope to find another small-blade paddle, I've decided that when the wind and chop come up or I
have to toil trolling a slender bladed paddle is for me, kind of like 4wd low.

Any good suggestions? maybe a swift? I hope it doesn't take me too long to get one, I am currently paddle-less.

maybe a good thing I will probably be surfing this weekend.

Best,

J

jason, this is one of the best windmaps I know of, real friendly to read and covers lindamar area.

http://sfports.wr.usgs.gov/cgi-bin/wind/windbin.cgi

check it out and save it in your bookmarks.

yesterday it showed a clear sw wind, but I wanted to give lindamar a go, so thanks for coming out
with me!

At one point two little wind funnels went by jason, they were practically water spouts, some crazy
wind eddies around the south point.

J

J,

For some reason yesterday felt like the worst outing I have had LM. (except my time with chuck that turned out to be real fun.)That should give you an indication of things to come. I am thinking that with the water looking better than it was and the brids working what seemed like a lot of bait, gave me some great expectations. With great expectation can come dissapointment.  I wasn't too disapointed other than It was difficult to do any real serious fishing do to poor condtions outside the cove and the wind everywhere.  I hope you give LM another try as I don't think any Kayakers have given Salmon a try this early in May before.  Build your WAF for July.  It will be amazing.

Jason

I will be back to lindamar for sure.

J

Anybody's hunch where to get on fish right now but coastside is reporting fish caught devil's slide and montara

After a couple of skunks running I'm thinking a short drive would be nice and the odds seem as good there as anywhere

I came by in the aftrenoon to see how the guys did at LM... I saw this diver come in with his catch of the day....

I stood by the cliffs on the South side and saw Tim and John heading in....

Tim and John getting ready to land...

...while John decides to swim the kayak back to shore, Tim demonstrates landing backwards (facing the surf)....

Tim lands perfectly backwards...

I'm just curious why you guys come in backwards

Looks like fun