HMB 7/1

Just to break it out. Launching between 6:30 and 7 at HMB Kayak Company. Directions - http://www.hmbkayak.com/contact_info.html

I will be paddling with my dad in polepole's Triple (thanks again bro!). Forecast calls for fog but not much wind so far.

Bill, which weather forecast are you looking at?  NWS says:

.SAT THROUGH SUN...NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT...LOCALLY TO 30 KT SOUTH
 OF PT PINOS. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. NW SWELL 4 TO 6 FT. AREAS OF FOG.

With that weather forecast I probably wont make the trip to Fort Ross.

I'm thinking perhaps in the Bay, like OP for butts.  NWS is forecasting this for the Bay:

.SAT...W WINDS 5 TO 10 KT...INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 KT WITH LOCAL
 GUSTS TO 30 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. PATCHY FOG IN THE MORNING.
 .SAT NIGHT...W TO SW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT...BECOMING 10 TO 15 KT
 OVERNIGHT. AREAS OF FOG DEVELOPING.
 .SUN...W WINDS 10 TO 15 KT...INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 KT DURING THE
 AFTERNOON. AREAS OF FOG IN THE MORNING.

You're welcome on the Triple.  I hope your luck on it continues as it's been good to you in the past.  I  hope NWS is wrong and changes before the weekend and we all can get on the ocean for the opener.

-Allen

Well, I will go out on a limb with some weather predictions.

No need to fish the bay just because it's blowing hard north of the gate.

The epicenter of windswell is mendocino, so sure fort ross might be a bit bumpy,
but HMB should be okay, at least early, and with a drift chute.

LM is protected from south swells, launch should be easy. high on my list.

And anything below pigeon point should be fine till almost noon with
a drift sock, you might have to dodge a south swell set on the shore at launch/landing, and deal with fog,
but otherwise, should be pretty epic fish-catching-wise being opening day and low swell.

If the south does not show till later on saturday, this lack of swell could lead to some halibut being caught too.
Today is probably a great halibut fishing day, sigh.

For me it's either

1. drive over sharp park and do LM. launch hell or high water since no where else to go once you get there.
Hope mooch leads me to the salmon, then shows me the cabezon/ling reefs on the way back.

2. drive over 17 and drive north, pick a spot based on fog/swell/wind, possibly as far as bean hollow/pescadero.
If surf is perfect, might have to surf instead of fish.

J

I thought the NWS marine forecast is generally further off shore. I looked at the land forecast for HMB which was calling for the 8 mph winds.

I trust the Dr. though and I am changing plans to Linda Mar with an abort plan to OP.

Everyone that is going to HMB should go to LM instead, Dr. J knows his weather.

Just spoke to Bill and did my jedi mind trick on him - the force is weak with him ......got him to change his plans about HMB and head out to Linda Mar instead.

J - the best intel I can give you on salmon would just be to line up with the stream (right next to the parking lot) and paddle straight out to 80 ft. - just make sure you have a compass/GPS in case the fog decides to roll in. Just to give you a reference, 80ft. means you'll paddle PAST Pedro Point.
For rockfish, it's simple, fish along the rocks on either Point. Pedro Point - around 60 feet of water produced a lot of Lings last year - but you can bet that the boats will be hitting this spot (if we launch early enough we can beat 'em to it). There are a few boilers along the way to Pedro Point - if the tide is low, you MIGHT see it. The area in front of Shelter Cove has a sandy bottom 30 to 40 ft. - Halibut hunting ground - for the divers at least. Chuck lost a big one there a few years back. There is also a "nipple" on the South side, line up to it and paddle out and you'll see a ledge - lots of stucture on the shallow side - 30 to 40 ft - THis is Rockfish City....snag city for me

Jason found a reef - now called Jason's reef on the North Point - I'll let him share his intel on that

MY game plan: paddle to Pedro, maybe rock fish along the way...will be keeping an eye open for working pelicans beyond Pedro - for the Salmon.

Anyway, I'll be at Linda Mar at the crack of dawn - looking forward to seeing  all of you!

remember - L&L is around the block for some really good grub - TRY THE CHICKEN KATSU  

Since I'm on the hook, better check the assumptions here:

Bill, I assume you prefer LM to HMB then? why? shorter paddle to fishing grounds? Is the fishing better?

But you were going out HMB because you were worried about launch @ LM?

In that case, switching to LM from HMB should be fine but check pt reyes buoy java applet that morning to be sure.

I think santa cruz is a good alternative for many because you should be able to fish the mile buoy and out to lighthouse point till quite late in the
morning, and being opening day, there are probably plenty of fish, maybe even a halibut since it has been flat for a few days. south swell might
kill nearshore bite (<50 feet) if it shows.

The doctor has spoken.

However, I personally don't plan to launch anywhere it's forcast to be 15-25 on NWS.  If it's 10-20 I'll do it.  Soquel/SC look like decent morning options this weekend.  I still don't know if I can get out tomorrow morning, but Sunday morning I will be somewhere.

-Allen

I'll be doing a 4 day fishing trip along the local waters (Sat to Mon) - HMB and Linda Mar...and Possibly Davenport. GAS funds are running low 

polepole made the right call. Jason called me this morning with reports of 3 break lines at LM. We aborted to OP to find 15 MPH winds so we called it and went home. Burned a little over a 1/4 of a tank of gas...

Thanks for the report Bill.

Looks like I saved some WAF and gas this weekend.

Stuart

oh gee, it was like 3 lines of 8" tall breakers at the south end...

Jason was the first to pull in a ling cod,  .

I think it's part of his new plan after the locals took him to task for
inviting the world, 

But it was choppy and cold.

Bill, the best place today would have been santa cruz I think.