Just moved from Wisconsin and exploring Kayak angling in SC

Just moved to Scotts Valley from Lake Geneva Wisconsin. My wife and I enjoyed canoeing and kayaking through the lakes and rivers out there. We did a good bit of fishing off my 15 foot starcraft boat.

Since moving to Cali and seeing the different fishing options I bought a 16 foot Perception Captiva that I have taken out on two fishing outings in Santa Cruz harbor area. Sank some squid in about 40 feet of water. Caught a bunch of little stuff but am on the hunt for bigger fish. (Tally was 7 croakers, 3 octopus, 1 kelp crab, 1 sanddab, 1 Cabezon, a small lingcod, and a lizardfish.

Crabs too. I would love to bring home some good meals by kayak that way. I've got a bunch of questions and am hoping to learn a lot from this board. Tips and pointers greatly appreciated.

  welcome I fish Monterey and santa Cruz often

Wttm!!! Use the search bar as a lot of your questions have most likely been asked and answered already. Watch the hookups section and join em meet some like minded folks,

Welcome! See ya in the water!

Thanks for the welcome! I got out yesterday morning for a couple hours. Still having no problem catching croakers at least. Filleted 8 of the bigger ones. Looks like they should be pretty tasty once they're dipped in batter and fried.

Still waiting on something big enough to hear the drag on the reel.

The whales have been around each time I've been out. Never happened to me in the midwest!

Am also building a couple crab traps. Thinking I can get a good workout paddling out to adequate depths to sink them. Workout+time on the water+crab dinner seem like a win to me.

Welcome!!

There's a pretty good crew in santa cruz/monterey area...keep your eyes on the hookups section, and post if you are going out and want some company.

You got until 12/31 to get your first Lingcod before hook and line season closes for the year...go make it happen!!

Hope to meet you out on the water soon!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Workout+time on the water+crab dinner seem like a win to me.

Right on -  I like your style.  Welcome.   

WTTM!  Make sure to read the DFG regs on your traps so you have the correct size escape rings.  Good luck out there, whales are an added bonus on the left coast!

Moving from WI to Scotts Valley is definitely an upgrade! 
Thanks for posting--I'd be interested to see how the crab trap building goes. So make sure to post some pics.

Moving from WI to Scotts Valley is definitely an upgrade! 

except you run out of lunch of options in SValley.  fast. 

good to start in SCruz, but you'll want to go north and south soon enough.  just watch out for Whitey!

Moving from WI to Scotts Valley is definitely an upgrade! 

except you run out of lunch of options in SValley.  fast. 

good to start in SCruz, but you'll want to go north and south soon enough.  just watch out for Whitey!

I worked in Madison, WI for several months and had a great time. Way nicer than Santa Cruz. Caught some really nice Northern Pike and LMB on my walk to and from work. People are really nice there too. Not a bunch of A Hulls like this messed up state.  Hire Bushy for a guide trip. Worth every cent. As Martin said, the Pleasure Point area near Capitola is sharky. Not a place you would want to fish alone. MBK is a good place to start out or SWS. Nothing against Santa Cruz but an old friend told  me there were no fish there so I rarely fish there. 

Now why did you guys have to mention shark, to someone that fished fresh water. Shark is like lightning. Rare to see one much less to get bit. But if you were to be in a yak. You much better off. According to what I read on pacific coast shark news sight. They have a list of fatalities from way back. None from what I can remember have been a confirmed shark attack. Those were all swimming and surfing.  The whales are cool to see.   

Now why did you guys have to mention shark, to someone that fished fresh water. Shark is like lightning. Rare to see one much less to get bit. But if you were to be in a yak. You much better off. According to what I read on pacific coast shark news sight. They have a list of fatalities from way back. None from what I can remember have been a confirmed shark attack. Those were all swimming and surfing.  The whales are cool to see.

C-Weed, not sure if you is joking but Just cuz no bros have gotten kilt don't mean no risk of getting royally phuggt up.  Since the newb comes from sweetwater WI, he best antissipate dat chit, rather than get cot slippin.

agree about going with the bushmaster for a guided outing.

and yeah, madison is cool.  among other sophistications, they got a "Rocket Docket" judicial district well schoold in patent lit, def not backwoods.  And better lunch options . . .

Anyone going to Timber Cover

Thanks. Yeah, left a lot of great things behind in Wisconsin. But gained a lot here. Different culture for sure.

Not worried about sharks. My brother and I are planning on fishing for them when he comes out to visit. (In a larger vessel than a kayak though.) I plan on being careful out there but the odds of a shark hurting someone in a kayak is pretty slim. I did find it interesting when I was learning about kayak angling out here that the one guy had a shark bite the nose of his kayak near pleasure point a year or so ago. Is he a member on here?