Good times with old friends

Haven't dove with my buddies Darrell HotPlate and Joe bloodbath in a long time, so when Darrell reached out to me and I had the day free I jumped at the chance to get out there with him and Joe!

Forecast didn't look good enough for some of the more exposed areas we had in mind so we decided to play it safe and head to SWS.

Saw FishingAddict and P-Sherman and DaBraddah at the beach...great to see you Mel and John and awesome to meet you Michael!!!

I launched first cuz I was ready before Darrell and Joe and headed to the first spot to see if I could find a Ling for Darrell in a crack I know.

Viz was pretty green and hazy but good enough (opened up to about 25 in spots once the tide came in), and I found the crack on my second drop...

Lit up the crack from the far left corner and saw the obvious shape of a solid female sheep chilling broadside, and as soon as the light hit her she turned and started heading back into the dark....I know this crack goes WAY back and that once a fish heads for the back there is a good chance you might not see it again so I lined up the shot and popped her in the side as she glided away.

Could tell the shot was solid, so just pulled on the shooting line and got her out and the shaft had gone through her side and out her face and the flopper had deployed. 

Swam her to the surface and bled her and admired her awhile before stringing her up.

She taped out to 26 inches which is a very nice size for a female sheep up here, and the second biggest female I have taken behind a big 27 incher last year on my birthday in Sur.

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2418

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/1534

Right then Darrell paddled up and I show him the sheep and tell him to come check out the crack and that hopefully we can find a Ling or a Cab lurking in there for him.

Darrell wasn't quite able to get down deep enough to check out the crack, but he shot some blues and olives off the top of the pinnacle.

No Lings in the crack, but I did see ANOTHER sheep in there about the same size as the one that I had already taken, but let her be...figure she can get bigger and fatter on all the urchins around there and I can come back for her in the future. 

Saw a scallop in the crack and took it...it looked a lot bigger underwater? 

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2417

Joe had posted up a little ways off so we paddled over to see what he was up to and he had a nice Ling and some rockies on his stringer and he said there was some cool structure/cracks where he was at so I started dropping and exploring...beautiful area but couldn't find anything I wanted to take so we headed over to another spot known for big olives...

Ate the little scallop before jumping back in for some mojo and energy. 

Super surgy here and no big olives to be found, but I did take a nice 19 inch cabbie and some chunky blues.

Still hadn't found any nice Lings so headed to another area in shallow that is riddled with holes that often produce nice Lings/Cabs.

At this spot my right ear started acting up a little which bummed me out, but looked around for a bit and found a crack where I have taken a few nice fish in the past, and lo and behold there was a meaty almost 22 inch cabbie in there.

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2419

Decided to call it and paddle in since my ear was bothering me and Joe and Darrell had already headed in.

Back at beach we had a few beers, took some pics, hung out with Mel and John and Michael and Joe's GF Sheri.

Also got to meet JacksonBigTuna and see his killer Motorized BigTuna tandem that he and his GF had taken out and got some nice fish on!

Back at home the girls took some pics with the "magic red fish" and I fileted up the blues and the sheep. Made nuggets for Ana and the girls and I with the blue meat and there was more than enough from the three fishies for all 4 of us.

Yesterday I ate some sheep sashimi during the Saints game and chopped up some for a ceviche for tonight as well.

The cabs will get cooked whole in the convection oven.

I really enjoyed spending the day with Darrell and Joe, and hope we can do it again soon!!

Here's a mini vid and some pics.



 

Sincerely,

Jim

 

"Swam her to the surface and bled her and admired her awhile before stringing her up."

  you sound deranged 

Way to get out there and thanks for the vid. 

Great report- and love the pic of the sheepshead in the crack with the purple urchins looking so big in the foreground!

Great stuff Jim! Awesome sheephead, and those girls are growing up so dang fast!

Awesome Sheep you got there Jim. I've been yak fishing SWS since 2006 and I've never landed one.  Great meeting all the fellas and lady!   

Man that's a lot of uni action!  can you harvest those in MBay?  have you ever?

Awesome Sheep you got there Jim. I've been yak fishing SWS since 2006 and I've never landed one.  Great meeting all the fellas and lady!   

Thanks Mel!

Was great seeing you guys!!

Man that's a lot of uni action!  can you harvest those in MBay?  have you ever?

The area we were in is outside of the Carmel Bay SMCA so you can take invertebrates, so it would be legal to take them.

I've never messed with them down here...mostly they are the smaller purple kind...I do bring home a handful of spines in my knees, shoulders, back and hands each time I wiggle into that crack though.

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Hey Big Jim and NCKA Bruddahs,
Man, it was awesome to see that big Sheephead that you speared. I have never seem one up close and it was a beauty!!! It was also great to meet Joe (Bloodbath) and P.Sherman (P/Fisherman). I have been tagging along with Mel a few times and he is a real pro. This this was first time fishing at Stillwater. What a beautiful place, but not used to all the kelp and the headwind coming back from down the coast south was a real ballbuster for me in my Hobie Oasis Tandem. Usually Lingading (Herb N.) an I go out together in the tandem if it's going to be a long paddle, but he couldn't make it this Sat.
NCKA Bruddahs No Ka Oi (the very best in Hawaiian),
Aloha, Da Bruddah
Michael

What a fun day, I'm jonesin to get back out soon. Hopefully this big swell over the weekend will clear out some of the blooms