Van Damme abalone opener 04/01/2007

As expected, Van Damme was pretty busy today. The sun was out, the swell was very small and visibility was great. There was quite a bit of wind on the water and it pushed my kayak around quite a bit. Fortunately the low profile of a diver wasn't affected much by the wind.
I went out in my Hobie Quest Fish and my girl friend paddled out with me, though we decided today wasn't the best day for her to start diving (my mother and grandparents were visiting and we would have needed to pick up some additional equipment; it would have been a zoo.) Because I had a personal assistant paddling right along behind me, I got to range around quite a bit.

I plucked three abalone, speared a greenling and five perch, and collected a mess of urchins.


My girlfriend (yellow Malibu X-Factor) and I (green Hobie Quest Fish) paddling back from the ring of rocks.



Our haul from another angle. The cute seven year old is one of my daughters.






Almost ready to pull in.

Nice haul!

Wow! What a haul! Sounds like a good day for all.

Janice aka "Big J"

Mmmmm.... I love uni and abalone sashimi. 

Mmmmm.... I love uni and abalone sashimi. 

Dat's da plan!

I like abalone raw (awabi) quite a bit. My other recipe is to cut three slices of bacon up into small pieces, cook until they are translucent, add half a chopped white onion and cook until that is translucent, finally add two handfuls of very thinly sliced abalone and stir it all around in the pan for about twelve seconds, then promptly eat.

I've never in my life pounded an abalone to tenderize it. As long as you barley cook it it's nice and tender. Even when it's cut a little think it is crisp rather than tough.

Looks good! I lived in Fort Bragg for 8 years and never tried urchins (uni). Am I missing out? What do they taste like?

CHEERS!

Looks good! I lived in Fort Bragg for 8 years and never tried urchins (uni). Am I missing out? What do they taste like?

I had it last year at Ocean Cove for the very first time. It tastes exactly like Uni.
Nice haul from the big blue.
Was DFG out in force??

Was DFG out in force??

I didn't see one game warden the whole time! Then again who would be fool enough to break the rules then and there?

Looks good! I lived in Fort Bragg for 8 years and never tried urchins (uni). Am I missing out? What do they taste like?

Here is a description from a cook book I own:
"The flavorful urchin roe has an initial taste of the sea which slides into egg yolk and wild mushroom."
I really like how is melts on one's tongue.

It's also one of the more expensive things on a Japanese menu at around $6 for two tiny pieces of sushi.

Nice report and photos - way to go on a great day! 

Be sure to punch your ab card while on your yak - they're enforcing that one pretty strictly.

Be sure to punch your ab card while on your yak - they're enforcing that one pretty strictly.

Heh, I actually forgot to punch my card until almost everything was packed up. As soon as I remembered I rushed over and did it. I was going to do it on the yak but my girlfriend was feeling seasick and wanted to head back, I didn't want to make her stay out while I got into my hatch and dry bag, took off my gloves, etc. Last season DFG met me on the beach and I told them I was waiting to get to shore because my fingers were frozen and I was seasick (which I often am after climbing out of the water into my kayak with a belly full of saltwater.) He was fine with my filling it out on the shore. Also, it's got a spot for the time and I'm always afraid they would look more harshly on the time being wrong than waiting until I got to shore (I don't use a watch).

Was DFG out in force??

I didn't see one game warden the whole time!

Trust me just because you didn't see any doesn't mean that they weren't watching you.Thats the whole point they don't want you to know that their watching you. I've had them 3 coves away with their binoculars watching me making it a point that their there and then other times I see no one around but the minute I get out of the water and start walking to the car they pop out of the bushes. BAM.. out of NOWARE their there. Their SNEAKY which is a good thing, that way they can nail poachers! I have seen my fair share of people abusing the system. Majority of the time the wardens are cool I usually end up B.S.ing with them and then I'm on my way.

Uni!!!  yummy!  I'm gonna look for them this year!  by the way, Great catches!

Nice,  can't wait to get out myself

Jim

Nice,  can't wait to get out myself

Jim

yeah Jim, Uni this year!!!