stillwater cove,pebble beach report

 Met Sandman, Frank and a few others this morning at the launch.We did not go all the way to the pinnacles today. On the way out we saw some of the steeper swells, crest and break over the outer reef, with a good size wash. So we decided to play it safe and fish the inside, which was still a bit choppy.
I came in with two average size olives for the day, dinner for two none the less.
Others did a bit better. Hope they post with pics. Aloha,Kimo

akakimo,
It was nice meeting you and fishing with you.  Thanks for all your help!  My report is the same as Kimo's 2 decent Olives for a meal for two.  I did also land a small Gopher which I returned.  For me it was one of the slowest rockfishing days I've ever had.  After getting up at O'dark thirty and the lack of action, it was difficult to stay awake on my yak.

Sandman,
It was nice hooking up with you on 680 and caravanning down there.  Congratulations on your Lings.  After I loaded my yak, I went looking for you to buy you a beer, but you were gone, so I owe you one for next time.


Frank

Frank (Windrider) and I got there at 6:00 AM and met Yakusa and his brother.  Yakusa walked us through the lay of the land.  Kimo was right behind us and gave us the intel for the Pinnacles and fishing spots...Thanks!  Henry (Dolphin) came out a little later and the two of us took turns snagging the bottom.  Of course some of these bottom snags were actually lings that were hunkering down.  It was tricky keeping the swim bait in play and away from the rocks and/or the kelp.  There were dive boats working the area and one anchored on the spot where I caught my lings.

I caught a bunch of small rockies and tossed most of them back except for a few dinner sized ones.  I did land two lings, one was 30" and the other one 26".  Pictures will be attached on a separate post.

I lost a good fish (probably a ling) when it snapped my line while I was playing tug-of-war in the kelp.  The chatter on the dive boats was that there was 70 feet of visibility and we could vouch for that.  I was having fun with the schools of blacks or blues in the clear areas between the kelp fronds.  I could see the schools of rockies that would attack the squid on my swim bait.  If I was serious about targeting them I would have tipped a 1/0 hook with squid and caught a bunch.

On the way in I had a chat with Joe (Hermit) and a couple of guys in short (10') yaks.  Seems like the main comment was that it was slow and there weren't that many fish caught.  Joe had a very nice vermillion though.

Frank, the big swells (and some of them broke) kept me looking over my shoulder.  I didn't have any trouble staying awake when I was on the water but it caught up with me on the drive home.  I'll take a raincheck on the beer, I was anxious to get going on the long drive home while I still had some energy.

Kimo mentioned that he saw a gray whale surface between his yak and mine when we were out in the deeper waters.  I didn't notice anything so I'm glad Kimo is keeping his eyes open and watching my back.

When we launched there was no wind and it was getting warm up until about 11:00.  About then the wind was pushing me off the structure I was trying to work so I decided to head in and fish where there was promising structure.

On a different note, Pebble Beach is awesome and well manicured although people do walk around with their noses in the air.

Good to see everyone and thanks for the advice and suggestions. 

Gary

At 540 AM, I was tailgating Gary and Frank on 17 mile because I was totally anxious to get out on the water.     Met akakimo very briefly at launch.  Nice meeting you all!

Would have followed you guys out today but I was with my brother.  He just broke up with his girlfriend, so I told him he needed to go fishing with me for stress relief.  It was his first time out plus he had his ACL repaired about 6 weeks ago so there was definitely no chance of making it to the pinnacles. 

We stayed on the inside potholes and the boiler rock where fishing was extremely slow.  I think the moon phase and the large swell really threw the bite off.  I had a slow pick at gophers on swimbaits tipped with squid in the potholes.  My brother got WACKED bouncing a 4oz dorado pattern megabait (no squid) off the bottom.  The thing was stripping drag and doing a pole dance for him - for sure a double digit ling or big hali.  It wrapped him up in the kelp and that was it.  50 lb spectra made sure we got the megabait back, but the fish was off.   .

As for his first time out, well, lets just say, it was early on and early off.  We were on the water at 6:20 and he was headed for the barn by 7:30.  Bro got really seasick, and he said he needed to go catch a "brown trout", if you know what I mean.     Two things I told him last night were 1) take a dramamine; and 2) empty your system before we head out.  But listen to his younger brother - NOOOOOOO!  He's a doctor and he knows his body.  He promised no GI problems would erupt from either end.    Yeah, ok doc. 

B/c I was prepping gear for two people last night, I didn't rack out until 1:10AM and up at 3:40AM.  Needless to say, I felt really gipped by my short trip and will look forward to getting back out when the weather, schedule, and bite permit.

Yo Gary, do have some pics? I almost forgot what a ling looks like.

some more pics. 

gary and frank silhouette in early morning.

Brother going bendo, but gets shook.  All fish released b/c we didn't feel like dealing with it at the landing.

I've tried to load the ling pics a couple of times now and the error message I get is that the picture is too big for the server.  I haven't been able to figure out how to resize the pics yet.

On the way back to the launch I passed by about 30 seals basking on the rocks.  I avoided eye contact with them but I could see that they were jumping in the water as I paddled by.  I was worried that they wanted to "share" my lings.

The swell was BIG out there and things were rocking and rolling all day.  Chemical supplements were a good idea because it wasn't as nearly as flat as Yakuza's pics show.  Once the wind picked up it was time to head in.

Gary

I heard that whale blow about a dozen times and never did lay eyes on it.  Timing is everything.

Looks like we missed everyone by a day.   I went out with my wife and 2 friends on their maiden voyages Sat at about 11:00.  The cove was dirty with vis about 5 feet and small swells inside, maybe 3 feet.  We stayed inside the rocks and watched 8 footers break on the reef.  There were no fish for us, though I did have one small tug.  We kept getting hounded by the seals (hence no fish) and they would approach us everywhere we went in the cove...
Everyone was having a good time until the wind picked up and a couple of 8 footers snuck past the reefs, breaking right in front of the clubhouse (about 30 feet from us).  then we all decided it was time for snacks and naps...
All in all, lots of fun, no fish and a reminder once again that I need to get a second tarpon, so when my wife goes out I can use something other than the Pungo...

Sunday we went to Elkhorn slough and paddled about 2.5 miles back.  there are TONS of seal and otters back there right now, all with pups.  I was throwing a swim bait on the edge of some eelgrass when a seal pup popped up next to me and asked if I was "mommy"  Sam Dog thought this was the most fun EVER, but I quickly scooted away and mom came to take care of the adorable little tyke...
I was hoping for some flounder or Stripers, but went fishless untill I was casting the swimbait near the bridge.  I had a real good tug, then saw the lure with a bird on the tail.  that damn bird ripped the tail right off my fishtrap!  Oah well, it was fun, and the paddle 2.5 miles out of the slough against the wind will have me remembering the trip for a couple of days.

What are the regs for clamming at the slough?  My wife LOVES clams and thinks that this is a good place to get muddy...

A quick note: dog in yaks think seals and otters are just the coolest things EVER, Sam had so much fun on the water she has been sleeping since we got back in the car...she was even slow to breakfast!  She is the mail reason I haven't sold the Pungo, she just loves paddling with me...

Until next time.
tight lines.
Jim

Here are a couple of pictures of Kimo in the swell.

Yep, that 2nd pic says it all. If you just looked at your first pic, it looks like a failry calm day. But it was a bit of a roller coaster out there.
Boy, this morning from waet cliff dr in SC, the bay looked like a big pond. No swell or wind at all. Later this week the weather reports look more favorable. Im hoping to try for Salmon on Sat.
Just FYI, a friends BRO caught a 20lb salmon from his Kayak yesterday at MOSS. I dont know the details, how far out? but its the first one I've heard caught from a kayak up till now. It was his 3rd time kayak fishing. I told my friend to let his brother know about NCKA.  nice pics windrider, thanks for posting them. I also heard that whale blow a few times before I saw it. I just knew it was getting closer

If you head out this week then be ready for the southwest swells that are apparent this week.