Limekiln report 5/15/, 5/16 (tues, wed)

Yo,

I went out Tuesday afternoon and Wednesday morning from Limekiln. 

In summary: I'm a miserable failure.  This was my "goodye" to the ocean and the ocean did not shower me with gifts to say goodbye to me.

Details: Wednesday - I got to the campground kind of late (noon).  Two rangers warn me that they saw a large shark out in front of the campground two weeks ago ... this kind of freaks me out.  I head out anyway into the windy and lumpy ocean.  I kept three medium sized rockfish, purposely relesed a 6" cab and a greenling, and accidenatally released a 25" ling.  I blame the shark for the accidental release.  My routine of immediately bleeding the fish had been altered due to the shark reports and my game was off ... the ling simply wiggled its way out of my yak.

Thursday - much less windy and nicer on the water.  I did not land one fish!  I think it is the first time I targeted rockfish/lings/cabs without even catching one pathetic rockfish.  Pretty lame on my part.

My comments - I launched and landed two times without bailing.  My assessment of the area immediately close to limekiln was that it was pretty sandy with a some rocks scattered here and there.  Closer to shore was mostly rocks, but had a lot of kelp.  As this was my first time there, I was alone, and the wind was pretty bad (on Tuesday), my desire to travel afar in search of serious structure was limited.  Far from shore seemed flat and potentially sandy ... could this be right?  From reading past reports, some people have scored big time at Limekiln.  So my lack of catching fish comes down to either the following three issues or maybe even a combination.
1. I can't fish ... I should go back to Montana.
2. The fish were not biting when I was fishing (but I should have caught at least one on Wednesday).
3. I was in the wrong spot.

Anyway, there was one ranger named Brian who was super nice to me ... he fishes out there often.  I fortunately did not have the mean Limekiln ranger experience I have read about here.

Cheers,
Sean

I've only fished there once, but my understanding is the better fishing is to the north near Pt. Lopez (about 1.5 mi).  The area around the launch is sandy w/ limited structure. 

I would have been rattled by the shark story, too.  I would have been reluctant to explore the area by myself...

IMO: you did the right thing by not going too far - by yourself - in those conditions and add on the shark factor.

The last time I was there, Chef guided us to THE SPOT and it was "catching" and not "fishing" from that point on. I do remember paddling North and we were in about 60 to 70 feet of water when we hit the honey hole. The conditions were ideal that day. THat was a phenom day = thanks to Chef 

What those guys said.  That place is much more comfortable when you have company b/c of conditions and maybe the landloard.  I often camp there with my family and fish alone but do not go too far on those occasions.  Better fishing is north and there is structure off shore.

Yep, those guys pegged it. The area immediately around Limekiln is very poor. You did the right thing though, staying close. In order to fish in tight without a long paddle you need to work for it.

The first time Allen and I hit LK it was rough and we didn't want to venture far (we know THE spot now). We actually found fair fishing around those two rocks that are just to the north of the cove a couple hundred yards. We caught tons of blues and gophers, two legal cabs, 7 or eight legal greenling and Allen even got a decent ling. I was close enough to watch my tent. They were thick in the kelp in 30 feet right next to the boilers. I don't suggest the spot, but it saved a windy bad day.

Thanks for the info boys.  I am kind of glad I did not know about the spot ahead of time, as I would have been temped to head there, which would have been stupid.

Catch you later ... I'm off for a non-yak clammin' adventure in Tomales.  Then back to MT.

L8,
Sean

Sean,

I've been meaning to ask.....how's the porn industry coming along 

I didn't hear anything about a shark when I was there.   I like to hang my feets in the water and kinda just tease the sharkies.  

Sorry to hear your trip didn't yield more fish.   Your not the first and or the last guy who will go down there and wrestle with the conditions there.  It gets real windy and lumpy out there quick.  jtf..

I find there is a very high inverse correlation between the height of the swell and the amount of fish--- provided that you are over the right structure.

Last year, I ventured out 1.5 miles alone once in Limekiln. It was foggy in the morning. Seals made noise behind me. It was freaky since I turned around and did not find anything.  Until they showed up in front of my yak, I felt better. If your mind was  in that type of moment, catching would be not as important as being safe. Right choice - you stayed close.