Capitola - june 16, 2007

After aborting a salmon hunt at Moss Landing due to "iffy" conditions, JTF, Chuck and I decided "plan B" and headed over to the calmer waters of Capitola. We were pleasantly suprised to see Kevin out by the kelp beds with his buddy. Good to see you up and around again Kevin 

Anyway, after catching and releasing some smallish RF (trooching with frozen chovys) I made my way to the cement ship - trolling a charlie graves spoon along the shoreline - hoping for a striper - but to no avail . I reached the famous "Cement Ship" and took some pics and headed back to the Capitola Kelp Beds. Trolled my way back with no results As soon as I get to the kelp beds, I met Kevin and he told me to use a "certain lure" I followed his lead and managed to hook a couple of underlings - one of which almost made it to the game clip  - just an inch shy of doom  Thanks for the tip Kev 

Not to offend anyone, but Capitola made it to my top 2 list of places NEVER to kayak fish again *(#1 being Santa Cruz)....the parking is a hassel and fishing "can be good" ...if you hit it on the right day...you all know how that goes  Again, this is just my personal opinion and don't mean to offend any of the local yakers - peace 

But then again, Capitola was home to the "15 POUND ALBACORE TUNA that was caught about a year ago by a striper fisherman from the shoreline  .....what do I know 

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A hobbit-footed ling lipper...HELLA manly

A hobbit-footed ling lipper...HELLA manly

......that's just how I roll 

Yea it was a pleasant suprise to see you guys there also. The fishing was not to great, but it was wonderful to be able to get out again. I ended up with 6 small rockfish which one was donated by Chuck. They all made it to the frying pan and then into several small corn tortilla's that evening.

Hey, Mooch.  Being a newbie, I'm curious what's wrong with Santa Cruz - parking, beachgoers, wind, and waves?  If SC and Capitola are top 2 to avoid, what's your top 5 favorites?  By the way, nice looking rod.

Hey, Mooch.  Being a newbie, I'm curious what's wrong with Santa Cruz - parking, beachgoers, wind, and waves?  If SC and Capitola are top 2 to avoid, what's your top 5 favorites?  By the way, nice looking rod.

IMO: Santa Cruz is better with parking - compared to  Capitola - but the fishing has never been consistent enough - for me at least. Anywhere you find a boat launch close by...or rental skiffs available, the place usually gets a lot of fishing pressure. If I was to drive an hour or two, I'd hit places like Davenport, MBK, StillWater (South), Bean Hollow (depending on conditions), Pescadero and Fort Ross.

Santa Cruz and Capitola are for the "very patient" anglers.....I'm simply not

Also, I like to add that when I paddle out to my favorite fishing grounds, I like looking back to the shoreline and see nothing but cliffs - with no million dollar houses. I also like seeing empty beaches and a just couple of parking spots  I guess I got spoiled because of places like Big Sur and Elk 

Good to meet you guys when you landed on the beach at Capitola. One suggestion if you ever try it again: paddle straight out to the buoy. There is a nice reef out there.

Mooch, when fishing Santa Cruz you have to understand our local culture and vibe.

first the reason irons do not work is they are not mined in a sustainable fashion, so our fish boycott them.  Same goes for non union, offshore, slave labor sweat shops making pretied rigs.  Dont even mention nonbiodegradable plastic swim baits.   

also remember our aura does travel down the line from our fingers, so if you are full of negative energy, the fish see it.

so before you wet a line here, center yourself, feed your inner being, use only organic baits, feng shui your kayak rigging and tune in to the cosmic drum circle

Good to meet you guys when you landed on the beach at Capitola. One suggestion if you ever try it again: paddle straight out to the buoy. There is a nice reef out there.

Nice to meet you too - and thanks for the tip.....I believe Chuck made his way out there - don't know if he ever made it to the reef that you had mentioned.

also remember our aura does travel down the line from our fingers, so if you are full of negative energy, the fish see it.

so before you wet a line here, center yourself, feed your inner being, use only organic baits, feng shui your kayak rigging and tune in to the cosmic drum circle

Point taken  Will try to be more positive next time....but what I think I really need is a guided trip from the Local Legend = Mr. Allen Bushnell 

But then again, Capitola was home to the "15 POUND ALBACORE TUNA that was caught about a year ago by a striper fisherman from the shoreline  .....what do I know 

Hey mooch,
Hookie caught that albie at New Brighton I think. Not capitola. Now there is NO reason to fish there...LOL! Except the huge school of WSB that live out there somewhere.

But hey, at least the launch is cake!

PK

Except the huge school of WSB that live out there somewhere.

I have a feeling that these so called WSB are actually over grown King Fish  Same family right? 

But hey, at least the launch is cake!

True....but as we were packing up our yaks...we saw several BIG BREAKERS  come in....it seems like every now and then, a couple of BIG ONES show up when you least expect it 

mooch, I agree with everything you say, but other than a big south swell
(there was a little one happening that's the sets you saw),
you get to fish capitola no matter what the weather, it is the most protected spot
we can fish in the ocean.

so it's the safest place to take a noob and for a noob to go.

that counts for a lot. the parking does suck. you have to get there early.

noobs going to bean hollow is not a good thing.

also for a lot of folks, a couple underlings and some smallish rockfish is a decent result.

heck, for a kid or a wife that never caught a fish before, a kingfish is exciting.

and santa cruz is pretty nice when you can leave your truck in the driveway and just
roll your yak out of the garage and down to the launch ramp,  .

lastly, to me there is 'destination fishing' and 'fishing your backyard'. personally 'destination'
fishing is a slippery slope. there is always a place further, more expensive, that you can
go to very infrequently and makes your backyard less fun when you get back to it.

so I tend to stay away from 'destination fishing' if I can. my goal is to fish often, not catch
a ton of fish. don't get me wrong, catching is good, but I don't need a lot for a fish taco dinner
for my family of four.

if you learn to fish your backyard, you get better at fishing it, you go more often, etc, that
is my reason for trying to fish my 'local' coast more than the far-flung locations.

catching is great, but fishing is not all about the catching.

wow, I am sounding pretty hippy-dippy here, maybe this santa cruz stuff is wearing off on me?  .

J

i've owned my yak for about 7 weeks now, gone fishing in it about 10 times, 6 times at Santa Cruz only 2 of which were successful trips with a nice sized lings and some rock fish. the rest of the times, mostly chumming from having to paddle too much. so i would have to say that it isn't the most exciting place but it definily got me prepped. it's definitely a good, safe, and convenient place for a newbie (i guess i still am  ).

but yeah mooch, i know what you're saying, for my next outings, i'm really looking forward to other more exciting places that kayak fishing is supposed to bring...