HOT BITE SALMON Moss Landing

The boats were out there thick this morning.  I saw one kayak paddling out the jaws at about 7:30 when I drove by.  I hope it lasts till the weekend. 

sorry etienne, the bait is there, the whales are there, but the salmon are few,
at least right out the mouth of the harbour.

I boated one 18" shaker (I'm afraid I did not shake it, but netted it, measured it,
checked the gums, and reluctantly released it, as it was my first chinook in
the boat. but it swam off strong). 

trolling in 120 feet 45 pulls with a 10oz banana and
small (5.5") herring in an FBR. I didn't have a lot of time, fished about 3 hours,
but I think of the 5 kayaks out there at that point I was the only one with a salmon,
but some dogfish were being caught by the moochers.

the PB fleet left for points north and south too, I saw no nets fly.

I'm feeling good tho, first salmon in the boat for me. felt comfortable out there and
gear worked well for me, I'm ready for another shot if we get another good tip.

saw frank, tom, kevin, eric out there too, hopefully they hook up with some salmon.

J

Hey at least you got out there and had a fish on.  It looked nice out there when I drove by.  That is better than I did last weekend in La Jolla.  I am planning a backup plan for one of the Big Sur spots in case the salmon bite is no longer happening once the weekend arrives.  Thanks for the update. 

WTG John!  2 more inches.

I hereby delcare that this salmon counts as a legitmate catch. put a notch on your paddle, even if you don't get to keep and eat it.

Allen

Thanks Allen! quite a bit of effort over the last 18 months went into boating that fish,
I do feel like it was an accomplishment for me and I learned everything from NCKA!

It was a real nice day, no wind, no swell,  the humpback put on a show for us all
(wait till you hear frank's story. nope, the coastguard was not involved and yes,
I think he stayed dry,  ) I drove home pretty pleased with the morning.

J

Way to Go J!!!

did you get a picture? And where about did you hookup. North or South of the Can.

no pic, my camera is with my wife in Norway this week. It was a fat fish, but
it was short.

I was criss crossing the tip of the canyon on my way in. it hit
on the north side of the tip of the canyon, pretty much straight out.  There's a
ton of jellyfish out there too, but they didn't cause me any problems.

Kevin and I got hit at the same time in the same place a bit later, but neither stuck.

If you are real patient and have a lot of time, you might be able to mooch or
trooch something up there. easy paddle at least. maybe the fish will return to
that bait or another school will come through and stick on them?

I can't fish this weekend so I had to try today.

J

Cool John.  Wait till you hook into a 20+ pounder.  It'll happen!

I just got a call from Kevin.  He said John's fish was the only salmon caught that he was aware of. Kevin didn't see any boaters or yakkers netting anything either.  He said he tried trolling and mooching close, and even went two miles further out, but only got nailed by a few dogfish, no salmon.  That's quite frustrating considering the fish were thick there the last two days.

FYI -- The Fuzz and I went out to Moss yesterday afternoon to see if we could get out on the yaks, but the wind was still blowing hard and never let up.  So we went on to "Plan B".  At 3:30pm, we locked up the yaks on the roof rack and hopped on boat with Harold's diving buddies,  Eric and Clint.  We fished less than a mile from the harbor and hooked 4 salmon within the first 5 minutes.  Unfortunately, they were all babies averaging only about 19 inches.  We kept one fish measuring 21 inches and let a few close ones go.  The action died right after that quick bite.

As the same ol' sad story goes --- "if we had just gotten there sooner, we could have caught our limits".  Oh, well..... 

ChuckE

mooching or trolling?

The big fish have to be around there someplace huh? Bait must be pretty thick

Sounds like they've got a pretty good bite going up north too

We caught'em trolling Watermelon Apexes and FBR's down about 30 to 60 ft.  We should have tried mooching.

There were lots of birds, bait, and whales near the buoy. 

Like Blue, I was thinking the big fish were there somewhere -- perhaps deeper below the little ones.

I was wondering why I saw two yaks tied on a vehicle right next to a boat trailer at Moss last night.  It is nice to know someone is getting out there while I am working and wishing it was me.

Up here lately smaller fish and silvers have been getting caught higher in the water column, and those who have the gear and the patience have fished down to 150-200' trying for the big hogs.  Could be the same there...  Regarding the duration of the bite:  when you hear it's on try to get there immediately.

Good luck, guys.   

Conditions were fantastic, just a slight roll to the water, no wind at all till about 11, then just a slight breeze that didn't get serious until I was loaded up and leaving at 1:30.  Nothing but small sharks for me - was I fishing too deep (75 otw)?  The 5 hour whale show was worth the effort - at one point the big guy was pounding his fins on the water. I don't ever want to be any closer.  Good fishing with everyone.

last weedend I was listening to the radio chatter of the fleet and they were fishing soldiers club south of Moss Landing.  Assuming it wasnt BS, they seemed to be finding the fish generally shallow 40 feet or less, or really deep.  Size didnt seem to be that different based on depth.

perhaps this school is moving its way North?

I really believe that Fluorocarbon helps mooching.  You can run 20 to 30 lbs test and the salmon will still bite.  Thread the hook into the eye and come out short of the tail. one or two half-hitches and a rubberband around the gills.  I would use a round ball for weight and a slide O.

You can go down past the bait that you past the bait and slow bring it up past the bait on your fish finder.  Drop down again.  This is "Yo Yoing".  Sometimes that salmon like to see a moving bait. You usually get the bite on the up swing.  If you do get a bite, remember to feed it some line.  Salmon nibble at the bait first.  If you see you line going out you can free spool for awhile or try to reel in slowly.  Don't set the hook until your rod tip bends.  Circle hooks are a "Bitch".

Ken kickfish

Conditions were excellent; no wind or swell, plenty of bait, and the whales.  We launched early enough.  Paddled out near the 1mi bouy then tried a little further out with the fleet (~2mi).  I didn't see anyone land one. 

Paddled back and fished between green can and mile bouy.  Saw one boat land one.  John landed a small one.  I ended the day with 2 bites that might have been salmon (or sharks) and a shark...  Very frustrating that we missed the bite by a day...

The whale show was awesome.  Closest I've been to them.