[RPT] HMB 10/18

Went to HMB yesterday after not being on the water for a while.

Launch at first light from HMK, heading toward the green can and fish the reef there a little and went toward the red can. Was hoping for lingcod but only caught 4 small RF that I safely released; 1 copper, 1 red, 1 back and 1 brown. So good diversity but not lingcod or cab.

The fog came in fairly quickly around 10 and I slowly found my way back to the harbor using my GPS.... Quick reminder not to forget your safety equipment.

I heard of our couple of lingcod being caught but haven't heard of any salmon.

Anyway, it was nice to be the water

Traffic to go back home was not ideal, a lot of folks at pumpkin patches....

Thanks for the report Frenchy... 

I was out on a friends boat Sunday too.  That fog came in pretty quick. 
We caught a 24" ling and a good cabby near the Ritz but had to go deep to catch a half dozen rockfish (fortunately all keepers). 
That GPS is a must.

Weekends have always been busy, but recently a good +45 minutes eastbound on 92. Stop and go traffic ends after sunday farms heading up the big slope.

Last weekend was absolute madness due to everyone leaving at the same time when the rain came in. Deadlock within pillar point harbor. Filleted my fish, grabbed some chowder, and took a nap.

Filleted my fish, grabbed some chowder, and took a nap.

That sounds like a good plan regardless of the traffic situation...

Weekends have always been busy, but recently a good +45 minutes eastbound on 92. Stop and go traffic ends after sunday farms heading up the big slope.

Last weekend was absolute madness due to everyone leaving at the same time when the rain came in. Deadlock within pillar point harbor. Filleted my fish, grabbed some chowder, and took a nap.

It was literally bumper to bumper from the boat ramp to 280 last week.  Took me 2 hours to get from the parking lot at PP to my house in redwood city lol. This most recent weekend was better at 1 hour. I assume it will get bad again when crab opens

I was out there as well with about 15 other kayaks. Trolled WMA for salmon (no bites) about 4 hours, and then switched to rock fish & Halibut. Lost two big fish, released a few small rock fish, and one ling that I brought home.

Pretty interesting to listen to those on the radio who were out on the water without GPS when the fog rolled in .

Hopefully, crowds will die down after halloween and when it gets colder.
With covid around, hard to say what extent people are willing to go to get out of the house.

Would think the % of the crowd fishing is still relatively small compared to the general populous.

Dungie opening week may bring in a lot more fishing traffic. Seen the battle for parking and jetty real estate, not sure what it looks like on the water. Definitely going to be avoiding pacifica pier now that I have a kayak.

I’ve seen the morning fog, but first time seeing it roll in later. How frequent of an occurrence is that? Main concern for me in the fog is getting hit by a boat.

I’ve seen the morning fog, but first time seeing it roll in later. How frequent of an occurrence is that? Main concern for me in the fog is getting hit by a boat.
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This the second time I have had the fog roll in later in the morning. The first time was only my second time on the ocean. My fishing partner was out by the red can when he screamed on the radio to get into the harbor as fast as I could. I was by the green can at the time and got a little ways before the wind and fog hit. The wind was pushing me towards the harbor but it kept pushing the rear of the kayak around so it was a real struggle to paddle straight.

 As I came through the jaws there was a paddle boarder heading out with only shorts, and no PFD. I looked at him and said if you go out there you will die. Luckily he heeded my warning and turned around.

I had two boats I could hear coming in my direction at high speed on Sunday. It was pretty scary and I didn’t know if I could do anything about. Both times right when they popped through the fog they saw me and swerved. I’m glad I have a big orange flag on top of an 8’ fiberglass rod.

I was rockfishing near the red can when it rolled in. Went back to the green to troll for salmon to wait it out thinking boats would at least hear the clanging and not be booking it. Eventually got tired of waiting and went went further east to take a less likelier boat path back to the jaws.

Yelled out a couple of occasions and the boats would slow down looking for kayakers.

The horn and swell made it easier to navigate back.

For a less than newbie kayaker this is a great and valuable forum. I have had boats with radar which has been helpful in the past and am going to make sure as I start the path of learning kayaking that I error on the side of caution in the ocean which is not natural for me, however I want to be around for quite a while.

For a less than newbie kayaker this is a great and valuable forum. I have had boats with radar which has been helpful in the past and am going to make sure as I start the path of learning kayaking that I error on the side of caution in the ocean which is not natural for me, however I want to be around for quite a while.

Dude, I hear ya!  99.9% of my boating experience is from when I was in the USCG driving small boats.  Now I need to avoid all of the things I used to shrug at.  It's quite the mindset change.

... I looked at him and said if you go out there you will die.

Excellent---direct and to the point!

Yelled out a couple of occasions and the boats would slow down looking for kayakers.

A whistle is essential, IMHO...

I took last weekend off of fishing to surf Linda Mar.  Did you know that some of those surfers don't realize there are fish there! 

Traffic was crazy at 10am when I was leaving.  I can't even imagine what it looked like after noon.