Catalina...6/7/2013...long w/pic

[Mahigeer]

This is my first report here. My reports are somewhat detailed, so the reader can feel they are there with me. Also I like to provide information for anyone who wants to explore the area that I have been.
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The last time that I was in Avalon, I stayed an extra day to go on a kayaking adventure.<O:p></O:p>
However, I was very tired from fishing long hours for four (4) days and it was windy when I was at the kayak rental stand. <O:p></O:p>
Therefore; I made a decision to fish the Mole and return another time and try it. I figured I would be fresh and rested at 8:00 AM and could do a full day of kayaking followed <O:p></O:p>
by an all-night fishing followed by another full day of fishing.<O:p></O:p>
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Thus the following outing report.<O:p></O:p>
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Saturday Jun 7<SUP>th</SUP>, 2013. <O:p></O:p>
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As usual I was the first in line at the Catalina Express terminal in Long Beach. The boat was maybe ¼ full, and the ride a smooth one. Met with some anglers that were going to the island. <O:p></O:p>
The trip went fast while I was giving the information about fishing the area. They were gone by the time I got back so I did not see how they did. They were going to fish the rock quarry.<O:p></O:p>
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I setup two rods and put on waders, life jacket and the VHF radio. The rest of the gear such as water, a sandwich, tackle container, rod leashes, etc. was put in a dry bag.<O:p></O:p>
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I stored my cart in a storage area that is run by father and son. I had made friends with the son and had given him fish in the past. He only charged me $5.00 to store the cart until I got back.<O:p></O:p>
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I walked over the kayak rental housing and got on the way at 9:00 AM. <O:p></O:p>
They had only two fishing kayaks that were Ocean Kayak I believe. I am not comfortable yet with sitting side ways on the kayak to reach for items in back of me. <O:p></O:p>
Thus, I put the bag of gear on my legs and it was heavy with sinkers, and other items.<O:p></O:p>
It felt great and it was a new view and surroundings that I had not experienced since I started to go to Avalon for fishing in 2006.<O:p></O:p>
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Side note….During the summer I plan to do practice getting on the kayak in the water and turning around; as well as getting in the water and trying to get back into the kayak <O:p></O:p>
with an empty kayak to see how it is done. <O:p></O:p>
A shallow area in the Redondo Harbor is the plan.<O:p></O:p>
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Back to kayaking/fishing<O:p></O:p>
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The overcast skies provided a cool morning to do paddling, but it got sunny on the way back.<O:p></O:p>
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1—The water looked calm and if you notice the flag to the left of the picture, there was hardly any wind.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1201-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1201-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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One rod was setup with a 3” weedless swimbait and I was trolling outside of the dive park to the north of the Casino.<O:p></O:p>
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2—This is Descanso Beach to the north of the Casino.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1202-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1202-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
There are kayaks there (see yellow dots on the left side of the picture). I will find out more about them and add to this report later.<O:p></O:p>
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I kept trolling and sightseeing and having a good time not knowing what was ahead in the cards.<O:p></O:p>
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3—The Hamilton Cove. An upscale condo complex. <O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1203-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1203-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
I had heard about some good fishing areas are in the Cove.<O:p></O:p>
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4—This area between Descanso Beach and Hamilton Cove looks very fishy.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1204-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1204-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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5-There is a small pier connected to the dock. The Water Taxi will take the residents to the Green Pleasure Pier via water.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1205-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1205-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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I saw a yellow cast-a-bubble hanging from the rope connected to the dock, it was not hard to cut the line and pick it up. Then I saw another one on the north side pilling of the pier. <O:p></O:p>
As I approached it the waves hit me against the pilling and I had to get out of there. I cut the line, but the bubble fell in the water. <O:p></O:p>
As I did a little struggle getting the kayak under control and trying to pick the bubble from the water I heard a noise. I turned and saw one rod in the water only held on by the <O:p></O:p>
rod leash. It must have hit the pier pilling and pulled out of rod holder.<O:p></O:p>
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This is a second time that I have hit a pier pilling with my rods while kayaking. I keep forgetting the fact that the rods stick out. <O:p></O:p>
Kind a like the head antennas of Ray Walston in the TV series…..MY favorite Martian.<O:p></O:p>
If you know what I mean, I am sorry to say that you are old. <O:p></O:p>
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6-Looks like at one time there was a boat lunch area here.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1206-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1206-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
By now I had lost my swimbait to kelp and had a single hook rig in the water with bait.<O:p></O:p>
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When the clicker went off zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, I was glad to have my first fish kayaking in Catalina.<O:p></O:p>
It turned out to be an Ocean whitefish. I put a line through the gills and put the fish back in the water.<O:p></O:p>
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7—I decided to explore areas such as this more completely on the way back.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1207-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1207-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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8—Great beach to fish, but I don’t see any access to it from land. Only from the water side.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1208-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1208-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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9—This rock is called the “Frog Rock” I believe. I went waaay north of this. On the way back it became the first goal to reach!!<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1209-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1209-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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It had been 2.5 hours since I was in the kayak paddling. The wind started to pick up, so I decided it was time to go back and fish the areas that I had seen.<O:p></O:p>
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Well, now this is when the fun ends and the hard work and pain starts. The Ocean kayak felt like a cast iron bath tub with an anchor dragging behind it.<O:p></O:p>
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I was battling the waves and the wind for FOUR (4) hours WITHOUT any rest more than a few seconds to keep from floating backwards.<O:p></O:p>
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The seat in the kayak was noting compare to a decent seat. My buns, knees and ankles were getting cramps. I had water and sandwich, but I could not take time to eat or drink <O:p></O:p>
in fear of losing grounds.<O:p></O:p>
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To rub salt in my wounds, other kayakers with either a better kayak or tandem were passing me by like I was standing still.<O:p></O:p>
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10—Finally back. That dock looked so good. Beyond words.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1210-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1210-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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There is no kidding with the Pacific Ocean. It can turn on you in nothing flat.<O:p></O:p>
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11—It was a lot of hard work for that one fish. Once I realized that I had a battle on my hand, I reeled in the rig and stopped trolling and fishing altogether. Thus, only one fish.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1211-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1211-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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I was so tired that I could not tuck my legs under me to sit up. Having had little sleep during the night before getting up at 4:00 AM to get to Long Beach did not help the matters either.<O:p></O:p>
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I literally rolled on my stomach and even kissed the mat. Glad to be off that thing. <O:p></O:p>
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12—My first fish (Ocean Whitefish) caught while kayaking in Catalina.<O:p></O:p>
http://i444.photobucket.com/albums/qq163/balickchi/DSCN1243-1.jpg (http://s444.photobucket.com/user/balickchi/media/DSCN1243-1.jpg.html)<O:p></O:p>
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In conclusion; if I do it again, I will not go anything pass the Hamilton Cove. I could have gone toward the Pebbly Beach and to the south of the Mole and come back with wind on my back.<O:p></O:p>
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However, One cannot always know which direction the wind is going to below in the future.<O:p></O:p>
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If the Descanso Beach resort has fishing kayaks for rent, I may go from there. It is a bit of a walk from the Mole, but I rather to be on land than in the water with high winds. <O:p></O:p>
At least I would not have the waves to deal with, and I could even get a taxi to Descanso Beach and back if I really wanted to.<O:p></O:p>
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To be continued at pierfishing.com at the pier and shore fishing message board.<O:p></O:p>
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Sorry about the arrows. I don’t know why they appear and how to prevent them on this board.<O:p></O:p>

[dorado50]

now that is quite the adventure! what you do with that tiny whitefish? Put it between two slices of bread and eat it for lunch?.

[Iceman]

very thorough report, felt like I was there :D I prefer to fish hard and paddle or pedal as little as possible!

[captnblood34]

Did you change up your bait at all the entire trip? Bummer you came back with one taco...... Thorough report thanks!

[carbonbass]

why dont more people from this board post WSB or YT pics from Cat on a yak?

[Mahigeer]

Thank you all for your kind words. On the other fishing boards, my outing reports are dubbed “travel logs”.<O:p</O:p

I had only one kind of bait which has been a great producer for me in the past. Sorry I cannot share it on line.<O:p

On the way back I did not want to lose ground dealing with fishing. If I had a better kayak, it would have been different.<O:p</O:p

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Unfortunately, taking a personal kayak there is not practical. Maybe the reason there is little or no kayak report from Catalina.<O:p</O:p

[alanw]

Thanks for posting the adventure and pictures, well done :cheers1:

[PE.rider]

Great report as always Hashem!
I even felt your paddling fatigue. ;)

Though I may have enjoyed your outing more since I was within reach of my bourbon and cigar. :sifone:

It seems the bite has been off for all points north of Doheny Beach... with some exceptions.

Let's hope the next few outings in the near future balance things out along the CA coastline.

[WildernessWanker]

Great report, I am heading there soon and was curious about the layout of the coast and what to see.

[vincentek9]

very nice going! very detailed report too!

[Mahigeer]

Thank you everyone, you are too kind.


Only kayakers can really know the feeling of paddling against wind and swells.

The feeling of when the worst the weather gets the more tiring it is to paddle.


Now that I am rested it is a memorable trip.


I forgot to mention that while in front of the dive park, a small school of flying fish made a small jump out of the water right in front of me.

[phreshwon]

Pack some ground tackle when you go out there. I used to do a week long vacation there with the yak and got caught up in some nasty wind and current. I once had a lightning bolt strike the island on the east end 75 yards from me. :eek: There is not a lot of beach to land on in most areas. Get in 50ft of water which is like 20ft off the beach and drop anchor and rest.

I have caught alot of YT and seen some of the biggest schools of YT around the Frog Rock area. They can be VERY finicky. I once had a school of feeding YT all around me that i was throwing live squid at. They would not touch it. They were feeding on schools of smelt. The next day i sabikied up some smelt off the Mole and it was game on.

If anyone is looking at going there for a week or so and want to take their own yak call Catalina Flying Boats in Long Beach. It's been a couple of years since i bought a boat but it's like 35 or 40 cents a pound to ship your kayak one way. I would pick it up in town on Monday and send it back on Saturday before they closed. Just ship the yak and not your tackle to minimize cost.

[Mahigeer]

Thanks for the information.


I did not take my anchor, since I had a lot of other gear for pier fishing and staying overnight.

Next time though if I go, I will take my anchor. Lots of kelp area that one should explore slowly.

I heard the same YT story around the frog rock.