La Jolla 5/19 - Lessons Learned
 

Figured with the weather window I would get out today before the weekend crowds. Launched at 6:00 to minor surf (took one over the bow and got a bit wet). Bait was super easy to make. Found a school, 4 drops and 10 in the tank. Water was murky with a strong south current running. Fished outside and around the corner with no takers besides Sea Lions (lost 4 baits to those guys). Came back along the outside edge of the kelp and got the hit I was looking for in about 65 ft of water. Woohoo! So I'm getting BIG head shakes and I'm feeling the spectra just popping through the kelp before we get out to clearer water. After about 10 min I get it to color (it's big... 35-40), get my gaff ready and bring it close. I get it close several times looking for that perfect gaff shot and... big Fu*king Sea Lion comes up from under the kayak just as I'm reaching to gaff, grabs a big mouthful and the water just explodes... right. there. I take the reel out of gear thinking maybe the dog missed and I'll give the YT a chance to run. Promptly get a big birds nest and then the spectra pops. I'm left sitting in a nice still kayak holding an empty rod and gaff thinking WTF just happened!

Lesson #1 - Don't dick around looking for that perfect gaff shot. Get it stuck and get it in the boat ASAP. Especially when there are dogs in the area. I had several opportunities to gaff and I waited. As a result, I'm freezer diving for dinner tonight.

Lesson #2 - If you're fish is getting chased and you want to drop out of gear to let it run, make sure you've got some thumb on the spool. Otherwise you'll get a big birds nest and you'll get broke off for sure.

I spent another hour in the area but no takers. Called it a day about 1:00 and made it back through minor surf without embarrassing myself. Didn't see anyone else out there with bent rods or hear anything on the radio.


On the good side, I now won't have the in-laws descending on my house tonight like a swarm of booze locusts looking for a free meal and drinking my good tequila.

Dave


BTW - A sign at the launch says that the construction is scheduled for completion by the Friday before Memorial Day. That will be nice!

Well I'm sure that has lit the fire and you'll be out there very soon and I'm guessing you will land the next one, good luck.

Sent from my LG-D850 using Tapatalk

Sorry to hear your misfortune....
 

losing a fish you want sucks....I lost my first wsb at night because I waited to ajusted my light and it bolted on monofilment line after that I went and bought braided line. I sure your nail the next one

Very tough loss, we feel for you, even though we've never waited for a "perfect" gaff shot. Thumbing may cost you layers of skin, but it is quicker than going into clicker/freespool mode, although you could still end up with a birds nest. Hope you get the next one.

I went out today as well. It was my first time on the water in a couple of years as I recovered from replacing a couple worn out knees. I also had a new fish finder that I had never used before. I must have hit the button that says "hide all fish and bait" because I could not find any signs of life anywhere. Time to read the manual more carefully.

Fortunately, a nice guy on a PA gave me a couple greenbacks. Unfortunately the only bites I got where from sea lions.

I did not see anyone actually catch anything but my bait donor told me he had a nice yellow on board. I also ran across a young couple on a PB who found a hungry ling cod congregation and managed to land four in just a few minutes. (I have only caught one of those in my life)

The worst part of my trip was due to not checking out the condition of the launch before heading out. How could it not be fixed by now? Of course I left my wheels at home so I had to schlep 86 pounds of kayak balanced on my head down to the water, followed by a bunch more trips for all the gear. This was relatively easy at 7 am but after peddling around on the water for five hours, transporting the kayak and all the gear back to the car was exhausting.

The good news is that the knees held up well so I will be back out again soon, hopefully with a better understanding as to how my FF works. Note to self. Bring wheels whether you think you will need them or not.

Bob

Shit happens

If you don't learn from it


Shit happens again

Dsafety Olivenhain Bob, it's impressive you packing that kayak on your back and hauling it down to the water on your new, replacement knees!

The knees are fully renovated. The rest of the body is original equipment. Getting older sucks but it beats the alternative. Fishing helps. Catching would be better.

Pretty good attitude you gut there, buddy ,all told :cheers1:

Thats hilarious..... :cheers1:

Feel you on that one...still my ONLY YT hook up (last year) had roughly same thing happen, got YT to boat, fish went for one last run after I took too long to grab my gaf and bam...Sea Dog for the win...

Aaaah that's what happened I was wondering how you lost it to the dog so fast didn't know you got a birds nest your look of disbelieve said it all when I saw you pretty shitty. I've lost a few to the dogs only when that bull is on the prowl smaller ones won't win

That sucks big time.
LJ can be a rough neighborhood. Kelp, lobster trap lines in season, crowds, anchor lines, and loads of savvy seas lions.
When I hook up its like I hear a little clock ticking away. The longer the fight goes on the lower my chances are of winning. I'm cool with the fish getting away. But losing a fish to a dog really chaps me. Like you said, take your gaff shot and get em in the boat.
There's plenty of next times. Mike

I also have new knees, my biggest problem is after being on the water for a few hours my knees are kind of locked up so I am not to agile on my feet when I get out of the kayak. The first few months after the surgery were really bad as I was getting knocked down by the slightest water movement. I can do better now but I haven't tried La Jolla yet. I need to out with someone the first trip out.