Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge

Twice I have brought my kayak from Los Angeles to San Diego hoping to get on the hallowed grounds of La Jolla. Twice big swells have pushed me into the Bays. This was a pic I took during the December big swell.
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My first Bay fishing trip was a Dana Landing launch with a big skunk a rooni. Yesterday’s fishing trip had better results. Advice from Bob Benner on SC Surf Fishing had me launching out of Spanish Landing. Winds were reported to be 7 knots and I definitely was getting pushed. I paddled to the nearest bridges and worked the pilings without luck. Some locals were fishing from up above. I saw them catch fish, and unlucky for the fish, release to what looked like a 30 foot drop. I guess that is better than the frying pan? With no luck, I continued the drift back to the Marine Corps Recruit Depot. My prior service had me thinking that I would get lucky.
Instincts were good. I found a spot that had fish. I like working Critter Baits and bouncing them. Unfortunately the bites were soft, and having rigged weedless kept me from getting my hook sets. I changed to a 3 inch Halloween Big Hammer. My first Spotty was a little guy, but that one fish in the kayak lifted the soul.

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The wind had me drifting in a Northwest direction to the far back area of the cove. Good thing because the next fish came on Berkley Gulp Jerk bait. Notice in the picture how I'm practically on the shore. Did I mention it was windy?

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I decided to stay into the dark and landed the kayak to put on my light and dig out my headlamp. I thought I’d really be able to get on the fish by working the bridge area once it got dark. When I got there I saw that a boater was doing some hooping. I thought I saw a buoy with no light so I went to his boat to ask if he had other buoys. He mentioned he only had one hoop going, we had some interaction that while cordial left me with the huh feeling? Though he was within 20 yards of his hoop idling, I made an effort to paddle away quietly with no paddle noise, I left him the northern bridge and settled on fishing the southern bridge. Few minutes later he idles up and mentions that divers were due to come into the area in about 10-15 minutes. It was difficult to hear him over the engine sounds bouncing off the bridge. I regret that I made a poor choice of parting comments, but I felt like he was asserting that the bridges were off limits. For the record, I think that most anglers and particularly kayak anglers are smart enough to spot when divers and hoops are in the water and would do everything possible to avoid them. So, I didn’t get to fish what I thought would be a productive spot, but no matter, I felt like I had a good day.
Thanks to Bob for his good advice on a launch spot. Huge thanks to San Diego for always having super clean bathrooms and even a shower at Spanish Landing.