Homecoming ... and living up to my namesake (9/6/11)

[Hamachijohn]

Other than taking the kids to Legoland and Seaworld, I haven't been back to the San Diego area since college some 19 years ago. Sure wish I had taken up yakfishing back then. So after spending Labor day weekend with family in Mexico, I dropped off the wife and kid @ SD airport and wished them a happy flight back to San Francisco.

I checked into a hotel and dreamed of yellowtail. My handle on Norcalkayakanglers is Hamachijohn. I love to eat it - and while I love fishing norcal for lings, cabezon, halibut, salmon and sturgeon (OK, I actually don't enjoy fishing for sturgeon) - yakfishing for YT so far had been only a dream. Damn it, if my handle is "Hamachijohn", by golly I sure was determined to catch me one. Back to dreaming of YT... zzz.

I arrive @ the hallowed grounds and take in the scenery as I sip my coffee. I talk to a few locals getting ready to launch- very friendly folks. Maybe they saw me in my 3mm farmer john wetsuit, and decided to show some kindness to a tourist who didn’t have a chance. I have come to the end of the pilgrimage, with the only remaining task at hand- catching a YT. I unload my Adventure and realize that I left my paddle @ home 500 miles away. I went thru my checklist 4 times for this epic journey, and I still forget gear ?? But nothing was going to ruin this dream trip to Yellowtail-Land. I was determined to stay until I had caught one, and didn’t want to leave room for any excuses for not catching any, so I arranged for guide service from “The Kid”. How can you go wrong with a name like that?

Symphonies have pre-concert talks by the composer, and I got one right on the beach. I tried to remember everything being said and soak up any and all YT wisdom. It was early enough that there weren't bikini-clad folks to be distracted by.

Got on the water and had a blast, fishing with a grin on my face the whole day. I was living the dream, yakfishing for YT in La Jolla. I learned a lot from Kevin while on the water, and he was a professional the way he went about things. Now I want the season pass to YT-land. Thanks again to The Kid, and hope to be back in October, now that I’ve got yellow fever.