Cabrillo 7/7/07

[Tarpon guy]

Well, I'm sorry to say I don't have much of a report for last weekend. I was busier than I expected to be and only had my yak in the water for about an hour.

Robert, I tried a little trolling and casting spinners, but no luck. I know it was not the lures; the fish were just not biting. I picked up a school on the fish finder of around a dozen or more in shallow water just past the surf line, directly out from the bathhouse. I tried a little of everything on them but no luck. If anyone wants to know for future reference, I have usually been able to troll one or two out of that area on a regular basis. It seems to be a regular hotel there.

The kelp beds have completely changed. They seemed to be pretty consistent all last summer and through the winter. Now, the areas that were solid are gone. Large areas that were free of kelp are now covered with sort of a grid with one or two kelp strands separated by ten or fifteen feet of what looks like clear areas from the surface, but seem to also be full of kelp that hasn't grown to the surface yet. Very hard to find any place to cast without getting hung up. There has also been a good stand of kelp in deeper water directly to seaward, or south of the inshore kelp beds. That whole kelp bed is gone, but there is another, smaller one a little west, towards Whites Point, but still in the Scotia Reef area.

I ended up driving to the parking lot directly above the kelp beds to take a look from overhead. I wished I would have done that before! Things looked a lot different from there and I was able to see more of where I would like to try the next time I go there. It looks like the only solid area is to the extreme west end of the kelp beds. It looks like it might be a good place for big fishies to hide.

In the end, any time you're casting bait, even for a little while, is a good time.

So anyway, who hid all the fish?