Z-Finman
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![[*]](./images/greyalliance2/default_icon.gif) posted on 17/7/10 at 21:00 |
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Dana Point "Bass'n" - 7/15
With lots of chores to do this week, I still wanted to get out at least once to see if the spike in water temperatures would finally get the bass bite
going off of Dana Point and San Clemente. The launch out of Doheny State Park was a rocky one Thursday, with a minus tide bottoming out at 6:24am and
requiring a careful picking of channels until the water finally got deep enough to properly float a kayak. Thank goodness for a light boat this
morning, as I had to portage more than a few shallow spots! Several fishermen were already working the skinny water as I made my way out along the
jetty:
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Z-Finman
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| posted on 17/7/10 at 21:01 |
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A cousin of theirs was doing his hunting from the vantage point of a nice rock closer towards the inflow of fresh tidal water, hiding one of his legs
to fool any fish crazy enough to come within range of his lengthy neck and beak:
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Z-Finman
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| posted on 17/7/10 at 21:01 |
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Underway at last by paddle, I bypassed all the dirty and cool water by the harbor mouth, electing instead to head straight for the Dana Point
headlands while the winds were still light - the jetty would be left to fish for the afternoon, on my return. The local sentry didn’t even bat an eye
as I slid silently by!
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Z-Finman
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| posted on 17/7/10 at 21:02 |
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I found fresh blue water streaming around the kelp just south of the red buoy by the time I got there some twenty minutes later; a good 0.8 knots of
flow from the west stirring up a pretty brisk bite on the schools of sardines unfortunate enough to find themselves trapped behind the pods of kelp in
forty to fifty feet of water. Four good schools of foot-long mackerel provided a good warm up there, before I finally headed inshore to check out the
action in and around the boiler rocks. On the structure there were plenty of legal calico bass hanging out under all the foam, and feeding on
anything the waves pulled free from the kelp and rock. It was interesting to find more of them holding on the up-current side of the structure than
behind in the eddies.
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Z-Finman
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| posted on 17/7/10 at 21:03 |
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By 10am a pair of Dana Point party boats had already backed into the kelp line between the red buoy and Strand’s Beach, along with five other private
craft. Knowing that I could come back to the boiler rocks at the top of the tide if the action slowed, I elected to head their way to see if anything
was going on. The current speed had reached a good 1.2 knots on the 5.4’ flood tide by the time I arrived on station, but it was still possible to
get flies down in the 50-60’ depths as long as you started your drift well up current of the kelp. Besides the 1-4 pound calico bass prowling in the
weeds, there were several nice pods of sand bass, suspended ten to twenty feet from the bottom. At times the schools were so thick that they even
blanked out my fish-finder, obscuring the actual depth of the water! There were some nice fish in the mix; a lot of them well over four pounds and
absolutely stuffed with baitfish! Several even larger models were strong enough to get into my backing and take the kayak for a short ride. Thought
I had hooked into a white sea bass several times from their quick hits and sizzling runs!
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Z-Finman
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| posted on 17/7/10 at 21:04 |
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Every time you found a mass of the sand bass you were good for at least a dozen hookups before they got smart enough to move on down the kelp line.
The party boats were doing pretty well too, with Sum Fun next to me breaking the 100-fish mark around 2pm. The Dana Point folks were hosting
a kid’s fishing camp, and sadly, sending pretty much the wrong message concerning conservation and fishing ethics. I know, because my next door
neighbor’s son was one of the young anglers aboard, and I went out with them again on Friday and watched them kill lots of barely legal fish, taken
from the very same spot where they had dropped anchor the day before! And boy did they get mad at me when I threw back ten solid fish on the trip
(all over three pounds, caught on plastic jigs), while encouraging those near me to do the same. Don’t think they’ll get it until we’re all bared
from fishing or (worse) there simply aren’t any fish left! Sorry, just preaching to the choir I guess.
By mid-day it was starting to get pretty toasty, with the temperature cresting the 80*F mark. There was very little wind all day to complicate the
fishing or cool one off, though a nasty cross-chop of 2-4’ swells made for some pretty bumpy going. The bite slowed markedly near the top of the tide
around 1pm, but there were still a few takers hiding out in the fronds of kelp, including some colorful rockfish and sculpin.
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Z-Finman
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| posted on 17/7/10 at 21:06 |
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Headed offshore around 3:45pm to check the Dana "fingers" for fish holding along the contour lines, but nothing was metering and several drifts
along the 120-90’ rise produced no action. A line of significant thunderstorms had been forming all afternoon, and when some pretty intense lightning
started to let loose over the top of the Ortega, I decided to head in rather than get stuck offshore with a pair of 9’ high-voltage attractors
attached to my boat. These storms rarely make it across the local mountains, but this time proved an exception. Made a good decision and got off the
water by 5pm, and was much happier to be home an hour later enjoying the “light show” and cooling rains from the safety of my own driveway and porch.
Rainbows and a fantastic sunset completed a pretty perfect day.
Kim Z.
Conditions: Water temperature- 63.6- 70.0*F Water visibility- fair inshore, then good to excellent in the blue water feeding the kelp beds, and
offshore Wave height – swells of 3-4’ from the WNW, mixed with a swell from the SSE of 1-2’ Winds- light and variable early, before becoming
westerly at 3-5 knots in the early afternoon. Winds backed to the SE at 2-4 knots, as they fed the thunderstorm crossing the Ortega Weather- bright
and sunny skies all day, until high clouds moved in just after 4:30pm (associated with the CB overhangs) Useful flies- Sardine Clousers were #1 all
day, with Liberace offerings coming in second. Fished a single fly all day in the kelp and structure to minimize entanglements, on 14# FC leaders.
Area covered - Doheny breakwater all the way north to the Salt Creek kelp beds. Fish count- over 100 fish for the day; calico bass, sand bass, macks,
and assorted others, including four short halibut
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JoeA
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| posted on 18/7/10 at 10:18 |
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Kim,
Beautiful fish, scenery, etc. That's a trip I'm sorry I didn't make. I was too tired after arriving home late the night before. I drove home from
Mammoth with a brief stop in Mammoth to get the fifth species:two small goldens.
Count me in on the next one.
JoeA.
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