Big Waves and Big Fun

At the last minute I got a request for my wife for some Lingcod filets.

So despite the marginal forecast and the fact that the swell had been BOOMING (Mavericks weekend!!!) I felt obligated to do my husbandly duty to try and harvest some meat for the family. ; )

Got a text from my friend Adam saying he was gonna go with our buddy Joey on Sunday and if I wanted to go…heck yeah! Having a dive buddy on big swell days is a good idea just in case a yak rips free from the kelp or something.

Arrived at beach while still totally dark out. Could hear the waves slamming onto the stairs by the pier though and the rocks on the beach getting tossed around by the swell…pretty intimidating!

Was ready to go just as first light was peeping over the horizon.

Timed the sets and launched right off the stairs and headed up North giving the pounding break at Ghost Trees a WIDE respectful berth. The Cuda14 handled the big swell great!!

Recently downloaded a GPS app onto my phone so was excited to try and use it. My buddy gave me the numbers of a reef we have both frequented in the past that is offshore aways but comes up to 30-35 feet, has killer cracks and structure and usually holds a variety of lings and other nice fishies.

However…between a combination of Charlie giving me the WRONG numbers (he texted me the correct ones later but I missed them) and me not knowing how to use the stupid GPS app, instead of starting at a moderate 35 feet like I wanted, my first drop was down to 50 feet. Then 54, then 57. LOL!

Structure was killer, but didn’t want to exhaust myself too quickly so paddled to the next kelp patch in the general area…still in high 40’s low 50’s but by now I was warmed up and viz was killer at about 30 feet.

On one drop I landed close to a decent sheephead. It swam up, turned sideways and paused giving me a broadside shot at just the edge of my guns range. I wanted to get just a BIT closer…glided forward aiming, BAM sheep bolted and I cursed all the way to the surface.

Right then my friends Adam and Joey paddled up and the first words Adam said while looking at his FF were “Man it’s pretty deep out here!”

I told him I knew it rose up shallower right around here so was looking for that spot. The fellas jumped in and I kept on looking for the target reef.

On the next drop a nice Ling swam up to check me out and I stoned her right between the eyes. Nice 31.5 incher that was spawned out and hungry with an empty belly.

After about twenty minutes I found the reef I had been looking for and called Adam and Joey over and told them it was a little shallower over here and there were plenty of fish.

Ton of lings between 24 and 28 inches out….easily saw at least 20 legal lings. Big schools of medium sized blues and small blacks, a nice deep crack with a friendly 26 inchish Ling and a ton of assorted rockfish including a pretty China (not that common down here this shallow) but couldn’t find anything that I really wanted and was hoping for a bigger Ling to end the day so restrained myself and didn’t shoot anything.

We then moved to an area that is only about 30 feet deep but wasn’t much more surgy than where we had been, and had top to bottom viz in most spots.

Took one nice blue, a decent rubberlip and a chunky nice eating size cab that turned out to have a whole abalone foot in his belly. Already spat the shell out I guess?? : )

Found the crack where my shaft got stuck last time I was there when I shot a cab…shaft was still there and still stuck, and another cab had moved in…I took him too. : )

Then went and checked a hole where there is almost always a cab or Ling. There was a decent Ling in there but not huge so left her.

Next searched for and found the crack where two of my friends took sheephead last year. Nobody home this time though.

Started swimming back to the yak and knew it was almost time to go so shot the next decent ling I saw. Only 26 inches but the little ones taste good. ; )

Really enjoyed the paddle back in with Adam and Joey…no wind, sun shining, clear water and swell was big but long enough period that paddling was nice and easy, and really enjoyed how the Cuda glided through the kelp patches. Ghost Trees gave us a nice show on the way in and showed us why it is a world famous big wave spot on big swell days.

No Gopro still, so you just get my words and a few pics. ; )

Special thanks to Adam and Joey for the fun day!!

Sincerely,

Jim