Palos Verdes 1/19
Ever since January 2012 when all my favorite Palos Verdes opaleye holes were turned into Marine Protected Areas, I have been in search of a good replacement. The past two years I have accessed the open-to-fishing side of P.V., basically the shoreline north of Pt. Vicente. The issue is this area is continually pummeled by the regular north-west swell generated by storms over the Gulf of Alaska and other regions of the Northern Pacific. My old spots were south facing and protected from the main swell, making them easily fished. The opaleye liked it better over there too as they could feed inside the intertidal zone without being slammed against sharp rocks. The challenge was to find a similar zone outside of the MPAs to catch fish where wardens and local vigilantes won’t bug you.
Two years later I found it. It was right in my face the whole time.
How I’ve been working it heretofore was to look at the swell chart in the morning before I left home and if the swell was two feet or less I would venture out to the points near the end of Hawthorne Blvd. to fish rocks that stick out into perfect looking opaleye habitat. If the swell was any higher I would stay home. The odd part is I would catch only one or two per trip, if any, instead of the normal limit of ten like the good ol’ days.
I would park at the lot on Calle Entradero and hike down the trail that leads right to the most awesome casting platforms ever. Said lot has a sign stating no parking before sunrise. The first three years after it opened I never had an issue. Even the Sherriff’s black-and-white checked me out at 5am twice but didn’t stop. As long as you have fish poles in your hand I recon they figure you are not up to anything nefarious.
Sometime in 2011 a private security outfit was hired by the neighborhood. The patrolman immediately intercepted me one morning and said get out or the cops will be notified. Brutal. Now you have to park a half-mile north on Paseo Del Mar and hike twenty minutes to the point. Also from P.D.M we have fishable rocks at another minor point to the right. Same principal applies; only fish in swell two feet or less.
Anyway, the many times I tested the area when the points were calm I passed this pile of rocks at the back of the cove where at low tide I saw a thick film of exposed ulva, the fodder of my opaleye quarry. I surmised at high tide they will cruise by to graze. I made a note to fish these boulders some day when the swell was up past two feet. Since the points would be too rough for them to feed, they’ll be back in the cove filling up where life is easy.
This morning before I left the house I checked the swell chart and saw the surf to be three feet, which would make the points unfishable but those rocks at the back of the cove would have enough of the perfect mild wave action during the 6.6-foot high tide at 07:45 to wash out stuff opaleye eat and they will be there picking it off, along with grazing the ulva that will now be accessible to them.
Armed with a bucket of perfect ulva intestinalis algae obtained from Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach, I was making my first casts with a five-inch WildEye sardine for bass after chumming a few wads of green bait from the rocks at the back of the cove at five before six. I knew there wouldn’t be any calicos at this spot. It was just something to do in the darkness before opaleye time, which commences when there is enough light to see your bobber.
When that time arrived I could see the points were indeed being hit hard by tubes but all along the back of the cove the broken swell was gently rolling in and out so that there was always the right amount of whitewater. Fishing at a depth of five feet, the first fifteen minutes produced several bites but no hookups. Around a quarter to seven I landed the first opaleye in a year and two months, a good three-taco, right behind the whitewater, exactly where I thought they would be. For the next hour the bite was good. I caught four more in rapid succession and had several more nibbles. I was netting every one of them to ensure none escaped.
After the tide peaked the bite kept going, with the landing of two more in the two to three taco size out of many bites. I been using a baitcasting reel for opaleye the past several years. When the bobber goes down you want to set the hook right away but there seems to be some delay with this reel. The gear ratio is slow for one thing and the handle doesn’t have a T-knob. My fingers slip off a lot. By next trip I will purchase and use a new high speed spinning reel with a rubber T-knob.
As the tide ebbed and the sun broke through the stratus, the bite stopped as if a switch had been flipped to off. I kept trying until ten but in that hour I had not even one bait stealer. What I noticed was these rocks are right next to a new landslide that keeps depositing plumes of mud into the water. This has been going on for over a year and it is still very active. You can tell because since my last visit there is now a tree at the high tide mark. If you wanted to hike over to the point you would have to climb over it if you didn’t want to wade up to your belly in order to pass.
The zone where I was catching the fish from relatively clear water was now turning brown. If I were the fish I would be gone too. The normal current out of the north along with the high tide kept the muck away but as the tide went out so did the silt. There was still some clean water fifty yards to the right with the same gentle wave action but I didn’t give’er a try as I already had seven blue eyed babes to take home and it's early enough to beat traffic. Maybe in two weeks we’ll try over there.
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I hiked to Anna Lake for big golden trout 7/13
Went to niece Denay's house for Thanksgiving
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Latest Fishing License Fees:
2015 - Sport Fishing License (Res) $47.01
2015 - Sport Ocean Enhancement Validation $5.14
2015 - Second-Rod Sport Fishing Validation $14.61
Total: $66.76
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Fish News:
Giant steelhead caught in Idaho
Lake Mission Viejo Trophy Bass Fishery Dead
Lago Rancho Santa Margarita Fish Die-off due to Algae
Wahoo caught 10 miles off Orange County
Fisherman got lost in the Sierra for days
Catalina Sea Ranch to grow shellfish 6 miles out from Terminal Island in Federal waters.
Bluefin tuna caught with hands on Malibu Beach
91-lb opah gaffed in San Diego Bay
Opah trifecta on one San Diego boat
Trout stranded in Nevada due to drought
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I bought an Epson V700 scanner to digitize my old negatives, 275 rolls, 5,300 frames, took all year. Now I am edtiing and uploading. Here we have the galleries created so far:
My Life in Hermosa Beach 1980-84
Nutly and I saw AC/DC and Blue Oyster Cult at the Orange Show Fairgrounds 1980
Breakwall Darryl Bullfights 1980
Breakwall Darryl Disneyland Trip 1981
Wyoming Colorado, Arizona trip 1982
High Sierra Fishing Trips 1980 - 1986
Western Sierra and Tim L.'s house 1985
Baja Trips 1981 - 1986
Breakwall Sam Manhattam Pier halibut 1987
High Sierra 1987
Mike Dufish 6-8 largemouth Eastman Lake 1987
Secret Brown Trout Lake with Laurel Lake and West Lake 1991
Santa Fe Steam Engine 3751 1991
Lake Cachuma 1992
Rosarito trip with Bill Dave and Eric 1992
Park Moabi with Bill 1992