Palos Verdes 1/25
Yesterday afternoon we heard of a high surf event unfolding until noon Sunday. A check of the swell chart showed three-to-four-foot waves coming in from the northwest, which didn’t seem like any huge deal. I packed my truck with the usual opaleye gear to fish an incoming six foot high tide at 9am.
This morning I awoke at three and immediately checked the swell chart, which now predicts four-to-six-footers rolling in. You definitely cannot fish the points along the west-facing shore of Palos Verdes in such conditions and the back of Christmas Tree Cove will be just barely fishable.
The algae bait at Colorado Lagoon in Long Beach has wilted somewhat in the last two weeks. It flourished anew after that last rainfall in December but the past fourteen days were sunny and warm for January, causing a lot to become bleached yellow mush. Still there was plenty of #8 quality to fill a pale.
Down the trail at 6:15, I staged my gear far above the waterline so that rogue waves would not wash everything into the drink. I slipped into my Frog Toggs rain suit then made my first casts at six thirty, right when it was light enough to see the dayglow yellow bobber.
As the morning sky gained light, I could see out to the point on the right big tubular waves crashing in. Where I was standing, at the back of the cove, it was fishable but as predicted, barely. Keeping a keen eye on the swell rolling in, I only had to step back from my platform rock to higher ground twice within the first hour. However, with no bites in that time, I reassessed. I could see I was too close to a mud plume to my left, caused by wave action washing against the slow-moving landslide that started in 2012. I had my eye on this other platform rock to my right for a while and eventually packed up and walked the 25 yards to fish there.
Moments later 15 other anglers descended the trail in three groups. One bunch went out towards the point to the right, another gaggle flocked toward the left on the other side of the mud slick and the third batch of three dudes stationed themselves fifteen feet on either side of me.
In the next thirty minutes I managed to catch two opaleye that weighed in at three tacos each. I along with my three new buddies all smiled at each other with joy. Six casts later as I turned around to re-bait, two California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers approached. I handed over my license and one of them poked his head into my gunnysack, commenting how big the two opaleye are. I said thanks, thinking all the while, for me, these are rather medium sized. The pair wandered off to investigate the next two groups to the left and the one to the right. Apparently, everyone was licensed up because they were in and out in no time.
By eight the surf calmed down a lot. The tubes at the point weren’t as large as 90 minutes ago and the water in front of me was good color. Problem was there were many little guys nibbling the bait off the 2/0 Owner hook. This went on for the next 90 minutes before I reeled in and just sat on a high rock to observe the whole scene.
The three guys within my immediate grace were using those skinny twenty-foot rods and were catching smelt with whatever bait they were using. As I watched they started to catch opaleye but as predicted, all were really teeny, like a half a taco each and they were keeping them. They were using small hooks, therefore hooking small fish. I would rather use the 2/0 hook to avoid the annoyance of landing aquarium-size fish.