No Albies 7/30

[jrodda]

Small report. Some reports started coming in about albacore caught local(!!!) and heard separate reports about mahi, bluefin, yellowfin....all spotty but confirmed sightings nonetheless. Weather report went from bad to good and Chris coaxed me out to scan out of DP while he went out of Oside.

Launched 0615. Really nice conditions early on. Very slight breeze, able to chug full speed. No real boat traffic, except this fkn guy, 5 miles out, I'm the only boat in sight, and he runs through my wash 50 yards back just as I set out my mackstick and a bullet head. Miraculous that he didn't saw me off. I threw my hands up like, whaddaya doin' guy? Ocean is just not big enough.

Purple water. Googan birds flying south but no sign of terns or bait. Rode toward the 279, found some dolphins. Nothing with them. Nothing in the realm of the 279. Started back east toward the coastal shelf. Wind started picking up, from the SE. Weird. Warm! Muggy. Maybe 5 miles of visibility outside, maybe 3 inside.

Once I hit the coastal shelf the chop was a consistent bumpy 1' but nothing crazy. Slowly started building though. Up to consistent 2', pretty darn bumpy, decided to start my way back.

Picked up to 3' tight chop. Getting hairy. Tacking NW/NE okay though.

Still don't even have sights on the point with limited visibility. Starting up to 3-4'+ chop. Burying the bow every couple minutes. Thankfully the water was 70º so it was oddly refreshing amidst the chaos. Tucked behind San Mateo Point just in time for the chop to be so bad I could barely even make headway. Woooo.....Still 2-3' chop the rest of the way back but a cake walk in comparison. Back to the ramp 10:30.

I need to wash myself of all this mediocrity and do some damage inshore this week, but wanna continue hunting what might be there. Saw an article today about how we might have extremely warm water now through spring, a late El Nino as it were, so maybe it'll get even weirder than albacore?

Maybe Chris will chime in on his observations. We were able to keep in contact the whole time and he had a fun ride as well.

[Chris]

I’ll just add to your report.

I packed two trolling rods, my 80 narrow and kite rod to target local cows.

Launched out of oside and plan was to meet you around the middle.

Perfect conditions out the gate. 70-72 degree water.
SST showed a lot of 70+ water but once I got north of the LCAC station it was hard to find anything over 68.

Found mahi outside oside chasing bait. Nothing holding to kelp anywhere. They were keyed in on large baits and didn’t chase my lures or even get in my wake…. 8-10lb models. Socal mahi are weird. First flag fell at the BAC in Newport today to a decent model.

Found a huge Mako on the 279 under some birds. Saw a sword on top as well while I was talking to you on the phone.

Found some birds and bait in a large area so put out the spreader bars and worked through it towards the 14.

Swell and wind picked up half way to the 14 and I didn’t really notice until I tried heading towards the 277. It was impossible. Short period 3-4ft swell and wind pushed me back north. Decided to buckle down and just eat the swell going south and went about a mile in 30 minutes… found a clean cut that would let me get to salt creek and figured I’d get beat up to DP harbor but it was worth a go.

13 miles and 1.5 hours of pounding while seated in an inflatable isn’t fun.

Called my buddy Dale down in Oside and he came and picked me up. Took the boat apart and put it in his truck, dropped it off in my driveway then got my truck. It’s nice to have good friends.

Maybe next time I’ll get the kite up.

[vdisney]

Great read from both of you guys, good way to start my morning

[Latimeria]

I need to wash myself of all this mediocrity and do some damage inshore this week, but wanna continue hunting what might be there. S

The story of my 2023 season!

Thanks for reporting Jeremy!  I have to get my report up here soon, but a whole lotta mediocrity going on these days!

[Latimeria]

13 miles and 1.5 hours of pounding while seated in an inflatable isn’t fun.

That south wind is no joke.  Nice early, gets crazy bad and then levels out later.  I got my ass handed to me on Friday.

[Chris]

In hind site I should have went to Avalon and taken shelter then popped out to the slide/277 when it died down to look for tuna than cruise home but in the heat of the moment I just wanted off the water and back on the mainland.

This years weather is a little weird

[Tim524]

 The knees and back take a beating as you get older, rough water is no fun