Kept telling myself last night to just go on a boat ride inshore. No expectations, just see what's up.
Arrived at the ramp and the harbor water was brown and loaded with trash. Yup, should have expected that.
Super glassy water out the gates. Finally got to see my top end speed with the SS prop on the 6hp, topped around 14.5, pretty solid. I could probably shed a few pounds to help it. Maybe take a few things off the boat too, oof!
Mellow swells quickly turned into a west wind chop probably formed overnight or yesterday. 2-3' at a short period with other mixed swells sprinkled in. Was unpleasant heading to the horseshoe. I was hoping the water would look less like chocolate milk as I headed further off the beach, but 5 miles out it still looked like my breakfast protein shake.
Arrived and checked out a handful of stones. Water temp bottomed out at 61º (yeesh!) and slowly crawled back to 65º. First stone had bass but no biters, the next several had whitefish looking marks. Got light pecks on the swimbait. The short period, early morning heat, gross water, and non-cooperative fish were all making me feel kinda sick, so I started back toward HB harbor. Seemed like I jumped the gun far too early after the storm, especially for the already gross Long Beach area.
Once I got about a half mile away from the harbor, I realized the water was suddenly very clear and the short period swell had vanished. Huh?? So I kept heading south toward the flats. Boat ride north and back was terrible, but the boat ride south very nice! 2' at 15 seconds from the SW, slight cool breeze, some of the clearest water I've seen locally!
Bait popping everywhere as usual, good sign after the storm. Saw a dolphin or two. Pulled up on some stones. My pets are back!!!!
First drop and I was on a mean one! Note beautiful conditions in background. 20' water visibility! Way better than 1'.
Wasn't a hot bite but I scratched out 7 for a couple hours. Much better than heading in early. Rest of 'em were closer to grom size.
Saw a kayak fisherman meander over to me so I met him halfway and we chatted for a bit. He doesn't like the bass and wants to find threshers and other big critters to get a sleigh ride out of. Black seabass are apparently around and he isn't the first to mention it for the area. Good vibes, parted ways. Picked off 1 more, then broke off at the same time as my FF died, so I headed in. Always a bumpy ride heading northward home but worth it for the turn around of the day.
