NORCAL WILDSTYLE

By Brendan Crahaan

I am a self-confessed fishing addict.  That was no problem when I was younger and my dad use to take me out on the party boats down in SOCAL.  However, once I moved up to Santa Cruz and started earning my own keep, going out on part boats became pretty expensive.  I started surf fishing up here almost as soon as I moved.  I met this guy Kay in the dorms.  He had been fishing kayaks down in Malibu since he was about ten years old.  I had always wanted to go kayak fishing but couldn’t afford to buy one (students budget doesn’t go too far).  It turned out his dad had a beat up old Malibu ocean kayak (one of the first ever built by Tim Niemer) back at home that I could have.  I drove down to Los Angeles to pick it up, brought it back up here, and began to fix it up.  It needed a bit of fiberglass work and it took a few trips for me to find all of the slow leaks.  Nonetheless, I was hooked from the first time I went out.

I have caught all of the shallower species Northern California has to offer.  I go down to fish Big Sur at least 2 to 3 times a month (which often involves gnarly trails and lowering kayaks down steep cliffs) and fish the Santa Cruz area after work or school (my best buddy, who I’ve been fishing with since I was about 6, just got a kayak and he’s always down to go out).

The following is a documentation of the past 6 or 7 months of fishing from Santa Cruz down to Big Sur.

11lb Red Caught off Big Sur (Mill Creek). Yup, that's Hwy 1 in the background. The water was like glass all day long (rare for this area).

              Santa Cruz lingdogginit

Garapatta Lingdog

17lb Lingdog pulled from thick kelp beds off Natty Bridges, Santa Cruz.  Caught on 10lb line and purple/black Fishtraps.  My favorite combo for Norcal rockfish.

Brad and I off the Santa Cruz flattie haunt.

Santa Cruz Glass

There it is.  Get in touch with me if any of you ever come up to Big Sur.  My email is lycosphere@yahoo.com

Zen Fishing

Brendan