ROCKFISH IN CALIFORNIA’S LA JOLLA COVE

By John F. Pawlak

Tattooed, Jimm Hoffman and my self launched shortly after sunrise at San Diego County’s only drive up surf launch site. I can’t tell you what a convenience it is to be able to drive your truck or car from the road up onto the beach and then be able to unload the yak and gear just feet away from the shoreline.

February is San Diego’s coldest month. The ocean is usually calm and the skies are clear, which makes for sunny, crisp mornings. The kayak fishing is done in wet suites, divers booties, windbreakers, divers gloves, caps and good sunglasses.

As usual we paddled across the marine reserve to the buoy line and began fishing. Tattooed who is a dedicated trophy bass hunter kept going for the point and outer kelp in search of bull calico.

Jimm and my self are a little more opportunistic and when we noticed (on our FF’s) a larger school of bait that was concentrated right on the reserves’ boundary line, we started fishing right there. A slight breeze was blowing onshore, and so we paddled out into 80’ of water and dropped plastics down to the bottom, letting the wind drift us back over the canyon that runs almost perpendicular to the shore.

We were right on a steep canyon drop off that went from 80’ to 500’ in about 200 yards. I don’t have the GPS co ordinance, but here is a link to a topographical map that shows the area that we were fishing in. http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?z=11&n=3637117&e=473903

In to waters from 80’ to 100’ we were catching 2 to 4 lb Sand Bass. The rockfish were right on the steepest part of the canyon in about 140’ of water.

I was having good success using Cabela’s gold foil livin Eye Jigs. Here is the link to a picture of them. <CLICK HERE>

The original plan was to follow Tattooed out, but the bite was so good right here that we never made it. In about three hours I harvested a limit of rock fish and a near limit of Sand Bass, all from this one spot and Jimm did equally as well.

Eagle Eye

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