monterey 9/29

Went out for last sunday of nearshore RFing, got to beach by 5:30am, setup and ready to launch by 5:50am. Realized I left my terminal tackle kit at home and had 0 sinkers. Spent 40 minutes walking the beach finding suitable rocks and trying to tie them to the rigs I had, chuckling to myself that this has to be the stupidest way to fish. Ended up getting out on the water about 6:40. Surf and swell were up for sure, not much wind. Didn't see any other kayakers or small craft when launching. Fished in 20-25ft of water, caught a good amount of blues, would've limited out if I had proper sinkers to get my rig down faster. GWs were out and inspected my catch, had a good laugh when I showed them the rock at the end of the jig.

Also if anyone can help ID rockfish in third pic, would appreciate it. Doesn't look like a quillback but wasn't 100% so released it.

Looks like a nail haul! Very innovative! Nicely done 

Great way to keep the plan on track by gathering instead of packing it in! Congrats on catching a mess of fish too!  I'm curious about the GW's and if they asked about a descender.

Way to get on it.   

I'm curious about the GW's and if they asked about a descender.

Me too.

Since, apparently, the law enforcement division of CDFW is so interested in tracking depths - like the 20 fathoms and less rockfish season that just ended and the 50 fathoms and more season that just started - you'd think they would enact a common sense rule that fishing in bays or in less than, say, 10 fathoms would be exempt from being checked for a descender.  Not that you wouldn't need to have one, but that you should expect to not be checked for one if you're obviously fishing shallow or even in a place where I'll stick my neck out and say that it's impossible to be in a position of needing a descender - like inside Humboldt Bay.

Great way to keep the plan on track by gathering instead of packing it in! Congrats on catching a mess of fish too!  I'm curious about the GW's and if they asked about a descender.

Great question! That's actually why I showed them rock at the end of the rig, left the descender in tackle box w/ sinker's back home. Was explaining to them "well sir funny story". They were nice dudes and gave me a warning, asked if I had a landing net (I did) and just reminded me to have it with me next time.

Also asked them if treble hook counts as 1 or multiple hooks, they confirmed it only counts as one. So if I wanted to, I could tie a shrimp fly and a jig w treble hook underneath. Not sure if other people already knew this, but have tried to gather info in past from forums or reading regs myself and couldn't figure it out.

Thanks for the report and pictures WnS.

Its a Kelp Rockfish
Nice grade of Blues

...asked if I had a landing net (I did) ...

Good to know. I never carry a landing net, and have met the GW (not to be confused with the GWS) on the water many times, and they've never asked. I'm going to get something that I can store out of the way, just for insurance...

So if I wanted to, I could tie a shrimp fly and a jig w treble hook underneath.

I do this sometimes.  I tie a dropper loop in the middle of a 4' or so piece of 40lb mono.  Double surgeon's loop at the top to connect to my main line swivel, the fly on the dropper loop, and then a snap swivel at the bottom to connect a jig.  Could also put a hoochie or a hook for bait on the dropper loop.  Any single hook jig works for the bottom - heavy jigheads for swimbaits, diamond jig, or other vertical jigs. 

So if I wanted to, I could tie a shrimp fly and a jig w treble hook underneath.

I do this sometimes.  I tie a dropper loop in the middle of a 4' or so piece of 40lb mono.  Double surgeon's loop at the top to connect to my main line swivel, the fly on the dropper loop, and then a snap swivel at the bottom to connect a jig.  Could also put a hoochie or a hook for bait on the dropper loop.  Any single hook jig works for the bottom - heavy jigheads for swimbaits, diamond jig, or other vertical jigs.

Go with the palomar!!