There's a lot of salmon 100 yards off Linda Mar beach near Pacifica and they're kickboat-ready :) Pretty much all 8-10 lbers, but still tasty. Mooching anchovies 10-15 feet down has been the hot bite.

Here's one from last weekend, got two more nice ones a couple days ago, too.

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/2686.jpg

where are you launching?

FIT

IFISH say's,

Nice Salmon Nico ! I bet that bad boy had a little pull on the line eh ?! What is the surf like out there ?? are there mad waves ??

IFISH

Launch at the south corner of Linda Mar beach. That area is well protected and the waves are ususally small. There's a handful of kayakers that go out there every day, you'll see them launching in the morning. The waves have been sloppy the last few weeks, but definitely not dangerous. Bad times if you get seasick easily x(

Nice King from a Kickboat, Nico! Do you think they'll stick around until the 14th or 15th? Have you tried any other techniques to get them? I've always wanted to get one on light gear and a small swimbait. Are there any Stripers in the mix? Is Linda Mar the one with the TacoBell wood shack with all the little docks in the South corner?
Tight lines,
Wade

I think that there is a Taco Bell there, in the building that used to a A & W Root Beer. Maybe Nico can answer your striper question, but in the old days when I fished there the stripers were mainly right in the rough surf there, where no yaker dare go most days. The salmon are usually more broadly distributed from the surfline and out 100 yards and beyond.

Wade, speaking of stripers, a few seem to be caught each week from Capitola pier (using a dead man's rig with a live or frozen anchovie), an area that should be ideal for your yak.

ps. Wade. Last week I attempted to answer your questions about details of my Capitola/Santa Cruz rockfish trip, but my post disappeared. I will post some more details and ask you some more questions about this area before my next attempt there.

Bob

Bob,
The Stripers are starting to show up in greater numbers and size at Capitola from what I've been hearing. Usually they show-up good from mid August to mid September give or take a week or 2. When I was there Sunday before last, there were a few (less than 10 that I saw) working bait, but they'd blow by me too fast to be able to effectively fish them from my Kickboat. I want to try out a kayak to chase them, but cant afford it right now.
If Linda Mar is the beach with the wood Taco Bell and the Dennys diagonally across the intersection, I saw a kayaker get a 9.25# salmon there Saturday before last after I took my kids to the SF Zoo. There were about 10 to 15 Pelicans running back and forth on bait and when the bait ball would go under him he'd go bendo. He hooked up twice that I saw while eating there. Just as we finished he landed with the 1 Salmon and I asked if I could weigh it on my scale. He was using a 5' leader with a 1/2oz egg sinker and whatever hook the regs call for when mooching for Salmon.
Tight lines,
Wade

>Nice King from a Kickboat, Nico! Do you think they'll stick
>around until the 14th or 15th?

Yes, but the numbers have steadily been going down.

>Have you tried any other
>techniques to get them?

Some guys are getting them trolling, but mooching with live anchovies seems to work best for us.

>I've always wanted to get one on light
>gear and a small swimbait. Are there any Stripers in the mix?

I've been out four times with live anchovies and haven't caught any stripers.

>Is Linda Mar the one with the TacoBell wood shack with all the
>little docks in the South corner?

Yes.

Great job for a yak. I know this place very well because I passed it twice a day for many years commuting to work. I am glad that you have had no problem launching or returning, but some days Linda Mar can be extremely rough. I have seen a party boat nearly flip there. The size of your salmon is about what we are getting out of Princeton Harbor now, smaller than a few weeks ago, but there are some larger ones around, such as the one my son lost at the boat the other day. My son and I find that the smaller salmon might jump more, and this is great fun. The salmon are close in at Half Moon Bay, but you are getting yours even closer to shore because the water might be colder at Linda Mar and the bait might be trapped against the shore at Linda Mar. This is great for kayakers.

Too bad this inshore salmon run off the San Mateo County coast does not happen every year, especially when there is an El Nino.

Bob

Nico! Nice fish man!

I am planning on taking my Pontoon out down here off Port San Luis (Near San Luis Obispo)this weekend ....I have two questions, Do you have a picture of your ride?..hard to see in that pic, but looks pretty cool. Other question, How are you rigging for mooching??

Thanks for the info man....

Bryan

> I have two
>questions, Do you have a picture of your ride?..hard to see in
>that pic, but looks pretty cool.

Sorry no pics yet, but my kickboat doesn't have much modification. Just rod holders at my feet (for mooching/trolling) and behind me (for storage), the plastic bin strapped to the deck for holding fish (don't want to dangle them down there for the sharks), and the shipping tube you see to hold my big salmon net in place. The big fine mesh net lies behind me with the netting hanging over the side so it doubles as an anchovy livewell.

>Other question, How are you
>rigging for mooching??

Nothing special here. 20 lb mainline, 2 oz banana weight, 4 foot 15 lb leader, 2/0 - 4/0 barbless circle hook. I hook the live anchovy on the top of the neck right between the gill plates. Seems to stay on the hook/keep them alive longest that way.

Would a U-tube be able to fish there in Linda Mar?

cy

I don't know if it would be safe. And you want the mobility of oars to chase the bait balls up to a mile off shore.