Constantine's Buoy 8/15/14

Hitting a local spot, called "Windmills", with a buddy tomorrow. It's located north of Cayucos and just south of Estero Point off of Hwy. 1. This is a beautiful area and is a hot spot for some guys but for me it has always been a tough fishing spot.

But, there is an area out there that I want to check out tomorrow. It's an offshore buoy called Constantine's and it sits on top of a large reef. I've heard recently of some halibut being taken near there and it is also supposed to be good for ling's and rockfish, we'll see. So were planning to hit the water around 7:00 and I'll fill ya'll in when we get back. Cheers!...

8/16/14

We had a great time out at Windmill's yesterday! This was my friends second time kayak fishing. The first time was at Montana de Oro in some nasty washing machine conditions. That time he lasted about 10 minutes before he was pukin' over the side of his yak and swore he would never go again   Well, he just returned from fishing in Alaska and has a renewed spark. I figured I would take him to Windmills for some mellower water and we hit it perfect. 

Looking back toward the launch from a large kelp patty. Glassy smooth water.

The morning was foggy and wet in Los Osos but at Windmills, about 20 minutes north, it had lifted to a high fog and warmer temps. We got there around 7 and wheeled down to the beach where we found glassy conditions and just a hint of breeze. We had an easy launch and dropped or lines once we hit 40 fow. There were big schools of huge smelt everywhere but unfortunately I had left my sabiki behind so we stuck with frozen squid on jigs and lures. Bill hooked up first and pulled in a nice lingcod, his first fish from a kayak! 27 incher, I think he's hooked. Even if its only on mellow days  

Bill's first fish from a kayak! A nice 27" lingcod. He followed it up with a hefty 25" cabezon too. 

We worked our way out to the buoy and I picked up a couple of kelpies, keeping 1 nice one. There was a decent drift so from there we just drifted from patty to patty. While on the drift and dragging a swimbait along the bottom I caught my first Greenling! It was great to catch a new species.

 A nice Kelp rockfish

My first Greenling! Not a great picture but the colors on these fish are beautiful.

We fished untill noon with the wind coming up around 11:00. The swell had picked up quite a bit while we were out so we had to time our landing but we both got in without incident. The total catch was a ling, a kelpy, and a huge cabezon for bill. His cab was 25" and thick! Beginners luck is what I'm telling myself  I ended up bring home a kelpy and the greenling, tossing back a couple small rockies and losing a nice size ling at the boat. Fun day out there and I'm glad my buddy had a better experience this time.

 Bill's cabezon getting ready to go in the wood fired oven. Tasty!

A Snowy Egret hunting on a kelp patty out by Constantine's Buoy.

Another fun day on the water fishing the Estero Bay. I hope we can get back out again soon. Until then keep your lines tight! Cheers, Tebbs!