Sunset bay 5/30

Planning at this point to leave out of Sunset around 6:30am on Sunday 5/30 if anyone wants to join. Looks like it will be a bit choppy, but I can’t go the whole weekend without dropping a line.

Depending on conditions, will fish Simpson reef and will also troll / jig for some halibut if the wind cooperates.

Planning on being out of the water by noon.

PM me if interested.

No, but thank you for asking.  "Choppy" is an understatement.

Right now the ocean down here is going through a major up dwelling, so the brown water as of yesterday extended out to about a mile maybe more. The winds have been starting early if even that more like going through the night. The CG have small craft warnings in place now for over a week and the bar is restricted. You might want to have a back up plan in your hat?

Wild day today at sunset!

Launched at 6:30 and was at Simpson around 7:15. WAY bigger swells than I planned on based on MSW. Plus, the wind was already blowing by 6:30 when I rounded the bend to head south. Gained a lot of confidence with the new boat though. It is solid and more stable that I could hope for.

Had a limit of black bass, 1 28” Ling and released several smaller Ling, black bass and a huge cabezon by 8am. Hot bite at all the waypoints I marked last time out.

Super sea sick toward the end, which is not like me...peddle back to sunset was crazy wet and waves from all directions. Back at Sunset at 9:15 and out by 9:30am.

All in all, good experience, lots of filets for the freezer and some more lessons learned.

Looking forward to some calmer days.

sounds like a classic washing machine day out there, good job catching fish under those conditions.  these sort of days are when I usually head NW towards the whistle buoy, fishing in and around those reefs that are much closer to Sunset Bay...

Roger, I need to explore that area better next time I’m out. It looks like a decent fishing area on google earth. I was hoping to troll a small rapala rip stop all the way to Simpson in hopes of maybe getting a halibut or calibut, but  the second I dropped the rig a wave hit me on my starboard and the leader ended up in my pedal drive. I quickly cut it off and saved the gear, but missed out on trolling that stretch.

This is meant for folks who live inland, and is in no way intended to be a critique of anyone who managed to get out and fish yesterday.

Magic Seaweed predicted a washing machine day - if you know how the three kinds of swells and the directions from which each was coming translate into conditions on the water.  Worse, Magic Seaweed has been way off - way, way off - on their wind predictions for at least a week.  The winds are building earlier and have been much stronger than their forecasts.

Magicseaweed also doesn't say anything about periodic taller waves.  Yesterday there were 3-4 foot and 2-foot and 1.5-foot swells, and when their periods are close enough to each other, like yesterday, they'll merge every so often and form a much larger swell.

Yesterday at Sunset was a no-go day for most of us.

That said, glad you made it out.  Happier still you made it back safely.

Tinker,

Agree with the wind comment. Also the wave heights seemed far higher than MSW had predicted. IMO. It also seems like MSW is “volatile” the last couple weeks. One day it looks like an upcoming day is going to be flat, the next it’s 4-6 and then back to flat. Jumping around a lot.

Good experience to test myself and the boat. I’ll never get better if I only go out on flat days.

 I’m reasonably happy with my fishing prep work. I have a couple ideas on tackle management I’m going to play with today for faster rig changes, etc.

MSW isn't real-time data but it's not always as far off as it has been lately.  Then again, the weather has been weird and it's hard to keep track of it.  If you talk to the charter captains or the commercial skippers, they'll tell you a forecast is good for 90 minutes.  After that, it's guesswork.

roger had some good suggestions about which way to turn when the conditions aren't what you expected.  I agree with them - there are places around Sunset where you can find shelter from wind and waves and still catch fish.

I’ll never get better if I only go out on flat days.

+1 Incremental improvement isn't for everyone, but if that is your goal, then (safely) pushing your limits a little is the path to new adventures.

It's important for all of us to remember that this forum has all sorts of people at all sorts of skill levels with all sorts of goals. I think it's great you got out and caught fish and gained new confidence in your setup. For some folks that was a "no go" day, and that's OK, too.

Well said! So true-