Well, I didn't dive all week due to blustery weather and my wife being a bit under it.
this morning woke up clear and cold - air was about 1c (34f) and alleged to be windy out of the west. Only a breeze at 9am though. I grabbed my 6 mil smooth out top against the cold air and possible wind - first time this year - and added two lbs to my belt. Down at the beach it was beautiful. Calm water; clear fall skies with a few low, puffy clouds; no boats!; bright autumn colors starting to bust out all 'round.
Waded out and slipped into the mono. Vis in the 12-20 meter range and water a balmy 15c as I made my way out along the old cooling pipes.
A ways out the wind started kicking up. There seemed to be an eastward current and I was having to work to hold station and fight the float.
Just past the usual rock pile big bass started coming in to check me out. I cruised on with a few in formation. Soon I saw an unusual sillouette on one of the pipes. I was coming up on the six of a cisco whitefish - a species I've seen maybe four times, allways just one and allways very twitchy. Staying very low along the pipe with slow, small kicks, I got within maybe 5 meters. The closest I've ever been. My endurance was crap due to all the work but I tried to avoid spooking it by letting it move off a little before I surfaced. It spooked but not full tilt.
Shortish breathe-up and off again. More big bass; clearly something is working for them. I've seen more smallmouth than ever this year; and more huge ones.
A docile sucker resting atop the pipe kept an eye on me as I glided by, but didn't see a reason to move. Saw the Cisco again, maybe 10 meters away this time, feeding in mid water. They have beautiful golden scales that sparkle randomly in the sunlight. I stayed low and continued to enjoy the easy glide of the monofin.
Approaching the end of the pipe I saw another group of Bass coming in from my right and almost missed the cisco. There it was, feeding along the top of the pipe just ahead. I completed a very slow, small, gliding kick and paused just over a meter from it! It continued feeding , sucking it bits of algae and spitting them back out, as I admired it's beautifully hydrodynamic shape and the fine fishnet pattern of it's scales. I noted an irregularly shaped iris similar to lake trout. Cisco are fast fish and usually run deeper than this; but this one was quite healthy. I was amazed that it kept feeding and wondered what it was eating. Cisco are predators so I'm thinking maybe goby eggs or the tiny shrimp that I'd noticed concentrated near the bottom. That would explain the earlier mid-water encounter. I pulled myself along bottom as the cisco worked in the opposite direction; getting well clear before surfacing.
After that I spent some time hanging with the bass at the big cribs, then headed over to the breakwall. A little choppy so I parked my float, then dove with the camera. More crap endurance, hundreds of bass, a salmon - probably king or chinook, carp, some kind of mutant pike or something I couldn't get close too. I noticed I was starting to shake, put the camera back on the float and started sprints for shore to warm up.
I love the quiet this time of year.
this morning woke up clear and cold - air was about 1c (34f) and alleged to be windy out of the west. Only a breeze at 9am though. I grabbed my 6 mil smooth out top against the cold air and possible wind - first time this year - and added two lbs to my belt. Down at the beach it was beautiful. Calm water; clear fall skies with a few low, puffy clouds; no boats!; bright autumn colors starting to bust out all 'round.
Waded out and slipped into the mono. Vis in the 12-20 meter range and water a balmy 15c as I made my way out along the old cooling pipes.
A ways out the wind started kicking up. There seemed to be an eastward current and I was having to work to hold station and fight the float.
Just past the usual rock pile big bass started coming in to check me out. I cruised on with a few in formation. Soon I saw an unusual sillouette on one of the pipes. I was coming up on the six of a cisco whitefish - a species I've seen maybe four times, allways just one and allways very twitchy. Staying very low along the pipe with slow, small kicks, I got within maybe 5 meters. The closest I've ever been. My endurance was crap due to all the work but I tried to avoid spooking it by letting it move off a little before I surfaced. It spooked but not full tilt.
Shortish breathe-up and off again. More big bass; clearly something is working for them. I've seen more smallmouth than ever this year; and more huge ones.
A docile sucker resting atop the pipe kept an eye on me as I glided by, but didn't see a reason to move. Saw the Cisco again, maybe 10 meters away this time, feeding in mid water. They have beautiful golden scales that sparkle randomly in the sunlight. I stayed low and continued to enjoy the easy glide of the monofin.
Approaching the end of the pipe I saw another group of Bass coming in from my right and almost missed the cisco. There it was, feeding along the top of the pipe just ahead. I completed a very slow, small, gliding kick and paused just over a meter from it! It continued feeding , sucking it bits of algae and spitting them back out, as I admired it's beautifully hydrodynamic shape and the fine fishnet pattern of it's scales. I noted an irregularly shaped iris similar to lake trout. Cisco are fast fish and usually run deeper than this; but this one was quite healthy. I was amazed that it kept feeding and wondered what it was eating. Cisco are predators so I'm thinking maybe goby eggs or the tiny shrimp that I'd noticed concentrated near the bottom. That would explain the earlier mid-water encounter. I pulled myself along bottom as the cisco worked in the opposite direction; getting well clear before surfacing.
After that I spent some time hanging with the bass at the big cribs, then headed over to the breakwall. A little choppy so I parked my float, then dove with the camera. More crap endurance, hundreds of bass, a salmon - probably king or chinook, carp, some kind of mutant pike or something I couldn't get close too. I noticed I was starting to shake, put the camera back on the float and started sprints for shore to warm up.
I love the quiet this time of year.
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