Outdoor Addictions

Sweet...It's 4 a.m. and I'm finally getting ready to go fishing in San Diego! I've had my cup of fresh brewed hotel room coffee, but there were no restaurants open for breakfast and I couldn't bring myself to paying $12 for room service chicken fingers. Luckily I was able to talk the girl opening Starbucks at 4:40 a.m. into selling me two bananas. I ate them prior to fishing so I wouldn't technically be carrying the dreaded bad luck charms onto the kayak with me.

As my cab driver dropped me off at my destination he asked, "Are you meeting someone?" I told him I was, but I'm early by about 25 minutes. He was concerned about my well being, "You're going to freeze waiting until then." I laughed and said, "We camp under the stars in this kind of weather back home." You got to love the weather in this part of the world—anything near 50 and the residents are cold.

I met Jim Sammons of La Jolla Kayak Adventure in Tideland Park on Coronado Island at 5:30 a.m. By 6:30 a.m. we launched the kayaks into San Diego Bay. Our target species was spotted sea bass. Our fishing grounds are downtown San Diego. We used curly tail grubs on a standard jig head and yum worms on a split-shot rig. Sammons had us fishing in 40 to 45 feet of water, just slowly dragging the baits along the bottom.

I hooked up on the first cast, which by some is considered bad luck, but it turned out to be just one of the many that we would catch.

The spotted sea bass are a unique looking fish, with large vertical bands running the length of their body. When looking closer they have many colorful spots that dot their bodies as well. They do have small teeth, but Sammons said "lipping" the fish is the best way to hold them. Their dorsal fin is extremely sharp and pointy, but their gill plate has a sharp edge as well, which can leave a nice slice in the skin. Lipping them proved a good method, but was also a bit uncomfortable when the bass stated thrashing side to side.

While Sammons had us fishing the bay, he offers kayak fishing trips into the Pacific just offshore at La Jolla, which is only 15 minutes to the north of downtown. From here you can catch yellowtail, white seabass, halibut, and even thresher shark. Sammons is well known for catching big-game fish from a kayak and he shares his expertise several times per year during his Baja trips. These fully-guided trips are in East Cape on the Baja Peninsula in Mexico. The targeted species here are roosterfish, yellow fin tuna, Dorado, sailfish, and marlin.

This was one of the most unique fishing experiences I've been on. Not only were we fishing in a downtown setting of a major U.S. city, but this bay is home to the U.S. Navy as well. I fished on top of the bay in a kayak as Navy Seals sped by in small Zodiac boats. I watched three U.S. Navy destroyers pass by while fishing. I even watched trained dolphins hop in and out of Navy boats during training exercises. These specially trained dolphins are used to detect explosives in ports. The fishing was great, but the sights, sounds, and proximity to the water (sitting right on top of it), are what really made the trip.


We ended up catching about 20 to 25 spotted sea bass, but I left with one of the coolest fishing experiences I've been on in a long time.

If you'd like to experience downtown San Diego from about 3 feet above sea level, then contact Jim Sammons at La Jolla Kayak Fishing Adventure for a truly awesome experience. And if you think you're ready to be towed around by big-game species then Jim is waiting to hear form you.