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Old 04-21-2009, 02:24 AM   #1
mostcalamitous
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Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

Hey all. I'm a Hawaii diver who's going to be in Southern California (LA, but may head down to SD) for the majority of May, visiting friends. I'll be diving with a friend up there for a few days, and was wondering how I should prepare.

I've looked at the regulation pages a few times, checked out a bunch of the PDFs, but to tell you the truth... I'm still a little confused! The rules seem a little more complicated then Hawaii, which at worst has different laws by island (and sadly the islands also don't have much regulation as is), and I want to make sure I don't do anything wrong while there. I know I need a fishing license, I've also read about "cards" and what have you, any info on the "must haves" before I go diving would be awesome.

I'd love to know what fish to expect to see in May, what are some must dive sites, etc...

I'll be bringing a 3mm suit, which I assume will not be thick enough. :P My friend will be supplying the gun so I'm not too worried about that.
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Old 04-21-2009, 02:33 AM   #2
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Re: Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

Don't shoot the big stupid orange fish
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Old 04-21-2009, 09:19 AM   #3
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Re: Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

A 3 mm suit may get you by in may if it's a good suit, but since you're from the tropics, you'll get cold pretty quick.

Absolute No Nos are Black seabass (big old grouper), garibaldi (bright orange fish), and lobster (out of season right now).

Beyond that, may is a great month - we are just starting to see pelagics show up, and you aso have a great shot at getting halibut and big White seabass. Really though, you need to get a picture guide to california fish and look at that when reading the regs so you can associate what a fish looks like with the minimum legal size it must be for take.
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Old 04-21-2009, 10:23 AM   #4
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Re: Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

The best way I have found to find out what fish are shootable is to read the fish and game regs, then look up underwater pictures on google images. It will show you what they REALLY look like. The White Seabass in the DFG book looks like a sardine. . .tough to associate a small picture without knowing about what size to look for.

Find out the targeted species and then figure out what they look like from scuba sites and such.

Have fun, Kelpy
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Old 04-21-2009, 11:04 AM   #5
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Re: Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/fishing_map.asp

That's the part I use. Just click on the area that you'll be and it will give you a list of what you can and can't shoot. If you click on the fish you can find out more information about them.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Ethan kills View Post
Don't shoot the big stupid orange fish
I hate those fish. Of course when the vis is crappy, what's the only thing you can see through it? Big orange fish who will just swim up to you and not even care. It sucks.
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Old 04-21-2009, 01:33 PM   #6
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Re: Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

Quote:
Originally Posted by ralphthehalibut View Post
A 3 mm suit may get you by in may if it's a good suit, but since you're from the tropics, you'll get cold pretty quick.

Absolute No Nos are Black seabass (big old grouper), garibaldi (bright orange fish), and lobster (out of season right now).

Beyond that, may is a great month - we are just starting to see pelagics show up, and you aso have a great shot at getting halibut and big White seabass. Really though, you need to get a picture guide to california fish and look at that when reading the regs so you can associate what a fish looks like with the minimum legal size it must be for take.
I tried to get an ID book from a link on the reg site, e-mailed them...But no response after 3 weeks!

sdscspear, that site is awesome! Straightforward and it has the info I need. I'll try to match up some pictures.

Thanks all.
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Old 04-21-2009, 02:57 PM   #7
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Re: Coming to Cali in May *Need Advice*

Your going to have fun. Just tough out the cold water and poor vis and focus on shooting something big. Unless of course your use to shooting 50 pound ulua then no need to leave the island.
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