Santa Barbara Conditions Report "Perma-Thread"

[fisherman1133]

Am driving down to Pasadena for waterpolo and the water looks sorta good. I saw a couple of guys getting on a Grady white south of rincon with guns in their hands, was this anyone on here?

[Lompoc Local]

Thanks for the video SB Waterman - that is really cool of you to do that for the rest of us. Dig the Aimrite, those are great guns...

Hit the coast at 4am this morning for a bug dive and managed 3 legals and a half dozen shorts (released). Seems to be enough lobsters out there to make it worth your while but there also seems to be a lot of shorts. Also saw alot of sleeping rockfish that I wanted to spear but haven't received my RA 70 yet...Waited for the sun to come up and took the RA 110 out for a spin - shot some cat food but nothing exciting. Vis is exactly as SBWaterman describes it, spotty on the inside and really good on the outside, 20+ in places.

Jeremy - I took a crab today - what I would call a kelp crab as I see them clinging to the kelp all the time - they are orange and smaller than stone and spider crabs - is this the one you call "sweet crab"? If so, how do you recommend I prepare it? Boil it with the lobsters and serve with butter/salt/garlic? Never tried one before...

Get out there boys - the conditions are right and you should be able to score today at your favorite spot...

[Namor]

I got out between El Cap and the Fug for a few hours today. patchy vis, 3-18'. Warm oily and some strong surge. Quiet on the reef, only short bugs and not too many at that, I got a good sized octopus though so Im stoked.

I steam up or boil the kelp crabs and then clean them taking my time to get the meat out of the shoulders and small legs. I only take the largest of them because they are so tedious to clean if they are tiny.

I love the meat chilled with lemon, cocktail sauce, and horseradish. Its the best crab of all taste wise. The eggs on the females make excellent caviar too.

Jeremy

[Lompoc Local]

Agree about the kelp crabs - lots of work for little meat but it was quite tasty the few bites that I got. Will be looking for the larger ones going forward. Perfect appetizer before the lobster main course!

Nice work on the Octopus - had one in my hands last time I was out at the islands and let him go - my wife just about bit my head off cause she wanted to make ceviche out of it - I'll take it next time...

[Moonshine]

Got out just north of Rufug. at high tide yesterday. Vis was as others stated, from a few feet to about 20 outside. saw a few shorts, but another 0 on the card.

Lots of bait fish, a few skittish calicos. I am thinking that this week should be a good one.

[Zbass]

Mesa lane was ok this morning, all the bugs (the big ones I saw at least) were way back in their holes and didn't want to let me get close, except for one bug which came all the way up to my mask basically and then it booked it back into its hole Lots of reef fish out today, one good sized calico and a short ling.

[fisherman1133]

Dove the Coral Casino last night from about 600 to 730. I knew the Viz probably wouldn't be great, and I was right. It was about 2 to 5. left the gun behind and saw only one lobster and it was short. Checked the commercial ( didn't tamper with it) it had one big lobster in it. All in all I really need to get something other than a 0 on the card.

[petej]

Dove off the mesa this afternoon from about 4:00 till dark, vis was good, averaged about 10 but up to 15 in plenty of spots, it was a super fun dive and I finally got my first bug of the season.

[Couplescaddy]

Hey guys, dove leds today and had pretty good 10'ish vis on the inside. Saw a ton of bugs, literally prolly 30-50 of them, 3 at a time in many spots, probably 15% of which would be legal. Got one legal by a butt hair and damn was he tasty tonight. Anybody have any tips on how you catch them? I feel as though i saw waaay too many today to have only caught one. They just shoot out so fast that even when i think im stalking them they shoot just before i grab. Its starting to piss me off. Also saw a bunch of good size perch, a few rockfish, and a couple small white crabs. Overall had a great 2 hour sesh out there! The viz is finally coming back! Also, what are the laws on using some sort of net to spook them into? Is that legal here?

[Namor]

Thanks for the report. No nets allowed for divers, hand take only. practice will help with the grabs.

jeremy

[phil herranen]

Originally Posted by Couplescaddy

Hey guys, dove leds today and had pretty good 10'ish vis on the inside. Saw a ton of bugs, literally prolly 30-50 of them, 3 at a time in many spots, probably 15% of which would be legal. Got one legal by a butt hair and damn was he tasty tonight. Anybody have any tips on how you catch them? I feel as though i saw waaay too many today to have only caught one. They just shoot out so fast that even when i think im stalking them they shoot just before i grab. Its starting to piss me off. Also saw a bunch of good size perch, a few rockfish, and a couple small white crabs. Overall had a great 2 hour sesh out there! The viz is finally coming back! Also, what are the laws on using some sort of net to spook them into? Is that legal here?

I do best if I just crash in on them and grab in one smooth motion , don't give them a chance to know what's going on . In ca. Hands only ,NO NETS ,STICKS ,OR HOOKS .
Phil

[SLOH2OMan]

Driving up the coast last night there was a sizable squid fleet setting up near El Cap. Something besides squid has to be in the vacinity. If you are diving for lobster its hands only I even caught one between my legs, between my arm chest. If you are seeing that many try grabbing only the legals and don't train the shorts. After you make enough mistakes success will follow.

[Adam Sachs]

Originally Posted by Couplescaddy

Hey guys, dove leds today and had pretty good 10'ish vis on the inside. Saw a ton of bugs, literally prolly 30-50 of them, 3 at a time in many spots, probably 15% of which would be legal. Got one legal by a butt hair and damn was he tasty tonight. Anybody have any tips on how you catch them? I feel as though i saw waaay too many today to have only caught one. They just shoot out so fast that even when i think im stalking them they shoot just before i grab. Its starting to piss me off. Also saw a bunch of good size perch, a few rockfish, and a couple small white crabs. Overall had a great 2 hour sesh out there! The viz is finally coming back! Also, what are the laws on using some sort of net to spook them into? Is that legal here?

One mistake that I used to make was to try to snatch them (sort of a grab and pick up motion) off the rocks,out of the eelgrass, etc. That led to a lot a clean misses or poorly grabbed bugs that ended up struggling out of my grip. In my experience, it's a lot more effective to use the initial grab to pin them down so they can't jet away. That way you can make sure you've got a solid hold before you pick them up.

[Couplescaddy]

thanks for all the advice guys, I'll definitely work on my grabbing technique. I definitely thought it was hand take only, but saw quite a few youtube videos of people using nets on what looked to be spinys, but figured the laws are probably different in the caribbean.

I've also been reading on here a few different things about the status of Devereaux. There are posts from 2009 and 2010 discussing the closure of the reef, but then this week a few people gave updates on their dives out there. Is this beach open or closed? Thanks again for the help guys!

Also, I usually get off work around 5:00-5:30 and would love to catch up with some of you guys for an evening dive somewhere in town. I have a few buddies who thought it was a great idea to start bug hunting but are now getting a little demoralized with 0s on their cards. let me know!

[2L0ST]

Well if I wasnt sick right now couplescaddy, I would love to go hit the bugs tonight but until this cold passes I will be staying dry. And about devraux, the closure and evidence needed for the closure is under a lawsuit or something right now so it is still open for now. Does anyone know if they have decided a final closure date if any?Don't get discouraged by zeros! That's what sepparates the men from the boys. One day that card will read 7