Labor Day = The end of summer: San Clemente Report 9/3-9/6

[ApneaAddict]

For years my family's annual Labor day trip has meant the end of summer. This year is no exception. No more So-Cal diving for a couple of months , but it will give Bryan and me some time to work our way through the freezer .

The crossings to and from SD bay (Friday and Monday) were both real lumpy and the water was COLD, so we didn't hop any paddies. As for conditions at the island. Friday the east side was blown out, but Pyramid was flat. Saturday the east side was iffy and Pyramid was flat. Sunday the east side was GLASS and Pyramid was windy.

Water temps at the island varied from a high of 68 to a low of 59! (And we hit temps in the 54 degree range in the channel! I thought this was September!?)

Game taken:
1 yellowtail at 15#
2 halibut (Bryan's went 16, mine went 25)
and a few calicos up to about 5 pounds.

Edit: Vis varied from ~20 feet in some spots with a hazy layer on the surface to 40-45 feet and beautiful.

We dove our favorite halibut spot on Saturday afternoon. <5 minutes after hitting the water, Bryan pops up to yell "got one!... it's a nice one, too!" 16 pounds. Since he had his fish, he swam off to look for yellowtail... about an hour later he shot himself a 15 pound 'tail that he had to WORK for (seen from the surface, followed to 40 feet for a 1:00+ breath hold, before taking a long shot and nailing it center of mass! I definitely would have come back to the surface empty handed if it'd been me in that situation...). Meanwhile, I'd been pounding the sand pretty hard, but it was starting to smell skunky for me... Bryan was nice enough to let me continue searching while he pulled the anchor and brought the boat over to pick me up. As he putted up to me, I thought to myself "Okay, last breath hold... how ridiculous would it be to spot a halibut on my last breath hold!?"... 20 second later "Oh sh*t, there's a halibut!" I nailed him a little lower than I would have liked, but it held, so all was well. I came up hooping and hollering like a mad man. I'm still a little in disbelief that I managed to find the fish of the trip on my very last breath hold of a 2 1/2 hour dive.

It was a fun trip and a great way to end the summer. Time to get eatin'!

[fuzz]

Awesome!

Water looks incredible!



I got to shoot kelp rockfish instead...

[ofer]

nice report and fish.

For me summer starts on labor day as Sept and Oct are some of the best months to dive.

[ApneaAddict]

Originally Posted by fuzz

Awesome!

Water looks incredible!

I got to shoot kelp rockfish instead...

We were sorry you couldn't make it. We'll invite you earlier next time we've got space so that you can be sure to make it.

[turtle714]

Ah man. Water looks lovely out there.

[thereefgeek]

Sweet trip report!!

[C monster]

You have a charmed life, Carter. Don't ever take it for granted... Looks like a another fantastic trip for you guys.

SC

[Mr Paul]

Im really starting to hate you guys, before your other thread hits the second page, you've got another trip you're posting about. Yes you are incredibly lucky, sounds like a blast, again.

[Nelson Kwok]

Wow! You guys live good!

[ApneaAddict]

Originally Posted by C monster

You have a charmed life, Carter. Don't ever take it for granted... Looks like a another fantastic trip for you guys.

SC

Thanks, Sandy. We definitely try not to. I feel truly blessed to have the opportunity to share these incredible experiences with my family and our friends. This year in particular has definitely been one I'll always remember.

Originally Posted by Mr Paul

Im really starting to hate you guys, before your other thread hits the second page, you've got another trip you're posting about. Yes you are incredibly lucky, sounds like a blast, again.

In my defense, this is the first time we've ever had 2 trips so closely spaced. Most of the time my reports are back-to-back because we're shore diving Carmel... maybe the moral is just that I spend too much time on spearboard

[Adam Sachs]

Nice work, gentlemen. Yet again, I find myself living vicariously through your reports.

Semi-derail: Did you guys find dive gear for Bryan's lady friend and did she get in the water? Any pics would be appreciated.

[no bananas]

Your family rock!

[Bob Ballew]

you invested the time and received the reward....nice story and fish...

[grant]

I got one word. Jealous. Looks like nice water. We have not had that in San Diego this summer.

[apneanaut]

Originally Posted by Adam Sachs

Semi-derail: Did you guys find dive gear for Bryan's lady friend and did she get in the water? Any pics would be appreciated.

No, and yes... and no

She has a phobia of putting her face underwater and convinced me she wouldn't do much (or any) snorkeling with or without a wetsuit. It took some persuading and coaching but she did try a little snorkeling. We had spare fins and a mask that fit and swam around the boat a couple times. She's a pretty tough girl but I think comfort in the water does not come naturally to most non-water people. I think she saw it as an accomplishment that she overcame her fear and tried it, unfortunately I don't think she got to the point of enjoying the scenery much. She had fun doing other things- seeing dolphins, shell collecting, and catching her first fish (a feisty bonito). She had a great time overall.