Corral 3-25

[PRUNER]

Location: Corral Canyon
Launch Time: 7am
Land Time: 1pm
Weather: Overcast most of the day, hazy sunshine late morning
Surf: 2-4 Feet
Water Temp: 56-59 Degrees F
Methods: Fishtraps – Christmas Tree with Red Heads and Gulp! Squid
Catch: Approximately 18 sand bass from ½ pound to 4 or 5 pounds
1 giant spider crab on the Gulp! Squid
1 10� mantis shrimp on the fish trap


Was supposed to meet Rhyno at 6:30am at Trancas Starbucks but he had to cancel at the last minute. So I drove down to Corral and it looked pretty good. I did not see anyone else out, but decided to go anyway. The launch was super easy, did not even get a drop of water on the top of the yak.

I paddled out to 30 feet of water and trolled a YoZuri crystal minnow up to the kelp beds just to the north. Started fishing plastics around the kelp beds and picked up 1 small sand bass. I met another yak fisherman who launched near the condos to the north of where I launched. (I launched at the bridge where the ice plants are.) His name was Gary, nice guy.

I worked my way to the north and started fishing 35-38 feet of water where 2 lobster floats where. There was not real structure or kelp there but I did meter some fish so I made a drift. The first drift produced 3 nice sand bass on three straight casts. I worked this area for most of the morning. The fish would move around a bit and I had to find them again with the meter. As long as I had them on the meter, I knew I would get bit.

These sand bass were a ton of fun on my new (first trip!!!) Graftech Wallbanger rod I picked-up from Rhyno. I mounted an Abu Record 60 reel with 12# Berkley Big Game. It turned out to be the perfect rig for fishing plastics in the yak.

I started working around the area and set-up some long drifts with the Gulp! Squid on the bottom with 4oz of lead. That is how I picked up the giant spider crab.

I finished the day with a super-long drift back to my truck and only picked up the mantis shrimp on that long drift.

Overall and excellent day on the water in the yak, it had been toooo long since my last kayak trip (Labor day!).

I will be out again soon!!!!

[FISHHEAD]

Dude! That thing is awesome! How do you handle those? I hear they are really nasty! And can do some major damage

[PRUNER]

Luckily I did not have to handle it, I was able to shake it off the jig without touching it. Yes, they can be VERY nasty and they are VERY, VERY fast. They can cut you to the bone before you even know they are moving. Kinda of a bitchin' lookin' animal though!!!!

[fishkiller]

dude be carfull those things are fast and dangours i know because i have been pinched by one but great job out thier

[FISHHEAD]

I heard they are tasty

[scortch]

The Cantonese sure make is sound tasty!

Cookery
In Japanese cuisine, the mantis shrimp is eaten as sashimi and as a sushi topping, and is called shako (蝦蛄).
In Cantonese cuisine, the mantis shrimp is a popular dish known as "pissing shrimp" (濑尿虾, Mandarin pinyin: lÃ*i niÃ*o xiā, modern Cantonese: laaih niuh hā) due to its tendency to urinate when cooked. Because of this, mantis shrimp are speared to induce them to evacuate their bowels prior to being introduced into the cookpot. After cooking, their flesh is closer to that of lobsters than that of shrimp, and like lobsters, their shells are quite hard and require some pressure to crack.
There are health concerns associated with consuming mantis shrimp, as they are known to dwell in contaminated waters, this is especially true in Hawaii where some have grown unnaturally large and are being consumed by poorer people

[JPSURF16]

Sounds like a good day out. Nice pics and report!!

[ODH33]

way to go Mike!

[phishy]

shrimp cocktail? and you let it go!
great report Mike...we need to hook up again reel soon...almost got the bait tank finished..
I never thought about fishing a yak..but these reports make it sound so tempting...

[jephs422]

Great report, and awesome shrimp Mike. You know, you're gonna make me start wanting a yak, and well, I don't want to want a yak, LOL...