Kelp Paddy Pic by Mo Betta From Bloody Decks Fish Boiling on Kelp Paddy
With summer approaching here in Southern California, fishermen are beginning to prepare their boats for the fishing season. During the summer and fall seasons many Southern California fishermen participate in what we call “Paddy Hopping”. Basically, anglers go out and look for kelp paddies floating in the ocean. The reason for looking for the paddies is they hold bait,? where there is bait, there is fish. Well…….Hopefully.
Among the most commonly targeted fish are typically Tuna, Yellowtail and Dorado (AKA Mahi Mahi). In Southern California and Baja Mexico, these are very highly sought after game fish. When the word gets out that they’re biting every yahoo that owns a boat heads out for the hunt and paddy hopping is easy to do.
With that said, I thought I’d post up some “Do’s” and “Don’ts” or Paddy Etiquette. No one person owns the ocean, or the paddy you see, but yes there is etiquette that should be followed.
Say you’re out and it’s been a long day of burning fuel looking but finding nothing, then you see a boat that appears to be stopped on a “Barn Door”. You could just run right up to it and drop a line but that would be bad. Very bad. If there are fish there, the sound of the engine and splash from the boat will cause the fish to dive out and the bite to shut down. If the boat that was there before you was catching fish you effectively kill the bite for them. This in turn makes them angry and you make no friends and even worse, you catch no fish.
The first thing you should do is keep your distance and observe through binoculars if any fish are being caught by the other boat. Also look for signs of life such as fish boiling on bait around the kelp paddy. If tuna or yellowtail are biting you will see them splashing around, You may even want to look outside of the paddy. Many times dorado are well off the kelp paddy and beacuse of their speed grabbing a meal is not hard for them .
Next try to hail the other vessel on the radio, or try to get someone’s attention in all likelihood they will motion
Yellowtail Boil by MikeyLikesIt
you?on in. I’ve never had anyone flag me away after showing an act of courtesy such as this on the water. If you can’t get anyone’s attention make a decision based upon your observation of life around the paddy, not based on “”it’s a paddy, I’m going in”.
If you do decide to slide in, do so slowly, throttled down at near idle and upwind of the kelp paddy. Set up? so you drift near that kelp paddy at a good casting distance from it. This way if you were hook up, the fish won’t instantly wrap your line around the kelp and break you off. Also if you drift directly over the kelp you may scare the fish off. It may be a good idea to fish the other side of the paddy opposite the other vessel. Just common courtesy.
If you pull up to a paddy and there are boats sitting right on top of the paddy, try fishing well outside of it. Again not runing and gunning around it. Slowly idle around it or better yet drift. If there are any boats sitting right on or very close to it the fish will likely be outside of the kelp paddy or deep below it. Typically fish are never right under the paddy anyway. They’ll be all around and many times deep below it. If nothing is bting on the surface, tie a sinker on and try down deeper. Even tie a jig on and try to “Yoyo” the fish on. I’ve done and seen it happen more times than I can count. Boats on kelp paddies getting nothing and we’re outside hook’n up.
Here’s to a good 2009 fishing season in Southern California!
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I’ve been creating some Wordpress Themes and I’m giving them away. Yep Free Wordpress Themes. You can find more Free Wordpress Themes by either clicking the linked text or looking at the menu above and clicking Free Wordpress Themes there too.
The first free theme I’m listing is the exact one you see on this site. I call it Andrea Revised because it was inspired by another theme I used to use here called Andrea by Lucian Marin. While I still like the the original Andrea very much, I like this Wordpress Theme better. It’s brighter and has deeper, more brilliant blues with some glares thrown in. Also I made this theme myself, none of his code was used anywhere this free Wordpress theme.
I’ll also be making a three column version of this pretty soon.
Remember this is the same theme my site is using now so the pic below may blend in a bit.
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A bacon sandwich really does cure a hangover – by boosting the level of amines which clear the head, scientists have found.
The reaction between amino acids in the bacon and reducing sugars in the fat is what provides the bacon sandwich with its appeal.
Researchers claim food also speeds up the metabolism helping the body get rid of the booze more quickly.
Elin Roberts, of Newcastle University’s Centre for Life said: “Food doesn’t soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal with the after-effects of over indulgence. So food will often help you feel better.
“Bread is high in carbohydrates and bacon is full of protein, which breaks down into amino acids. Your body needs these amino acids, so eating them will make you feel good.”
Ms Roberts told The Mirror: “Bingeing on alcohol depletes neurotransmitters too, but bacon contains a high level of aminos which tops these up, giving you a clearer head.”
Researchers also found a complex chemical interaction in the cooking of bacon produces the winning combination of taste and smell which is almost irresistible.
The reaction between amino acids in the bacon and reducing sugars in the fat is what provides the sandwich with its appeal.
Ms Roberts said: “The smell of sizzling bacon in a pan is enough to tempt even the staunchest of vegetarians. There’s something deeper going on inside. It’s not just the idea of a tasty snack. There is some complex chemistry going on.
“Meat is made of mostly protein and water. Inside the protein, it’s made up of building blocks we call amino acids. But also, you need some fat. Anyone who’s been on a diet knows if you take all the fat from the meat, it just doesn’t taste the same. We need some of the fat to give it the flavour.”
She explained that the reaction released hundreds of smells and flavours but it is the smell which reels in the eater. “Smell and taste are really closely linked,” she said. “If we couldn’t smell then taste wouldn’t be the same.”
April 21st, 2009 | 
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Elin Roberts, of Newcastle University’s Centre for Life said: “Food doesn’t soak up the alcohol but it does increase your metabolism helping you deal with the after-effects of over indulgence. So food will often help you feel better.