Fishing at Van Damme for non-divers

[TaoH]

I'm organizing a camping trip to Van Damme this summer and some of my attendees are dry-anglers who are interested in fishing along the coast.

I want to give them a place to fish away from where most of the diver traffic occurs; can anyone recommend some places around Van Damme where they could fish? Some tips and information on fishing in the area would also be appreciated.

Thanks.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Well there are several possibilities.
There is rod and reel fishing off the rocks all up and down the coast in that area. A good pair of climbing boots and gloves are recommended to get out to some of the more challenging spots. Out of Albion on the headland it gets deep real fast. You can stand on a rock next to the water and it's 40 feet deep right there.
Another spot that comes to mind is Mendocino Headlands. It's similar to Albion in that right next to shore there is a vertical drop off. The thing is they can't be afraid to get a little wet. Do not attept rock fishing if the swell is up in any way. People get swept off rocks and die. It doesn't matter how good you are, without fins and floatation you don't stand much of a chance in that water.
Another thing is that with fishing off rocks you lose a lot of gear. A step better solution is to move up to poke poleing. A poke pole is either a long piece of bamboo about 20-30 feet long or the modern version would be a fiberglass telescopic stick.
They have a short wire leader attached to the end and you put a single hook on the end with a little piece of squid, and this works pretty darn good. You poke the end of it under rocks and down the sides of walls and pull the fish out. The beauty of poke poles is that if you get snagged you just pull it free straightening the hook out if necessary and put a new hook on, gear loss is minimal. I've even seen guys floating around on kayaks using these next to offshore rocks. They sell these at places like Outdoor Pro Shop or Lyle's Bait and Tackle in Santa Rosa or Kings Sporting Goods in Guerneville.

Which brings me to the next method. Have them rent kayaks at the beach at Vandamme. They could bottom fish with rod and reel off kayaks which would give them plenty of range. Dropping tackle straight down into the rocks is better for not losing as much gear too.

The final one would be just to sign up for a party boat out of Noyo. That's about 10 miles north up hwy 1 in Fort Bragg. That's almost a no brainer for getting fish.

Hope this helps.

ZKY

 

[abman]

yep that exactly how to do it on the north coast. if they aren't susseptable to getting sea sick, the biggest bang for the buck is the party boat thing out of noyo harbor.

 

[TaoH]

If some of my guests are interested in renting kayaks from the parking lot, how much would it cost to get a kayak?

Or if I could get the contact info of the business that rents those kayaks, that'd be great.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

If some of my guests are interested in renting kayaks from the parking lot, how much would it cost to get a kayak?

Or if I could get the contact info of the business that rents those kayaks, that'd be great.

It's probably $20 - $30 day or half day, I'm not really sure.
You could call Sub Surface Progression dive shop in Fort Bragg and they may know.
You could also try and contact the ranger kiosk at the front gate there at Vandamme campground and see if they know.

ZKY