Tag Archives: ten inch abalone

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Roger Rude wrote, "It has been a month since I have ventured into the sea, that is a long stretch for me. It seems like she has been angry, perhaps for the way we have been treating her, throwing tantrums of waves and storms. Today she was at peace, befitting of her name "Pacific", enticing me to come to her and play, explore and rejuvenate my soul.

Abalone season is closed, so I brought my new kayak, a Pedal Mirage Drive Hobie Outback Kayak, along with another for my friend Jack Likins, to test them out, explore new dive sites and perhaps spear a fish for dinner. Conditions were lovely, flat water, sunshine, a beautiful day. I could see the spouts of whales traveling south about a mile off shore. [Below is Jack Likins trying out the new kayak.]

Jack Linkins Kayaking on a pedgal Miracle Drive Hobie Outback Kayak by Rogert Rude

We launched somewhere near Gualala and pedaled our way north. Yes, I said pedal, not paddled. These kayaks are equipped with a unique pedal drive that propels them through the water nearly effortlessly at a speed faster than we could have paddled.

We arrived at the area we wanted to explore and dropped into interspace. The visibility was around 20 feet over a boulder strewed bottom. Very few fish were about probably due to the full moon and a night of feeding. I was looking for a black rock cod for dinner and I found her sleeping in a cave. Dinner provided for I began to explore. In the next fifteen minutes I found not one but two abalone measuring close to 10.5 inches.

A ten inch Abalone will have to wait by Roger Rude

I wear a GoPro camera on my head and I video record my dives so I can review them later, for posting on the Internet and for occasions like this. I surfaced and recorded landmarks above the water, as well as on the bottom, in hopes of relocating these two trophy-sized abalone in April when the season reopens.

Two ten-inch Abalone by Roger Rude

While heading back to our launch sight we were briefly surrounded by half a dozen sea lions porpoising through the water in the other direction. They were moving fast and only briefly slowed down to take a look at us as they past, too fast to get a photo of them. I had heard there was a pod of Orcas in the area and I wondered if this was the source of their frantic pace, but I saw no sign of them.

Another beautiful day in the sea off of the Mendonoma coast, another adventure experienced with the lure of a fruitful one in the future. Standing on shore I shared a beer with my buddy. Once again a terrestrial being looking out at my mistress the sea, my spirit is full and my soul is at peace."

I thank Roger for giving us this look into the world most of us will never see. And thanks also for allowing me to share his photos with you here. Here is a photo of Roger after a very successful abalone dive. The photo was taken by his buddy, Jack Likins. These are two ten+ inch Abalones.

Roger Rude with two ten-inch Abalones by Jack Likins (Small)

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Any Abalone ten inches or more is considered a trophy abalone. Here is what one looks like.

Paul Weston took this photo of one happy hunter of red treasure. Paul wrote, “[Here is a photo] I took of Louie Ozenne with a 10 1/4 inch Abalone taken on the outside of Schooner Gulch. The depth was between 25 and 30 feet. Louie was thrilled; his normal passive personality actually changed to one of an extrovert. Congratulations, Louie!”

Thanks to Paul for allowing me to share his photo and congratulations to Louie on his feat!

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Local divers, Jack Likins and Eric Anderson, recently dove for Abalone. Here's what Jack had to say about the dive:

“Eric and I went for a dive last Wednesday at a secret spot off of The Sea Ranch coast. The wind was calm, the waves were calm and the water visibility was about 15 to 20 feet. It was a good first dive.

"Eric is 71 and I am 68 so we didn’t want to do anything too strenuous, especially on our first dive of the season.

“We were diving relatively deep for a low tide, from about 20 to 35 feet. Eric got a nice 9 ¾ inch abalone and I got two that were over 10 inches. Both Eric and I dive a lot, so we save our annual limits [24/season and three/day] for the larger abalones. We usually see hundreds of abalone on each dive, we seldom take one unless it is large or we need one for dinner.”

Here is the photo of Jack's two ten inchers:

Several abalone divers paid the ultimate price this past weekend. Eric Anderson has this poem on his website. He has kindly allowed me to share it here.
    ODE to ABALONE DIVERS 
       by Abaloneten 
       
When I’m dead and in my grave
No more abalone will I crave
At the top of my tombstone will be seen
“Here lies the body of an abalone diving fiend”
A little bit lower will be inscribed
“He nearly got the big one before he died”
At my funeral the preacher will say
“If it hadn’t been for abalone, he’d be alive today”
My family will be sad, and, they’ll wonder why,
So will my buddies when they come to say good bye
All I can figure, is, God wanted my soul
Cuz I think I  located God’s favorite ab hole…
To learn much more about abalone, here is Eric's website: https://sites.google.com/site/abaloneten/
Thanks to Eric and Jack for sharing their photo and experience with us here.

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Two Days - five ten inch abalone!

Here is Jack's story.
"With the end of abalone season fast approaching, we finally got some good diving conditions. Roger Rude and I got into the water at one of our less usually dive-able spots on The Sea Ranch. There was a bit of NW swell and the tide was very low so the entry and exit over mussel and algae-covered rocks was a little hairy, but we managed to make it in and out without too much trouble. We had about fifteen feet of visibility underwater and a slight south breeze.

"Roger and I are in the process of making a 'How to' video on abalone diving and had a goal for this dive of filming the take of a ten-inch abalone underwater. Over the two day period, three hours each day in the water, we found five ten-inchers. A couple of them were too far back in cracks to film and with two of them we were so tired at the end of our dive that it was all we could do to get the abalone, let alone set up and film it at 25 feet deep. But we did manage to get some good video of a couple of the ten-inch abalones that we will be using in our upcoming film.

"Five ten-inchers might seem like a lot of large abalone for two people for two days, and it is, but it is rare that we can do this. I have made over 30 dives this season and only taken 19 abalone of my total quota of 24 in a season. There were many dives where I didn't take a single abalone. I see thousands of them because there is a healthy, thriving population along the Sea Ranch coast. They are well protected by the elements of nature and the CA Department of Fish and Wildlife laws that limit numbers, sizes, locations and equipment used for the take of abalone.

"According to a study by Marine Biologists at the Bodega Bay Marine lab, abalones are like humans with regard to reproduction. After they reach their prime - three to ten years old - they begin to decline in their reproductive capabilities. Abalones over ten inches are likely between ten and fifty years old and, depending on their environment, will begin to actually lose shell size.

"We, as abalone divers, are very concerned about the health of abalone along our coast and want our sport to be available for our grandkids. For that reason we do whatever we can to understand and protect the species. The greatest threats to this irreplaceable resource are the reintroduction of Sea Otters and poaching...in that order.

"At TSR we are particularly lucky to have so many people who understand and want to protect the marine environment. I encourage all who watch the ocean to know and understand the laws about abalone diving so that when you see someone poaching, you can report them. It happens, even at TSR, more often than most people realize. Report poachers at 1-888-DFG-CALTIP."