Marin Abalone (Finally)

Spent a couple hours yesterday with two guys from the NorCal Underwater Hunters forum in the water off of Marin County. The vis was characteristically awful - 2 feet or less - and the wind was kicking up some waves that prevented us from really exploring as we would have liked.


Colin and Mike said they found a handful of small (couple of flat, legal 7-inchers and smaller) abalone in the cracks centered in the relatively-protected spot. On one dive, I found a pair of 8-9 inch abs sitting on a rock. In hindsight, I should have had a line with me to mark them, 'cause when you find a couple like that, who knows what's under the ledge. In my defense, I really didn't think we'd find any abalone.

So they're out there, but it's nothing like Sonoma (so far.) Up there are spots with hundreds of abalone - many out in the open. So far in Marin, they've been few and far-between, hard to find, and in relatively crappy conditions. The hikes and climbs, or paddles, make the effort similar to just driving to Sonoma where it's easy.

But I remain undeterred. The joy is in the hunt. Nobody took any abalone yesterday - not one of us was going to pop an under 9-inch ab.