Moon Wipes Out Jenner Lumens Tonight

Saturday August 17, 2013 Jenner CA.

A nice evening kayaking Jenner in the moonlight

I’d already decided to go down to Jenner tonight and check out if there would be any lumens, as high tide was at eight PM, at about 6.4 feet and the sun set around eight PM too. And there was going to be a moon, almost full, about 7/8ths. And I knew too much moon light would likely wash out the lumens as they need almost pitch black dark to shine as they are very week glowers. Just about any light will wipe out the low glow they put out when disturbed. Part of why I wanted to check them out was to see how much the moon had an effect on them. This is the time of year lumens are supposed to be the densest.

I didn’t want to get down to Jenner until about seven PM, which would give me enough time to paddle up to Markum hole, about three miles up the river.

That meant I might as well putter in the yard today. So, when I got up and got going, I jacked up the car to check the back rear brake and drum and bearing as I was getting some weird noises from that wheel. Some grease had gotten on the brake shoes which I cleaned off. And the big nut that holds it all on wasn’t as tight as it should be, so I tightened it all up real good and all seems well with it. I leveled some ground with a shovel under some fruit trees and trimmed some branches here and there and of course had a nap or two and did some sitting around in the yard too.

In the afternoon, I did some cooking and some more napping and left for Jenner around six thirty PM.

While I was setting the water sprinkler to water some trees I thought I saw a big grass hopper land on some morning glories right in front of me,……………….But?

No, it wasn’t a grass hopper. Can you see the big guy in the photo below?mantis1

 

Maybe this will help. A big Praying Mantis, which surprised me as they aren’t normally from here, but I think a lot of people are using them for insect control? Better than a grass hopper, I’m sure it’d eat a hopper.mantis

 

Around six thirty PM, I left for Jenner and arrived just before seven PM.

The sun was almost down and there were some nice clouds in the sky, very little breeze and fairly warm too, nice.

This is the view west, down river toward the ocean as I just put my boat in the water and headed across to Penny Island.eveningview

 

I paddled on up the river on the south side, moving along, but stopping once in a while for a little break.

It was looking real nice, this is the view of the highway one bridge at Bridge Heaven, looking up the river, as I paddle along.bridge

 

A great blue heron finding a place to roost for the night.heron

 

This was the view as the sun was going down as I paddled up above the highway one bridge. I could hear the ocean crashing hard on the shore over that hill, where Jenner lies. It sounded like the ocean was real rough, but not the river.sunset

 

I went by seal heaven, but there were no seals on the logs tonight, they must be out feeding somewhere?

This is the view above seal heaven just below Markum hole where I was headed. The breeze had died down to nothing and the water was flat and reflecting.upview3

 

Just a little further up the river going into Markum hole. Boy was it getting nicer all the time.glass

 

The moon was up as it was getting dark and eventually it got dark enough that I couldn’t get any more pics of the day, so I put the camera away and just enjoyed the night looking for lumens.moon

 

Tonight’s lumens report

As it got dark, just after nine PM, the moon was up and I could see it was going to be real bright tonight. It washed all the lumens out, except in the shadows along the shore line on the south side of the river where it was dark enough to see lumens.

I first checked the dark side of Markum hole for them and there where some there. I didn’t see any fish at Markum hole.

Just below seal heaven I crossed the river to the south shore line above Willow creek and picked up lots of lumens in the shadows along the shoreline. They were real thick, but no fish.

I followed the south shore line all the way back to Jenner and it was the same all the way. Lots o lumens in the river tonight, but they could only be seen in the shadows of the trees along the shore line. Almost no fish could be seen which is interesting.

I was back at Jenner around ten pm and could have gone in, but it was so nice out, stars and a moon and real calm, I decided to go down the back channel of Penny Island and check that out for lumens too. Same thing, lots of lumens in the shadows and almost no fish.

I crossed over to the west end of Penny Island and went up the north shore of the island. Same thing, lumens in the shadows and no fish.

I arrived back at the Jenner put in around eleven and headed on home.

To cap, there were a lot of lumens in the water tonight, thick even, but the moon light washed most of them out.

An interesting thing is almost no fish. I’ve noticed that sometimes there are fish everywhere glowing in the dark and other times there are almost no fish. This was a no fish night. Could it be the bright moon is the cause of no fish as compared to lots of fish? I’ll have to keep checking and find out. I plan to go back out again tomorrow night.

Nice night out chasing lumens, just the same.

This entry was posted in Uncategorized and tagged , , , , , . Bookmark the permalink.