After leaving San Francisco we drove toward the Monterey Bay area to Moss Landing where we had booked for two nights .Turns out this is an old fishing town with a population of 782 – well all of them must own a boat/ship. The area is where the Elkhorn Slough(wetland) meets the sea. Walking down to the beach we were treated to a web of life display with sea lions cruising the beach , pelicans diving into the shallows from a great height , and a lock couple of Japanese descent who must have caught 40 jacksmelt between them . I tried fishing in the surf and on the breakwater of the Estuary entrance  but my tally was zero. We walked round the town and down to a small market which was selling the plentiful local produce and bought supplies. There is a definite Mexican influence with restaurants called the Haute Enchilada and the Whole Enchilada.
In the morning I went down to the beach early with a revised rig to try my luck . On the way there were Otters in the Estuary near the bridge lying on their backs in the water munching noisily on vegetation. On reaching the beach there was numbers of sea lions cruising back and the usual range of birds – pelicans,pacific gulls and others . A pod of dolphins about three , I think,  then cruised through maybe 50 metres from the shore.  Following the just a little further out a Grey Whale broke the surface . Finally a jacksmelt took a liking to me crude rig .
Late morning we walked along the Estuary and along a beach track toward the Salinas state beach area then finally back to the edge of Moss Landing . We first went to ML Liquor store which also happens to be the tackle shop, and I purchased a  pre made Sabiki bait rig similar to what that Japanese couple were using . We walked a bit further along and  had lunch at the Moss Landing Cafe. We both had the fresh grilled fish on Caesar salad ,Lily the LingCod and me the Sandab( similar to a small flounder) .Both were superb. After getting back to the van I tired my luck on the beach .The same couple were there again , with about 40 fish. Despite fishing next to their berley trail , with almost the same rig , I came up with one jacksmelt . Anyway the jacksmelt have a bit of reputation for eating a bit like Australian Salmon or our mullet – not great eating and make good bait .Well of course fresh fish done right will usually taste good and they did  .