A relaxing escape fishing off Elephant Rock pier

Joseph Hernandez stands at the end of Elephant Rock pier Oct. 1 and whips his fishing rod through the air. The white rubber lure, fashioned to look like a tiny minnow, sails 100 feet or so before landing in the bay.

Hernandez, 19, and his friend Robert Benitez, 20, wait for signs of a bite. The two say fishing is a favorite pastime. Hernandez points to the water as a sea lion emerges on the surface.

“Look at this guy,” he says. “They’re always out here. The birds, the waves, the sounds. There’s always something out here.”

Hernandez frequently documents his Bay Area fishing adventures on TikTok under the handle @mond0.joj0 and on Instagram under the handle @mondo.joj0.

It was through social media that Hernandez, who is from Santa Rosa, and Benitez, who is from Novato, became friends. Benitez says he reached out to Hernandez on social media after seeing one of Hernandez’s videos, and the two hit it off. Hernandez is a roofer by trade, often doing jobs in Marin County, while Benitez is studying at Santa Rosa Junior College to earn his emergency medical responder certification in hopes of eventually becoming a firefighter.

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