WO Hali bite at BCSB! TJ & Matt D go Legal! Four species & Bill Varney!

[tacklejunkie]

What a day! :Shocked:

Made plans this week to hit the surf/jetty/bay Friday.

up at 3am, Matt D was in the driveway with Ron and his GF by 4am, and we were at the beach by 5-5:30.

First stop, the reserve.

Started drop shotting flashtrix minnows and got bit by an 8" halibut right away. (pic on cellphone, not pictured)

6 am rolls around and no more fish so we headed to Big Fish for some ghosties, squid and more flashtrix. Afterwards we headed into BCSB and to the southern jetty.

First thing I notice the water was dead still and very clear. Tossed out my drop shot flashtrix with some calico cocktail procure right away and smack!
got a nice little fight on 6lb test. I was stoked! That's two hali's for me..
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0021.jpg
(same fish)
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0022.jpg


I have heard "where there is one hali biting, there is likely another!" before so I quickly released that shorty and tossed my retied dropshot back out again with some more calico cocktail procure. Bam! a little bit bigger one this time also on 6lb vanish FC..
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0023.jpg
(same fish)
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0024.jpg

Tossed out the drop shot flashtrix minnow again... Bam! A legal! on 6lb test! Took me like 4 minutes to land this puppy by myself on the jetty rocks :Big Smile: At the same time I hooked this one, Matt also hooked a 15" shorty so we had a double hookup going on.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0026.jpg
:cool: first barely legal
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0027.jpg
released my first legal to fight another day
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0028.jpg


Now it was Matt's turn for another nice fighter C&R'd..
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0030.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0033.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0034.jpg


Then I noticed Bill Varney had walked out to the jetty as well. Walked over and said hi and noted the wild hali bite near the bridge. Bill was stoked and was talking about a couple nice sized corbina hanging around. He started talking about Wingnut's crazy Coho salmon run which reminded me I should be trying my LC110's since the hali's were biting so good. Told Bill I'd talk to him in a few minutes and tied on my LC.

I took about 10 casts. I was giving it two good jerks, pausing then another jerk, a pause and a couple cranks then repeating. On the last cast Bill walks up behind me so I turn to say goodbye. All the sudden I look back at my bright yellow LC in the water and I see a white flash, that a huge hali turn and head for the deep with it in his mouth! I set the hook and the fight is on! I was screamin' the whole time and Bill whiped out the camera and started taking video! The fish was making a bunch of drag stripping runs and my heart was pounding in fear of losing the fish. It took about 2 -3 minutes maybe, but I finally landed my PB legal hali at about 23.5-24" on Bill's tape! What a battle! Hopefully I can get the ideo link posted from Bill later on and more pictures from Matt and Ron.

Edit:
Here's the footage courtesy of Bill Varney!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRiONyTS7DE
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0037.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0038.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0040.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0041.jpg


Shortly after Bill caught a nice little Sand bass right at the jetty Before he left!

Then Matt hooks up his Legal and battles it on light line for a good 3 minutes screamin' and hollering. We pretty much had the fish landed and in my hands but I broke him off and let him go as he was going to go home anyways. No pic of the fish but I can assure it was over 22".
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0042.jpg

We finally got ron on one of them puppies after a brief dropshot hardware lesson on the flashtrix with the procure! He also landed 3 more on the D/s in the harbor.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0043.jpg

Here is a shot of Matt in the team colors on another nice sized hali. I'm sure he has the pics of the fish to put up. Get on it mang! :LOL:
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0045.jpg

I don't know what kind of fish this is. It's a new species for me..
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0046.jpg

http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0047.jpg

The timely BSP on a GCSW..
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0048.jpg

A nice healthy prego walleye on ghost shrimp at mach 5 current on a 2oz sinker
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/BCSB%20pb%20halis%206-13-08/DSCN0049.jpg

Man we had a blast! Everyone got on some fish oday besides Ron's GF, but she had a good time anyways trippen out on the nutty hali's and hangin' out.

totals:
TJ - 2 Legals, 4-6 shorties of various sizes, 1 unknown species, 1 BSP, 1 WSP
Matt - 1 Legal 4-5 shorties
Ron - 3 shorties on D/S, 1 bird on the LC slender pointer
Bill - (while fishing with us) 1 sweet lil sand bass

Good fishing with you guys as always. We got lucky big time to walk up on the spot in such perfect conditions. I don't think we'll soon forget that awesome fishing session any time soon. We'd have more pics but the whole thing was kind of a frenzy so we left a bunch out. Awesome to see Bill out there again as well! Thanks for reading our report, and we hope you enjoyed the pics as much as we did taking them ;)

[klocked]

Great job out there TJ and friends!!

Gotta love it when it's wide open like that.

As for the unidentified fish, I believe that is an Opaleye.


Klocked

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

nice work there guys...looks like a great steady bite....that is definately a juvenile opaleye....I used to catch some toad opaleye (3 lbs or more)off the federal breakwall at san pedro...they are really great eating.

Congrats on a good day of fishing,
Gary

[Wingnut]

Congrats on your first legal Casey!!! I knew that it was just a matter of time. Now they're gonna start rolling in for ya. That Nishiki pattern LC is an unknown "secret" color that I sometime use in bright conditions... good call. ;) Looks like a great day for all, well done. :cool:

[fish_sauce]

Wow! Congrats on the first legal...and the nice 24''!

You should try out the LC Pointers (SP) in Nishiki or Candy Sardine pattern on a nice, clear, calm day. It doesn't cast as well as the flashminnows, but i've had better luck with them than the flashminnows...;)

When i first started actively going after halibut i also used the basstrix minnows...landed a lottttt of shorties with them, so i got frustrated and stopped using them altogether (as they were quite pricey, and they're better suited for bass fishing anyway) Try drop shotting 5'' jerk shads next time...:)

I don't know whats better...catching your first legal, or having a chance to fish alongside with bill varney himself!!! nice job out there.

[boxl0bster]

nice job tj, pretty cool that you got to fish with bill.

[Ronira]

Well that looks like a blast, nice photos TJ.

[tacklejunkie]

Thanks guys, that was truly an awesome day of fishing I won't soon forget.
Thanks for the species ID. I'm surprised I landed that little guy. It took 3 casts to get his bites to stick.He barely had a big enough mouth to take the GCSW.

Klocked,
Thanks man! That was off the hook! We finally had our day with the 'Butts!
That Opaleye was beautiful!

Gary,
Thanks for the props and the fish ID. That little fish was very fat! I think it was about to have babies or something. If not, it sure would have made a perfect sized fillet mignon! :LOL: j/k
We letemfeelthesteel several times in your name dood.

WN,
I figured that bright LC color is the same pattern as the famed Metallic Sardine if you see in black and white! I also figured it might be a bit more visible in messy conditions. Ron and Matt were throwing the Aurora color pointers and other LC's, so I thought I'd give the nashiki color a shot. That proved to be an excellent choice! I knew they were tossing the blue stuff all morning already so decided to give the fish something different to look at, also remembering your advice to switch it up if one color wasn't getting it done!

Fish Sauce,
We actually did try a few pointers but no luck. (slender pointer MR, live pointers, pointer 78SP in ghost minnow and pointer 65sp in american shad etc etc.) I'm not sure how Matt and Ron were working their pointers though. Not quite sure why they weren't hooking up on all the different hard baits they tried.

Those flashtrix are expensive, but they worked good for searching out the shorties. Most of our fish came on the flashtrix so I don't regret their purchase ;) Some of those short fish gave up an awesome fight on light line. One thing I like about them is that they are pretty durable and reusable. I landed my first 3-4 hali's on the same one yesterday even after it lost it's eyes 2 fish in. We tried drop shotting hologram shad robo worms too with no luck.

We were doing exceptionally well on the rainbow trout, blue smoke and white colored flashtrix in all sizes with Gamakatsu splitshot/dropshot hooks in size 4 with owner downshot weights in 1/4oz size. Even on our short move to the harbor the white ones were pulling in the butts off the wedge wall on the harbor side where it was tricky to use the hardbaits around the weeds. Using that Calico Cocktail Procure we had plenty of time to set the hook once we felt a "snagfish" or a light bite on the line. They didn't drop the bait once they picked it up!

boxl0bster:
Good to hear from you again dude. Bill is a great guy to be able to fish with let alone bump in to at the spot! Matt and Ron both agreed. We had one of those crazy lucky days with biting fish and good company that probably couldn't have gone any smoother! I've been waiting and working towards a good day like this in the salt all year. It was the perfect payoff, and just after a big discouragement earlier in the week!

Just goes to show me "NEVER GIVE UP!"

Ronira
Thanks man, that was crazy! Those fish fight HARD and don't want to be landed! :LOL: You're pretty much forced to tire it out or you might just break it off trying to land 'em.

[PUDD MASTER BAITER]

Nice Job Tj. Weve Got To Hook Up With You Some Time . Gary And I Arent Going Tommorrow. We Have To Settle For The Pudd Hole Because Its Fathers Day. You Know Ill Be There Early With The 8wt Fly Rod In Hand Using The Bps Poppers. Thanks For The Pics It ,makes Me Want To Go Right Now... Peace Out ..mike The Pmb

[bsp]

Good job on having such a wide open day on the halibut! If you are fishing jerkbaits from the jetty try using straight 30lb braid so you do not have to worry about breaking off the fish. It does not affect the number of strikes you get since the Flash Minnow is a reaction bite.

[ikeman]

Gotta love that kind of action! Great job on the first legal! Looked like great fishing conditions.
I think my wife and son are renting a skiff in San Diego for me for Father's day tomorrow. Hope so! Anyways, great job out there.

[tacklejunkie]

Looking on Bills website I found his Friday the 13th fishing report and the video of my legal on the LC! :) I think he started the video about half way in to the fight or so. There's also the picture of his cool sand bass!
http://surffishingreport.blogspot.com/

And here's the video!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRiONyTS7DE

Big thanks to Bill Varney for being in the right place at the right time with the right equipment to catch that footage and uploading it! :Thumbs Up:

[troutdog]

WOW that was some day out there TJ, great report and pics as always. I'm sure this will be a day you will never forget, congrats to you and your crew!


TD

[mth1997]

That's cool man, awesome report!

I'll be hitting the surf for the first time next week. How can I get that done with a 6.5 foot spinning rod with 6# line? Can I use any ol' minnow lure or plastic grub? Thanks ahead of time for any tips brutha.

[tacklejunkie]

That's cool man, awesome report!

I'll be hitting the surf for the first time next week. How can I get that done with a 6.5 foot spinning rod with 6# line? Can I use any ol' minnow lure or plastic grub? Thanks ahead of time for any tips brutha.

For a first surf mission I'd suggest targeting perch as was suggested to me.
Check out 57's great thread on beginning surf fishing. This should help you find the perch at just about any Socal beach amongst many other species.
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=14334
Just use a C-rig with a small 2" grub or a 2" Gulp brand Camo color Sandworm and a 1/2oz weight on that 6.5' rod and 6lb line. I would suggest some 6lb fluorocarbon leader to go with it which seems to slightly increase my hookup ratio. Just hit the surf or some rocks near high tide and cast out with a slow retrieve and you'll know when you get bit ;)
Study 57's thread once or twice and you'll do fine.

If things are looking good you could always try drop shotting a bass worm to see if the halibut will bite it or throw some of your hardbaits.
Sometimes the halis eat those sandworms too so you never really know what your going to catch.

[mth1997]

Thanks man, I'll check out that thread.

I'll be further up the coast. I'm going to Pismo, then to Monterey, then back down to Moro Bay. Should be a great learning experience. I'll take your advice and hopefully post a successful report late next week.


For a first surf mission I'd suggest targeting perch as was suggested to me.
Check out 57's great thread on beginning surf fishing. This should help you find the perch at just about any Socal beach amongst many other species.
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=14334
Just use a C-rig with a small 2" grub or a 2" Gulp brand Camo color Sandworm and a 1/2oz weight on that 6.5' rod and 6lb line. I would suggest some 6lb fluorocarbon leader to go with it which seems to slightly increase my hookup ratio. Just hit the surf or some rocks near high tide and cast out with a slow retrieve and you'll know when you get bit ;)
Study 57's thread once or twice and you'll do fine.

If things are looking good you could always try drop shotting a bass worm to see if the halibut will bite it or throw some of your hardbaits.
Sometimes the halis eat those sandworms too so you never really know what your going to catch.

[SanDimasLMB]

Very nice. I knew there would be some hali's down there. I just passed there today too and I remembered that I hadn't fished there yet.

Good job on the PB Hali :Thumbs Up:

[dantwenty2]

Where the heck is BCSB???

[legacy1]

Bolsa Chica State beach...I actually help build that jetty...if it's the one that goes to the wetlands...with Kiewit.

[tacklejunkie]

Where the heck is BCSB???
Legacy is correct..
however no need to flood on down to BCSB. We were hooking hali's in Newport harbor on the same gear the same day so the spot obviously wasn't the important part. Plus, conditions at that jetty are 90% of the time far less than optimal. (we got lucky!) We fished the same spot after coming back from NPH for nothing but a single perch which we had to use a 2oz weight to catch in the crazy current that arose.

[Cangler]

Great report !

Ive fished the northern side of that new jetty a lot too.There is
a trench about 60yrs north which holds loads of fish.

[SoCalGuy7]

Looks like you had it goin on! Sweet fish and pics.....I see you went again you were so stoked....Now onto your other report...;)