Ricky-Ray
06-17-2008, 09:26 PM
Met up with fellow 976-Tuna members Kenny (KennyMac), Pam (Sea Hag), Jim (jcbowers), Tim (Rubberhook), Drew (Albacrazy), Fred (tunaboy) and Jason (jaylpz) for our second annual trip on the Ultra. This trip was timed with the DFG rules of the 3 seabass limit going up and also on the first full moon too. Last years trip we all limited out on our 3 seabass in a matter of 2 hours. Getting another shot like that this year might not be the case but we were hopeful for a repeat.
I carpooled down the Newport Landing with Jason on Saturday afternoon and we arrived at the landing by about 4:30pm, already there waiting was Jim, Fred and Drew. Just waiting for a few more guys to show up and we would be on our way. Today's crew on the Ultra consisted of Captain's Brian and Doug and deckhand/cook Jessie. Brian wanted to get underway as soon as possible hopefully around 7:30-8pm so we could have a shot a maybe catching a night bite and maybe making some squid too. We had already tanked up on some nice size sardines and anchovies and there was already some squid in the tank and we also had fresh frozen squid too. Brian's intention was to get to Catalina and meet up with the Long Beach Bait Barge The Carnage, they had some scoops of squid reserved for us and Brian wanted to see if he could make some more also.
Crossing the channel was a rough ride. For those of you that have never been on the Ultra it's a 50ft. Delta so you feel the conditions alot more than you would normally on a bigger 3/4 day or overnight sportboat that's at least 65ft long. Once we arrived at Catalina we anchored up and started looking for the seabass. None were around so we pulled anchor and met up with the bait barge and took on some squid and we also got a bit of a float going and were able to make some additional squid too. Once that was done off the San Clemente Island for the morning bite of seabass, hopefully.
We woke up in the grey light Sunday morning and started fishing for seabass, but despite our best efforts none wanted to bite. Nothing really happened till about 8-9am when the calico bass bite turned on. It was almost wide open on calico's for nearly several hours. Every single calcio we brought on board was a keeper no short's whatsoever. Hundred's of them were caught and almost everyone of them were released except for a few that accidentally hit the deck or was bleeding so much we knew it wasn't going to make it. By far that was one of the best calico bass fishing I've ever had anywhere. Brian decided to stay on this spot as he had a feeling the yellows would show up in a little bit and sure enough after a few hours of bass fishing the yellow's showed up. Not in large numbers but they would breeze by 3-4 at a time and whenever they did we would always manager to get at least one or two hooked up. Hooking up on them was not the problem, getting them on the boat was the biggest problem we had. We lost so many yellow's to those darn seals. By mid afternoon we hand managed to get only 4 yellows on the boat and at least 3 times as many were lost to the seals. We did manage to get one seabass and that was caught by KennyMac. It came in at a wopping 45 pounds and he caught that on 20# line. Way to go Kenny.
Pulled anchor and made the trek back to Catalina in hopes of an evening bite. When we arrived, wind was blowing and there was a bit of current ripping. It was hard to get the anchor to set correclty. Finally they had to break out a bigger anchor and after several attemps it finally set. Only thing willing to bite was a wide open calico bite of shorts. It was fun for about 20 mins then Brian pulled anchor and went to look for better conditions. Settled in on another spot and settled in for the evening while they got dinner going. After dinner and still no seabass bite by 10pm or so Brian said he had enough and was going to make the run to Santa Barbara Island for the morning seabass bite.
Brain warned us to secure everything down as it would be a bumpy ride to SBI. Boy did he say it was bumpy, kindda reminded me of my 2 day trip on the Islander two weeks back. What a roller coaster ride again. Finally arrived at SBI and started to fish the grey light and nothing again. Nice thing was that we were the only boat there. Felt kindda nice to have the whole island to yourself, at least within visual range. LOL. Once it became daylight the seabass started to bite and then again so did the seals too. We caught a couple and the seals would take a couple. Made several small moves around the cove area and would pick up a few more seabass and lose a couple too. It was like that all morning and afternoon. Finally at about 2pm Brian called it a day as it would be about a 6 hr run back to Newport. Final count for 8 anglers on our 2 day trip, 4 yellowtail, 16 seabass and limits of calico's and hundreds more released.
I had a great time with this group of excellent anglers and the laughs were nonstop. Captain Brian and the crew of the Ultra worked they tails off on getting us on the fish and Brian and Doug drove miles to get us on the fish. We hit 3 islands in 2 days, what a trip this was. We are already planning for next year and I sure can't wait for it.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd135/rkchiu/Ultra%206-14-08/IMG_0034.jpg
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I carpooled down the Newport Landing with Jason on Saturday afternoon and we arrived at the landing by about 4:30pm, already there waiting was Jim, Fred and Drew. Just waiting for a few more guys to show up and we would be on our way. Today's crew on the Ultra consisted of Captain's Brian and Doug and deckhand/cook Jessie. Brian wanted to get underway as soon as possible hopefully around 7:30-8pm so we could have a shot a maybe catching a night bite and maybe making some squid too. We had already tanked up on some nice size sardines and anchovies and there was already some squid in the tank and we also had fresh frozen squid too. Brian's intention was to get to Catalina and meet up with the Long Beach Bait Barge The Carnage, they had some scoops of squid reserved for us and Brian wanted to see if he could make some more also.
Crossing the channel was a rough ride. For those of you that have never been on the Ultra it's a 50ft. Delta so you feel the conditions alot more than you would normally on a bigger 3/4 day or overnight sportboat that's at least 65ft long. Once we arrived at Catalina we anchored up and started looking for the seabass. None were around so we pulled anchor and met up with the bait barge and took on some squid and we also got a bit of a float going and were able to make some additional squid too. Once that was done off the San Clemente Island for the morning bite of seabass, hopefully.
We woke up in the grey light Sunday morning and started fishing for seabass, but despite our best efforts none wanted to bite. Nothing really happened till about 8-9am when the calico bass bite turned on. It was almost wide open on calico's for nearly several hours. Every single calcio we brought on board was a keeper no short's whatsoever. Hundred's of them were caught and almost everyone of them were released except for a few that accidentally hit the deck or was bleeding so much we knew it wasn't going to make it. By far that was one of the best calico bass fishing I've ever had anywhere. Brian decided to stay on this spot as he had a feeling the yellows would show up in a little bit and sure enough after a few hours of bass fishing the yellow's showed up. Not in large numbers but they would breeze by 3-4 at a time and whenever they did we would always manager to get at least one or two hooked up. Hooking up on them was not the problem, getting them on the boat was the biggest problem we had. We lost so many yellow's to those darn seals. By mid afternoon we hand managed to get only 4 yellows on the boat and at least 3 times as many were lost to the seals. We did manage to get one seabass and that was caught by KennyMac. It came in at a wopping 45 pounds and he caught that on 20# line. Way to go Kenny.
Pulled anchor and made the trek back to Catalina in hopes of an evening bite. When we arrived, wind was blowing and there was a bit of current ripping. It was hard to get the anchor to set correclty. Finally they had to break out a bigger anchor and after several attemps it finally set. Only thing willing to bite was a wide open calico bite of shorts. It was fun for about 20 mins then Brian pulled anchor and went to look for better conditions. Settled in on another spot and settled in for the evening while they got dinner going. After dinner and still no seabass bite by 10pm or so Brian said he had enough and was going to make the run to Santa Barbara Island for the morning seabass bite.
Brain warned us to secure everything down as it would be a bumpy ride to SBI. Boy did he say it was bumpy, kindda reminded me of my 2 day trip on the Islander two weeks back. What a roller coaster ride again. Finally arrived at SBI and started to fish the grey light and nothing again. Nice thing was that we were the only boat there. Felt kindda nice to have the whole island to yourself, at least within visual range. LOL. Once it became daylight the seabass started to bite and then again so did the seals too. We caught a couple and the seals would take a couple. Made several small moves around the cove area and would pick up a few more seabass and lose a couple too. It was like that all morning and afternoon. Finally at about 2pm Brian called it a day as it would be about a 6 hr run back to Newport. Final count for 8 anglers on our 2 day trip, 4 yellowtail, 16 seabass and limits of calico's and hundreds more released.
I had a great time with this group of excellent anglers and the laughs were nonstop. Captain Brian and the crew of the Ultra worked they tails off on getting us on the fish and Brian and Doug drove miles to get us on the fish. We hit 3 islands in 2 days, what a trip this was. We are already planning for next year and I sure can't wait for it.
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd135/rkchiu/Ultra%206-14-08/IMG_0034.jpg
http://i227.photobucket.com/albums/dd135/rkchiu/Ultra%206-14-08/IMG_0047.jpg
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