Ventura 6/3

[bones]

Well....after sitting around at the home for the first part of the day the lady and I decided to take the three girls and the dog to the beach. It was afternoon already and I didn't hope for too much since High tide was at 1:00pm but what the hell.......I tossed my surf stuff in the SUV and we headed on out. We arrived at 1pm to see the water was PERFECT....

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/venturaharbor.jpg

It was flat....overcast and not too many folks around. I talked to a dude who said he stuck a 26" halibut the day before so I got a little amped and started the rock hop!
About every 15 minutes there was a decent surge of water into the harbor and I've been eyeballing this spot for a while.
First I decided to toss The LC pointer for a while with no love but almost snagged it on the rocks :shock:
So I get a little sketchy and decide to toss a blue mack Krock but No love there also :(
So I think for a few minutes and decide that if they are there ....It's the middle of the day and they probably aren't too agressive. So It's time to give the good old reliable dropshot a try.Sometimes you just gotta put it in front of their nose and entice them.
Smart move on my part. The third cast I get HAMMERED on the 4" Gulp smelt. She immediatly takes a dive for the bottom and is pulling drag way too fast. I reach up to button down my drag a bit and didn't notice she was making a run for the rocks in front of me.
The water surges out and my line wraps the boulder in front of me and ...CRACK......There she goes :bang:
God....That was a BURN!
So I ***** a bit and walk in a few circles and then decide to get over it and quickly retie.
I then managed to farm two more due to bad hooksets and I was getting frustrated :(
I just kept at it and after about 20 more casts I get hit and this time it was a good hookset. It's funny how the shorties fight like hell at first giving you the impression they are bigger.
The first one actually at my feet went about 16"
I knew it was short and I was too lazy to dig for my tape.

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/shortie1.jpg


Ok...So now I beat the skunk :banana:


About 10 casts later I get hit again and this one is a little bigger for sure.
Got out my tape quickly and It went 19" for sure this time.

http://fishingnetwork.net/images/tmp2/shortie2.jpg

MMMMMM...Getting bigger!
I'm starting to like this spot :D
Then I get the old .....DREADED phone call from my lady on the beach. She and the kids are tired and want to go home :(

Oh well.........Didn't get a legal today but I got more than I expected under the circumstances so It was a good day.

Tight lines to you all!

[SanDimasLMB]

Good job on those halis :thumb: As for the phone call, tell them to take a nap :lol: Thart what I always do

[yakker]

Tight Lines to you too :D :D :D

I'm always stoked to see a report from the upper channel but this one made my day.

[SanDimasLMB]

BTW can you tell me what beach this is? PM me if you dont want lurkers.

[paintnfish]

Nice job Mike, I can just see you doing circles lol,
Ive done a few laps myself. another option you
might want to consider under these conditions is
the three inch mega bait jig, I think it's 3/4 oz when
there hugging the bottom.

these jigs have worked well for me more than once :thumb:

[ghetto dad]

great job man!!! thanks!!

[bones]

BTW can you tell me what beach this is? PM me if you dont want lurkers.

PM sent 8)

[bones]

Nice job Mike, I can just see you doing circles lol,
Ive done a few laps myself. another option you
might want to consider under these conditions is
the three inch mega bait jig, I think it's 3/4 oz when
there hugging the bottom.

these jigs have worked well for me more than once :thumb:

Hey Ron....I'm not familiar with that bait. PM me with a link or something.
Are there different colors or patterns?

[SanDimasLMB]

Thanks again Mike

[JSAUCE818]

Mike! Good job buddy!...man...you beat me to it!....landed some butts!....I can just picture you walking in circles after that fish breaking you off.....lol.....man, reports like these motivate me!.....I'm sure next time you will land a legal, and the one that got away from ya! :twisted:.....keep them reports coming!..

[187fish]

Nice job Mike, I'm surprised you didn't get a legal out of there. That area is loaded with butts.

[SC400DUDE]

Nice job Mike, I'm surprised you didn't get a legal out of there. That area is loaded with butts.

Very true!

Nice goin' dude :thumb:

[Fish4Birdies]

Nice going Mike. I moved to T.O. a month ago and have been exploring the Ventura area for butt spots...tried your spot last week for nada. Is tide key here? Found a spot that resembles 72nd pl further south and got a 19 incher today. Happy hali huntin :D
Bryan

[sansou]

Mike,

Nice halibut nevertheless. Always fun to dupe them on artificials.

See you around,

sansou

[n1ckxlam]

hey mike, great job
megabaits look like darts. btw they SLAY barracuda, used em today. def get ur hands on some.


Nick

[4g63power]

nice report...good job on nailing some butts on gulp! and not losing the LC :lol:

[Wingnut]

Nice job Bones, I've never caught a Hali on artificial before. U got skillz!

[gill man]

can you hook up to those using live bait- :? :? :?

[SanDimasLMB]

can you hook up to those using live bait- :? :? :?

Of course! LIVE BAIT is the best thing you can possibly use! :roll:

[bones]

Live smelt......Anchovies or sardines. If their live and weighted on like a carolina rig for example.......Simply deadly. The trick is to get bait that is very lively. This weekend is going to be prime for the grunion runs. If you could collect a bucket of them and keep them alive in a bubble system until daybreak they would make a deadly bait.
I'm too lazy to stay up all night though....LOL

[halijedi]

Bones, try nose hooking the Gulp! minnow with a Gamakatsu D/S hook. A #1 or #2 should do the trick. Much better action, more bites and less tear on plastics.

[halijedi]

can you hook up to those using live bait- :? :? :?

Of course! LIVE BAIT is the best thing you can possibly use! :roll:

I DISAGREE! How many live bait guys do you know who caught over 200 legals in one season (from shore or boat?).

[one_leg]

Thanks for the travelogue BONES.

I like the way they try to mimic the substrate they're on.
I wonder what would happen to them if you placed them on a checkerboard?

One_Leg

[shy_boxer]

Nice report. Listen to the halijedi!

[alexonfreshsaltwater]

can you hook up to those using live bait- :? :? :?

Of course! LIVE BAIT is the best thing you can possibly use! :roll:

I DISAGREE! How many live bait guys do you know who caught over 200 legals in one season (from shore or boat?).

I agree with Halijedi. With hard/soft baits, you can always cast it towards where a) bait fish boils, b) good structure and c) make multiple presentations. I've done live bait for halibuts. You will catch halibuts, but you will not hunt down halibuts. It's similar to Bass Fishing. You'll never see professionals using live baits. They are out there casting as fast as they can to where their instincts tells them to cast. With live bait, you are at the mercy of live bait and where they want to go. Don't get me wrong, I've caught halibuts on live sardines, dead chovies and squids. They do work. However, if you know what hard/soft baits to use, what color, what size and how to present it right, you have higher odds of more hook-ups for bigger fish.

[Cangler]

Those 3" Gulp swimming mullet work well too .. Just nose hook em
like Sinjin says ....

[bones]

MMMMMM....Nose hook the baits......I thought of that but at 7 bucks a bag for 8 baits......I figured it was safer to use the long shank hooks I had on me. Nose hooking might give the bait more action but the bait is more solid with the body impaled on the long shank hook IMHO. I have no problems with the action of the bait in the water. If you ever actually look at the baitfish in the water they don't sit in one place and wiggle like mad.I caught all of my fish and missed alot of strikes all on one bait (except for the first one). I know it sounds cheap but gulp products are as expensive as yamamoto baits and I try to figure out how to make them last. I'll give the nose hooking thing a try though but if I start getting my baits ripped off I'll go back to the long shank.Using a long shank puts the hook in the middle of the body and I was also thinking that if you hook the butt with a long shank hook it will keep it's teeth away from your line a bit.I know that nose hooking does wonders for working robo's in the FW but I was thinking that the halis have very sharp teeth and I don't wan't to get short bit and just lose the baits.
Only time will tell.

[Hitts0n]

Wow B0nes didnt know you knew saltwater also.Imma have to pick your brains again for lots of info ! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

[halijedi]

MMMMMM....Nose hook the baits......I thought of that but at 7 bucks a bag for 8 baits......I figured it was safer to use the long shank hooks I had on me. Nose hooking might give the bait more action but the bait is more solid with the body impaled on the long shank hook IMHO. I have no problems with the action of the bait in the water. If you ever actually look at the baitfish in the water they don't sit in one place and wiggle like mad.I caught all of my fish and missed alot of strikes all on one bait (except for the first one). I know it sounds cheap but gulp products are as expensive as yamamoto baits and I try to figure out how to make them last. I'll give the nose hooking thing a try though but if I start getting my baits ripped off I'll go back to the long shank.Using a long shank puts the hook in the middle of the body and I was also thinking that if you hook the butt with a long shank hook it will keep it's teeth away from your line a bit.I know that nose hooking does wonders for working robo's in the FW but I was thinking that the halis have very sharp teeth and I don't wan't to get short bit and just lose the baits.
Only time will tell.

I understand your concerns with nose hooking expensive plastics but take this into consideration. As you probably know, I have used the dropshot technique to death in the surf environment. In doing so, I've realized that nose hooked plastics with slide up the line during a hook-set and the fight with the fish.

If a plastic is threaded onto a long shank hook, there are usually two problems. First, the plastic gets torn (especially around the bend of the hook) and getting the proper action out of the plastic after a fish or two becomes a problem because the plastic will constantly slide off its intended position. Secondly, halibut will usually get hooked deeper with a long shank and removing the hook from its throat is a task in itself.

Since we as fishermen will do as we please, do what works from you; but my advise comes after a couple hundred legals and thousands of shorts throughout the years.

[alexonfreshsaltwater]

MMMMMM....Nose hook the baits......I thought of that but at 7 bucks a bag for 8 baits......I figured it was safer to use the long shank hooks I had on me. Nose hooking might give the bait more action but the bait is more solid with the body impaled on the long shank hook IMHO. I have no problems with the action of the bait in the water. If you ever actually look at the baitfish in the water they don't sit in one place and wiggle like mad.I caught all of my fish and missed alot of strikes all on one bait (except for the first one). I know it sounds cheap but gulp products are as expensive as yamamoto baits and I try to figure out how to make them last. I'll give the nose hooking thing a try though but if I start getting my baits ripped off I'll go back to the long shank.Using a long shank puts the hook in the middle of the body and I was also thinking that if you hook the butt with a long shank hook it will keep it's teeth away from your line a bit.I know that nose hooking does wonders for working robo's in the FW but I was thinking that the halis have very sharp teeth and I don't wan't to get short bit and just lose the baits.
Only time will tell.

I understand your concerns with nose hooking expensive plastics but take this into consideration. As you probably know, I have used the dropshot technique to death in the surf environment. In doing so, I've realized that nose hooked plastics with slide up the line during a hook-set and the fight with the fish.

If a plastic is threaded onto a long shank hook, there are usually two problems. First, the plastic gets torn (especially around the bend of the hook) and getting the proper action out of the plastic after a fish or two becomes a problem because the plastic will constantly slide off its intended position. Secondly, halibut will usually get hooked deeper with a long shank and removing the hook from its throat is a task in itself.

Since we as fishermen will do as we please, do what works from you; but my advise comes after a couple hundred legals and thousands of shorts throughout the years.

I also tried treading with long shank hook and nose hooking the plastics. Halijedi is correct in that when you nose hook the plastic, it will slide up the line once the fight is on.

[909fisher]

Bones, try nose hooking the Gulp! minnow with a Gamakatsu D/S hook. A #1 or #2 should do the trick. Much better action, more bites and less tear on plastics.

What about the weight? I fill this isnt a leaded jig head, so how far down should the weight be and how much weight should i have?

thanks

[fishon714]

technique to death in the surf environment. In doing so, I've realized that nose hooked plastics with slide up the line during a hook-set and the fight with the fish.

This is 100% true. The plastic will definitely slide up the line and the only thing that is holding your fish to your rod will be the hook.

One question I have for halijedi: What are you opinions on drop shotting more than 1 swimbait? I haven't tried it, but do you think I could make a more edible presentation by having 2 or 3 drop shot simbaits? Maybe mix in the colors?


fishon714

[bones]

Bones, try nose hooking the Gulp! minnow with a Gamakatsu D/S hook. A #1 or #2 should do the trick. Much better action, more bites and less tear on plastics.

What about the weight? I fill this isnt a leaded jig head, so how far down should the weight be and how much weight should i have?

thanks

I havn't dropshotted for halibut very much. I got into it last year and now I'm refining my techniques. I feel though that halibut are right on the bottom most of the time unless they are up chasing baitfish. If they are up then it's an obvious choice to throw hardbaits. But if they are on the bottom and need a little more coaxing than a DS setup should prove to be more reliable. I just go with a tag end of about 12". The weight has to be heavy enough for you to stay in contact with the bottom and always feel it ....so the current and depth are the determining factors.
Funny how you guys are saying how the bait always goes up the line during a DS fight. I have not caught that many halibut on a DS setup but I have used it extensivly for LMB and have not found that the bait always rides up the line. It fact....with the weight on the bottom of the tag end and your rod pulling on the top line the dynamics are always pushing the bait towards your hook. As far as deep hooking the halibut. Every one I've caught on a long shank so far has been a lip hook. Maybe it's my cat like reactions....LOL
Who the hell knows......this Dropshotting thing for halibut is relativly new for me.....Only time will tell.I'm going out tomorrow morning......I will dedicate one rod to nose hooking on the Dropshot and we will see what happens!