JapanRon
06-14-2007, 08:50 PM
Looking For Some Big Ol’ Calicos
Hi there guys,
1) Tuesday’s Report
Went on yet another ½-day-trip on the Southern Cal, out of Pierpoint Landing to fish local waters i.e. Palo Verde coastline with 15 anglers. Went on the pm run. Collin was the skipper, while Ryan decked, and Ed did galley duties.
Note: Countdown Done: Most landings should be on their Summer schedules now.
Note: Countdown 1: It will be ONLY 2 days, now until the limit for White Sea Bass goes from the present1 fish per angler per day to 3 fish per day June 16th Saturday!! I think everybody has just about got used to the WSB bite shutting down when the more liberal bag limit increases (ha ha ha ……. irony) so don’t wait too long. Seriously, we’ll have a new moon around June 15th and the bite may be off anyway …….. if you believe in the lunar thing!! Still …….. 3 fishys per angler is really tempting with lots of fish lovers or should I say fish eaters!!!!!
Note: Countdown 2: Next countdown will be when the Sand Bass are expected to show in substantial numbers. According to my past 2 years records…. (and looking at water temps) It’s about a couple of weeks till we can start fishing for them in a ‘gold-rush’ atmosphere.
Target Fish: Bass and Maybe a WSB
Short Report- Tuesday 06/12
15 anglers, including yours truly, caught 52 Calico Bass on the pm run. There were quite a few guys on the boat that were interested in the bass as opposed to another Barracuda run. The am run had 9 anglers and caught 90 Barracuda. Great idea …. Barries in the morning and Calicos or Sand Bass in the Afternoon. I may go on both am and pm runs next week! Gotta take advantage of the re-ride policy and discount.
(Please widen your view to fit monitor if word-wrap looks off)
06/12 Jackpot
Weigh-off …………………...Winner!
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Calico Bass Wins It
Way to go on catching the jackpot and then releasing it! A Breeder Calico was the winner today. The near 6~7-lb fish was caught in less then 60 feet of water, using ….. Brownbait fished at anchor. There were 5 or 6 contenders for the jackpot. We had live Anchovies too which caught fish. Thanks Provider and …. the Icon! details below.
Long Report
Baiting Up!
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Curb-side Service
Long Beach Bait Co’s Provider was docked 20 feet from the Southern Cal so we simply switched the bumpers to the other side and motored ….. crab-like to the bait-boat. That took care of the basic need for fin-bait …… we thought! Before the first drop we were destined to have both Anchovies and some nice Brown-bait in the tanks.
LA Light Looks Fishy
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The Days Fishing
Icon Generosity …...........................Nice
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It’s Nice to Have Friends
Half way to our first spot we met or should I say hooked up with the ½-day Icon. The skipper was very generous to give us a good number of scoops of finbait for our efforts towards catching the sportcoats. Now we had both Anchovies and Brown-bait!!
We sorta fished within sight of each other for a good long time and I could see they were also getting hookups at regularintervals. Thanks …. Icon … and skipper ….. your generosity contributed to our anglers sterling, quality Calico bite.
Up and Back …………………………………………†¦...............Currents!
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Grazing in the Pasture
Last Two Days
Moo-moo Fleet
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PBer’s ………….................................... Second ……….................................... Third
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Fourth
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Round-Up
2 Rounds
First Stop
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Round 1Actually ……. it’s pretty short and sweet. The pm run starts at 12:30 and once loaded up with bait, we headed out of Rainbow Harbor, then inside and along the breakwater until we hit the Los Angeles Light, soon to be headed out and up past Point Fermin and points north. We moved up the PV coast, with a stop for some extra bait from the Icon, to our first destination in about an hours’ time. We went up right to the edge of the main kelp line pretty good with a stringers on both the port and starboard sides of the boat.
By this time … around 2pm, the afternoon breeze had started and we were swinging a fair amount on anchor. It seems that one swings more when moored in the shallow water ….. even without the old bug-a-boo … ‘wind-against-current’ conditions. We were fishing depths of only an estimated 50 or 60 feet max.
Fish were being caught on both the Brown-bait and the big Anchovies. I can’t prove it from observation this day but I believe the bigger Calicos were being taken by the Brown-bait. In these conditions …. everyone was encouraged …… ask …… begged by Collin to fly-line baits to catch fish and avoid the tangles, lost gear, and time needed to re-tie. Most went along with the program. We managed to catch a good number of fish as well as a fair number of shorts.
I’m not kissing the skippers’ posterior but I gotta commend him on putting conserving the resource above the possibility that a meat-whatever ….. er …. angler would not come back on the boat again. See Asides
I confess:
Although one guy who’s very good at plastics fishing was doing well on the port-side … outside facing the ocean patch of water, I couldn’t get bit to save my life in my little corner on the stern, starboard-side facing shore. He was hitting just this one ‘darker’ spot for his fish.
Willing to contribute and put some fish on the boat, I went ahead and used my rig with a 5-foot length of 12lb-test fluorocarbon and a tiny size 2 ringed hook for fishing the Brown-bait. Just about every bait came back mangled if I didn’t get a fish.
Fish were either in the kelp matts themselves (not stringers) or just on the outside edge ambushing baits. Bass occasionally boiled but didn’t bite wide-open …. which was frustrating and a little strange. Few real holes in the kelp matts from the position I was fishing.
Second Stop
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Round 2 After a couple of hours, we moved back down and a little outside to fish a big rock. We still caught Calicos but very little else although we had hopes of a different species and or still better fish. Water was a little bit deeper. I was thinking we were in water where we might catch both species of bass and maybe even some breezing Barracuda. Most guys fished a dropper loop although fly-lining was still an option. We finished the rest of the day at that spot and pulled the hook a little past 5pm. First things first …. we did the jackpot thing, only with a difference. Every time a loser became obvious ……fishy was put over the side to breed, abiet in a slightly different neighborhood …. until the winner was declared and released.
Conditions: Check out the graphics for the water conditions.
Skies were clear and sunny. Air temp stayed in the 60º during most of the afternoon. Constant breeze made things feel cool then down-right cold for us old guys as we were returning to the docks. Swell was downhill.
Gallery
Beauty of 06/13 …………………….......................... .......Beauty of 06/12
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Some Fish Caught This Week
Just Netted ………......... Nice ………........... Hey Jim
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Nicks Fish ………….. Cool Lures
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Gars/Rattlers …………...................................... ................... A Few Bass
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Other
Dock Doggie 1 ……………….......... Dock Doggie 2
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Old-School ………………........ Rod Holders …………….................... Brown-bait
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Let Them Know
The photos above are just a sample of the fish and things of interest, at least to me, on this trip.Note: If you see a friend in the pictures, let them know they can copy the photo off the report. Directions: Click the right button with the ‘cursor’ on the picture, then click on ‘save picture as’, next choose where they wish to copy the picture, and lastly click ‘save’. Later, they can edit and print the picture at their leisure with a simple photo-editing program.
Tweeking Plastics #30
Kinda Tweeking!!
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The Right-Stuff for Barracuda
If you’ll notice …….. the shank of this 1/2oz regular style swimbait-leadhead is extra long. This leadhead is perfect for fishing Barracuda….. who are known to often engulf a swimbait and cut the leadhead off the hapless anglers line. Even if you use old beat-up plastics …. you can still lose more than a few bucks every trip out! Normally I like the wide-gap, short-shank leadheads but not at this time of year!!
Plastics
Skunked On Plastics Tuesday But....
My Buddy!
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Quick Check
Didn’t fish plastics over half the time but decided to get with the program and put some fish on the boat for fellow-anglers by fly-lining a finbait. Fished a few of the normal swimbaits then knocked down the size of the leadhead/swimbaits and went down to an 8lb-test fluorocarbon leader but to of no avail. Caught my share of fishys on fly-lining brown-bait
The Usual Colors
1st .. 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
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Tuesday Out There
Lunar ………………………………………..... .....Wind Direction and Speed!
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Tides ……………………………………........ ....Water Temps!
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Tuesday’s Conditions
Fishing Grounds: Check pics and stats!!
Wild Creatures: Sealions were all over the place. Cormorants, Pelicans, and Seagulls pretty much stayed away until it was time to clean fish.
Asides
Aside: Kids Deals. Got a kid you want to take fishing ……… for FREE? A number of landings have special programs for the coming Summer school vacation. Both Pierpoint Landing and Marina Sportfishing (sister-landings) will have their usual program in place. Program runs from June 21 (Thursday) to July 23 (Monday). Visit their site and call for details, confirmation, and reservations. (not affiliated, in any way, with these operations)
I’m sure other landings will have vacation specials which ……… I will keep an eye out for and put details here during the vacation period.
Another Aside: Quality Fish At The Table. It’s fast approaching the time when the increasing days’ heat (even on the boat) is going to start to have a detrimental effect on the quality of fish that the moo-moo angler takes home ……. especially …. un-cleaned fish. Keep in mind, Barracuda and Sand Bass are NOT the easiest fish to maintain for an inordinate length of time so that their filets stay firm.
Aside from the issue of a deck making part of his or her income from fish-cleaning, the fish will suffer dramatically if not cleaned as soon as possible ……… be it filet or head/gutted. Some skippers even have fish cleaned between especially-long runs between fishing spots!!
Here’s some hints to the newbie or reminders to old hands on what you can do to keep your fishys as fresh and firm for the filet knife as possible.
1) Hang your fish sack along the bait tank so that it is easily wet down by yourself or the deckhand. If you don’t hang your sack, put it in a position out of the way of ‘any activity the deck may do during the fishing’ and, if possible, in the shade. (Some recommend that Barracuda be laid flat for ease of cleaning.)
2) If you have an extra bag, put one bag inside the other as this will increase both the insulation and the effective length of cooling time. (Make sure that the bags are in a position to take advantage of a breeze going across them when the boat is traveling and wet-down often.)
3) If you have a continual drip thingy, don’t forget it at home and be sure to use it! (Be sure to put a lanyard on it so some piece of garbage (thief) doesn’t ‘grab’, what these cowardly morons use for the term, ‘steal’ it!)
4) Anticipate the boat finishing up and give yourself a couple of minutes to put-away whatever gear is laying loose or at the rail. Bring your sack of fish aft of where the filet board will be set up and be ready to be first in line.
5) Put some decent water in your filet bag (or wet down your sack for the head/gut fish) and once you’ve got your filets …… replace the water once or twice before closing up the bag.
6) Place the filet bag in your gunny-sack and hang it so the wet sack will keep the filet bag nice and cool. (You might not want to just put your filet bag in the bait trough as birds might peck a hole in the bag and steal filets as they are very adept at doing)
When transporting your fish from boat to house, try to avoid putting them in a confined space that tends to generate excessive heat. My club buddies have a cooler with a poly-bag full of ice in their vehicle …. ready for transport.
Yet Another Aside: Theft and Thieves. Sadly … as in every activity that we pursue in daily life, low-life, garbage i.e. thieves …. move among we human beings. I was recently reminded .. yet once again … that ….. be it moo-moos, sportfishing landings, PB marinas, PB launch ramps, piers, and jetties …. with the increase in those adding to the Summer crowds there is indeed an increase in the sub-human trash.
I call your attention to the fact that I didn’t identify anglers as being thieves. Real anglers don’t steal! On the moo-moos, it becomes obvious but …………..otherwise …… thefts could be perpetrated by these creatures anywhere ……… especially at landings were there is always lots of activity and some level of confusion in the hubbub.
Needless to say …….. from many years experience …. those that patronize (especially regularly patronize) the boats during the fringe and off-seasons are, in the main, ‘anglers’ anglers while a certain small percent of the whole mixing in with the Summer crowd are nothing more than garbage overflowing from where-ever the holes they crawl out from and try to bring their mentality.
Things to do to avoid being overly exposed to theft at the landing or on the boat.
At the landing:
1) Above all … be it at the landing or on the boat, be vigilant and in a position to be able to take a glance at your gear at all times.
2) Put your stuff where you can keep your rods together and tackle box/bag within sight and closed up whether at the landing or on the boat during fishing.
3) If you have a buddy, one of you can get tickets and the other can watch the gear. A lot of ticket desks are out of a direct line of sight of where tackle is often placed for boarding.
On the boat:
1) At the end of the day (when the hook on the last stop is being pulled), take all your stuff from your fishing spot at the rail and stow it away. Rods can easily be bundled with a couple of bungie or Velcro straps in seconds. Put your rods, tackle, etc. together in one easy to view spot.
2) Once your fish is cleaned, bag it as mentioned above and then take your gunny-sack and put with your gear. Putting your filet bag in the bait trough or just hanging your hard-earned fish amongst other sacks is just asking for some half-wit, scum-bag to ‘accidentally’ mistake your bag for their empty one! �
3) The confusion generated by disembarking is a peak time of vulnerability …. be careful. With your gear in hand, give it the once-over to make sure the count is right and everything has all its’ parts. After all is said and done, security for your stuff is totally your responsibility.
Top 5 Most-common Thefts:
1) Fileted fish. (loose not only fish but cleaning fee too!!)
2) Un-cleaned fish. (during trip or at the end in the confusion.)
3) Jigs/Lures- (Often clipped off a setup you may not even have used in the racks. Tady-45’s Beware!)
4) Rod holders at the rail. (not forgotten but stolen before fishing cleaning ends.)
5) Bungie cords and Velcro Straps.
That other than petty theft might not be happening often might be a blessing ….. but if you’re the victim … it’s too many times. Hope this helps make readers’ trips be the best they can be in this not so perfect world …. among the animals. As said with no apologies …. the combination of Summer and big fish counts, with a good chance of limits of fish, often bring out … well ….. right along with the majority ……of ‘real’ regular anglers and honest sometimes’ anglers.
Near Last Aside: Skippers Call .. Principle Over Money As mentioned in the fishing reports, Collin made it clear that we would return any breeders that we caught. As is a common practice when we want to release a fish but it is a contender for the jackpot, it goes in the bait tank to sulk. Yes … they go to the bottom of the tank and sulk…. not wanting anything further to do with us humans. capturing them with a net, for release, takes even more effort. ha ha ha
Anyhow, After having to deal with a second guy that was making noises on keeping … read kill …. a nice 6 pounder, Collin just had to say …. ‘if guys were gonna try to keep the breeders, we’re going to move off the spot’. With the decent fishing everything settled down! ha ha ha I actually gave the one guy a couple of keepers just to try to shut him up.
Almost Last Aside: Moo-moos’ Blues
Last weeks’ ‘Pack ‘em On’ award goes to the Dana Pride out of Davey’s with 94 anglers for ½-day, am [font color=�red�](only) trip.
Last Aside: Searching for birdies. Skippers will scan the skies for bird action which is often a sign that bait is being pushed up by a variety of predators. Especially the tunas, yellows, and species on the lower rungs of the ladder like the Barracuda and Bonito! Mackerel don’t count.
Have you ever noticed that even though you see birds working like crazy the skipper ignores them and forges on? There’s a reason! The skipper knows what a specific species of bird prefers….. that’s what kind of bait ….. and sees tell-tale signs as to how they feed on various baits. If you know the bait and their movement and how the birds are going after them … you’ll have a good idea as to what species of fish is pushing up the bait. Locally, we get a lot of false alarms due to the Mackerel schools that feed on what we wouldn’t normally consider being fishable bait.
Our local birdies: Pelicans (Mostly California Browns)… Seagulls (two distinct species), Terns (two distinct species), and Cormorants. Finches and wild Parakeets are just sometimes visitors out on the water. Egrets and Heron-like guys just hang out at the docks awaiting our return.
The SoCal (Nice Lettering)
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Stern Numbers!
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Collin file photo..........Deck-Ryan ………......Cook-Ed
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Might is Right!
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End of the Afternoon Trip
Fished with the pm Tuesday group. Bunch of old guys make up part of the group so I’m right at home!! Decided not to do a re-ride …….. therefore I didn’t try to do the am trip. Beside as I’ll be fishing Wednesday and would have to get up early again. When I say early …. I mean early!! Don’t bother asking HOW early …… it’s embarrassing! �[/
On Our Way Back
They’re Back from Catalina
Phantom ………….................................. Fully Tricked Out!
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Nice Counts
Although I haven’t ridden this boat as yet, the count for Tuesday 06/12 shows 9 anglers and 9 WSB. Out of the last 4 trips she’s limited on WSB 3 times so she does produce consistently very respectable counts on the gray ghosts as well as Yellowtail.
2)Wednesday’s Trip Report 06/13
For My Trip Wednesday
Went on a ¾-day-moo-moo trip.
Short Report- 06/13
Nearly 50 guys caught an average of a tad over 3 Barracuda and 2 Sculpin per rod. Few shorts. Barracuda to 8 pounds. 1 WSB a little under 18lbs. 1 Halibut. Fished way in close just outside of the breakwater with 21 other moo-moos (that I noticed) and a zillion Pbers in the morning for Barracuda with success!! Later ….. we went way outside to fish for Sculpin with success.
06/13 Jackpot
Damian- Last Call ...Winner!
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1 WSB
Terry, a skillful angler, caught among other fish, an 18lb WSB! That won the jackpot. Congrats young man! And …… Daimian did an expert gaff job on that one too … nice head-shot dude!!
Plastics
Plastics Fishy ………………………..Hot Plastics!
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Fishys On Plastic Only
Caught 7 nice cuda on plastic!! Couple of fish stolen from sack I was using! I and a buddy saw the perps but only thought something strange was going on and didn’t connect it to theft until … You know who you are …. And …… we know!! That’s why ……. never mind ….. for now!! Yep … the biggest one I caught was taken (I had marked it) and was longer that a stretched gunny sack length and would have been a potential jackpot contender early in the day …. except that I don’t get inthe jackpot ….. as well as not keeping fish. Had it on one of my cuda hangers for an easy, quick snatch … for the thieves!! Caught some Sculpin on plastics too.
Productive Day
Had a good number of people on the boat. Quite a few seemed to be new to or at least rusty at Barracuda fishing. Too many morons think that they will never hook anyone … from their never-look-back- never-say-jack …. back-casts and don’t care!! The Deckhand Damian did a great job at the gaff and deck-work in general. Many thanks!!
JapanRon
Hi there guys,
1) Tuesday’s Report
Went on yet another ½-day-trip on the Southern Cal, out of Pierpoint Landing to fish local waters i.e. Palo Verde coastline with 15 anglers. Went on the pm run. Collin was the skipper, while Ryan decked, and Ed did galley duties.
Note: Countdown Done: Most landings should be on their Summer schedules now.
Note: Countdown 1: It will be ONLY 2 days, now until the limit for White Sea Bass goes from the present1 fish per angler per day to 3 fish per day June 16th Saturday!! I think everybody has just about got used to the WSB bite shutting down when the more liberal bag limit increases (ha ha ha ……. irony) so don’t wait too long. Seriously, we’ll have a new moon around June 15th and the bite may be off anyway …….. if you believe in the lunar thing!! Still …….. 3 fishys per angler is really tempting with lots of fish lovers or should I say fish eaters!!!!!
Note: Countdown 2: Next countdown will be when the Sand Bass are expected to show in substantial numbers. According to my past 2 years records…. (and looking at water temps) It’s about a couple of weeks till we can start fishing for them in a ‘gold-rush’ atmosphere.
Target Fish: Bass and Maybe a WSB
Short Report- Tuesday 06/12
15 anglers, including yours truly, caught 52 Calico Bass on the pm run. There were quite a few guys on the boat that were interested in the bass as opposed to another Barracuda run. The am run had 9 anglers and caught 90 Barracuda. Great idea …. Barries in the morning and Calicos or Sand Bass in the Afternoon. I may go on both am and pm runs next week! Gotta take advantage of the re-ride policy and discount.
(Please widen your view to fit monitor if word-wrap looks off)
06/12 Jackpot
Weigh-off …………………...Winner!
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Calico Bass Wins It
Way to go on catching the jackpot and then releasing it! A Breeder Calico was the winner today. The near 6~7-lb fish was caught in less then 60 feet of water, using ….. Brownbait fished at anchor. There were 5 or 6 contenders for the jackpot. We had live Anchovies too which caught fish. Thanks Provider and …. the Icon! details below.
Long Report
Baiting Up!
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Curb-side Service
Long Beach Bait Co’s Provider was docked 20 feet from the Southern Cal so we simply switched the bumpers to the other side and motored ….. crab-like to the bait-boat. That took care of the basic need for fin-bait …… we thought! Before the first drop we were destined to have both Anchovies and some nice Brown-bait in the tanks.
LA Light Looks Fishy
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The Days Fishing
Icon Generosity …...........................Nice
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It’s Nice to Have Friends
Half way to our first spot we met or should I say hooked up with the ½-day Icon. The skipper was very generous to give us a good number of scoops of finbait for our efforts towards catching the sportcoats. Now we had both Anchovies and Brown-bait!!
We sorta fished within sight of each other for a good long time and I could see they were also getting hookups at regularintervals. Thanks …. Icon … and skipper ….. your generosity contributed to our anglers sterling, quality Calico bite.
Up and Back …………………………………………†¦...............Currents!
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Grazing in the Pasture
Last Two Days
Moo-moo Fleet
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PBer’s ………….................................... Second ……….................................... Third
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Fourth
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Round-Up
2 Rounds
First Stop
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Round 1Actually ……. it’s pretty short and sweet. The pm run starts at 12:30 and once loaded up with bait, we headed out of Rainbow Harbor, then inside and along the breakwater until we hit the Los Angeles Light, soon to be headed out and up past Point Fermin and points north. We moved up the PV coast, with a stop for some extra bait from the Icon, to our first destination in about an hours’ time. We went up right to the edge of the main kelp line pretty good with a stringers on both the port and starboard sides of the boat.
By this time … around 2pm, the afternoon breeze had started and we were swinging a fair amount on anchor. It seems that one swings more when moored in the shallow water ….. even without the old bug-a-boo … ‘wind-against-current’ conditions. We were fishing depths of only an estimated 50 or 60 feet max.
Fish were being caught on both the Brown-bait and the big Anchovies. I can’t prove it from observation this day but I believe the bigger Calicos were being taken by the Brown-bait. In these conditions …. everyone was encouraged …… ask …… begged by Collin to fly-line baits to catch fish and avoid the tangles, lost gear, and time needed to re-tie. Most went along with the program. We managed to catch a good number of fish as well as a fair number of shorts.
I’m not kissing the skippers’ posterior but I gotta commend him on putting conserving the resource above the possibility that a meat-whatever ….. er …. angler would not come back on the boat again. See Asides
I confess:
Although one guy who’s very good at plastics fishing was doing well on the port-side … outside facing the ocean patch of water, I couldn’t get bit to save my life in my little corner on the stern, starboard-side facing shore. He was hitting just this one ‘darker’ spot for his fish.
Willing to contribute and put some fish on the boat, I went ahead and used my rig with a 5-foot length of 12lb-test fluorocarbon and a tiny size 2 ringed hook for fishing the Brown-bait. Just about every bait came back mangled if I didn’t get a fish.
Fish were either in the kelp matts themselves (not stringers) or just on the outside edge ambushing baits. Bass occasionally boiled but didn’t bite wide-open …. which was frustrating and a little strange. Few real holes in the kelp matts from the position I was fishing.
Second Stop
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Round 2 After a couple of hours, we moved back down and a little outside to fish a big rock. We still caught Calicos but very little else although we had hopes of a different species and or still better fish. Water was a little bit deeper. I was thinking we were in water where we might catch both species of bass and maybe even some breezing Barracuda. Most guys fished a dropper loop although fly-lining was still an option. We finished the rest of the day at that spot and pulled the hook a little past 5pm. First things first …. we did the jackpot thing, only with a difference. Every time a loser became obvious ……fishy was put over the side to breed, abiet in a slightly different neighborhood …. until the winner was declared and released.
Conditions: Check out the graphics for the water conditions.
Skies were clear and sunny. Air temp stayed in the 60º during most of the afternoon. Constant breeze made things feel cool then down-right cold for us old guys as we were returning to the docks. Swell was downhill.
Gallery
Beauty of 06/13 …………………….......................... .......Beauty of 06/12
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Some Fish Caught This Week
Just Netted ………......... Nice ………........... Hey Jim
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Nicks Fish ………….. Cool Lures
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Gars/Rattlers …………...................................... ................... A Few Bass
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Other
Dock Doggie 1 ……………….......... Dock Doggie 2
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Old-School ………………........ Rod Holders …………….................... Brown-bait
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Let Them Know
The photos above are just a sample of the fish and things of interest, at least to me, on this trip.Note: If you see a friend in the pictures, let them know they can copy the photo off the report. Directions: Click the right button with the ‘cursor’ on the picture, then click on ‘save picture as’, next choose where they wish to copy the picture, and lastly click ‘save’. Later, they can edit and print the picture at their leisure with a simple photo-editing program.
Tweeking Plastics #30
Kinda Tweeking!!
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The Right-Stuff for Barracuda
If you’ll notice …….. the shank of this 1/2oz regular style swimbait-leadhead is extra long. This leadhead is perfect for fishing Barracuda….. who are known to often engulf a swimbait and cut the leadhead off the hapless anglers line. Even if you use old beat-up plastics …. you can still lose more than a few bucks every trip out! Normally I like the wide-gap, short-shank leadheads but not at this time of year!!
Plastics
Skunked On Plastics Tuesday But....
My Buddy!
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Quick Check
Didn’t fish plastics over half the time but decided to get with the program and put some fish on the boat for fellow-anglers by fly-lining a finbait. Fished a few of the normal swimbaits then knocked down the size of the leadhead/swimbaits and went down to an 8lb-test fluorocarbon leader but to of no avail. Caught my share of fishys on fly-lining brown-bait
The Usual Colors
1st .. 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th
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Tuesday Out There
Lunar ………………………………………..... .....Wind Direction and Speed!
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Tides ……………………………………........ ....Water Temps!
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Tuesday’s Conditions
Fishing Grounds: Check pics and stats!!
Wild Creatures: Sealions were all over the place. Cormorants, Pelicans, and Seagulls pretty much stayed away until it was time to clean fish.
Asides
Aside: Kids Deals. Got a kid you want to take fishing ……… for FREE? A number of landings have special programs for the coming Summer school vacation. Both Pierpoint Landing and Marina Sportfishing (sister-landings) will have their usual program in place. Program runs from June 21 (Thursday) to July 23 (Monday). Visit their site and call for details, confirmation, and reservations. (not affiliated, in any way, with these operations)
I’m sure other landings will have vacation specials which ……… I will keep an eye out for and put details here during the vacation period.
Another Aside: Quality Fish At The Table. It’s fast approaching the time when the increasing days’ heat (even on the boat) is going to start to have a detrimental effect on the quality of fish that the moo-moo angler takes home ……. especially …. un-cleaned fish. Keep in mind, Barracuda and Sand Bass are NOT the easiest fish to maintain for an inordinate length of time so that their filets stay firm.
Aside from the issue of a deck making part of his or her income from fish-cleaning, the fish will suffer dramatically if not cleaned as soon as possible ……… be it filet or head/gutted. Some skippers even have fish cleaned between especially-long runs between fishing spots!!
Here’s some hints to the newbie or reminders to old hands on what you can do to keep your fishys as fresh and firm for the filet knife as possible.
1) Hang your fish sack along the bait tank so that it is easily wet down by yourself or the deckhand. If you don’t hang your sack, put it in a position out of the way of ‘any activity the deck may do during the fishing’ and, if possible, in the shade. (Some recommend that Barracuda be laid flat for ease of cleaning.)
2) If you have an extra bag, put one bag inside the other as this will increase both the insulation and the effective length of cooling time. (Make sure that the bags are in a position to take advantage of a breeze going across them when the boat is traveling and wet-down often.)
3) If you have a continual drip thingy, don’t forget it at home and be sure to use it! (Be sure to put a lanyard on it so some piece of garbage (thief) doesn’t ‘grab’, what these cowardly morons use for the term, ‘steal’ it!)
4) Anticipate the boat finishing up and give yourself a couple of minutes to put-away whatever gear is laying loose or at the rail. Bring your sack of fish aft of where the filet board will be set up and be ready to be first in line.
5) Put some decent water in your filet bag (or wet down your sack for the head/gut fish) and once you’ve got your filets …… replace the water once or twice before closing up the bag.
6) Place the filet bag in your gunny-sack and hang it so the wet sack will keep the filet bag nice and cool. (You might not want to just put your filet bag in the bait trough as birds might peck a hole in the bag and steal filets as they are very adept at doing)
When transporting your fish from boat to house, try to avoid putting them in a confined space that tends to generate excessive heat. My club buddies have a cooler with a poly-bag full of ice in their vehicle …. ready for transport.
Yet Another Aside: Theft and Thieves. Sadly … as in every activity that we pursue in daily life, low-life, garbage i.e. thieves …. move among we human beings. I was recently reminded .. yet once again … that ….. be it moo-moos, sportfishing landings, PB marinas, PB launch ramps, piers, and jetties …. with the increase in those adding to the Summer crowds there is indeed an increase in the sub-human trash.
I call your attention to the fact that I didn’t identify anglers as being thieves. Real anglers don’t steal! On the moo-moos, it becomes obvious but …………..otherwise …… thefts could be perpetrated by these creatures anywhere ……… especially at landings were there is always lots of activity and some level of confusion in the hubbub.
Needless to say …….. from many years experience …. those that patronize (especially regularly patronize) the boats during the fringe and off-seasons are, in the main, ‘anglers’ anglers while a certain small percent of the whole mixing in with the Summer crowd are nothing more than garbage overflowing from where-ever the holes they crawl out from and try to bring their mentality.
Things to do to avoid being overly exposed to theft at the landing or on the boat.
At the landing:
1) Above all … be it at the landing or on the boat, be vigilant and in a position to be able to take a glance at your gear at all times.
2) Put your stuff where you can keep your rods together and tackle box/bag within sight and closed up whether at the landing or on the boat during fishing.
3) If you have a buddy, one of you can get tickets and the other can watch the gear. A lot of ticket desks are out of a direct line of sight of where tackle is often placed for boarding.
On the boat:
1) At the end of the day (when the hook on the last stop is being pulled), take all your stuff from your fishing spot at the rail and stow it away. Rods can easily be bundled with a couple of bungie or Velcro straps in seconds. Put your rods, tackle, etc. together in one easy to view spot.
2) Once your fish is cleaned, bag it as mentioned above and then take your gunny-sack and put with your gear. Putting your filet bag in the bait trough or just hanging your hard-earned fish amongst other sacks is just asking for some half-wit, scum-bag to ‘accidentally’ mistake your bag for their empty one! �
3) The confusion generated by disembarking is a peak time of vulnerability …. be careful. With your gear in hand, give it the once-over to make sure the count is right and everything has all its’ parts. After all is said and done, security for your stuff is totally your responsibility.
Top 5 Most-common Thefts:
1) Fileted fish. (loose not only fish but cleaning fee too!!)
2) Un-cleaned fish. (during trip or at the end in the confusion.)
3) Jigs/Lures- (Often clipped off a setup you may not even have used in the racks. Tady-45’s Beware!)
4) Rod holders at the rail. (not forgotten but stolen before fishing cleaning ends.)
5) Bungie cords and Velcro Straps.
That other than petty theft might not be happening often might be a blessing ….. but if you’re the victim … it’s too many times. Hope this helps make readers’ trips be the best they can be in this not so perfect world …. among the animals. As said with no apologies …. the combination of Summer and big fish counts, with a good chance of limits of fish, often bring out … well ….. right along with the majority ……of ‘real’ regular anglers and honest sometimes’ anglers.
Near Last Aside: Skippers Call .. Principle Over Money As mentioned in the fishing reports, Collin made it clear that we would return any breeders that we caught. As is a common practice when we want to release a fish but it is a contender for the jackpot, it goes in the bait tank to sulk. Yes … they go to the bottom of the tank and sulk…. not wanting anything further to do with us humans. capturing them with a net, for release, takes even more effort. ha ha ha
Anyhow, After having to deal with a second guy that was making noises on keeping … read kill …. a nice 6 pounder, Collin just had to say …. ‘if guys were gonna try to keep the breeders, we’re going to move off the spot’. With the decent fishing everything settled down! ha ha ha I actually gave the one guy a couple of keepers just to try to shut him up.
Almost Last Aside: Moo-moos’ Blues
Last weeks’ ‘Pack ‘em On’ award goes to the Dana Pride out of Davey’s with 94 anglers for ½-day, am [font color=�red�](only) trip.
Last Aside: Searching for birdies. Skippers will scan the skies for bird action which is often a sign that bait is being pushed up by a variety of predators. Especially the tunas, yellows, and species on the lower rungs of the ladder like the Barracuda and Bonito! Mackerel don’t count.
Have you ever noticed that even though you see birds working like crazy the skipper ignores them and forges on? There’s a reason! The skipper knows what a specific species of bird prefers….. that’s what kind of bait ….. and sees tell-tale signs as to how they feed on various baits. If you know the bait and their movement and how the birds are going after them … you’ll have a good idea as to what species of fish is pushing up the bait. Locally, we get a lot of false alarms due to the Mackerel schools that feed on what we wouldn’t normally consider being fishable bait.
Our local birdies: Pelicans (Mostly California Browns)… Seagulls (two distinct species), Terns (two distinct species), and Cormorants. Finches and wild Parakeets are just sometimes visitors out on the water. Egrets and Heron-like guys just hang out at the docks awaiting our return.
The SoCal (Nice Lettering)
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Stern Numbers!
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Collin file photo..........Deck-Ryan ………......Cook-Ed
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Might is Right!
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End of the Afternoon Trip
Fished with the pm Tuesday group. Bunch of old guys make up part of the group so I’m right at home!! Decided not to do a re-ride …….. therefore I didn’t try to do the am trip. Beside as I’ll be fishing Wednesday and would have to get up early again. When I say early …. I mean early!! Don’t bother asking HOW early …… it’s embarrassing! �[/
On Our Way Back
They’re Back from Catalina
Phantom ………….................................. Fully Tricked Out!
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Nice Counts
Although I haven’t ridden this boat as yet, the count for Tuesday 06/12 shows 9 anglers and 9 WSB. Out of the last 4 trips she’s limited on WSB 3 times so she does produce consistently very respectable counts on the gray ghosts as well as Yellowtail.
2)Wednesday’s Trip Report 06/13
For My Trip Wednesday
Went on a ¾-day-moo-moo trip.
Short Report- 06/13
Nearly 50 guys caught an average of a tad over 3 Barracuda and 2 Sculpin per rod. Few shorts. Barracuda to 8 pounds. 1 WSB a little under 18lbs. 1 Halibut. Fished way in close just outside of the breakwater with 21 other moo-moos (that I noticed) and a zillion Pbers in the morning for Barracuda with success!! Later ….. we went way outside to fish for Sculpin with success.
06/13 Jackpot
Damian- Last Call ...Winner!
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1 WSB
Terry, a skillful angler, caught among other fish, an 18lb WSB! That won the jackpot. Congrats young man! And …… Daimian did an expert gaff job on that one too … nice head-shot dude!!
Plastics
Plastics Fishy ………………………..Hot Plastics!
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Fishys On Plastic Only
Caught 7 nice cuda on plastic!! Couple of fish stolen from sack I was using! I and a buddy saw the perps but only thought something strange was going on and didn’t connect it to theft until … You know who you are …. And …… we know!! That’s why ……. never mind ….. for now!! Yep … the biggest one I caught was taken (I had marked it) and was longer that a stretched gunny sack length and would have been a potential jackpot contender early in the day …. except that I don’t get inthe jackpot ….. as well as not keeping fish. Had it on one of my cuda hangers for an easy, quick snatch … for the thieves!! Caught some Sculpin on plastics too.
Productive Day
Had a good number of people on the boat. Quite a few seemed to be new to or at least rusty at Barracuda fishing. Too many morons think that they will never hook anyone … from their never-look-back- never-say-jack …. back-casts and don’t care!! The Deckhand Damian did a great job at the gaff and deck-work in general. Many thanks!!
JapanRon