1.5 Day - San Nicolas

[smitty99]

Went with a limited load (24 people) to San Nicolas. Departed Sat night from Pierpoint Landing on the Toronado and arrived to fish around 6am Sunday.

Fished all day 'shallow' for rockfish and Lings. Everyone limited out on rockfish; some really nice reds came up. A few legal lings were caught, one was upwards of 20 lbs. Weather was beautiful all day and seas were calm.

I only managed to take a few snapshots. I was killing it today on the White Lucanus jig with squid strips attached. I caught somewhere around 40 fish although a dozen of those were barely keeper size. Lings were hitting the sardines toward the end of the day in shallower water. I only had two Lings, one was only short by 1/2 an inch....oh well. I did bring in a 5lb sheepshead which was pretty nice.

One guy hooked into what everyone suspected was likely a very large Black Sea Bass. He fought for about half an hour before it finally broke off. He was using 50lb spectra.

Jax Jigs with squid worked as well. Gangion rigs [sp?], with squid & sardine alternated, it seemed were doing best for Lings.

Food was awesome as always--cooked by Al. Had a really good steak dinner on the way back as part of the private party spread. Smoked some nice cigars, enjoyed some adult beverages, etc. The crew was friendly and helpful as always. Great times all around!

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland001.jpg

rigging up
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland006.jpg

sunrise over san nicolas
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland009.jpg

black sea bass? something big!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland010.jpg

my bag
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland017.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland020.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland021.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v111/ssmith99/15daytripSanNicolasIsland022.jpg

[RL-IN-OC]

Thanks for the report, nice pics!

[ghetto dad]

lol...that "guy" is Ralphie...great guy, known him for years...wasnt that his charter??? or was it open party???

Great report man....really great

GD

[smitty99]

GD, I know :) I'm in the club.

[JapanRon]

Hi smitty99,

Nicely done !! Appreciate the re-cap report and excellent pics !!

JapanRon

[PureAle]

Wow you killed it on those rockfish, way to slay! Thanks for the pictures! Keep em coming!

[victor101]

Great report! those are some good lookin REDS!

[sansou]

Nice job! Good looking goat!

[Ketel]

Nice outing. Looks like it was awesome weather. hey, what's a ganglion rig?

-Ketel

[smitty99]

Nice outing. Looks like it was awesome weather. hey, what's a ganglion rig?

-Ketel


This thread will help! I had the same question before the trip.

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=31532
Also a pic of some ganion rigs
http://www.nwmitchell.com/personal/bottomfish/images/DB8.jpg

The current was not too heavy so I tied my 7 oz. White/Chartreuse Shimano Lucanus jig as the bottom of the ganion. Remember only two rigs are allowed on the ganion, 3 is illegal now.

[sansou]

This thread will help! I had the same question before the trip.

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=31532
Also a pic of some ganion rigs
http://www.nwmitchell.com/personal/bottomfish/images/DB8.jpg

The current was not too heavy so I tied my 7 oz. White/Chartreuse Shimano Lucanus jig as the bottom of the ganion. Remember only two rigs are allowed on the ganion, 3 is illegal now.

Shoot....I better go re-read my DFG 2009 regs before fishing out of SD later this week. I thought 3 ganions was legal. Are you sure the 2 ganion rule isn't specific to where you just fished up north?

[Ifishtoolittle]

Nice mixed bag of fish! By the way for your lucanus were you using the Lucanus set-up?

[smitty99]

Ifish, I dunno, I just tied it on with a clinch knot and threw on a Rock Cod jig above that...kind of a pseudo Ganion setup.

Sansou, all I know is that I was told by the guys at Turners we couldnt use more than 2 hooks anymore and then the skipper reminded us when we were out on the boat we could not use more than 2 hooks.

[Ketel]

This thread will help! I had the same question before the trip.

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=31532
Also a pic of some ganion rigs
http://www.nwmitchell.com/personal/bottomfish/images/DB8.jpg

The current was not too heavy so I tied my 7 oz. White/Chartreuse Shimano Lucanus jig as the bottom of the ganion. Remember only two rigs are allowed on the ganion, 3 is illegal now.

Right on, thanks for the info. I was just confused by the name. Basically, a dropper loop setup with a max of 2 hooks. Thx.

Do Jax Jigs really work that much better than a heavy tady or salas? I know they're made of all lead, but 4oz vs 8oz make that much difference?

[Red Drum]

Right on, thanks for the info. I was just confused by the name. Basically, a dropper loop setup with a max of 2 hooks. Thx.

Do Jax Jigs really work that much better than a heavy tady or salas? I know they're made of all lead, but 4oz vs 8oz make that much difference?

I fish with Jax jigs a lot for Rockfish, and the main two reasons I'd rather use them over tady or salas is: 1. they are solid lead, so they sink quicker, 2. The use a thinner/lighter/more forgiving treble hook, which makes it easier to get them loose when you get them snagged on the bottom. I'm able to save a lot more Jax jigs when I've gotten them snagged, than I have with the thicker wire treble hooks that are on the salas and tady jigs. imho.