Channel Island Critter Carnage 5/17 w-pics

[Red Drum]

I took the “Big Drum” out to the Channel Island with fishing addicts Dean “Bank Robber” and Jason “jscrib”. The weather was awesome and the conditions could have not been better for an island overnighter.

We made it over to Santa Cruz Island and initially fished for Barred Surf Perch, but we only caught some dinks, so we moved out to some deeper water to try for some bigger fish. Most of the fleet was fishing west of the big kelp forest off Yellow Banks. I noticed some birds working near the edge of a big area of kelp east of the fleet, so I decided to anchor in that area and wait the fish out.

Within 10 minutes Dean lands a nice Halibut.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17002.jpg

Then about ten minutes after that, Dean lands another Halibut…double sweeeet!!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17004.jpg

We kept fan casting all around the boat with live sardines and about 15 minutes later I finally hooked a bigger Halibut but it broke my line at the boat after a missed gaff shot…oh well no worries, because a short time later Jason got into the action with another nice Halibut.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17005.jpg

Then a little while later Dean finished it off with another smaller Halibut that measured 22.5 inches.

Here is the Halibut kill for the first hour and a half of fishing…sweeeet!!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17008.jpg

We moved further up the Island looking for Sea Bass and Halibut, but we had no other luck on the glory fish. However, we did make some killer tasting Halibut tacos for dinner.

The next morning we decided to target some bottom critters. Here I am with a nice Lingcod.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17014.jpg

Here’s Jason and Dean with some beautiful Vermilion Rockfish.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17015.jpg

Then Dean gets into some Linger action.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17016.jpg

Scribby with a nice Bocaccio.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17018.jpg

Here is Jason and Dean getting worked by some big Lingcod.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17019.jpg

Jason with a nice Linger.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17021.jpg

Dean with his personal best Lingcod.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17023.jpg

Here I am with a tasty Vermilion Rockfish.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17024.jpg

Here is Dean with his personal best Vermilion Rockfish which weighed in at 9.5 pounds…way to go Dean!
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17025.jpg

Reds bleeding out in the bait tank.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17026.jpg

Here I am with another pest Bocaccio.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17027.jpg

Bottom fish kill picture.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17028.jpg

After we cleaned the bottom critters, we bounced balled for an hour around Christy’s for our last Halibut of the trip.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17031.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17032.jpg

Ended the trip with 5 legal Halibut, limits of Lingcod and almost limits of Rockfish…needless to say, we’re going to be eating good. Can’t wait to go again and fish the Enchanted Channel Islands.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17035.jpg
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/Cruz-Rosa5-17029.jpg

HOOK-UP!!!!!!!

Till next tide,

[Liteliner]

What a slay. Nice job guys. That 9# red is a beast of a fish. WoW...:EyePop:

[gotstofish]

Great job out there,btw what are they, seals on the beach in the last pic?

[TakeMeFishing]

You guys sure know what your doing and it looks like a damn good time! cool report guys:UDaMan:

[Red Drum]

Great job out there,btw what are they, seals on the beach in the last pic?Pelicans and Seagulls.

[Wingnut]

Damn Vince, you guys killed it again! Good eatin' for awhile...
Man, I would love to pull one of those big Butts from the surf one of these days. :Cool:

[J. Owen]

what type of boat you on? charter or personel??
could i make it out that far??

[Ambassadorhawg]

We saw 29 PB'ers' looking for croaker on the way in Sunday along the Yellow Banks. Was that you in the mix?

Great catch you guys had there. Whoever has those numbers missed their calling. You guys ALWAYS somehow catch above average fish no matter where you fish....shoulda been a sportboat captain....

[deanhall32]

Are you guys kiddin me?? What a day!! Seems to me that you guys are always catching fish up there. How many of your friends are bugging you to take them out!! Must be quite a waiting list!!

[EastCoaster]

Great job out there. I saw you guys were using irons but were you using any other baits?

[GET-EM]

Great job once again guys, Thats how the "BIG DRUM" bangs them out
GET-EM

[gavin310]

damn guys... well done. those are some quality fish you got there.

[sliu6122]

Wow... sick report.... sooo jealous!!!

[lurk 182]

awesome report. if you want to keep fishing the enchanted channel islands make sure you come to the public comment meeting regarding the MLPA tonight at 7pm at the Santa Ana DoubleTree Hotel. there's also a 9am session later this week at the same location. time to rally up or stop our sniveling when things are closed.

[Native Gal]

RD,
That was one SWEET outing for you and your buds, CONGRATS on the catches. Thanks for sharing your awesome outing.

NG
:Big Grin:

[Red Drum]

what type of boat you on? charter or personel??
could i make it out that far??
That's my personal boat (2300 Seaswirl Striper), like the one in the picture. Also, I would not try going out there in your deckboat.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/boat_22.jpg

[Anglerism]

Awesome catch bro!!!1

[J. Owen]

That's my personal boat (2300 Seaswirl Striper), like the one in the picture. Also, I would not try going out there in your deckboat.

http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h177/Big_Drum/boat_22.jpg

ya i think your right nice boat bro must be nice lol jk

[megafisher94]

tons of halis!!!! wtg!

[supasportkid]

AWESOME!!! dont lie to us. thats ALASKA fishin!! good job out there fellas

[TroutOnly]

HAIL TO THE REDSKINS,YOU AND YOURE PALS OWN THE THAT BIG BLUE POND,,,,,t/o

[4g63power]

Gnarly report

[BingJr]

Looks like the perfect trip. Nothing better than gettin in on that action in a PB with Good Friends.

Great Job.

[bass assassin#23]

man you guys did some major work out there. nice report and thanks for the pics

bass assassin#23