Natural Lefty
08-01-2009, 05:02 PM
Well, my wife is supervising her daughter's home renovation in La Puente, so here I am a-fendin' for me own self in Moval-land.
Yesterday, I got me a Festus-style (you know, that Yahoo from Gunsmoke) hankerin' fer some of those little-ol fried Opaleye Fillets, which I know my wife won't cook for me. Thus, yesterday afternoon I headed back to Oceanside Harbor to fish along the shore. I also wanted to work on my development of Robert's Radical Rip Rap Rig, where I put a bobber at the end of my line, and let a weighted leader slide down from there.
Basically, the trip was a success, but with a few quirks. When I got to Oceanside Harbor around 4:30 p.m., I opened the trunk of my car only to find that I had forgotten the cooler with the blue ice and bait. No problem! I just walked out on the handy dandy floating docks an' jes picked me a mess of them handy-dandy Mussels, and got a couple of those plastic bags my wife is always leaving in the trunk, one for the mussels, another for the fish I was planning to take home with me. I also noticed that the water level was really high. I had checked the tide charts, and there was supposed to be a high tide of 5.2 around 6 p.m., which is good since I usually seem to catch more fish during high tides. But seeing the water the way it was made me think two words -- Global Warming! I tell you, I am not rich, especially since my state supported salary just got cut to 1/3 of normal at least for the next few months, but if I were, I definitely would not be buying any oceanfront property. Can you say Glug, Glug, Glug? If the water were a couple of feet higher, it would be on the verge of covering the road.
My Rip Rap Rig worked pretty well, and so did the Mussels. I caught 5 Opaleyes using it, all kept, although only one was really good sized, about 3/4pound, 10 inches long and fat. I actually saw this larger fish come up from below and grab the bait shortly after I casted. The rest were "jes big enuff," according to my inner Festus. I also caught two pretty little 6 inch Spotted Bay Bass, which I promptly put back. I always seem to catch Bass (Spotted Bass, Sand, or Kelp) even when I am not fishing for them. Eventually, I was having trouble getting my leader to slide down into the depths, so I decided to try a conventional bobber rig with a long leader of about 5 feet. It was getting bites, but I only caught 1 fish this way, a smallish Sargo, but also big enough to please my inner Festus, so I kept it. I did try a single cast with no bobber, and promptly got hung up and lost my rig. This place is really snaggy, with lots of large, jagged rocks and deep crevices. Without my rig, I would have been battling constant snags.
I never hung up using my Rip Rap Rig, and caught seven fish with it, so it was a success overall. However, one time, the leader (4 pound) broke while setting the hook on a bite amongst some rocks. Another time, the main line broke while setting the hook on a bite in another rocky area, perhaps sawed off on the rocks. I was able to recover the bobber and swivel, though. Anyway, that was much better than the alternative. The entire time, I only fished with the one pole, in the same small area, and the fish never stopped biting. I don't think I went more than a minute or so at any point without a bite, although most of the bites were light. There must be a mind-boggling number of fish around Oceanside Harbor. Usually, I could not see any of them, as they were a little out of visual range. Sometimes, I could see a few Opaleye darting around, though, and there were some tiny baby ones in front to me, less than an inch long but already recognizable by the white spots on their backs. It was fun to see them darting around excitedly eating pieces of mussel which were sometimes longer than they were.
I was reminded to be careful, though, when I made a cast from a flat granite rock which appeared to be stable, but when my weight shifted forward, it tipped forward and to the right, sending me down to the rocks on my right. Fortunately, I sustained no injuries other than a few scratches on my right arm, which I used to break my fall. But be careful out there when rockhopping or fishing from rocks!
I was planning to leave when I ran out of Mussels, but while using my last couple of Mussels, I noticed a large fish, larger than my largest Opaleye, in a deep crevice between some high, jagged rocks. I got a couple more Mussels from the docks and tried for this fish, which looked like either a Blackperch or a Rubberlip Perch, and I think it did eat some of my bait, but somehow managed to remove the bait very efficiently without twitching my line. Thus, at about 7:50 p.m. I decided it was time to go home. As I was going home, I realized that I should probably try using a second swivel on my rig, on my leader so it would slide down more easily. I think my close encounter with the rocks had knocked some of the sense out of me temporarily.
I thought about trying Opaleye Sashimi, which one message board member said was really good, but without the blue ice, these fish were not exactly Sushi Grade by the time I cleaned them. Festus probably wouldn't be into Sashimi, anyway, but then again, he might just chew on a raw fish, at that. I got the idea of where some people think Opaleyes are no good to eat when cleaning the fish with the Snicker Snack actions of my Vorpel Blade. They were soft and difficult to clean, with lots of green goo dribbling out of them. (Note to myself: I need a new Vorpel Blade. The one I have is not very sharp.) Anyway, no problem, I just washed the fillets off, and they were good to go. I fried them for lunch today in corn meal mixed with my special mixture of Whatever Looks Good, and sho' nuff, they were dee-licious. I used Curry Powder, Chinese Five Spice, seasoning salt, pepper, and MSG to mix with the corn meal. It was enough fish to feed my inner Festus, but my inner Hoss Cartright, and Jethro Bodine will have to wait for a bigger catch.
Meanwhile, my wife Ellie May, I mean Eunice, is set to come back tonight.
Yesterday, I got me a Festus-style (you know, that Yahoo from Gunsmoke) hankerin' fer some of those little-ol fried Opaleye Fillets, which I know my wife won't cook for me. Thus, yesterday afternoon I headed back to Oceanside Harbor to fish along the shore. I also wanted to work on my development of Robert's Radical Rip Rap Rig, where I put a bobber at the end of my line, and let a weighted leader slide down from there.
Basically, the trip was a success, but with a few quirks. When I got to Oceanside Harbor around 4:30 p.m., I opened the trunk of my car only to find that I had forgotten the cooler with the blue ice and bait. No problem! I just walked out on the handy dandy floating docks an' jes picked me a mess of them handy-dandy Mussels, and got a couple of those plastic bags my wife is always leaving in the trunk, one for the mussels, another for the fish I was planning to take home with me. I also noticed that the water level was really high. I had checked the tide charts, and there was supposed to be a high tide of 5.2 around 6 p.m., which is good since I usually seem to catch more fish during high tides. But seeing the water the way it was made me think two words -- Global Warming! I tell you, I am not rich, especially since my state supported salary just got cut to 1/3 of normal at least for the next few months, but if I were, I definitely would not be buying any oceanfront property. Can you say Glug, Glug, Glug? If the water were a couple of feet higher, it would be on the verge of covering the road.
My Rip Rap Rig worked pretty well, and so did the Mussels. I caught 5 Opaleyes using it, all kept, although only one was really good sized, about 3/4pound, 10 inches long and fat. I actually saw this larger fish come up from below and grab the bait shortly after I casted. The rest were "jes big enuff," according to my inner Festus. I also caught two pretty little 6 inch Spotted Bay Bass, which I promptly put back. I always seem to catch Bass (Spotted Bass, Sand, or Kelp) even when I am not fishing for them. Eventually, I was having trouble getting my leader to slide down into the depths, so I decided to try a conventional bobber rig with a long leader of about 5 feet. It was getting bites, but I only caught 1 fish this way, a smallish Sargo, but also big enough to please my inner Festus, so I kept it. I did try a single cast with no bobber, and promptly got hung up and lost my rig. This place is really snaggy, with lots of large, jagged rocks and deep crevices. Without my rig, I would have been battling constant snags.
I never hung up using my Rip Rap Rig, and caught seven fish with it, so it was a success overall. However, one time, the leader (4 pound) broke while setting the hook on a bite amongst some rocks. Another time, the main line broke while setting the hook on a bite in another rocky area, perhaps sawed off on the rocks. I was able to recover the bobber and swivel, though. Anyway, that was much better than the alternative. The entire time, I only fished with the one pole, in the same small area, and the fish never stopped biting. I don't think I went more than a minute or so at any point without a bite, although most of the bites were light. There must be a mind-boggling number of fish around Oceanside Harbor. Usually, I could not see any of them, as they were a little out of visual range. Sometimes, I could see a few Opaleye darting around, though, and there were some tiny baby ones in front to me, less than an inch long but already recognizable by the white spots on their backs. It was fun to see them darting around excitedly eating pieces of mussel which were sometimes longer than they were.
I was reminded to be careful, though, when I made a cast from a flat granite rock which appeared to be stable, but when my weight shifted forward, it tipped forward and to the right, sending me down to the rocks on my right. Fortunately, I sustained no injuries other than a few scratches on my right arm, which I used to break my fall. But be careful out there when rockhopping or fishing from rocks!
I was planning to leave when I ran out of Mussels, but while using my last couple of Mussels, I noticed a large fish, larger than my largest Opaleye, in a deep crevice between some high, jagged rocks. I got a couple more Mussels from the docks and tried for this fish, which looked like either a Blackperch or a Rubberlip Perch, and I think it did eat some of my bait, but somehow managed to remove the bait very efficiently without twitching my line. Thus, at about 7:50 p.m. I decided it was time to go home. As I was going home, I realized that I should probably try using a second swivel on my rig, on my leader so it would slide down more easily. I think my close encounter with the rocks had knocked some of the sense out of me temporarily.
I thought about trying Opaleye Sashimi, which one message board member said was really good, but without the blue ice, these fish were not exactly Sushi Grade by the time I cleaned them. Festus probably wouldn't be into Sashimi, anyway, but then again, he might just chew on a raw fish, at that. I got the idea of where some people think Opaleyes are no good to eat when cleaning the fish with the Snicker Snack actions of my Vorpel Blade. They were soft and difficult to clean, with lots of green goo dribbling out of them. (Note to myself: I need a new Vorpel Blade. The one I have is not very sharp.) Anyway, no problem, I just washed the fillets off, and they were good to go. I fried them for lunch today in corn meal mixed with my special mixture of Whatever Looks Good, and sho' nuff, they were dee-licious. I used Curry Powder, Chinese Five Spice, seasoning salt, pepper, and MSG to mix with the corn meal. It was enough fish to feed my inner Festus, but my inner Hoss Cartright, and Jethro Bodine will have to wait for a bigger catch.
Meanwhile, my wife Ellie May, I mean Eunice, is set to come back tonight.