glumace
08-30-2009, 03:02 PM
Decided to get out one more time this summer before I need to start teaching on Monday the 31st for the fall semester. I had planned to go out of Long Beach Sportfishing on a full day Catalina Island run the past few times I went out, but either got up late or had to cancel. So come hell or high water I was getting out this Saturday. I also had picked up a new rod this week from Charkbait in Huntington Beach. I wanted a fast action rod to complement my Newell 229-5 and picked up a Calstar WC-270-7C. Could not wait to try it out, and it turned out to be a great day to do it.
Got down to Long Beach Sportfishing around 4:15am for the 5am Tide Change. It was a light load 28 total, most being rental rodders or one dayers. A large portion of them were from two groups, one large family and one group from Arizona. Got everyone on board right before 5 and got going on time. Mitch (I think that was his name) was deckhand and got everyone the mant We had some bait on board from the day before, a mix of live squid, anchovies and some sardines. Anthony was captain today and announced that we were going to take the long run and go on the backside of Catalina. Numbers had not been good in the front and the past few days total numbers overall were not great. So we were looking at a 3 to 3 1/2 hour run. We stopped at the Bounty in San Pedro and picked up some more bait, lots of small anchovies and large sardines (which paid off later in the day).
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWn2R8MEI/AAAAAAAADJY/2zk58KOYX_k/s400/IMG_3485.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWpIuQDoI/AAAAAAAADJc/P6dZUM7xM70/s400/IMG_3486.JPG
I had to get up at 2:45am to get down in time (I'm slow to get up in the morning) so I was dead tired and grabbed a bunk down below. Worked out great because I got up just as we were coming around the west point to the backside. As we passed the backside of Two Harbors the captain got on the horn, he was going to go out to Farnsworth Bank and try for some yellowtail and bottom fishing first, the private boats had spotted yellows in the morning. This added another 20 or so minutes to the trip and we finally dropped anchor around 9:30am to start fishing.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWp6xq2-I/AAAAAAAADJg/vw4-iCtLv-Y/s400/IMG_3489.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWskV03HI/AAAAAAAADJs/_ueFJA7XK-g/s400/IMG_3497.JPG
Here is my new setup, Newell 229-5 and the Calstar WC-270-7C using 20lb test.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWtsM4-yI/AAAAAAAADJw/j7Y9LSvRW0Q/s400/IMG_3498.jpg
I decided to start on the bottom and watch the surface. Set up with a dropper loop with strips of squid with a 4oz torpedo sinker. Started getting pecked away the moment I hit the bottom. Pulled up a small Starry Rockfish, ended up with 3 little ones at this stop. Released 2 of them, kept the biggest one because it was dead on the way up.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWvcAGozI/AAAAAAAADJ8/hP3w1RN0RfQ/s400/IMG_3502.JPG
Got one large sculpin and 2 smaller ones I threw back. Overall it was slow fishing, with an assortment of rockfish (bunch of tree fish), sculpin, whitefish, perch and one or two sheephead mixed in on the boat. Fishing strips of squid got everything, while the larger rockfish were coming up on anchovies. Nothing on the surface at all. No current at all too and after losing 2 4oz sinkers on the bottom to the coral and rock I went down to a 1 oz and held the bottom fine. Got a whitefish on this set up, the guy next to me got about 5 in a row. No reason to lose expensive lead for dinky rockfish. Moved around the boat some and hit a Sugar Bass on an anchovy.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWwJtAihI/AAAAAAAADKA/vZ5xhIXkbRY/s400/IMG_3506.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWxEe-0SI/AAAAAAAADKE/0bzcz2C10vQ/s400/IMG_3510.JPG
The Pursuit out of 22nd Street Landing came by and a few private boaters came in as well, but they left before us. After a while we pulled anchor and hit the kelp line to fish surface calico bass.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWygtfl3I/AAAAAAAADKI/-P45hoeCwTw/s400/IMG_3514.JPG
Right away it was the right call. Big calicos came out of the kelp and started hitting the flylined sardines. The bigger the sardine, the bigger the bass. Action was on the stern and port side, cast right in let it swim for 2 minutes and if nothing, change bait and do it again. It was not wide open, lost of missed fish but the fish coming up were quality. I was fishing the largest sardines and getting bit off by the smaller calicos. I finally hooked into a big one, I was on the port side mid ship and it took me over to the stern, and got me tied up in the kelp. I played for a minute or two letting out line, and out he came. Bounced him over, largest calico of the year for me right around 4lbs on the digital scale. Nice colors as well.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWzjAwRRI/AAAAAAAADKM/QA5tPfgxRfc/s400/IMG_3515.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW028QjnI/AAAAAAAADKQ/pbVH0Sztj10/s400/IMG_3517.jpg
The captain, deckhand and cook got in on the action. They handed off some big calicos to the people on the boat who were not hooking up or just could not cast out. One lady had the deckhand hook up on a big calico, she was fighting it and her spinning reel just came apart in her hands. It was one of the larger reels like the barbie poles. They did land the fish by hand the last few pulls. The crew also rotated people into the stern well, a few guys were fishing the bottom in the middle of the stern doing well on sheephead and perch, but they could do that anywhere on the boat during a bite like this. I took a spot next to them and brought up a 2 short calicos on whole live squid.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW13dXj3I/AAAAAAAADKU/9fPw1inevnQ/s400/IMG_3518.JPG
We had to call it a day around 2:30pm to get back to the barn. Jackpot was called and I threw in my calico. It was close with another calico and my calico killed the only barracuda caught and I won my first jackpot of the year. Good way to start the life a new rod. Jackpot was small (only about $60, only $5 to get in and many people did not enter) gave it all to the crew.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW23JARHI/AAAAAAAADKY/hqsbVmB3kQA/s400/IMG_3519.jpg
Did not get any sleep coming back, the weather was too nice. No wind the whole day and a smooth ride back. Nice mix of fish on board while they cleaned, this was the one families catch.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW5HTMZ1I/AAAAAAAADKg/xxdcGDRUM4I/s400/IMG_3532.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW7tJ20YI/AAAAAAAADKs/yV_FQb2iK0Y/s400/IMG_3540.jpg
Great trip overall. I came home with 5 fish in my bag. My totals for the day where
3 Calico Bass (2 released)
3 Starry Rockfish (2 released)
3 Sculpin (2 released)
1 Whitefish
1 Sugar Bass
Boat totals were
1 California Barracuda, 17 Ocean Whitefish, 40 Rockfish, 48 Kelp Bass, 20 California Sheephead, 26 California Scorpionfish
First time out on the Tide Change, good boat and crew. For $62 to Catalina it's a good deal. I plan to do it again in the future. Check out the deals going on at LBSF, you can do the 3 for 2 price on this boat as well. Good way to end my summer with a jackpot and a great trip.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW31ZowRI/AAAAAAAADKc/ymmOpZ4Dc2E/s400/IMG_3521.jpg
Got down to Long Beach Sportfishing around 4:15am for the 5am Tide Change. It was a light load 28 total, most being rental rodders or one dayers. A large portion of them were from two groups, one large family and one group from Arizona. Got everyone on board right before 5 and got going on time. Mitch (I think that was his name) was deckhand and got everyone the mant We had some bait on board from the day before, a mix of live squid, anchovies and some sardines. Anthony was captain today and announced that we were going to take the long run and go on the backside of Catalina. Numbers had not been good in the front and the past few days total numbers overall were not great. So we were looking at a 3 to 3 1/2 hour run. We stopped at the Bounty in San Pedro and picked up some more bait, lots of small anchovies and large sardines (which paid off later in the day).
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWn2R8MEI/AAAAAAAADJY/2zk58KOYX_k/s400/IMG_3485.JPG
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWpIuQDoI/AAAAAAAADJc/P6dZUM7xM70/s400/IMG_3486.JPG
I had to get up at 2:45am to get down in time (I'm slow to get up in the morning) so I was dead tired and grabbed a bunk down below. Worked out great because I got up just as we were coming around the west point to the backside. As we passed the backside of Two Harbors the captain got on the horn, he was going to go out to Farnsworth Bank and try for some yellowtail and bottom fishing first, the private boats had spotted yellows in the morning. This added another 20 or so minutes to the trip and we finally dropped anchor around 9:30am to start fishing.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWp6xq2-I/AAAAAAAADJg/vw4-iCtLv-Y/s400/IMG_3489.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWskV03HI/AAAAAAAADJs/_ueFJA7XK-g/s400/IMG_3497.JPG
Here is my new setup, Newell 229-5 and the Calstar WC-270-7C using 20lb test.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWtsM4-yI/AAAAAAAADJw/j7Y9LSvRW0Q/s400/IMG_3498.jpg
I decided to start on the bottom and watch the surface. Set up with a dropper loop with strips of squid with a 4oz torpedo sinker. Started getting pecked away the moment I hit the bottom. Pulled up a small Starry Rockfish, ended up with 3 little ones at this stop. Released 2 of them, kept the biggest one because it was dead on the way up.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWvcAGozI/AAAAAAAADJ8/hP3w1RN0RfQ/s400/IMG_3502.JPG
Got one large sculpin and 2 smaller ones I threw back. Overall it was slow fishing, with an assortment of rockfish (bunch of tree fish), sculpin, whitefish, perch and one or two sheephead mixed in on the boat. Fishing strips of squid got everything, while the larger rockfish were coming up on anchovies. Nothing on the surface at all. No current at all too and after losing 2 4oz sinkers on the bottom to the coral and rock I went down to a 1 oz and held the bottom fine. Got a whitefish on this set up, the guy next to me got about 5 in a row. No reason to lose expensive lead for dinky rockfish. Moved around the boat some and hit a Sugar Bass on an anchovy.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWwJtAihI/AAAAAAAADKA/vZ5xhIXkbRY/s400/IMG_3506.JPG
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWxEe-0SI/AAAAAAAADKE/0bzcz2C10vQ/s400/IMG_3510.JPG
The Pursuit out of 22nd Street Landing came by and a few private boaters came in as well, but they left before us. After a while we pulled anchor and hit the kelp line to fish surface calico bass.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWygtfl3I/AAAAAAAADKI/-P45hoeCwTw/s400/IMG_3514.JPG
Right away it was the right call. Big calicos came out of the kelp and started hitting the flylined sardines. The bigger the sardine, the bigger the bass. Action was on the stern and port side, cast right in let it swim for 2 minutes and if nothing, change bait and do it again. It was not wide open, lost of missed fish but the fish coming up were quality. I was fishing the largest sardines and getting bit off by the smaller calicos. I finally hooked into a big one, I was on the port side mid ship and it took me over to the stern, and got me tied up in the kelp. I played for a minute or two letting out line, and out he came. Bounced him over, largest calico of the year for me right around 4lbs on the digital scale. Nice colors as well.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprWzjAwRRI/AAAAAAAADKM/QA5tPfgxRfc/s400/IMG_3515.jpg
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW028QjnI/AAAAAAAADKQ/pbVH0Sztj10/s400/IMG_3517.jpg
The captain, deckhand and cook got in on the action. They handed off some big calicos to the people on the boat who were not hooking up or just could not cast out. One lady had the deckhand hook up on a big calico, she was fighting it and her spinning reel just came apart in her hands. It was one of the larger reels like the barbie poles. They did land the fish by hand the last few pulls. The crew also rotated people into the stern well, a few guys were fishing the bottom in the middle of the stern doing well on sheephead and perch, but they could do that anywhere on the boat during a bite like this. I took a spot next to them and brought up a 2 short calicos on whole live squid.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW13dXj3I/AAAAAAAADKU/9fPw1inevnQ/s400/IMG_3518.JPG
We had to call it a day around 2:30pm to get back to the barn. Jackpot was called and I threw in my calico. It was close with another calico and my calico killed the only barracuda caught and I won my first jackpot of the year. Good way to start the life a new rod. Jackpot was small (only about $60, only $5 to get in and many people did not enter) gave it all to the crew.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW23JARHI/AAAAAAAADKY/hqsbVmB3kQA/s400/IMG_3519.jpg
Did not get any sleep coming back, the weather was too nice. No wind the whole day and a smooth ride back. Nice mix of fish on board while they cleaned, this was the one families catch.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW5HTMZ1I/AAAAAAAADKg/xxdcGDRUM4I/s400/IMG_3532.jpg
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW7tJ20YI/AAAAAAAADKs/yV_FQb2iK0Y/s400/IMG_3540.jpg
Great trip overall. I came home with 5 fish in my bag. My totals for the day where
3 Calico Bass (2 released)
3 Starry Rockfish (2 released)
3 Sculpin (2 released)
1 Whitefish
1 Sugar Bass
Boat totals were
1 California Barracuda, 17 Ocean Whitefish, 40 Rockfish, 48 Kelp Bass, 20 California Sheephead, 26 California Scorpionfish
First time out on the Tide Change, good boat and crew. For $62 to Catalina it's a good deal. I plan to do it again in the future. Check out the deals going on at LBSF, you can do the 3 for 2 price on this boat as well. Good way to end my summer with a jackpot and a great trip.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_kmJKY6zLH3s/SprW31ZowRI/AAAAAAAADKc/ymmOpZ4Dc2E/s400/IMG_3521.jpg