Natural Lefty
09-06-2009, 01:40 PM
With Labor Day weekend coming up, I wanted to go fishing Friday at some place where the weather wouldn't be too hot, and the traffic and crowds would not be too bad, nor would the fishing. I decided to head for Oceanside again, but when I left the house, I wasn't sure whether I would go back to the harbor, or the Agua Hedionda Lagoon. By the time I got to Oceanside, I didn't feel like going the extra few miles to Carlsbad, so I just went to my usual spot in the harbor, with its hordes of Opaleyes.
It was about 4 p.m. by the time I got there (left home at 2:30 after attending to other issues). This time, I brought a bag of frozen peas to try for the Opaleye. If you notice, I usually try to do something different every time I go fishing, to learn something new and break up the monotony. I also had the leftover Mussels from my previous ocean fishing trip which I knew work well as bait.
At first, I had a conventional bobber setup with a long leader, and put Mussel on the jighead. I got a few bites, and when I put on some peas along with the Mussle, a Topsmelt bit and I caught it. I kept it for future bait. Hmm, I guess Smelt like peas, but the Opaleyes weren't exactly jumping on the hook.
After awhile, I went to the nearby Sportfishing Pier, and put on a Sabiki Rig baited with Mussels. After that, it was an immediate Bang! Bang! Bang! Soon, I had brought in three eager little Kelp Bass which I promptly put back. While I was there, I set up one of my Rip Rap Rigs, this time with a swivel which slides up and down the line, and as usual, my smiley face bobber at the end of the line. I used a short leader with a snelled hook and fairly heavy line, which I later discovered was a mistake.
I went back to my usual Opaleye spot along the shore, carefully avoiding the unstable rock which tipped me over last time. I sidestepped the unstable rock and found a better place to stand below it. I could see Opaleyes flitting about, but they would not bite. When I threw peas in the water as chum, I was disappointed to find out that most of them floated. Even those few which sank, were ignored by the Opaleyes. I guess they weren't in the mood to feed on peas. They didn't seem to want anything to eat, in fact. When I put peas on my hook, the fish totally ignored it, except for the Topsmelt. When I put Mussel on, I kept seeing Opaleye approach the bait, take a look at it, and back away. Eventually, around 6 p.m. I realized that my leader was probably too short and too heavy. Thus, I tied a new leader using four pound line, and a tiny jig (size 16 hook) on about a one foot leader, with a swivel attaching the rig to the main line, which was 8 pound test (my Shakespeare Agility rod and reel setup which I really like).
As soon as I put on this new setup, an amazing change in the Opaleyes' attitude occurred. I was astonished as 3 or 4 Opaleyes raced to be the first to eat my Mussel. I guess I was too astonished, as I missed the first one. But I cast out what little was left of my Mussel, and promptly caught the "winner" of the second race to the bait. Three more Opaleyes quickly followed, as in their mob mentality, racing each other to the bait, they seemed to throw caution to the tide, and made sure the other ones would not get the bait by inhaling the whole thing hook and all. A couple of times, I set the hook too hard and broke the hook off, before I realized that I didn't need to set the hook so hard. With my Rip Rap Rig, since the leader slides, one needs to set the hook somewhat harder than normal, but I guess not that much harder. After I had caught 4 decent sized Opaleyes, about 1/4 to 1/2 pound each, they stopped rushing the bait, and went more into nibble mode. I think by that time, all the ones in my little fishing area had eaten some of my bait. All of the Opaleyes that I caught were in one small area, about 5 by 5 feet, I would say, ranging from about 2 to 7 feet from shore. I tried fishing outside of this area, but nothing bit. I tried peas instead of Mussel, but nothing bit on peas, either. Thus, I must conclude that at least on this occasion, Mussels were far superior Opaleye bait to peas. I thought about going to one of two other spots where I had seen a concentration of Opaleyes, but for some reason, never did. I think the little kid in me wanted to stay in my spot, watch the fish bite, and see what I could catch, as long as they kept biting on my leftover Mussels. I did catch one more little Kelp Bass, which bit really hard, then finally, one more Opaleye that nibbled a bit too heavily. That was it for the catching, but the biting continued, and I think there were probably another 20 or so Opaleyes which I fed dinner to in my one small fishing area.
I finally decided it was time to head back around 7:30. I gave one last try in which I let the fish bite longer before I responded. That was a mistake, as when I finally tried to hook the fish that was biting, I found it had gotten my hook into a jam that even my Rip Rap Rig couldn't get out of. Eventually, I broke the leader off, but at least got my smiley face bobber back. That was my only snag of the day, so my rig worked really well.
When I turned on my car engine, it was 7:45 p.m., and since I had forgotten to bring any drinks with me, I was really thirsty. Oceanside was surprisingly warm that day, although not as hot as Moval. I drank two bottles of water my wife had left in the cupholders, and it actually tasted sweet. It must be the memory of Eunice that made the water sweet. :Smile: Still, I wish it had been spring water in the Sierras, the best water I have ever had to drink. Oh well! When I got home, I was still thirsty, so I drank lots of Iced Tea and Powerade, making for a mostly liquid dinner.
Since somebody said that Opaleyes make great Sashimi, I tried one Sashimi style yesterday (Saturday), with soy sauce and wasabi. It tasted good and fresh, although the texture was rather stringy, for some reason, so I decided to fry up the rest of the fillets in Corn Starch and my special mix of Whatever Looks Good. They fillets weren't as chewy once cooked that way, and really tasty.
By the way, I had other responsibilities to attend to yesterday, so wasn't able to get around to this report until today, but it's only one day late.
The catch results were: 5 medium size Opaleyes all kept, 4 undersize Kelp Bass quickly released, and 1 Topsmelt kept for future bait.
All in all, it was a pretty successful trip, and the traffic wasn't bad for me.
It was about 4 p.m. by the time I got there (left home at 2:30 after attending to other issues). This time, I brought a bag of frozen peas to try for the Opaleye. If you notice, I usually try to do something different every time I go fishing, to learn something new and break up the monotony. I also had the leftover Mussels from my previous ocean fishing trip which I knew work well as bait.
At first, I had a conventional bobber setup with a long leader, and put Mussel on the jighead. I got a few bites, and when I put on some peas along with the Mussle, a Topsmelt bit and I caught it. I kept it for future bait. Hmm, I guess Smelt like peas, but the Opaleyes weren't exactly jumping on the hook.
After awhile, I went to the nearby Sportfishing Pier, and put on a Sabiki Rig baited with Mussels. After that, it was an immediate Bang! Bang! Bang! Soon, I had brought in three eager little Kelp Bass which I promptly put back. While I was there, I set up one of my Rip Rap Rigs, this time with a swivel which slides up and down the line, and as usual, my smiley face bobber at the end of the line. I used a short leader with a snelled hook and fairly heavy line, which I later discovered was a mistake.
I went back to my usual Opaleye spot along the shore, carefully avoiding the unstable rock which tipped me over last time. I sidestepped the unstable rock and found a better place to stand below it. I could see Opaleyes flitting about, but they would not bite. When I threw peas in the water as chum, I was disappointed to find out that most of them floated. Even those few which sank, were ignored by the Opaleyes. I guess they weren't in the mood to feed on peas. They didn't seem to want anything to eat, in fact. When I put peas on my hook, the fish totally ignored it, except for the Topsmelt. When I put Mussel on, I kept seeing Opaleye approach the bait, take a look at it, and back away. Eventually, around 6 p.m. I realized that my leader was probably too short and too heavy. Thus, I tied a new leader using four pound line, and a tiny jig (size 16 hook) on about a one foot leader, with a swivel attaching the rig to the main line, which was 8 pound test (my Shakespeare Agility rod and reel setup which I really like).
As soon as I put on this new setup, an amazing change in the Opaleyes' attitude occurred. I was astonished as 3 or 4 Opaleyes raced to be the first to eat my Mussel. I guess I was too astonished, as I missed the first one. But I cast out what little was left of my Mussel, and promptly caught the "winner" of the second race to the bait. Three more Opaleyes quickly followed, as in their mob mentality, racing each other to the bait, they seemed to throw caution to the tide, and made sure the other ones would not get the bait by inhaling the whole thing hook and all. A couple of times, I set the hook too hard and broke the hook off, before I realized that I didn't need to set the hook so hard. With my Rip Rap Rig, since the leader slides, one needs to set the hook somewhat harder than normal, but I guess not that much harder. After I had caught 4 decent sized Opaleyes, about 1/4 to 1/2 pound each, they stopped rushing the bait, and went more into nibble mode. I think by that time, all the ones in my little fishing area had eaten some of my bait. All of the Opaleyes that I caught were in one small area, about 5 by 5 feet, I would say, ranging from about 2 to 7 feet from shore. I tried fishing outside of this area, but nothing bit. I tried peas instead of Mussel, but nothing bit on peas, either. Thus, I must conclude that at least on this occasion, Mussels were far superior Opaleye bait to peas. I thought about going to one of two other spots where I had seen a concentration of Opaleyes, but for some reason, never did. I think the little kid in me wanted to stay in my spot, watch the fish bite, and see what I could catch, as long as they kept biting on my leftover Mussels. I did catch one more little Kelp Bass, which bit really hard, then finally, one more Opaleye that nibbled a bit too heavily. That was it for the catching, but the biting continued, and I think there were probably another 20 or so Opaleyes which I fed dinner to in my one small fishing area.
I finally decided it was time to head back around 7:30. I gave one last try in which I let the fish bite longer before I responded. That was a mistake, as when I finally tried to hook the fish that was biting, I found it had gotten my hook into a jam that even my Rip Rap Rig couldn't get out of. Eventually, I broke the leader off, but at least got my smiley face bobber back. That was my only snag of the day, so my rig worked really well.
When I turned on my car engine, it was 7:45 p.m., and since I had forgotten to bring any drinks with me, I was really thirsty. Oceanside was surprisingly warm that day, although not as hot as Moval. I drank two bottles of water my wife had left in the cupholders, and it actually tasted sweet. It must be the memory of Eunice that made the water sweet. :Smile: Still, I wish it had been spring water in the Sierras, the best water I have ever had to drink. Oh well! When I got home, I was still thirsty, so I drank lots of Iced Tea and Powerade, making for a mostly liquid dinner.
Since somebody said that Opaleyes make great Sashimi, I tried one Sashimi style yesterday (Saturday), with soy sauce and wasabi. It tasted good and fresh, although the texture was rather stringy, for some reason, so I decided to fry up the rest of the fillets in Corn Starch and my special mix of Whatever Looks Good. They fillets weren't as chewy once cooked that way, and really tasty.
By the way, I had other responsibilities to attend to yesterday, so wasn't able to get around to this report until today, but it's only one day late.
The catch results were: 5 medium size Opaleyes all kept, 4 undersize Kelp Bass quickly released, and 1 Topsmelt kept for future bait.
All in all, it was a pretty successful trip, and the traffic wasn't bad for me.