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View Full Version : NPH; Seabass Pens and Tubing for spotties



G-Man
06-30-2007, 09:03 AM
OK, I finally relented and with the conditions as prime as can be so far this season, headed for Park St. dock to launch the Tube and do an evening session on the bay. Nice incoming tide, full moon, water temp in the bay=70deg. F, wind calm. But first the important business...

Buzzkill swung by the "Perchinator Palace" and quickly delivered me to the Balboa Angling Club where I met up with good fishing buddy from SCSurffishing.com, "OCSawdust" John. Time for me to learn the ropes out at the white seabass growout pen. John has been responsible for much of the new construction on the pen, and in saving it from near death and removal due to the "Sophisto Newport Harbour Fashion Police" who in their ultimate wisdom felt that rotting old hulks in the bay are ok, but a small indescript barge with a little moss on it was an eyesore so offensive, they had a collective hissy fit and much improvement had to be made. Saddled with this, John has had to assume too many other duties, which I will be taking off his hands. I am now officially the "On Call" person of record be there an emergency, as well as regular checkups; filling the automatic feeders, checking the timers and the electronics, recording "floaters" (dead fish), checking for bird and seal predation and damage, and any cleanup necessary. I'm stoked because anything I can do to insure and improve the stocks of my favourite fish is the least I can do. We have to be part of the solution, or we're part of the problem! So volunteer, people. Join United Anglers of Southern California. No one else is going to protect our fishery AND protect our rights to fish!

Opening up the well...
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0005-1.jpg
OCSawdust feeding the babys, several hundred whites in the 6" size.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0008-1.jpg
The light was too low to get an in the water shot of the fish, next time I am going earlier, pics to follow.

Ok, off to Park St. dock...Buzzkill was there and the skiff was ready to go.
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0009.jpg
I grab the tube, suit up and we launch, about 7pm. This guy was fishing the dock with live smelt, and nailed a bunch of short flatties, one legal, and hooked up on a spotty right as I was gliding past!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0015-1.jpg
We took our time heading down channel as we had word that some of the toobin' faithful were to be joining us...they opted to launch elsewhere...more to come on that topic in the lounge!

Lots of salad in the channel. I'm rigged with the Firetiger Blams, lots of Unigoop. Drift around the docks, just yo-yoing the bait, wait, I'm hung on the bottom, no...BENDO!. My first spotty in over a year! Small, but as always pugnatious and fiesty...
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0020.jpg

I have a feeling this place is holding 'em. Drift aroung the corner...SLAMMO! This one is a puller, drag goes out, I reel in, carefull...Number two...
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0030.jpg
Next I drift across channel, and just as I am gooping up my bait, Glen goes bendo, his stripe's off!
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0033.jpg
Next, I have an encounter with this little denizen...
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMGP0031.jpg
Tide ebbs and the bite seems to slow. My tube needs some adjustment; the seat allows me to slide too far forward, and for the third time I get a big slosh of water down the back of my waders. Adding to the insult the jacket I packed got soaked, so I'm bloody cold. One more drift over the hotspot resulted in hookups, but I sent the fish back to the farm, unlanded.
I'm now fully convinced, the Goop is the best, I won't fish without it!

All in all, a great time.

sullyfish
06-30-2007, 10:53 AM
Paddletail FireTiger BLAMZ!!!!

Blamz are one of the best bay baits ever...

Nice job G-Man

SanDimasLMB
06-30-2007, 12:45 PM
Never seen a paddletail BLAM! Where did you get them?

BBL2Baja
06-30-2007, 12:52 PM
Sweet report! :thumb: Reports like these are what has me shopping for a tube. I just live real far away from the ocean! :cry:
"The Goop" - Unigoop? I bought some of that for my last cattleboat trip for, what I thought was plastic fishing calicos. It ended up being a weather change and fishing for sculpin. Now the stuff sits in my tackle box. Doesn't work very well for trout and catfish. :wink: :wink:

Later,
Scott

bones
06-30-2007, 01:28 PM
The "Perchinator" Has arrived :thumb:
I was wondering when and if the superman of the surf was going to surface this season. Little did I think that it would be a tubin session!

Nice spotties there for sure buddy.I don't know if you remember me but the last time we met was at the "Bendo at Bolsa" gig when you brought thoses huge SC's for everyone to enjoy.
I think that you told me that the BSP in your avatar went around 16" :shock:
Yeah...I'm still using spinning gear in the surf but I think I'm going to get a small BC setup with a Cardif like the one you have.

Thanks for the report and hey.......I'd like to head down your way and do some tubin with you some day soon.

Keep on slaying!

G-Man
06-30-2007, 04:02 PM
Unigoop, indeed! I have heard otherwise regarding the use of the 'goop on the F/W species...Have a look at some of the forums on the Unigoop website. I know quite a few LMB anglers using it.
http://unigoop.com/forum/index.php?http ... /index.php (http://unigoop.com/forum/index.php?http://www.unigoop.com/forum/index.php)

Hey Bones! I had taken a bit of a hiatus from fishing in general (broke my 4th and 5th metataursals; left foot 2 days before xmas :cry: It still does'nt feel quite right...) and got tied up in too many other boards all at once...I stopped using the Cardiff in the surf, for two reasons. One, sand. Two, I came across a pre-packaged by Shimano combo at Angler's Center NPB: Corvallis 400 on a Scimitar 7' graphite rod. Each retail in the $80. The combo was just $79. I use the Cardiff in the bay, and on the water for flatties, bonies, barries, sandies and spotties. The Corvallis is just a step below the Cardiff, I have been using it in the surf for a year now and it has been flawless.

Since most of my angling is in the surf, you can find me on http://www.scsurffishing.com. I will make an effort to post back here more often. Short report on the surf in NPB: Too many tourists in the water and the perch have been dinks...I have sighted some nice sized schools of corbina in the surf and the sandcrabs are everywhere, still a little small size wise--piggyback two on a hook works great.

See you out there!

P.S. I found the Blamz at the Fred Hall Show. I had also found some of the curly tail at a flea market in Santa Ana last Feb. I should have gotten the guys ph#. These are not the originals, nevertheless they are true enough and the textures and colors are spot on...My ultimate favourite swimbait now, fish just chomp them!

sullyfish
07-01-2007, 11:42 AM
That guy was me

They are custom made...They are called "Blamz"...

Glad you like them G-Man...Let me know if you need more

Sully

G-Man
07-01-2007, 07:47 PM
Sully! Cool! Buzzkill Glen said he had your number, but I think he lost it. I'm holding quantity, but I get a lot of requests...so I may have some orders for you here soon. As you can see, they work! I won't fish the bass without them.

I showed one to my friend Art. He was skeptical. Not any more! This was on the firetiger....
http://i46.photobucket.com/albums/f109/Perchinator/IMG_7819.jpg

spiceguy
07-02-2007, 01:05 PM
WTG, G-man! John asked me to work on the pens a few months back, but with my schedule, I had to decline. Good luck! :thumb:

one_leg
07-02-2007, 01:49 PM
I remember the pens fondly from the time when I worked in NPH as a commercial diver.
Milton Shedd was still alive and kept his boat "Sea World" in a slip just down from us in Harbor Marina. What a great guy.

One_Leg

SanDimasLMB
07-02-2007, 01:54 PM
wow, lots of nice fish coming from NPH lately

G-Man
07-02-2007, 06:13 PM
I never knew him, but have heard a lot about Mr. Shedd. Yeah, the bay is turning on!

ocsawdust
07-05-2007, 09:44 PM
GEORGE..............................





You just blew my witness protection program.


















I'm outa here and Gman is the new sheriff in town.

Kidding aside, thanks for stepping up to the plate George. You da man.

Now just have to get a game plan on the point residents that seem to think that the sea lions woes are because of the pens. I guess I'll put a $500 bounty to who ever can get a pic of a point kid feeding the dogs from a point private dock. That would turn the tables! No chopping photos! We need this to be legit, and POSITIVE! Never thought it would be so hard to feed some fish and let them grow.


Maybe Newport should go back to being a sandbar, after all that's what it used to be. The dogs only seem to be hanging out on boats and docks, but not the pens, it has a chain link fence! :wink:

Hitts0n
07-07-2007, 10:12 AM
Beautiful rep0r7!! Killlllllllllllllllllllumm ! :twisted: