Jackpot Jimmy
01-31-2010, 09:12 PM
The one thing that gets me through the week of tests, essays, and homework is the one thought – the one thought about fishing on Saturday. Every Monday, I write in my school planner “Fishing on the Tradition!” under Saturday’s section. The headaches of school seem to gently subside as Saturday inches closer. Dad and I woke up earlier than usual and drove down to Redondo. We met up with our fellow Saturday regulars and shot the breeze. As 6:00 drew closer, we told jokes and caught up on things, and I also got another refill on leadheads by my friends Tom and Roger (Thanks guys!). Soon after, Morgon came up and took everyone’s ticket stubs, and we headed up the line for another good ol’ day of sand bass fishing.
We were greeted by a beautiful sunrise as we headed north. The water had calmed down, and although there were some clouds in the sky, it looked like it was going to turn into a very nice day. I stretched my line, rigged up my rods, had breakfast, and settled back as we approached the fishing grounds. Once we arrived, it was instant for some people. Some really nice grumpies were coming over the rail, as well as some out-of-season stuff that had to be thrown back. I even caught a little starry-eyed rockfish. After a while, this spot petered out, and we moved on.
For the rest of the day, we bounced around looking for spots that wanted to bite. It seemed that every spot wanted to bite, but we’d get some fish off of it, and that was the end of it. Some spots, of course, were better than others. Sometimes, you had to be on your toes and figure out where the rock was relative to the direction the boat swung. If you didn’t put the bait at their front door, you wouldn’t get a bite. The fish weren’t lazy, either. If you wasted ½ a second, they would rock you. On the contrary, sometimes I would get rocked, and then slack off, and pull the fish out. This doesn’t always happen, so the fast reflexes and feel for the kind of fishing must be present. You never know what is biting your bait.
As the day progressed, I caught up in my catching, and ended up with a limit of bass for the day. Not to be greedy, but I’ve wanted a limit for a while. The thing is that I’ve had about three or four days this month where I’ve gotten nine bass, and I couldn’t get another bass to save my life. The tenth bass I got was by luck, though. As we were pulling away from the last spot, I thought I was out of the rocks, but as I thought that, I felt the bite, swung, and reeled in a nice sand bass. I was deliriously happy to get that tenth bass. In fact, one time last year I nearly had a stroke because I couldn’t get the tenth bass to save my life. I get over it, but it does get frustrating sometimes – however it’s all a part of the great experience of fishing.
We ended up with a little better than six around on the bass, along with a few sculpin and perch. The quality was definitely there today, and everybody had a really fun time. There’s going to be about another month of straight sand bass fishing before rockfishing starts up again, so hop on out on the Tradition and try this fishing out for yourself. It’s a little tricky, but always very fun. It was very nice to meet and fish with fellow Fishing Network member Sean Glumace. Jackpot went to Tradition regular Bill Mozingo with a nice big sand bass. Great times, great fishing!
Author’s Aside: I want to write a how-to article on this kind of structure sand bass fishing. There are many aspects in this kind of fishing for the area that need to be discussed for the success of the anglers, such as utilizing the spider hitch, using heavy line, and being wary of where the structure is located. I’ve delayed doing so for about three weeks, and I would like to start writing it for the website’s archives.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-44.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-40.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-32.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-44.jpg
We were greeted by a beautiful sunrise as we headed north. The water had calmed down, and although there were some clouds in the sky, it looked like it was going to turn into a very nice day. I stretched my line, rigged up my rods, had breakfast, and settled back as we approached the fishing grounds. Once we arrived, it was instant for some people. Some really nice grumpies were coming over the rail, as well as some out-of-season stuff that had to be thrown back. I even caught a little starry-eyed rockfish. After a while, this spot petered out, and we moved on.
For the rest of the day, we bounced around looking for spots that wanted to bite. It seemed that every spot wanted to bite, but we’d get some fish off of it, and that was the end of it. Some spots, of course, were better than others. Sometimes, you had to be on your toes and figure out where the rock was relative to the direction the boat swung. If you didn’t put the bait at their front door, you wouldn’t get a bite. The fish weren’t lazy, either. If you wasted ½ a second, they would rock you. On the contrary, sometimes I would get rocked, and then slack off, and pull the fish out. This doesn’t always happen, so the fast reflexes and feel for the kind of fishing must be present. You never know what is biting your bait.
As the day progressed, I caught up in my catching, and ended up with a limit of bass for the day. Not to be greedy, but I’ve wanted a limit for a while. The thing is that I’ve had about three or four days this month where I’ve gotten nine bass, and I couldn’t get another bass to save my life. The tenth bass I got was by luck, though. As we were pulling away from the last spot, I thought I was out of the rocks, but as I thought that, I felt the bite, swung, and reeled in a nice sand bass. I was deliriously happy to get that tenth bass. In fact, one time last year I nearly had a stroke because I couldn’t get the tenth bass to save my life. I get over it, but it does get frustrating sometimes – however it’s all a part of the great experience of fishing.
We ended up with a little better than six around on the bass, along with a few sculpin and perch. The quality was definitely there today, and everybody had a really fun time. There’s going to be about another month of straight sand bass fishing before rockfishing starts up again, so hop on out on the Tradition and try this fishing out for yourself. It’s a little tricky, but always very fun. It was very nice to meet and fish with fellow Fishing Network member Sean Glumace. Jackpot went to Tradition regular Bill Mozingo with a nice big sand bass. Great times, great fishing!
Author’s Aside: I want to write a how-to article on this kind of structure sand bass fishing. There are many aspects in this kind of fishing for the area that need to be discussed for the success of the anglers, such as utilizing the spider hitch, using heavy line, and being wary of where the structure is located. I’ve delayed doing so for about three weeks, and I would like to start writing it for the website’s archives.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-44.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-40.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-32.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-44.jpg