Jackpot Jimmy
03-07-2010, 08:15 AM
I was pretty sad to see a forecast of rain for the weekend, but on Friday afternoon, the seas looked fishable, at least for the morning. We headed on down to Redondo on Saturday morning with overcast skies. We rolled off the dock at 6am and headed north to the rockfish grounds.
I started out with a 6 ounce diamond jig and a shrimp fly teaser, and it seemed that the midgets went for the shrimp fly. After watching others catching some nicer rockfish on bait, I switched over, and stuck with that for the rest of the day. The current was running pretty quick and the wind made for some quick drifts. You would get bit by a rockfish as soon as you would hit bottom on some spots, and on your second drop, you were in sand dab city. Most of the sand dabs were pretty big and of perfect eating size. However, the rockfish that we were getting were pretty nice sized, and we got an occasional red in the mix with the boscos, belindas, and starry-eyed rockfish.
At some spots, Steven requested for some of the guys to come up 10 or 15 cranks off the bottom to try and catch some belindas. Belindas have a rather sleek body and are mostly found suspended off the bottom. Most of the ones you get are just good eating size, but you do catch some big ones sometimes (we got some huge ones last year). Anyway, the wind started to come up, and we backtracked towards home, trying to fit in a few more spots before holding anchor would be impossible. By this time, we were anchoring at the spots, and the current was ripping. One spot was particularly very sticky. I got stuck on the bottom one drop, and ended up pulling it out and landing a double with a nice red and a barber pole. Also, our friend Jerry landed a nice ling which was safely released after the hook was removed and a quick picture was taken.
We headed home a little early due to the wind, but we certainly made a day out of it. The rockfishing had potential today, but if the current wasn’t running too bad, it would have been much better. Jackpot went to Tradition regular Ray Mesina with a huge whitefish that was almost four pounds. Great times, great fishing!
Remember, the Tradition is online everyday leaving at 6am out of Redondo Sportfishing, with the 2 for 1 special every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The Tradition will be fishing rockfish on the coast while keeping an eye on Catalina. There was an abundance of baitfish chasing krill up to the surface in the bay, so there could be a possibility of an early barracuda season. Stay tuned...
Tom and Morgon with a Nice Red
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-43.jpg
Ray with a Huge Whitefish
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-44.jpg
Jerry and Morgon with a Nice Lingcod *SAFELY RELEASED*
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-49.jpg
My Barber Pole and Nice Red
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-33.jpg
Ray with a couple belindas.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-22.jpg
I started out with a 6 ounce diamond jig and a shrimp fly teaser, and it seemed that the midgets went for the shrimp fly. After watching others catching some nicer rockfish on bait, I switched over, and stuck with that for the rest of the day. The current was running pretty quick and the wind made for some quick drifts. You would get bit by a rockfish as soon as you would hit bottom on some spots, and on your second drop, you were in sand dab city. Most of the sand dabs were pretty big and of perfect eating size. However, the rockfish that we were getting were pretty nice sized, and we got an occasional red in the mix with the boscos, belindas, and starry-eyed rockfish.
At some spots, Steven requested for some of the guys to come up 10 or 15 cranks off the bottom to try and catch some belindas. Belindas have a rather sleek body and are mostly found suspended off the bottom. Most of the ones you get are just good eating size, but you do catch some big ones sometimes (we got some huge ones last year). Anyway, the wind started to come up, and we backtracked towards home, trying to fit in a few more spots before holding anchor would be impossible. By this time, we were anchoring at the spots, and the current was ripping. One spot was particularly very sticky. I got stuck on the bottom one drop, and ended up pulling it out and landing a double with a nice red and a barber pole. Also, our friend Jerry landed a nice ling which was safely released after the hook was removed and a quick picture was taken.
We headed home a little early due to the wind, but we certainly made a day out of it. The rockfishing had potential today, but if the current wasn’t running too bad, it would have been much better. Jackpot went to Tradition regular Ray Mesina with a huge whitefish that was almost four pounds. Great times, great fishing!
Remember, the Tradition is online everyday leaving at 6am out of Redondo Sportfishing, with the 2 for 1 special every Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The Tradition will be fishing rockfish on the coast while keeping an eye on Catalina. There was an abundance of baitfish chasing krill up to the surface in the bay, so there could be a possibility of an early barracuda season. Stay tuned...
Tom and Morgon with a Nice Red
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-43.jpg
Ray with a Huge Whitefish
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-44.jpg
Jerry and Morgon with a Nice Lingcod *SAFELY RELEASED*
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-49.jpg
My Barber Pole and Nice Red
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-33.jpg
Ray with a couple belindas.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-22.jpg