Jackpot Jimmy
03-29-2010, 11:18 PM
With my spring break happening this week, Dad and I decided to do something a little bit different, but at the same time, familiar. We headed down to Dana Point for an all day trip to the island on the Fury. We knew we would be joined by all the Monday regulars who we have had the privilege to know over the years, so it would be fun no matter what. We rolled off the dock promptly at 5am with a light load of 16 anglers, and headed off to the bait receiver. As it turned out, the bait boat managed to make a nice batch of bait, with most of it being great anchovies. As we headed out, Captain Rick Doesburg introduced us to the crew consisting of Tyler Rich in the galley and Mike working the deck. Ricky explained that once at Catalina, he would forego the rockfishing and go straight for the bass, starting off on the backside, and then depending on how fishing was on the back, we would move around to the front in the afternoon. Once we were under way, some hit the bunks for a nap, while others had some great breakfasts made by Tyler. It was a little bumpy on the way over, but not too bad. After a few hours, we arrived at the island, and Ricky found a good spot and anchored up.
We started to catch some bass right away on the flylined anchovies, but the uphill current made us switch to a light slider to get our baits down to the fish. We threw on a few legal bass, but the big knothead found us, and we moved on. We continued to work up the back picking a little off of each spot. Most of the calicos were shorts, but they provided for some action nonetheless. We soon backtracked, and at each spot the bass would start to bite right away, and then they would get real finicky because of the sea lion. I managed to get a legal calico on the plastic, and it seemed like they were pretty eager to bite the plastic, but they became squirrely and would attack it but not eat it all the way. Ricky then decided to head towards the front of the island to try for some bonito and see if some bass would eat the chovies up there.
Once anchored on the frontside, the knothead found us once again, but not before we threw on a couple of smaller bonito. En route to the next spot, DFG met and boarded us, checking everyone’s fishing license and measuring all the fish. Afterwards, we hit our next spot, and we got into a wide open mackerel bite, and all of them were jumbos. This kept the blood pumping for a while. To get a bonito, you would have to sink your jig out a little deeper and use a medium retrieve. Most of these bonito were one or two pounds, but my dad managed to get a nice four to five pound on the smoke-sparkle plastic grub. Soon after, Ricky turned the boat towards Dana Point, and we headed on home.
Jackpot went to my dad with the nice big bonito, and the JP money went back to the crew. They did an awesome job today as usual. It was also nice seeing all our old friends and I hope to fish with them again soon. On the way back to Dana Point I got a really nice nap after being up since two in the morning. Anyways, our final fish count was 23 Calico Bass, 3 Sheephead, and 29 Bonito for 16 anglers, with many mackerel released. The island has great potential, and the season’s only begun. Great times, great fishing!
Beautiful Morning Looking at the Coast
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-51.jpg
Catalina in View
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-46.jpg
Visiblity was Great; Clemente Island in View
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-46.jpg
Rolene with a Nice Sheephead
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-35.jpg
Dad with his Jackpot Winning Bonito (Caught on Plastic)
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-46.jpg
The Fury
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-34.jpg
We started to catch some bass right away on the flylined anchovies, but the uphill current made us switch to a light slider to get our baits down to the fish. We threw on a few legal bass, but the big knothead found us, and we moved on. We continued to work up the back picking a little off of each spot. Most of the calicos were shorts, but they provided for some action nonetheless. We soon backtracked, and at each spot the bass would start to bite right away, and then they would get real finicky because of the sea lion. I managed to get a legal calico on the plastic, and it seemed like they were pretty eager to bite the plastic, but they became squirrely and would attack it but not eat it all the way. Ricky then decided to head towards the front of the island to try for some bonito and see if some bass would eat the chovies up there.
Once anchored on the frontside, the knothead found us once again, but not before we threw on a couple of smaller bonito. En route to the next spot, DFG met and boarded us, checking everyone’s fishing license and measuring all the fish. Afterwards, we hit our next spot, and we got into a wide open mackerel bite, and all of them were jumbos. This kept the blood pumping for a while. To get a bonito, you would have to sink your jig out a little deeper and use a medium retrieve. Most of these bonito were one or two pounds, but my dad managed to get a nice four to five pound on the smoke-sparkle plastic grub. Soon after, Ricky turned the boat towards Dana Point, and we headed on home.
Jackpot went to my dad with the nice big bonito, and the JP money went back to the crew. They did an awesome job today as usual. It was also nice seeing all our old friends and I hope to fish with them again soon. On the way back to Dana Point I got a really nice nap after being up since two in the morning. Anyways, our final fish count was 23 Calico Bass, 3 Sheephead, and 29 Bonito for 16 anglers, with many mackerel released. The island has great potential, and the season’s only begun. Great times, great fishing!
Beautiful Morning Looking at the Coast
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-51.jpg
Catalina in View
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-46.jpg
Visiblity was Great; Clemente Island in View
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-46.jpg
Rolene with a Nice Sheephead
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-35.jpg
Dad with his Jackpot Winning Bonito (Caught on Plastic)
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-46.jpg
The Fury
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-34.jpg