Jackpot Jimmy
05-29-2010, 08:20 PM
After a week of wind and weird weather, the weather was supposed to be nicer for the weekend, so I was eager to head back out for another day of fishing. We left promptly at 6am and headed to the bait receiver where we picked up some excellent sardines and small mackerel. The sun was out and we were ready to fish. Our game plan was to head outside a ways in search of the elusive barracuda. If we couldn’t find any, we would fish the rockfish.
I had a Salas 7X tied up on my Super Seeker 90M all ready to go, and we looked at a few promising sights that turned out to be dolphin pushing up bait. So, we started out with the rockfish. I once again rigged up with my six ounce P-Line diamond jig with the shrimp fly teaser. As I explained last week, I rig this up by joining the main line and a leader together via the Roy Rose knot. Before I tie the knot, I tie a simple square knot at the end of the leader to differentiate the two lines. I then tie the diamond jig on the main line, and tie the shrimp fly on the leader. Then, I tie two ½ hitches with the leader to keep the line out away from the main line like a dropper loop (except for the fact it will be a single line). This will minimize spinning when you wind a fish up from the depths. However, be advised that you should not use this technique for anything other than rockfish. This set up is easy to tie and a good way to go for the jig/shrimp fly teaser for rockfish. I rigged this up on my Super Seeker 809 with a Torium 14 loaded with 50# spectra with a short 30# test top shot. I definitely made the right choice fishing with spectra, and after fishing the jig this way today, I won’t go back to fishing a jig with mono for rockfish.
We arrived at the rockfishing grounds after a bumpy ride, and started chipping away at some boscos and poinsettias. I once again fished the Gulp minnow on my shrimp fly, and even though I took some crap from my friends who were fishing the bare shrimp fly, it was a good choice for the day. On the third or fourth drift, we had a good flurry on the reds. We managed to get quite a few reds in the next couple of drifts, and I managed to get a double on my rig. In addition, there were some nicer sized barber poles caught on sardines. One spot Capt. Stevo metered over had pretty good suspended marks on the grouper. Guys that fished the sardines got some, but it petered out on the second drift. Stevo then made a move for the inside to see if we could get some sculpin or whitefish.
We made a set on the spot, and one guy managed to catch a nice chucklehead, but we got no other bites. Stevo repositioned on the spot, but it was desolate. With a couple hours left, Stevo elected to head closer to home and try a couple of drifts in that area. On the way, we had some pods of dolphin riding the bow, which was pretty fun to watch. Once we got into the area, we spotted a mako shark that looked to be about 125 pounds or so. We quickly tied on a leader and tried to bait it, but it was not interested in the bait, and it quickly sunk out. Anyways, before the day’s end, we tried a few more drifts. The last drift held a few nicer rockfish to round out the day.
Overall, it was a pretty good day of rockfishing, but I’m looking forward to the water warming up and the calicos flipping on the surface. The water was cold today, starting at around 53 degrees, jumping to around 55 degrees by the end of the day. It started out pretty bumpy, but the swells subsided, the wind died down, and it turned out to be a nice and warm day on the water. Great times, great fishing!
Double on the Nice Reds
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-51.jpg
Bill with a Nice Grouper
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-38.jpg
Vinnie with a Nice Belinda
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/007-29.jpg
Carlos with Some Nice Barber Poles
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-24.jpg
Matt and Willy (Really Drunk) with Nice Grouper
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-20.jpg
Jerry with a Nice Barber Pole
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-16.jpg
I had a Salas 7X tied up on my Super Seeker 90M all ready to go, and we looked at a few promising sights that turned out to be dolphin pushing up bait. So, we started out with the rockfish. I once again rigged up with my six ounce P-Line diamond jig with the shrimp fly teaser. As I explained last week, I rig this up by joining the main line and a leader together via the Roy Rose knot. Before I tie the knot, I tie a simple square knot at the end of the leader to differentiate the two lines. I then tie the diamond jig on the main line, and tie the shrimp fly on the leader. Then, I tie two ½ hitches with the leader to keep the line out away from the main line like a dropper loop (except for the fact it will be a single line). This will minimize spinning when you wind a fish up from the depths. However, be advised that you should not use this technique for anything other than rockfish. This set up is easy to tie and a good way to go for the jig/shrimp fly teaser for rockfish. I rigged this up on my Super Seeker 809 with a Torium 14 loaded with 50# spectra with a short 30# test top shot. I definitely made the right choice fishing with spectra, and after fishing the jig this way today, I won’t go back to fishing a jig with mono for rockfish.
We arrived at the rockfishing grounds after a bumpy ride, and started chipping away at some boscos and poinsettias. I once again fished the Gulp minnow on my shrimp fly, and even though I took some crap from my friends who were fishing the bare shrimp fly, it was a good choice for the day. On the third or fourth drift, we had a good flurry on the reds. We managed to get quite a few reds in the next couple of drifts, and I managed to get a double on my rig. In addition, there were some nicer sized barber poles caught on sardines. One spot Capt. Stevo metered over had pretty good suspended marks on the grouper. Guys that fished the sardines got some, but it petered out on the second drift. Stevo then made a move for the inside to see if we could get some sculpin or whitefish.
We made a set on the spot, and one guy managed to catch a nice chucklehead, but we got no other bites. Stevo repositioned on the spot, but it was desolate. With a couple hours left, Stevo elected to head closer to home and try a couple of drifts in that area. On the way, we had some pods of dolphin riding the bow, which was pretty fun to watch. Once we got into the area, we spotted a mako shark that looked to be about 125 pounds or so. We quickly tied on a leader and tried to bait it, but it was not interested in the bait, and it quickly sunk out. Anyways, before the day’s end, we tried a few more drifts. The last drift held a few nicer rockfish to round out the day.
Overall, it was a pretty good day of rockfishing, but I’m looking forward to the water warming up and the calicos flipping on the surface. The water was cold today, starting at around 53 degrees, jumping to around 55 degrees by the end of the day. It started out pretty bumpy, but the swells subsided, the wind died down, and it turned out to be a nice and warm day on the water. Great times, great fishing!
Double on the Nice Reds
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-51.jpg
Bill with a Nice Grouper
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-38.jpg
Vinnie with a Nice Belinda
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/007-29.jpg
Carlos with Some Nice Barber Poles
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-24.jpg
Matt and Willy (Really Drunk) with Nice Grouper
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-20.jpg
Jerry with a Nice Barber Pole
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-16.jpg