Tunaslam
06-07-2010, 09:16 AM
I just couldn't stand reading all the successful reports of White Sea Bass and huge Yellowtail at Catalina, so I asked Lal if he had any interest in going, and he said yes.
Fishing Sunday, 6-06-10, with Lal on his 18’ boat “Rubber Ducky”. I met Lal at his house in Cerritos at 1:30 am. Both of us already feeling like we were getting too old for these kind of trips, no sleep, the wee hours of the morning, long cold ride out to Catalina, chasing Ghosts, etc. etc. Must be crazy right?
We launched out of Davies, in Long Beach, and cleared the harbor by 2:22 am, our first stop scheduled for Avalon, where we hoped the Long Beach Carnage would be waiting with live squid. The seas were bumpy, the wind was blowing out of the southwest, at about 6 to maybe 8 knots, and the skies were hidden in a deep marine layer, with a slight hint of mist in our face.
Hailed anyone in Catalina on channel 11 for a squid boat. Sure enough the Long Beach Carnage was ready with plenty of live squid for sale, right in front of the harbor entrance to Avalon.
Made our way around the East End, and on to the Vee’s where the Armada was anchored up. Found a space in 95 feet of water just west of the third Vee to anchor up in at, about in the middle of the fleet. It was now 4:45 am, and still pitch black out. Surprised there were any ideal spots remaining? Of course Ideal is in the eyes of the holder. Hind sight says we were no where near any Ideal spot? Waited out the morning, soaking live squid on jigs and dropper loop setups. The rocking of the boat made a good motion for the jigs in the rod holders.
Never saw anyone catch anything. Cong on his boat “JTimes5” he has five kids, was anchored about 75 yards outside of us, nothing for them either. Talked to several other boaters around us and further east of us, and all experienced the same thing, no one caught anything, anywhere within the vicinity. When we could finally see, the Toronado, Freedom, Eclipse, and several other sporties were all within a ¼ mile of us. I saw the reports later that night that they scratched up a few fish.
At about 6:30 am got a hail from Glenn on his boat Pacified. They were about 300 yards east of us. The previous day they had caught several White Seabass and a Yellowtail about where they were sitting, at around 7am, so we were still encouraged. 7am came and went for nothing. Lal hailed Glenn and kiddingly asked “when was breakfast going to be ready”? Glenn replied “about 20 minutes”? At 7:45 am, while I was pulling the anchor, Glenn hollered “breakfast is up”!
We slowly made our way over there, where Glenn’s wife proudly handed us two of the most spectacular plates of food we could imagine. Scrambled eggs cooked with mushrooms, covered in home made chili, hash brown potatoes, covered in salsa, Sausage, Bacon, and Ham. Yikes, what a way to forget about no fish being caught? As we thanked them and pulled away, they hollered “hey we have fresh hot rolls and coffee too”! No thanks, as this was plenty, and I had brought a thermos of coffee with us. Too cool Glenn, thanks again!
Lal elected work our way down to the west end of the Island, hitting every beach and cove on the way that looked promising. Lal caught a couple of Calico’s throwing the plastic, nothing wanted the live squid? We were hoping for a lost WSB, and or a Halibut, no luck for us though.
The West Cove had a few boats, the water conditions did not look that good, heard later the fish did bite there though, probably earlier in the day? Worked our way around to Johnson’s rock, then on to Starlight, casting into the various beaches along the way. Caught a few more Calico’s at Starlight, babies!
The Pacific Edge anchored up outside of us, and then was joined by the Options. Two Pros together! We opted to set up inside of them hoping for a miracle. The Corona King on the Pacific Edge recognized us, and hollered they had five White Sea Bass on board, but caught them elsewhere on the west end. He had caught a personal best 45 pounder White Sea Bass, and asked if I had a camera. So we came over and I took some pictures, as when I arrived home, I simply collapsed for the evening. The living dead? Gad I am getting old?
By noon the wind was closing in on about 12 knots, and it was lightly capping! Time to get out of Dodge. A mile offshore, the conditions improved, and ultimately by mid channel reached grease conditions. A very pleasant ride home.
Thanks Lal, a typical day of Ghost Hunting for me! Maybe next time?
Hook up! Cory
Fishing Sunday, 6-06-10, with Lal on his 18’ boat “Rubber Ducky”. I met Lal at his house in Cerritos at 1:30 am. Both of us already feeling like we were getting too old for these kind of trips, no sleep, the wee hours of the morning, long cold ride out to Catalina, chasing Ghosts, etc. etc. Must be crazy right?
We launched out of Davies, in Long Beach, and cleared the harbor by 2:22 am, our first stop scheduled for Avalon, where we hoped the Long Beach Carnage would be waiting with live squid. The seas were bumpy, the wind was blowing out of the southwest, at about 6 to maybe 8 knots, and the skies were hidden in a deep marine layer, with a slight hint of mist in our face.
Hailed anyone in Catalina on channel 11 for a squid boat. Sure enough the Long Beach Carnage was ready with plenty of live squid for sale, right in front of the harbor entrance to Avalon.
Made our way around the East End, and on to the Vee’s where the Armada was anchored up. Found a space in 95 feet of water just west of the third Vee to anchor up in at, about in the middle of the fleet. It was now 4:45 am, and still pitch black out. Surprised there were any ideal spots remaining? Of course Ideal is in the eyes of the holder. Hind sight says we were no where near any Ideal spot? Waited out the morning, soaking live squid on jigs and dropper loop setups. The rocking of the boat made a good motion for the jigs in the rod holders.
Never saw anyone catch anything. Cong on his boat “JTimes5” he has five kids, was anchored about 75 yards outside of us, nothing for them either. Talked to several other boaters around us and further east of us, and all experienced the same thing, no one caught anything, anywhere within the vicinity. When we could finally see, the Toronado, Freedom, Eclipse, and several other sporties were all within a ¼ mile of us. I saw the reports later that night that they scratched up a few fish.
At about 6:30 am got a hail from Glenn on his boat Pacified. They were about 300 yards east of us. The previous day they had caught several White Seabass and a Yellowtail about where they were sitting, at around 7am, so we were still encouraged. 7am came and went for nothing. Lal hailed Glenn and kiddingly asked “when was breakfast going to be ready”? Glenn replied “about 20 minutes”? At 7:45 am, while I was pulling the anchor, Glenn hollered “breakfast is up”!
We slowly made our way over there, where Glenn’s wife proudly handed us two of the most spectacular plates of food we could imagine. Scrambled eggs cooked with mushrooms, covered in home made chili, hash brown potatoes, covered in salsa, Sausage, Bacon, and Ham. Yikes, what a way to forget about no fish being caught? As we thanked them and pulled away, they hollered “hey we have fresh hot rolls and coffee too”! No thanks, as this was plenty, and I had brought a thermos of coffee with us. Too cool Glenn, thanks again!
Lal elected work our way down to the west end of the Island, hitting every beach and cove on the way that looked promising. Lal caught a couple of Calico’s throwing the plastic, nothing wanted the live squid? We were hoping for a lost WSB, and or a Halibut, no luck for us though.
The West Cove had a few boats, the water conditions did not look that good, heard later the fish did bite there though, probably earlier in the day? Worked our way around to Johnson’s rock, then on to Starlight, casting into the various beaches along the way. Caught a few more Calico’s at Starlight, babies!
The Pacific Edge anchored up outside of us, and then was joined by the Options. Two Pros together! We opted to set up inside of them hoping for a miracle. The Corona King on the Pacific Edge recognized us, and hollered they had five White Sea Bass on board, but caught them elsewhere on the west end. He had caught a personal best 45 pounder White Sea Bass, and asked if I had a camera. So we came over and I took some pictures, as when I arrived home, I simply collapsed for the evening. The living dead? Gad I am getting old?
By noon the wind was closing in on about 12 knots, and it was lightly capping! Time to get out of Dodge. A mile offshore, the conditions improved, and ultimately by mid channel reached grease conditions. A very pleasant ride home.
Thanks Lal, a typical day of Ghost Hunting for me! Maybe next time?
Hook up! Cory