Jackpot Jimmy
07-11-2010, 10:14 PM
With the sand bass and barracuda bite on fire down at the Flats, Captain Steven on the Tradition decided to try it out on Friday, and ended up with a pretty good day on the bass and barracuda for 17 anglers, with one nice halibut to go along with it. Then, Captain John Petrov ran the twilight trip fishing local waters on which 8 anglers caught about 55 mixed bass, with bass still chewing most anything you threw at them.
Come Saturday, fishing with the fleet was the plan, and it was a good one at that. First thing, we picked up some sardines from the bait receiver, and a couple people tried fishing them on a dropper loop to see if they could get a halibut to bite. There was one substantial bite, but the rest were bonito bites. Then, we were on our way south.
On the way down, everyone had plenty of time to rig up their rods, order some breakfast, and maybe take a nap. These are the rods I brought:
• Curado 200DHSV (12# test) & Calcutta 7-1/2 foot Medium with ½ oz. sliding sinker, 1/0 hook
• Curado 200 (12# test) & Calcutta 8 foot Medium Heavy with Plastic (blam and grub in anchovy color)
• Torium 14 (15# test) & Super Seeker 809 (15-30#) with Dropper Loop (later 2/0 hook fly line set up)
• Torium 20 (30# test) & Super Seeker 90M (25-50#) with Iron (Tady AA mint, Candy Bar brown, Tady A1 green and yellow)
After a run down the beach, we dropped anchor and started fishing. First thing, there were a few sand bass and barracuda caught, but the action slowed down with flurries here and there. My friend Bill Mozingo (FNN member “fishking”) was fishing the bigger swimbaits and was rewarded with some nicer sand bass, but they were few and far between, especially on the first spot. Myself, I didn’t have a single bass on the first spot. The meter looked good, and I even tried fishing a chunk with a light slider, and all I caught were mackerel. Even though the meter looked good, we moved on.
We found a great mark and dropped anchor. I fished my mint Tady AA first thing, and I was rewarded with a nice sand bass! I was really jazzed about catching a bass on the iron. Then, more and more barracuda swam through, but they were not eager at all to eat my double A, so I switched to my brown and white colored Candy Bar (my favorite barracuda jig). Again, the gar would follow it right to the boat, but they wouldn’t attack it, which really pissed me off. Just then, I got a good bite right when a barracuda leaped out of the water on my line, and I lost the Candy Bar jig, and about 50 feet of line! Grr...Anyways, I quickly tied on my green and yellow Tady A1 (which swims fantastic), and I got a nice barracuda right off the bat. Well, finally got the skunk off on the barracuda!
Meanwhile, my friend Tom was back on the stern fly lining sardines, and he was rewarded with some really fat barracuda. Others were also catching some quality barracuda and bass. It wasn’t wide open, but a nice steady pick, which is okay with me!
I couldn’t get another bite on the iron besides tons of followers, so I switched to an anchovy colored blam on my bass rod. I got a legal barracuda on that and had one that bit me off. I saw that my dad was on fire with the bass with the smoke sparkle grub tipped with squid, so I tried that also. I got bit on the sink and I got bit off (I could tell it was a nicer bass), and tied on another one. I ended up getting a couple nice bass on the sink.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Going back to my friend Bill, he ended up with 11 nice bass on the plastic, along with a few nice barracuda. Fishing the bigger plastics, he rarely got bit on the sink – most of the bites he got were on the retrieve. My friend Tom ended up with a nice day on the barracuda, catching 13 of them (giving some away to people who wanted to take them), and taking the jackpot!
GAR SLAY for Tom
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-25.jpg
Japan Bill (Using Plastics Only) with Nice Sandies
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/011-19.jpg
Kevin with Nice Fish
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/019-4.jpg
Kevin and his 5-1/2 pound Sandie
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/013-16.jpg
Jerry with some nice bass
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/018-5.jpg
Jeff and Rene with their haul
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/016-10.jpg
More Bass!!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/010-29.jpg
Another Nice Sandie!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-18.jpg
Roger with his haul
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/017-12.jpg
With the good bass fishing on the twilights, dad and I decided to stick around, along with Bill. I rigged up my Super Seeker 90M with the Torium 20 and 30# test with a mogambo, hoping to repeat my success of last week on this particular rig. When we got to the spot, I immediately started getting little cinnamon bites (I could tell they weren’t perch bites because they would grab on to the squid and hold on for a second, and then let go) and I couldn’t hook them. Then, I got a more decent bite, and wound up a nice bass!
Others were catching some nice bass as well. Most people were fishing dropper loops, with only a few guys, like me, fishing the plastic and squid - but people fishing the dropper loop were catching some nice bass! There were quite a few suspended bass as well, and I managed to catch a nice bass on the drop. Bill, still fishing his plastic, got a few nice ones before the sun went down. Another visitor this evening were pinback sharks, which led to a good fight, followed by a good release.
Most of these bass bites I was getting on the bottom were very small. You would feel a couple of taps, SLOWLY lift the rod up, and the fish would be on. Most bass were not really aggressive – they would just “sit” on your bait. Still, they were plenty willing to bite. Soon after the sun went down, however, the bite slowed to a stand still. It was a pretty good night, with a final count of just under 70 bass. I hope this good fishing continues – nothing wide open, but still a decent bite. Great times, great fishing!
Japan Bill with a Plastics Only Bass
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/021-5.jpg
Come Saturday, fishing with the fleet was the plan, and it was a good one at that. First thing, we picked up some sardines from the bait receiver, and a couple people tried fishing them on a dropper loop to see if they could get a halibut to bite. There was one substantial bite, but the rest were bonito bites. Then, we were on our way south.
On the way down, everyone had plenty of time to rig up their rods, order some breakfast, and maybe take a nap. These are the rods I brought:
• Curado 200DHSV (12# test) & Calcutta 7-1/2 foot Medium with ½ oz. sliding sinker, 1/0 hook
• Curado 200 (12# test) & Calcutta 8 foot Medium Heavy with Plastic (blam and grub in anchovy color)
• Torium 14 (15# test) & Super Seeker 809 (15-30#) with Dropper Loop (later 2/0 hook fly line set up)
• Torium 20 (30# test) & Super Seeker 90M (25-50#) with Iron (Tady AA mint, Candy Bar brown, Tady A1 green and yellow)
After a run down the beach, we dropped anchor and started fishing. First thing, there were a few sand bass and barracuda caught, but the action slowed down with flurries here and there. My friend Bill Mozingo (FNN member “fishking”) was fishing the bigger swimbaits and was rewarded with some nicer sand bass, but they were few and far between, especially on the first spot. Myself, I didn’t have a single bass on the first spot. The meter looked good, and I even tried fishing a chunk with a light slider, and all I caught were mackerel. Even though the meter looked good, we moved on.
We found a great mark and dropped anchor. I fished my mint Tady AA first thing, and I was rewarded with a nice sand bass! I was really jazzed about catching a bass on the iron. Then, more and more barracuda swam through, but they were not eager at all to eat my double A, so I switched to my brown and white colored Candy Bar (my favorite barracuda jig). Again, the gar would follow it right to the boat, but they wouldn’t attack it, which really pissed me off. Just then, I got a good bite right when a barracuda leaped out of the water on my line, and I lost the Candy Bar jig, and about 50 feet of line! Grr...Anyways, I quickly tied on my green and yellow Tady A1 (which swims fantastic), and I got a nice barracuda right off the bat. Well, finally got the skunk off on the barracuda!
Meanwhile, my friend Tom was back on the stern fly lining sardines, and he was rewarded with some really fat barracuda. Others were also catching some quality barracuda and bass. It wasn’t wide open, but a nice steady pick, which is okay with me!
I couldn’t get another bite on the iron besides tons of followers, so I switched to an anchovy colored blam on my bass rod. I got a legal barracuda on that and had one that bit me off. I saw that my dad was on fire with the bass with the smoke sparkle grub tipped with squid, so I tried that also. I got bit on the sink and I got bit off (I could tell it was a nicer bass), and tied on another one. I ended up getting a couple nice bass on the sink.
All in all, it was a pretty good day. Going back to my friend Bill, he ended up with 11 nice bass on the plastic, along with a few nice barracuda. Fishing the bigger plastics, he rarely got bit on the sink – most of the bites he got were on the retrieve. My friend Tom ended up with a nice day on the barracuda, catching 13 of them (giving some away to people who wanted to take them), and taking the jackpot!
GAR SLAY for Tom
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-25.jpg
Japan Bill (Using Plastics Only) with Nice Sandies
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/011-19.jpg
Kevin with Nice Fish
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/019-4.jpg
Kevin and his 5-1/2 pound Sandie
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/013-16.jpg
Jerry with some nice bass
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/018-5.jpg
Jeff and Rene with their haul
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/016-10.jpg
More Bass!!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/010-29.jpg
Another Nice Sandie!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-18.jpg
Roger with his haul
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/017-12.jpg
With the good bass fishing on the twilights, dad and I decided to stick around, along with Bill. I rigged up my Super Seeker 90M with the Torium 20 and 30# test with a mogambo, hoping to repeat my success of last week on this particular rig. When we got to the spot, I immediately started getting little cinnamon bites (I could tell they weren’t perch bites because they would grab on to the squid and hold on for a second, and then let go) and I couldn’t hook them. Then, I got a more decent bite, and wound up a nice bass!
Others were catching some nice bass as well. Most people were fishing dropper loops, with only a few guys, like me, fishing the plastic and squid - but people fishing the dropper loop were catching some nice bass! There were quite a few suspended bass as well, and I managed to catch a nice bass on the drop. Bill, still fishing his plastic, got a few nice ones before the sun went down. Another visitor this evening were pinback sharks, which led to a good fight, followed by a good release.
Most of these bass bites I was getting on the bottom were very small. You would feel a couple of taps, SLOWLY lift the rod up, and the fish would be on. Most bass were not really aggressive – they would just “sit” on your bait. Still, they were plenty willing to bite. Soon after the sun went down, however, the bite slowed to a stand still. It was a pretty good night, with a final count of just under 70 bass. I hope this good fishing continues – nothing wide open, but still a decent bite. Great times, great fishing!
Japan Bill with a Plastics Only Bass
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/021-5.jpg