Zach1093
07-23-2010, 02:48 PM
Went on my first overnight trip with my dad and brother in law on the Options out of pierpoint landing. Had this trip booked for a long time and the torture of the wait was well worth it. We got on the boat at about 7:30pm Wednesday evening and we left dock by about 8:00pm. I couldn't tell you how excited I was at this point. As everybody one by one hit the bunks I stayed up with my step brother talking about how great the next day was going to be.
At about 10:30 the boat stopped at Catalina where we would be fishing for the day but first we had to grab some squid. It was my first time ever seeing it happen and I must say it was pretty cool! They Put the brightest light I've ever seen into the water (I'm sure most of you already know, don't make the same new guy mistake I did, DON'T LOOK INTO THE LIGHT!). After seeing pretty colors for a few moments, I went up top to stay out of the way and see what was going on in the water. It was cool seeing those squid flying into the light in huge schools, it was crazy! When they moved to a next spot I tried to force myself to sleep and finally did, then what seemed like seconds later it was time to fish!
It was about 4:30am I believe when I got my line in the water. Had 30 pound test and a white led head with a sliding sinker. I threw out some frozen squid first and about 2-3 minutes later BAM! Line started running off the drag and I knew then this was going like no trip I've ever been on. So I'm fighting the fish and getting my *** kicked. But then it started swimming in, gets up next to the boat, and its a damn bat ray. The second it sees the boat it said "SEE YA!" and snapped me off. I saw two other guys hooked up and again, both Rays. Then, out of pretty much nowhere my line and another guys' line takes off. After another tough battle there it is my first white sea bass! Needless to say I was a happy guy. However, I didn't have any time to pat myself on the back, the fish were going nuts! I got my line in the water again and saw fish being caught all around me then started bringing it in slowly across the bottom and BAM! This one fought way harder and longer and after a bat ray and that WSB I was already feeling the pain. But I did finally manage to get this one in and it was WAY bigger then my first. My first and only two White Sea Bass of the trip were caught on consecutive casts.
The rest of the trip we were just hunting for WSB and yellowtail. We all caught a fair share of legal calico, and of course the traditional Catalina 11 1/4 Calis that were all thrown back. The Crew and captain Tino were awesome and made it a great day out there. Thanks to Fishbones' post I knew to ask for the stones. I'll figure out something to do with them.
All the wsb caught on the day:
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3619/coolershot.jpg
The two I caught and my brothers fish:
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6581/our3.jpg
Me and my biggest:
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/9353/holdingfish.jpg
My brother and his biggest:
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/6530/peteandhisfish.jpg
My dad unfortunately didn't get any WSB. However, he caught just about everything else out there LOL. He caught a huge leopard, a shovel noes, 2 bat ray, and an Angel shark. Each time we are thinking "It has to be a sea bass this time.."
A Picture of him fighting the big leopard:
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/5789/dadfightingfish.jpg
The stones from my biggest WSB:
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7311/wsbstones.jpg
All around it was an amazing trip and now it's time for another popular fish that I have yet to catch....YELLOWTAIL!
At about 10:30 the boat stopped at Catalina where we would be fishing for the day but first we had to grab some squid. It was my first time ever seeing it happen and I must say it was pretty cool! They Put the brightest light I've ever seen into the water (I'm sure most of you already know, don't make the same new guy mistake I did, DON'T LOOK INTO THE LIGHT!). After seeing pretty colors for a few moments, I went up top to stay out of the way and see what was going on in the water. It was cool seeing those squid flying into the light in huge schools, it was crazy! When they moved to a next spot I tried to force myself to sleep and finally did, then what seemed like seconds later it was time to fish!
It was about 4:30am I believe when I got my line in the water. Had 30 pound test and a white led head with a sliding sinker. I threw out some frozen squid first and about 2-3 minutes later BAM! Line started running off the drag and I knew then this was going like no trip I've ever been on. So I'm fighting the fish and getting my *** kicked. But then it started swimming in, gets up next to the boat, and its a damn bat ray. The second it sees the boat it said "SEE YA!" and snapped me off. I saw two other guys hooked up and again, both Rays. Then, out of pretty much nowhere my line and another guys' line takes off. After another tough battle there it is my first white sea bass! Needless to say I was a happy guy. However, I didn't have any time to pat myself on the back, the fish were going nuts! I got my line in the water again and saw fish being caught all around me then started bringing it in slowly across the bottom and BAM! This one fought way harder and longer and after a bat ray and that WSB I was already feeling the pain. But I did finally manage to get this one in and it was WAY bigger then my first. My first and only two White Sea Bass of the trip were caught on consecutive casts.
The rest of the trip we were just hunting for WSB and yellowtail. We all caught a fair share of legal calico, and of course the traditional Catalina 11 1/4 Calis that were all thrown back. The Crew and captain Tino were awesome and made it a great day out there. Thanks to Fishbones' post I knew to ask for the stones. I'll figure out something to do with them.
All the wsb caught on the day:
http://img12.imageshack.us/img12/3619/coolershot.jpg
The two I caught and my brothers fish:
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/6581/our3.jpg
Me and my biggest:
http://img841.imageshack.us/img841/9353/holdingfish.jpg
My brother and his biggest:
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/6530/peteandhisfish.jpg
My dad unfortunately didn't get any WSB. However, he caught just about everything else out there LOL. He caught a huge leopard, a shovel noes, 2 bat ray, and an Angel shark. Each time we are thinking "It has to be a sea bass this time.."
A Picture of him fighting the big leopard:
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/5789/dadfightingfish.jpg
The stones from my biggest WSB:
http://img208.imageshack.us/img208/7311/wsbstones.jpg
All around it was an amazing trip and now it's time for another popular fish that I have yet to catch....YELLOWTAIL!