Jackpot Jimmy
09-19-2010, 08:56 PM
Hello guys, it’s been a while. I hope everyone’s doing well…I took a little hiatus from writing reports as I’ve been in school for a while…as everyone went back to school last week, I was already deep into schoolwork. But I’m back and I’m glad to be writing again. I hope you enjoy my report.
The Tradition had been down for a little bit of boat work, then last Saturday there was a charter, so dad and I went down to Dana Point (there was nothing special to report about, but I did get to fly line anchovies into the kelp on light line) and we had a great time seeing and catching up with some old friends. This weekend, the boat was on line and we were ready to go fishing.
We went down to Redondo and were greeted by two of our regulars, Jim and Jerry, who are very nice guys and great sticks as well. Also on the boat were a group of seven guys who were really great people. The night before, Anthony on the Betty-G went out and hit the mother load of squid, and gave us a full trash can and gunny sack full of beautiful fresh dead squid.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-57.jpg
With plenty of great bait, we headed out of the harbor and went north. Our first stop would be the squid grounds to see if we could snag some squid. Meanwhile, I rigged up with a squid snagger and also rigged up the other seven guys with some, and hopefully, we would hit the same mother load as the night before.
We got to the area and dropped the snaggers to the bottom. I snagged some squid right away, but it wasn’t too thick. We hit that area a few more times and made around 20 pieces, but it was evident that they had pretty much scattered. So…the first order of business fishing wise would be to try for some rockfish and sculpin. On the way, we met up with the Betty-G and they passed off a scoop or two of the live stuff. Thanks Anthony!
We continued trucking for the rockfish grounds and made a few drifts. We picked up some miscellaneous cod and a few sand dabs. Nothing really doing, so we headed inside to an area that was good the day before. We set up on the first spot and started fishing. My choice of set up was pretty light for a structure spot – ten pound test and a dropper loop with a lone strip of squid. I only use this technique when fishing requires an ultra finesse tactic. Albeit losing a few sinkers, I was rewarded with a couple nice sculpin and a treefish!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-44.jpg
Meanwhile, others were catching some rockfish and sculpin. But after a while the bite petered out, so we moved on to another spot close by. At this spot, my dad landed a nice bass on the plastic with squid, so I decided to rig up my anchovy blam on my 10 pound test, and I was rewarded with a short calico and a legal sandie. After landing the sand bass, I pulled on the line, and the line broke without very much pressure – boy, I was cruising for a bruising!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-36.jpg
Soon after, we moved on to another structure spot to try for some more bass. We had to reposition one time, and on the second try the spot was on the bow, but I was getting bit every drop. The bass were pretty finicky and would attack the bait and leave…at least for the most part it was happening to me. We repositioned one more time and we were able to get on the spot much better. Meanwhile, Shawn cut and cleaned some of squid and made some calamari with garlic…can’t get any fresher than this! Thanks Shawn!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-29.jpg
After repositioning, we were on the fish. Everyone managed to catch a few more fish, and one guy had a double with a sand bass and a sculpin. Our friend Jim also caught a few nice bass, and he usually fishes halibut, so he wasn’t even fishing for them and he did better than I did!
Jim with a couple nice bass – he ended up with jackpot with the calico bass.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/010-33.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/011-24.jpg
As for myself, I was fishing my new favorite rig for structure sand bass fishing, my “stealth rig”, consisting of a Torium 14 with a 16-sized handle on the torque setting, 50 pound spectra with a short top shot of 30 pound monofilament, and a Super Seeker 809. This allows me to feel every little rut and bump of the stone, as well as the slightest bass bite. I had a little trouble hooking all of the bass that were biting my bait, but I did end up with some more bass, including this nice grumpy.
Hold it a little closer to the camera next time, Jimmy!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/013-20.jpg
Soon after, we finished off the day with a few more bass and other miscellaneous stuff. Here’s a few more pictures of some more guys with some fish.
Jerry with a nice grumpy
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-23.jpg
A couple of nice guys out of that group of seven with some miscellaneous fish
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-23.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/015-17.jpg
Anyways, it was a nice day of fishing, especially with the structure fishing a la leadhead and squid. There was a thick marine layer all day long, but the water was pretty much flat calm. We headed back to Redondo and the guys did a quick turn around, as they were the second overload boat for whale watching, as the blue whales are running. The Voyager is running whale watching trips through April and they are seeing whales and dolphins everyday right now. The Coroloma and Tradition are the overload boats. The Tradition also will be doing some double half day trips during the week and on Sunday…so there’s a lot going on in Redondo right now, so come on down…there’s “More to Sea”! Great times, great fishing!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/016-13.jpg
Tradition heading out to find some whales…
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/021-6.jpg
The Tradition had been down for a little bit of boat work, then last Saturday there was a charter, so dad and I went down to Dana Point (there was nothing special to report about, but I did get to fly line anchovies into the kelp on light line) and we had a great time seeing and catching up with some old friends. This weekend, the boat was on line and we were ready to go fishing.
We went down to Redondo and were greeted by two of our regulars, Jim and Jerry, who are very nice guys and great sticks as well. Also on the boat were a group of seven guys who were really great people. The night before, Anthony on the Betty-G went out and hit the mother load of squid, and gave us a full trash can and gunny sack full of beautiful fresh dead squid.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-57.jpg
With plenty of great bait, we headed out of the harbor and went north. Our first stop would be the squid grounds to see if we could snag some squid. Meanwhile, I rigged up with a squid snagger and also rigged up the other seven guys with some, and hopefully, we would hit the same mother load as the night before.
We got to the area and dropped the snaggers to the bottom. I snagged some squid right away, but it wasn’t too thick. We hit that area a few more times and made around 20 pieces, but it was evident that they had pretty much scattered. So…the first order of business fishing wise would be to try for some rockfish and sculpin. On the way, we met up with the Betty-G and they passed off a scoop or two of the live stuff. Thanks Anthony!
We continued trucking for the rockfish grounds and made a few drifts. We picked up some miscellaneous cod and a few sand dabs. Nothing really doing, so we headed inside to an area that was good the day before. We set up on the first spot and started fishing. My choice of set up was pretty light for a structure spot – ten pound test and a dropper loop with a lone strip of squid. I only use this technique when fishing requires an ultra finesse tactic. Albeit losing a few sinkers, I was rewarded with a couple nice sculpin and a treefish!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-44.jpg
Meanwhile, others were catching some rockfish and sculpin. But after a while the bite petered out, so we moved on to another spot close by. At this spot, my dad landed a nice bass on the plastic with squid, so I decided to rig up my anchovy blam on my 10 pound test, and I was rewarded with a short calico and a legal sandie. After landing the sand bass, I pulled on the line, and the line broke without very much pressure – boy, I was cruising for a bruising!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-36.jpg
Soon after, we moved on to another structure spot to try for some more bass. We had to reposition one time, and on the second try the spot was on the bow, but I was getting bit every drop. The bass were pretty finicky and would attack the bait and leave…at least for the most part it was happening to me. We repositioned one more time and we were able to get on the spot much better. Meanwhile, Shawn cut and cleaned some of squid and made some calamari with garlic…can’t get any fresher than this! Thanks Shawn!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-29.jpg
After repositioning, we were on the fish. Everyone managed to catch a few more fish, and one guy had a double with a sand bass and a sculpin. Our friend Jim also caught a few nice bass, and he usually fishes halibut, so he wasn’t even fishing for them and he did better than I did!
Jim with a couple nice bass – he ended up with jackpot with the calico bass.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/010-33.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/011-24.jpg
As for myself, I was fishing my new favorite rig for structure sand bass fishing, my “stealth rig”, consisting of a Torium 14 with a 16-sized handle on the torque setting, 50 pound spectra with a short top shot of 30 pound monofilament, and a Super Seeker 809. This allows me to feel every little rut and bump of the stone, as well as the slightest bass bite. I had a little trouble hooking all of the bass that were biting my bait, but I did end up with some more bass, including this nice grumpy.
Hold it a little closer to the camera next time, Jimmy!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/013-20.jpg
Soon after, we finished off the day with a few more bass and other miscellaneous stuff. Here’s a few more pictures of some more guys with some fish.
Jerry with a nice grumpy
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-23.jpg
A couple of nice guys out of that group of seven with some miscellaneous fish
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-23.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/015-17.jpg
Anyways, it was a nice day of fishing, especially with the structure fishing a la leadhead and squid. There was a thick marine layer all day long, but the water was pretty much flat calm. We headed back to Redondo and the guys did a quick turn around, as they were the second overload boat for whale watching, as the blue whales are running. The Voyager is running whale watching trips through April and they are seeing whales and dolphins everyday right now. The Coroloma and Tradition are the overload boats. The Tradition also will be doing some double half day trips during the week and on Sunday…so there’s a lot going on in Redondo right now, so come on down…there’s “More to Sea”! Great times, great fishing!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/016-13.jpg
Tradition heading out to find some whales…
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/021-6.jpg