k3vin_kim
01-02-2011, 03:32 PM
Decided to take advantage of my New Years weekend so i called up my boy Sam and went on the Tradition on 2 consecutive 3/4 day trips. I wanted to close out the year on a rock fishing high note and i was curious to see what the boats would do on the 1st of the year.
Day 1:
Woke up at 5 and met up with Sam at the docks. There were 2 others in line with us - John Kim and Ray whom i met the last time i went out (good to see you guys again). A few minutes later, a fellow named Carlos comes and stands in line with us. I would later find out that Carlos is a fellow FNN'er (Lingcod Sierra) - whom i remember from way back in the day. Mucho Gusto amigo.
So that makes 5 of us. The question lingered on in the back of our minds - "do we have enough people for the boat to fish?" but nobody said it. At 6am - Deckhand Morgon opens the gate and says... "let's go fishing guys."
SWEET!
5 people going on the Tradition to close out the season. This was a great start.
Me and friend Sam.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02290.jpg
We board the boat and leave the dock. MAN it's cold!! The air was clean but freezing - you can clearly see the island on the right.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02294.jpg
Captain Steve driving the boat today.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02327.jpg
And Morgon on deck and in the galley.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02303.jpg
We took a 45 minute ride ... somewhere. I don't know where i was hiding in the galley cuz it was too cold to care. The engines died down and i tried something different than i normally do. I rigged up with 2 hooks on the dropper loop. I put 2 size two hooks and a 6oz torpedo on the 25# setup and then 2 size 2/0 hooks and an 8 oz torpedo on the 30# setup.
We drifted throughout the day fishing at depths of 170-210 feet. Strips of squid. The first fish of the morning was this nice rosy red pulled up by Ray.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02298.jpg
Then 5 minutes later i get hit HARD and my instinct had me reel 4 cranks and then put the tip in the air but instead of head shake, my rod loaded up and went south... damn - i was stuck. Took it out of gear and whipped it in the air a couple of times and then it came out... when i started reeling again, a TURBULENT head shake!!! Whatever it was, i managed to get it out of the rock and slowly and steadily cranked it up to the surface.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02300.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02302.jpg
I lost my 8 oz weight but as i swung it over the rail, Morgon comments... "that's a good trade." Which it was.
At around 10am, the sun finally started making somewhat of a change in weather. It was out but the air was still freezing.
Ray putting on the sunblock.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02308.jpg
Sam trying some experimental tactics...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02307.jpg
At the end of our first drift, John lands a snapper.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02309.jpg
And then at the beginning of the second drift, i look over to the bow and see Johns rod BENT!!! But he's real quiet about it. And when someone's rod is bent and their rod tip is in the air, it could mean he's stuck on the bottom. But when someone's rod is bent and the guy is slowly cranking the handle... you know you're about to become REALLY jealous. So as my bait sinks to the bottom, i intermittently look over at the bow as John's still quietly cranking. Then i hear Morgon say - "KEV GET THE CAMERA!" and i'm like - DAMN - what'd he catch?!?!
WTG John! Pulled up this NICE DING A LING on a tiny strip of squid. Murphy's law states - too bad they are out of season. But still - mustve been fun pulling on this dinosaur.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02310.jpg
After the picture the lingcod was promptly released back into the water and we continued on. Drift 3 belonged to my buddy Sam. There's nothing greater than rigging up for a species specific fish and then landing it on your very first drop. Sam puts on a plastic and predicts he's going to catch a sculpin for his kids because they LOVE sculpin meat. He drops and just like that, he pulls up a feisty scorpion from the depths.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02313.jpg
Then on the very next drop, he hooks onto something heavier... Rod loading up and...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02317.jpg
a double sand dab (cue the wa wa wa waaaaa~~~... sound).
What happened next - nobody was prepared for. Once again - Sam's rod loads up and he's cranking slowly.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02311.jpg
On his top hook was a baby COWCOD?!?!?! in 200 feet of water?
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02319.jpg
WOW WTG man! I've never seen one in my life. And you can see John Kim in the picture giving us the official "yeah that's a cow cod alrite" official look.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02320.jpg
After the photo, we immediately threw him back in the water and he swam off safely.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02322.jpg
About 20 minutes over this drift produced a bunch of beauties. I landed a nice little Chuckle head...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02325.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02324.jpg
Aww man, i had a picture of a FAT Starry eye Rock fish but i can't find it right now... I'll upload it later. Then my stomach tells me it's time for lunch. All this fish slaughtering has made me hungry. I ask Morgon if its too late for breakfast (even though it was around noon) and only on the Tradition is food cooked to order - whatever you want, whenever you want. Thanks Morg - this one really hit the spot.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02332.jpg
After brunch, the water really flattened out.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02341.jpg
The wind was nill and the sun was blazing down. Everybody on the boat (all 5 of us) were enjoying ourselves. Fish coming over the rail every few minutes. This was an awesome day.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02328.jpg
Carlos approves.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02329.jpg
The water was glass and we noticed a HUGE BULL KELP sitting in the middle of the pond so Morgon gaffs a piece of it and we were just a bunch of boys being boys...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02334.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02333.jpg
By around 2pm, the boat had their limits. I had a pretty good chance with that red i caught in the morning to win the JP. But i also knew that John and Ray had pretty huge ones too. My red went on the scale and it beat John's red. My red stayed on the scale and then they put on Ray's red.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02344.jpg
Teeter totter... teeter totter... Rays red stayed lower to the ground but it was a close match. NICE RED Ray - congrats on the JP.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02342.jpg
My take for the day...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02346.jpg
Morgon getting busy with it.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02348.jpg
The result...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/IMAG0204.jpg
End of Day 1: I was astonished to learn that the local rockfishing is EXCELLENT. It turns out that you don't need to travel all the way up to the Channel Islands for an epic day of rockfishing (ahem ... cisco). The Tradition proved that to me today. Thanks Cap Steve for putting us on the spot - BIGTIME!
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02345.jpg
(Sam obviously had more fish than what he's holding here but it was already filet'd by the time we took the group shot).
We got in the dock by 3 pm'ish which was great because we had time to shower up and get ready for the New Year's Eve parties we all had to go to that night. I went home and showered up and took my daughters to Chucke E Cheese's.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/IMAG0207.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/IMAG0210.jpg
and then we did the countdown together. What a great day it was.
Day 2: Sand Bass.
Woke up again at 5am. From the previous day, i knew it was gonna be cold again. Got to the dock at 5:45. I didn't see any of the guys that were there from Friday. However i saw some more familiar faces from previous tradition trips.
Tom, Bill, 2 new chinese guys who i hadn't seen before (but they had the most EXPENSIVE bling'ed out gear i've ever seen!!!), Phil and Jackpot Jimmy. Another day of fishing a BIG boat with plenty of elbow room. NICE.
Steve in the wheel house again and Morgon on Deck. I apologize, i think the Chef's name was... Steve too - i need to confirm that, but he made a breakfast sandwich that was a smidge tastier than Morgon's but only because he grilled the onions. You know i love you Morg.
We were all psyched about the new year and kicking off the structure sand bass season. We made an hour trek down to Santa Monica canyon and it was literally... TWICE as cold as the previous morning. Unbelievable. The morning was so cold, i didn't even want to fish cuz my hands were burning.
We saw the Spitfire out there and a few PB'ers fishing the bass with us. I apologize, i didn't take many pics today because i was in the water the WHOLE day trying to get a bite. I stood up and fished as HARD as i could even though i was cold and tired from the day before.
We fished the anchor all day from 60-75 feet. The key was when the anchor hit bottom, everyone casts around the boat and when someone feels the structure, he says outloud "i found it" - then everyone gathers around that side of the boat and drops around that same vicinity.
Santa monica canyon was very frustrating for me personally because 2 hours into fishing, everybody had gotten at least 1 bass except for me. I tried everything. Lead Head w/mogambo, Chartreuse Lead head, green lead head, glow in the dark lead head... with no love but perch bites. After 3 hours, i had nothing to show for it except a Sculpin.
Meanwhile Jimmy, Tom and Bill were swinging away. Jimmy managed to land 4 here, The chef landed a NICE calico, Tom landed 2 or 3 here with an orange lead head and Bill also landed a few. The chinese guys each landed 1.
I was frustrated but i wasn't letting it get to me because i knew sooner or later would be my time. At around 12 noon we picked up and moved back up the line towards redondo beach. We dropped the pick at Venice Reef and i tied on a 2 oz purple and black lead head. Pinned on a squid that was wrapped around 3 times and on the sink... WHAM! FINALLY landed my sandy.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02349.jpg
Skunk off the back... feels good again. I quickly pinned on another squid and casted out to the structure. Now i remember what a Sand Bass slam feels like again! As it was sinking i was talking to Phil... chit chatting and laughing and then...
BAMMMMMMM!!!! Another consecutive slam but this time was MUCH MUCH harder. REEL REEL REEL REEL REEL SET!!! Phil SCREAMS - GET SOME!!! and i reel and put the tip up and I say over to Phil... "whoa this one's got some weight to..." and i kid you not, before i say "it"... 'bink'.
And Phil goes... "awwww..."
cue the wa wa wa waaaa~~~ sound.
FARMED IT!!! UGH!!! i reeled in my empty lead head (which means i didn't set the hook correctly). I thought i would have been rocked and lost my lead head but it was still on there. Lesson for the day - SET THE HOOK HARDER for sand bass. I know it's been a while but you guys reading this post remember to put the wood on that fishy the next time you go structure bassing.
At the end of the day, i landed a sculpin and a bass. WTG Jimmy landing 6 bass! and Congratulations to Tom for landing the Jackpot Turd-roller!!
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02357.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02358.jpg
The bass fishing never sparked WFO but as the weather warms up and the bass feel like biting, fishing can only get better.
Til next time.
-KK
Day 1:
Woke up at 5 and met up with Sam at the docks. There were 2 others in line with us - John Kim and Ray whom i met the last time i went out (good to see you guys again). A few minutes later, a fellow named Carlos comes and stands in line with us. I would later find out that Carlos is a fellow FNN'er (Lingcod Sierra) - whom i remember from way back in the day. Mucho Gusto amigo.
So that makes 5 of us. The question lingered on in the back of our minds - "do we have enough people for the boat to fish?" but nobody said it. At 6am - Deckhand Morgon opens the gate and says... "let's go fishing guys."
SWEET!
5 people going on the Tradition to close out the season. This was a great start.
Me and friend Sam.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02290.jpg
We board the boat and leave the dock. MAN it's cold!! The air was clean but freezing - you can clearly see the island on the right.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02294.jpg
Captain Steve driving the boat today.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02327.jpg
And Morgon on deck and in the galley.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02303.jpg
We took a 45 minute ride ... somewhere. I don't know where i was hiding in the galley cuz it was too cold to care. The engines died down and i tried something different than i normally do. I rigged up with 2 hooks on the dropper loop. I put 2 size two hooks and a 6oz torpedo on the 25# setup and then 2 size 2/0 hooks and an 8 oz torpedo on the 30# setup.
We drifted throughout the day fishing at depths of 170-210 feet. Strips of squid. The first fish of the morning was this nice rosy red pulled up by Ray.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02298.jpg
Then 5 minutes later i get hit HARD and my instinct had me reel 4 cranks and then put the tip in the air but instead of head shake, my rod loaded up and went south... damn - i was stuck. Took it out of gear and whipped it in the air a couple of times and then it came out... when i started reeling again, a TURBULENT head shake!!! Whatever it was, i managed to get it out of the rock and slowly and steadily cranked it up to the surface.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02300.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02302.jpg
I lost my 8 oz weight but as i swung it over the rail, Morgon comments... "that's a good trade." Which it was.
At around 10am, the sun finally started making somewhat of a change in weather. It was out but the air was still freezing.
Ray putting on the sunblock.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02308.jpg
Sam trying some experimental tactics...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02307.jpg
At the end of our first drift, John lands a snapper.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02309.jpg
And then at the beginning of the second drift, i look over to the bow and see Johns rod BENT!!! But he's real quiet about it. And when someone's rod is bent and their rod tip is in the air, it could mean he's stuck on the bottom. But when someone's rod is bent and the guy is slowly cranking the handle... you know you're about to become REALLY jealous. So as my bait sinks to the bottom, i intermittently look over at the bow as John's still quietly cranking. Then i hear Morgon say - "KEV GET THE CAMERA!" and i'm like - DAMN - what'd he catch?!?!
WTG John! Pulled up this NICE DING A LING on a tiny strip of squid. Murphy's law states - too bad they are out of season. But still - mustve been fun pulling on this dinosaur.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02310.jpg
After the picture the lingcod was promptly released back into the water and we continued on. Drift 3 belonged to my buddy Sam. There's nothing greater than rigging up for a species specific fish and then landing it on your very first drop. Sam puts on a plastic and predicts he's going to catch a sculpin for his kids because they LOVE sculpin meat. He drops and just like that, he pulls up a feisty scorpion from the depths.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02313.jpg
Then on the very next drop, he hooks onto something heavier... Rod loading up and...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02317.jpg
a double sand dab (cue the wa wa wa waaaaa~~~... sound).
What happened next - nobody was prepared for. Once again - Sam's rod loads up and he's cranking slowly.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02311.jpg
On his top hook was a baby COWCOD?!?!?! in 200 feet of water?
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02319.jpg
WOW WTG man! I've never seen one in my life. And you can see John Kim in the picture giving us the official "yeah that's a cow cod alrite" official look.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02320.jpg
After the photo, we immediately threw him back in the water and he swam off safely.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02322.jpg
About 20 minutes over this drift produced a bunch of beauties. I landed a nice little Chuckle head...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02325.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02324.jpg
Aww man, i had a picture of a FAT Starry eye Rock fish but i can't find it right now... I'll upload it later. Then my stomach tells me it's time for lunch. All this fish slaughtering has made me hungry. I ask Morgon if its too late for breakfast (even though it was around noon) and only on the Tradition is food cooked to order - whatever you want, whenever you want. Thanks Morg - this one really hit the spot.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02332.jpg
After brunch, the water really flattened out.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02341.jpg
The wind was nill and the sun was blazing down. Everybody on the boat (all 5 of us) were enjoying ourselves. Fish coming over the rail every few minutes. This was an awesome day.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02328.jpg
Carlos approves.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02329.jpg
The water was glass and we noticed a HUGE BULL KELP sitting in the middle of the pond so Morgon gaffs a piece of it and we were just a bunch of boys being boys...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02334.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02333.jpg
By around 2pm, the boat had their limits. I had a pretty good chance with that red i caught in the morning to win the JP. But i also knew that John and Ray had pretty huge ones too. My red went on the scale and it beat John's red. My red stayed on the scale and then they put on Ray's red.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02344.jpg
Teeter totter... teeter totter... Rays red stayed lower to the ground but it was a close match. NICE RED Ray - congrats on the JP.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02342.jpg
My take for the day...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02346.jpg
Morgon getting busy with it.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02348.jpg
The result...
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/IMAG0204.jpg
End of Day 1: I was astonished to learn that the local rockfishing is EXCELLENT. It turns out that you don't need to travel all the way up to the Channel Islands for an epic day of rockfishing (ahem ... cisco). The Tradition proved that to me today. Thanks Cap Steve for putting us on the spot - BIGTIME!
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02345.jpg
(Sam obviously had more fish than what he's holding here but it was already filet'd by the time we took the group shot).
We got in the dock by 3 pm'ish which was great because we had time to shower up and get ready for the New Year's Eve parties we all had to go to that night. I went home and showered up and took my daughters to Chucke E Cheese's.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/IMAG0207.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/IMAG0210.jpg
and then we did the countdown together. What a great day it was.
Day 2: Sand Bass.
Woke up again at 5am. From the previous day, i knew it was gonna be cold again. Got to the dock at 5:45. I didn't see any of the guys that were there from Friday. However i saw some more familiar faces from previous tradition trips.
Tom, Bill, 2 new chinese guys who i hadn't seen before (but they had the most EXPENSIVE bling'ed out gear i've ever seen!!!), Phil and Jackpot Jimmy. Another day of fishing a BIG boat with plenty of elbow room. NICE.
Steve in the wheel house again and Morgon on Deck. I apologize, i think the Chef's name was... Steve too - i need to confirm that, but he made a breakfast sandwich that was a smidge tastier than Morgon's but only because he grilled the onions. You know i love you Morg.
We were all psyched about the new year and kicking off the structure sand bass season. We made an hour trek down to Santa Monica canyon and it was literally... TWICE as cold as the previous morning. Unbelievable. The morning was so cold, i didn't even want to fish cuz my hands were burning.
We saw the Spitfire out there and a few PB'ers fishing the bass with us. I apologize, i didn't take many pics today because i was in the water the WHOLE day trying to get a bite. I stood up and fished as HARD as i could even though i was cold and tired from the day before.
We fished the anchor all day from 60-75 feet. The key was when the anchor hit bottom, everyone casts around the boat and when someone feels the structure, he says outloud "i found it" - then everyone gathers around that side of the boat and drops around that same vicinity.
Santa monica canyon was very frustrating for me personally because 2 hours into fishing, everybody had gotten at least 1 bass except for me. I tried everything. Lead Head w/mogambo, Chartreuse Lead head, green lead head, glow in the dark lead head... with no love but perch bites. After 3 hours, i had nothing to show for it except a Sculpin.
Meanwhile Jimmy, Tom and Bill were swinging away. Jimmy managed to land 4 here, The chef landed a NICE calico, Tom landed 2 or 3 here with an orange lead head and Bill also landed a few. The chinese guys each landed 1.
I was frustrated but i wasn't letting it get to me because i knew sooner or later would be my time. At around 12 noon we picked up and moved back up the line towards redondo beach. We dropped the pick at Venice Reef and i tied on a 2 oz purple and black lead head. Pinned on a squid that was wrapped around 3 times and on the sink... WHAM! FINALLY landed my sandy.
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02349.jpg
Skunk off the back... feels good again. I quickly pinned on another squid and casted out to the structure. Now i remember what a Sand Bass slam feels like again! As it was sinking i was talking to Phil... chit chatting and laughing and then...
BAMMMMMMM!!!! Another consecutive slam but this time was MUCH MUCH harder. REEL REEL REEL REEL REEL SET!!! Phil SCREAMS - GET SOME!!! and i reel and put the tip up and I say over to Phil... "whoa this one's got some weight to..." and i kid you not, before i say "it"... 'bink'.
And Phil goes... "awwww..."
cue the wa wa wa waaaa~~~ sound.
FARMED IT!!! UGH!!! i reeled in my empty lead head (which means i didn't set the hook correctly). I thought i would have been rocked and lost my lead head but it was still on there. Lesson for the day - SET THE HOOK HARDER for sand bass. I know it's been a while but you guys reading this post remember to put the wood on that fishy the next time you go structure bassing.
At the end of the day, i landed a sculpin and a bass. WTG Jimmy landing 6 bass! and Congratulations to Tom for landing the Jackpot Turd-roller!!
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02357.jpg
http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee133/k3vin_kim/DSC02358.jpg
The bass fishing never sparked WFO but as the weather warms up and the bass feel like biting, fishing can only get better.
Til next time.
-KK