Jackpot Jimmy
01-16-2011, 10:44 PM
As the weekend drew closer, some of us were worried because of the high wind advisory on Saturday, but as it turned out, the weather was perfect like a summer day. We left the dock on Saturday at 6am with a load of 19 anglers, and we headed north. Our first target would be sculpin, and then later on we would concentrate on the bass.
I rigged up with the same rig for sculpin as I did last week (the leadhead w/skirt and six ounce torpedo sinker), while a couple others decided to go with a six ounce leadhead with scampi , and a short dropper loop with a smaller plastic up above it. When we got to the spot, it was pretty instantaneous, and we started loading up on them. We had no condition to work with, so we would be swinging around a little bit and then swing back to the sculpin. During these periods, we started catching sand dabs and a few sole. After a while, we were finally at our quota, and we headed inside to try for the bass.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-63.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-51.jpg
We arrived at the inside and started fishing bass. At this first spot, we caught a few nice jumbo sculpin, which we released due to the quota being already met. However, they still provided for some good action as sculpin that big fight pretty well.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-67.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/007-45.jpg
Then, the bass started to come out and play. Kevin was one of the first to hook up with a bass, and he landed this nice grumpy:
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-51.jpg
As someone said, “A blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.” We love to give Kevin grief, but he’s turning into a better fisherman every time he comes out. Anyway, for the remainder of the day, we bounced around on several spots and picked some off of each spot. I landed one early, and then struggled to get my second, missing four bass in the process (one bass I had coming up ten cranks off the bottom, and it pulled the hook). I ended up landing my second bass before time ran out, thankfully, to redeem myself.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-34.jpg
We headed for home soon after and jackpot was held at no contest to Kevin’s bass, which weighed about three and a half pounds. Good job Kevin, you deserve it!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/010-36.jpg
Being the holiday weekend, dad and I decided to go fishing again Sunday too. This time, we had a much lighter load, and we headed out to do more of the same as the day before. First off would be the sculpin! I decided to try the rig my friends used the day before with the big scampi and a smaller plastic above it. I tried to get a double on it, but I was unsuccessful the first few drops, getting a single on the smaller plastic. I gave it some time lying on the bottom, and then I would start winding slow, and if it felt heavier, I would wind it up. I ended up with a double of legal sculpin on that drop. But, as the day before, we limited out in a fairly short order, so we moved on to the bass.
Dad with a Nice Sculpin (caught on light tackle)
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-64.jpg
Limits for Dad and Me
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-58.jpg
Jumbo Sculpin
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-52.jpg
When we tried the bass, we quickly found out that they had lockjaw, and only a few smaller sculpin were willing to bite. I decided to switch it up and go with an ultra-finesse (and unorthodox structure bass) technique – a small hook on a dropper loop with a two ounce torpedo sinker. This may sound like a perch rig, but I have caught some bass on it in the past when the bass were at their pickiest. The result? No bass, but a lot of out of season stuff, like this brown rockfish I got, which, I was told is about as big as they get. Of course, it was released to fight at least until March 1st!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-27.jpg
I was a little disappointed at how the picture came out. It really doesn’t do the fish much justice, but it is what it is. Meanwhile, my friend John was trying the same technique for the bass or whatever happened to bite, and he got a few sheephead which also were released.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-28.jpg
Fishing this way, I was constantly hounded by the perch and I caught several of them, but once in a while, I would get a bigger bite which resulted in a few nice goats, which were, of course, thrown back due to the closure until March 1st.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/015-19.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/017-16.jpg
By this point, I knew the bass really had lockjaw, but Morgon did get a really nice bite that could have been a bass, but no bass were landed. Before we left, I got one fish for the road, which turned out to be this nice perch, which could have been kept, but I released it to fight another day. Look close as the picture was taken in the shade and it kind of blends in with my shirt.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/020-8.jpg
Anyways, I had a great weekend fishing even though the bass fishing was slow. The sculpin were of really good quality, and good times were had by all. I just hope the fishing on the bass front will improve in the week. Great times, great fishing!
I rigged up with the same rig for sculpin as I did last week (the leadhead w/skirt and six ounce torpedo sinker), while a couple others decided to go with a six ounce leadhead with scampi , and a short dropper loop with a smaller plastic up above it. When we got to the spot, it was pretty instantaneous, and we started loading up on them. We had no condition to work with, so we would be swinging around a little bit and then swing back to the sculpin. During these periods, we started catching sand dabs and a few sole. After a while, we were finally at our quota, and we headed inside to try for the bass.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-63.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-51.jpg
We arrived at the inside and started fishing bass. At this first spot, we caught a few nice jumbo sculpin, which we released due to the quota being already met. However, they still provided for some good action as sculpin that big fight pretty well.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-67.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/007-45.jpg
Then, the bass started to come out and play. Kevin was one of the first to hook up with a bass, and he landed this nice grumpy:
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-51.jpg
As someone said, “A blind squirrel finds a nut every now and again.” We love to give Kevin grief, but he’s turning into a better fisherman every time he comes out. Anyway, for the remainder of the day, we bounced around on several spots and picked some off of each spot. I landed one early, and then struggled to get my second, missing four bass in the process (one bass I had coming up ten cranks off the bottom, and it pulled the hook). I ended up landing my second bass before time ran out, thankfully, to redeem myself.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/009-34.jpg
We headed for home soon after and jackpot was held at no contest to Kevin’s bass, which weighed about three and a half pounds. Good job Kevin, you deserve it!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/010-36.jpg
Being the holiday weekend, dad and I decided to go fishing again Sunday too. This time, we had a much lighter load, and we headed out to do more of the same as the day before. First off would be the sculpin! I decided to try the rig my friends used the day before with the big scampi and a smaller plastic above it. I tried to get a double on it, but I was unsuccessful the first few drops, getting a single on the smaller plastic. I gave it some time lying on the bottom, and then I would start winding slow, and if it felt heavier, I would wind it up. I ended up with a double of legal sculpin on that drop. But, as the day before, we limited out in a fairly short order, so we moved on to the bass.
Dad with a Nice Sculpin (caught on light tackle)
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-64.jpg
Limits for Dad and Me
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/002-58.jpg
Jumbo Sculpin
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-52.jpg
When we tried the bass, we quickly found out that they had lockjaw, and only a few smaller sculpin were willing to bite. I decided to switch it up and go with an ultra-finesse (and unorthodox structure bass) technique – a small hook on a dropper loop with a two ounce torpedo sinker. This may sound like a perch rig, but I have caught some bass on it in the past when the bass were at their pickiest. The result? No bass, but a lot of out of season stuff, like this brown rockfish I got, which, I was told is about as big as they get. Of course, it was released to fight at least until March 1st!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-27.jpg
I was a little disappointed at how the picture came out. It really doesn’t do the fish much justice, but it is what it is. Meanwhile, my friend John was trying the same technique for the bass or whatever happened to bite, and he got a few sheephead which also were released.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-28.jpg
Fishing this way, I was constantly hounded by the perch and I caught several of them, but once in a while, I would get a bigger bite which resulted in a few nice goats, which were, of course, thrown back due to the closure until March 1st.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/015-19.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/017-16.jpg
By this point, I knew the bass really had lockjaw, but Morgon did get a really nice bite that could have been a bass, but no bass were landed. Before we left, I got one fish for the road, which turned out to be this nice perch, which could have been kept, but I released it to fight another day. Look close as the picture was taken in the shade and it kind of blends in with my shirt.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/020-8.jpg
Anyways, I had a great weekend fishing even though the bass fishing was slow. The sculpin were of really good quality, and good times were had by all. I just hope the fishing on the bass front will improve in the week. Great times, great fishing!