fishinone
07-17-2011, 08:51 PM
The plan was to fish Castaic in the morning with Ron and Doug, go home for lunch then go back and fish the evening with Bong.
We were first in line and got down to the buoy line neck and neck with Mike. Mike set up "on Mike's spot" while I ran around checking to see what the fish were doing. We set up on the hump near the left end of the buoy line in about 70 ft. of water.
The fishing was a little slow at at first but when the sun hit the water Mike picked up the first fish.
Next was my turn. I saw a fish on the fish finder drop down near one of my baits. The fish tapped it once then put some tension on the line, things looked right, so I grabbed it and swung. I missed. I let the bait back down to the same level and waited about a minute. The fish was still there on the fish finder. I felt a pick up then tension and swung again only to miss again. I let the bait drop back to the same level and checked the fish finder. The fish was still there! This time it took a little longer but it picked that bait up again. I felt tension and let fly! HOOK UP!
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00707-20110716-0644.jpg
I won't say I farmed him but I sure tended that crop for a while.:LOL: You can see Wayne and crew behind me in their new boat. It looks like a great fishing rig.
The next fish picked up my other pole. I saw the tip go down and stay down. I swung and knew that It was bigger right away.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00709-20110716-0808.jpg
7.76 lb., what kind of catfish is that?
That fish put up a nice fight on my light action pole and 4 lb line. It didn't roll like a channel cat and it took lots of line in several long runs.
I picked up couple more striper just like that first one. I didn't know why Ron and Doug weren't catching. Then I found out that there were bananas in the boat.
I explained to them that bananas were taboo on a fishing boat but they just weren't buying into it and decided it was time for a snack. That's when Ron's pole went full bendo.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00711-20110716-0836.jpg
Here's an action shot and proof that the banana taboo isn't what it's been made out to be.
Doug was fishing his fly rod on the bow so his bait rig wasn't getting much attention. That could be why he didn't pick up any fish. Ron on the other hand was paying attention to his poles but there was no noticeable movement of the tips except that one hit.
I could see Ron's baits on the fish finder and was telling him that there were fish approaching his baits and picking them up. He was using heavier slip sinkers than I was.
The fish were coming from below picking up his bait swimming to the top of the circle that the leader can reach, where they would feel the sinker then swim back down to the bottom of the circle. Sometimes they would do it a couple times before they dropped the bait. After I convinced him that it was really happening, he switched one line to a fly line and rigged the other with a 1/4 oz. sliding sinker. But we didn't have the fish come in before we went off to find some active fish for Doug on the fly.
Doug got one good hit on a point that was covered in fish. We tried drifting baits at the same time but didn't get any hits. Doug did pick up one fish. It was an LMB just over 2" long. It was safely released. I guess that's why they call it a school.
We headed in about noon with 4 striper and a catfish.
I went home and filleted fish for the freezer and my wife was kind enough to make me a fresh striper lunch.
Bong and I launch the boat at about 3:30.
We went to Elizabeth Canyon and set up inside of the sign. Things were kind of slow but about the time we decided to pull up stakes, Bong got a bite and hooked up the big striper of the day.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00712-20110716-1706.jpg2.8 lb.
We stuck it out a little longer but it was still slow. We adjusted our position a few times but the fish weren't biting.
Finally after 7:00 bong got another hit. I could tell that it was a bigger fish on the way up. I took a couple good runs.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00713-20110716-1854.jpg
A nice channel cat. It didn't roll until it was near the boat.
That was it for the day.
I'm glad that I took the break during the heat of the day. I even took a short nap in the air conditioning.:LOL:
We were first in line and got down to the buoy line neck and neck with Mike. Mike set up "on Mike's spot" while I ran around checking to see what the fish were doing. We set up on the hump near the left end of the buoy line in about 70 ft. of water.
The fishing was a little slow at at first but when the sun hit the water Mike picked up the first fish.
Next was my turn. I saw a fish on the fish finder drop down near one of my baits. The fish tapped it once then put some tension on the line, things looked right, so I grabbed it and swung. I missed. I let the bait back down to the same level and waited about a minute. The fish was still there on the fish finder. I felt a pick up then tension and swung again only to miss again. I let the bait drop back to the same level and checked the fish finder. The fish was still there! This time it took a little longer but it picked that bait up again. I felt tension and let fly! HOOK UP!
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00707-20110716-0644.jpg
I won't say I farmed him but I sure tended that crop for a while.:LOL: You can see Wayne and crew behind me in their new boat. It looks like a great fishing rig.
The next fish picked up my other pole. I saw the tip go down and stay down. I swung and knew that It was bigger right away.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00709-20110716-0808.jpg
7.76 lb., what kind of catfish is that?
That fish put up a nice fight on my light action pole and 4 lb line. It didn't roll like a channel cat and it took lots of line in several long runs.
I picked up couple more striper just like that first one. I didn't know why Ron and Doug weren't catching. Then I found out that there were bananas in the boat.
I explained to them that bananas were taboo on a fishing boat but they just weren't buying into it and decided it was time for a snack. That's when Ron's pole went full bendo.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00711-20110716-0836.jpg
Here's an action shot and proof that the banana taboo isn't what it's been made out to be.
Doug was fishing his fly rod on the bow so his bait rig wasn't getting much attention. That could be why he didn't pick up any fish. Ron on the other hand was paying attention to his poles but there was no noticeable movement of the tips except that one hit.
I could see Ron's baits on the fish finder and was telling him that there were fish approaching his baits and picking them up. He was using heavier slip sinkers than I was.
The fish were coming from below picking up his bait swimming to the top of the circle that the leader can reach, where they would feel the sinker then swim back down to the bottom of the circle. Sometimes they would do it a couple times before they dropped the bait. After I convinced him that it was really happening, he switched one line to a fly line and rigged the other with a 1/4 oz. sliding sinker. But we didn't have the fish come in before we went off to find some active fish for Doug on the fly.
Doug got one good hit on a point that was covered in fish. We tried drifting baits at the same time but didn't get any hits. Doug did pick up one fish. It was an LMB just over 2" long. It was safely released. I guess that's why they call it a school.
We headed in about noon with 4 striper and a catfish.
I went home and filleted fish for the freezer and my wife was kind enough to make me a fresh striper lunch.
Bong and I launch the boat at about 3:30.
We went to Elizabeth Canyon and set up inside of the sign. Things were kind of slow but about the time we decided to pull up stakes, Bong got a bite and hooked up the big striper of the day.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00712-20110716-1706.jpg2.8 lb.
We stuck it out a little longer but it was still slow. We adjusted our position a few times but the fish weren't biting.
Finally after 7:00 bong got another hit. I could tell that it was a bigger fish on the way up. I took a couple good runs.
http://i454.photobucket.com/albums/qq265/fishinone/Castaic%207-16-11%20w%20Ron%20n%20Doug%20n%20then%20w%20Bong/IMG00713-20110716-1854.jpg
A nice channel cat. It didn't roll until it was near the boat.
That was it for the day.
I'm glad that I took the break during the heat of the day. I even took a short nap in the air conditioning.:LOL: