Jackpot Jimmy
07-31-2011, 12:03 PM
The Tradition headed out with 32 anglers on Saturday. The plan was to head north where the barracuda and sand bass have been biting very well. We had plenty of live squid in the tanks so we forewent the bait receiver and headed out to the fishing grounds. First thing in the morning it was pretty bumpy out and there was a stiff breeze and it was capping a little bit. But we pushed our way through the weather and were able to set up on our first spot.
As we circled the area, Captain Steven told some guys to drag some jigs in the circle, but there were no biters, as the bite doesn’t really turn on until 9am. As we waited for that time, we picked a few nice barracuda for those fishing dropper loops and live squid, as well as some nice sand bass and other bottom grabbers. The bat rays were ferocious here and they were big – I think we hooked about ten of them, with a few being well over 100 pounds. After this flurry with the bat rays, we tried another spot close by, and the barracuda started getting with it.
For the next couple hours, the barracuda were biting pretty well if you knew how to throw a jig or a plastic, but the guys fishing dropper loops still got some. I threw plastic and was bit almost every cast for about ten minutes, but I had a problem getting them to stick on the hook. Most hits were on the sink but I had a few on the retrieve too. Some guys were also getting some nice sand bass that were definitely in spawning mode – a good sign of things to come! Anyways after a couple hours the bite petered out, so we moved on to give the kelp a try.
Fishing the kelp was a little tough as the conditions but we picked at some calicos, sculpin, and rockfish. The mackerel were in here fierce so it was hard to fish a light slider and a live squid, so I opted to fish the dropper loop, getting some nice sculpin and shallow water rockfish on this rig. There were also a few calicos caught on plastic.
We had great fishing and great potential for things to get even better once this weather clears. I’m excited that the sand bass are starting to bite in spawning mode, and hopefully they will go full speed soon. Stay tuned…
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-74.jpg
Little Steve-O with a Nice Barracuda caught on the Surface Iron
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-84.jpg
Nice Calico caught on Plastic
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-70.jpg
Little Steve-O with a Nice Calico caught on a Rainbow Trout-Colored Zoom
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-55.jpg
This angler was on fire with the cuda back on the stern, he had a nice haul at the end of the day, this only being a portion of it!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/011-39.jpg
Jerry with a nice bunch of bass
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-36.jpg
John with a couple nice cuda, one being the jackpot fish!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-38.jpg
John with a 2-1/2 pound sculpin…now that’s a huge sculpin!
As we circled the area, Captain Steven told some guys to drag some jigs in the circle, but there were no biters, as the bite doesn’t really turn on until 9am. As we waited for that time, we picked a few nice barracuda for those fishing dropper loops and live squid, as well as some nice sand bass and other bottom grabbers. The bat rays were ferocious here and they were big – I think we hooked about ten of them, with a few being well over 100 pounds. After this flurry with the bat rays, we tried another spot close by, and the barracuda started getting with it.
For the next couple hours, the barracuda were biting pretty well if you knew how to throw a jig or a plastic, but the guys fishing dropper loops still got some. I threw plastic and was bit almost every cast for about ten minutes, but I had a problem getting them to stick on the hook. Most hits were on the sink but I had a few on the retrieve too. Some guys were also getting some nice sand bass that were definitely in spawning mode – a good sign of things to come! Anyways after a couple hours the bite petered out, so we moved on to give the kelp a try.
Fishing the kelp was a little tough as the conditions but we picked at some calicos, sculpin, and rockfish. The mackerel were in here fierce so it was hard to fish a light slider and a live squid, so I opted to fish the dropper loop, getting some nice sculpin and shallow water rockfish on this rig. There were also a few calicos caught on plastic.
We had great fishing and great potential for things to get even better once this weather clears. I’m excited that the sand bass are starting to bite in spawning mode, and hopefully they will go full speed soon. Stay tuned…
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-74.jpg
Little Steve-O with a Nice Barracuda caught on the Surface Iron
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-84.jpg
Nice Calico caught on Plastic
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-70.jpg
Little Steve-O with a Nice Calico caught on a Rainbow Trout-Colored Zoom
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-55.jpg
This angler was on fire with the cuda back on the stern, he had a nice haul at the end of the day, this only being a portion of it!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/011-39.jpg
Jerry with a nice bunch of bass
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/012-36.jpg
John with a couple nice cuda, one being the jackpot fish!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/014-38.jpg
John with a 2-1/2 pound sculpin…now that’s a huge sculpin!