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View Full Version : LB Breakwall/Horseshoe Kelp Report 8/25



CastMan
08-27-2011, 10:10 AM
This is a couple of days late but what can I say? Left the ramp at Cabrillo at 6:30 and headed for the Long Beach Breakwall to try our luck at some Calicos. Conditions weren't to bad looking as the wind was down and the swell was small although the water was still a bit cold. Didn't have a thermometer but you could tell by touching. We fished 3" Big Hammer 'Spottie Specials" on a 1/4" oz. jig head and 12lb. platinum Izorline. Colder water, smaller baits with a slower presentation. A bit of "Calico Cocktail" courtesy of Pro-Cure and we started casting. On my third cast I brought in a short Calico and this continued for another 5 with the largest at 11". There were a couple other boats doing the same thing and catching zero so was it luck? Was it the Pro-Cure? Was it my custom color jig heads? Ya that must have been it! :LOL: My brother in law landed a 12 1/2" and by 9:00 we decided to take a run out the Horseshoe Kelp.

We fished a strong current with 3 oz. torpedos using dead squid for bait and after 3 or 4 moves in a desperate attempt to elude the "mack attack" with no other species cooperating I switched out to a 5 oz. torpedo with my secret :Secret: "goat" bait hoping I would have the weight to stay in contact with the bottom long enough to score some nice sheep. Two minutes into the soak I swung hard into a decent weight and even though I was fighting the weight I was fishing and the current I knew I had something decent. With a prayer or two that the beast would stay hooked I brought to net a nice 3 1/2 lb. Sand Bass! With that my brother in law and son started feeling the effects of the swell and roll out there that was building and we decided to move back to the wall. Getting there I told them that with the chop and wind that had picked up we would have a hell of a time fishing 1/4 oz. jigs so we decided to call it a day.

I missed the entire season due to illness so this was my first time out this year and we had a great time. Glad I went. Oh and by the way all bass were released....um,...er....except for that nice Sandie which I cooked up last night and thoroughly enjoyed! :Envious: Hey, all I wanted from this trip besides breaking my brother in laws skunk was one keeper Sandie to bring home and I was blessed enough to do so! Awesome! Thank you lord! :Big Grin: This trip was a nice way for me to get back into fishing after being out of it for at least 8 years! Hope to be able to go again soon and hope you all enjoyed the report! Wishing you all tight lines of the right kind! :Smile:

JapanRon
08-27-2011, 02:42 PM
Hi Castman,

Nice day out for sure !! Just wondering ..... '1/4oz jigs' .... guess you mean jigheads ?? .... if so ...no 1/2oz or 3/4oz leadheads on board ? Depending on the current along the breakwater, in the little experience I've had, I've consistantly went with a 1/2 and 3/4oz leadheads and experienced more bites to make up for common hangups. White and black leadheads seemed to do best when using shorter swimmies too. Again in my limited experience at the Wall.

Custom color leadhead ?

JapanRon

CastMan
08-28-2011, 12:07 AM
Oh ya Ron "Jig Heads" or "leadheads" is what I meant for sure! I used to do a whole lot of bass fishing in the harbor years ago when I was still very active at fishing and the 1/4 oz. leadhead with a 3" swimbait (back then all we used were "Double AA's") and we would catch up to 100 bass a night between 3 of us on an average trip! The 1/2 to 3/4 oz. would work better in the current as the lighter leadheads are hard to maintain contact with the bottom but as I said with the conditions being what they are, especially the drop in water temp. in my experience at least smaller baits, smaller leadheads fished slower means better results. There were two other boats out there the same day that I talked to and neither were fishing lighter leadheads and coincidentally weren't catching anything either.

Oh and as a side note I always carry a variety of leadhead weights so I did have 1/2 to 3/4 oz. just didn't use them. As far as the "Spottie Special" Big Hammer color goes it's always been my "comfort" bait. That is the color I have the most confidence in but like the leadheads I also carry a variety of colors with me especially colors that mimic baby Calicos. I also like the clear plastics with red flake and a red leadhead when the Sandies are really going off!

Hope to see you out there sometime Ron! :)

CastMan
08-29-2011, 09:29 AM
Oh sorry, yes custom color "leadheads". I paint my own and I use my own custom color that seems to work pretty darned good!

jerr-dog
08-29-2011, 09:52 AM
Hey glad to hear you back on the water again. nice report too. Thanks for sharing

CastMan
08-29-2011, 08:26 PM
Hey Jerr-dog thanks for the good words bud! Now I've made a promise this year or at least what's left of it, to post reports of all my trips in hopes it will help someone out who is planning to go to the same spot! Not only that but hopefully to push someone to go ahead and go for it no matter what ails them! I've been ill since last December and even though I'm a lot better now I'm going through some sort of allergic reaction thing that leaves me feeling like I've got the flue most days but if there's one thing that I have learned in all of this time we've got to live the life we've got no matter what and let me tell you something it sure feels good getting out there even for a little while instead of sitting home simply watching the Versus channel all day wishing I was out there! Did I mention Tred Barta is my hero? You betcha! Hope to see you out there some day bud! :)

Psycho_fish'r
08-30-2011, 09:55 AM
We fished the PV kelp beds on Saturday and the water temp was 58 degrees. Fished low and slow for nothing. The wind started to pick up, so we headed in and fished the inside wall for 7 fish. We fished the wall on Saturday night and it was the slowest I've seen. The water temp on the outside wall was 59 degrees and 61 degrees inside. We ended up with 6 fish the whole night.
We fished the wall the weekend before and we caught 40 fish between 3 of us (calicos, sandies, sculpin, rockfish, grass bass, kelpfish, and lizard fish).
We release all of our fishes we catch. I plan on being out there everyday this weekend. The launch ramps should be a madhouse since it's a holiday weekend. Get out early, come in early.

CastMan
08-30-2011, 10:36 AM
Great report Psycho, thanks for sharing that. Ya see with the low water temp it sure is making fishing difficult! I'm hoping for some sort of warm water current to come through for a few weeks before it's too late! Is that wishful thinking? You bet it is but I gotta try and be optimistic! Hey either that or start preparing for trout fishing earlier than planned! lol Good luck this weekend Psycho!

SpinnerBaitKing
08-30-2011, 12:53 PM
I'm out there every weekend; either Saturday or Sunday. I've been fishing a 3" Gulp Minnow with a 1/8 oz jig head. My pop discovered this technique this summer. With the trolling motor close to the rocks, we have been killing it. As long as there is overcast, the bite stays on. He landed a 17" White Seabass last Sunday. Through him back to get bigger, but the Gulps are killer right now. Jigged slowly, if there were Bonito, we would kill them too. Try it bro. I'm out there with my 17' Wellcraft. Ya see me, halla!

Psycho_fish'r
08-30-2011, 01:33 PM
I've never tried the 3" gulp minnows, but whenever I throw small stuff like 3" Big Hammers, I always end up catching stuff like lizard fish, mackerels, tomcod, etc... so I usually throw 4" - 5.5" swimbaits or texas rigging Jerkshads or flukes.

Big swells this weekend. The local surf is supposed to be big in most areas. They're expecting 'The Wedge' in Newport to hit up to 20' waves. That is insane! I'll be out there this weekend, but if the seas are too big outside, I'll be working the inside. I'll be in a tin-can bass boat trolling.

CastMan
08-31-2011, 02:32 AM
I'm out there every weekend; either Saturday or Sunday. I've been fishing a 3" Gulp Minnow with a 1/8 oz jig head. My pop discovered this technique this summer. With the trolling motor close to the rocks, we have been killing it. As long as there is overcast, the bite stays on. He landed a 17" White Seabass last Sunday. Through him back to get bigger, but the Gulps are killer right now. Jigged slowly, if there were Bonito, we would kill them too. Try it bro. I'm out there with my 17' Wellcraft. Ya see me, halla!

Yup you see, 1/8oz., 1/4 oz. It's all about the smaller stuff right now and right about the over cast days. When I was out it was bright and sunny although I still hooked up over cast would have made it excellent! Trolling motors are key and necessary to help keep you in the "zone"! Well done with the seabass and I hope the next one is legal! Ya hopefully I'll see you out there man! Look for me, I'll be the guy out there complaining about catching to many fish! lol

stepchild
08-31-2011, 07:36 AM
I'm out there every weekend; either Saturday or Sunday. I've been fishing a 3" Gulp Minnow with a 1/8 oz jig head. My pop discovered this technique this summer. With the trolling motor close to the rocks, we have been killing it. As long as there is overcast, the bite stays on. He landed a 17" White Seabass last Sunday. Through him back to get bigger, but the Gulps are killer right now. Jigged slowly, if there were Bonito, we would kill them too. Try it bro. I'm out there with my 17' Wellcraft. Ya see me, halla!

i would have to disagree,,i would big,,ive used 7in gulp shad,and have ripped it up...i suggest try diffrent thing,,,,one day it can be the big hammers,4-5in,,,or it could be the 7in gulp...but i like the saying go big or go home...big bait big fish..jmho