Jackpot Jimmy
09-11-2011, 09:20 PM
We started the day off along the kelp trying for some bass or an exotic or two. We had a tank of live squid to use for the day. The conditions were pretty good in the morning but only a few calicos wanted to cooperate. My friend Bill just got a new set up (Curado 300 with power handle and Crucial rod), and he managed to get a few calicos on it, but only one was legal – the one below. He would have tanked it for jackpot and released it but unfortunately it was hooked deep. Nevertheless, it’s a nice fish!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-82.jpg
After a while we moved on and tried a hard bottom spot in a little deeper water. We were having a nice little pick on some exotic perch and rockfish, with a few sheephead here and there. I brought my little spinning set up with eight pound test and rigged it up with a ¾ oz. slider with a 1/0 hook. As soon as my bait hit the bottom, it was an instant bite. On one drop I hooked up and this fish gave me quite a fight on the light spinner. Soon up came my #1 target with this rig, a nice sheephead weighing 3-1/2 pounds!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-79.jpg
After that I hooked up again and lost what could have been another nice goat. But after a while things slowed down, and after that we tried two more spots by the kelp, but nothing much was going on and conditions kind of slacked off, so to kill a couple hours we headed a few miles out to the rockfish grounds.
The rockfish started to bite really well on our first drift and same with the second, but after that things slowed down real fast. Meanwhile, a bunch of sunfish were jumping all around the boat and out in the distance. We made several drifts throughout this area. I was using a single dropper loop with a whole fresh dead squid, and on one drift I got bit on a good fighting fish, and up came a nice big red!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-67.jpg
Nothing much was going on so we headed back in to the kelp. The calicos wanted to play a little bit, but you had to get through all the smelt, mackerel, and perch first. We had to reposition and after that the bass fishing picked up, but we had the same problem with too much life around the boat. I was fishing on the outside edge of the kelp as we would swing out and in, and I was able to get down most of the time and picked a few calicos, a sheephead, and a nice sargo (a first for me, or at least I think it’s a first – I can’t remember if I’ve ever caught a sargo before). I was fishing a 3/8 oz. leadhead with live squid on 12# test I also had a huge opaleye up to the boat, and as I went to bounce it, the hook pulled. It would have easily been my personal best opaleye (if that really matters).
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-74.jpg
Others also got through the life and got some nice calicos. Smitty, one of the great anglers who fishes on the Tradition got a big calico that was a contender with Bill’s fish. The fish was tanked for jackpot (first photo below).
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-89.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-59.jpg
In words of exotics, one was possibly hooked my friend Bill, who was using his new set up, spooled up with 40# power pro and a top shot of 25# test. He said the force of the fish was so great it “steamrolled him”. The kelp cutting power of the power pro was doing its job, but unfortunately an angler was tangled with him and didn’t slack off, and the fish pulled the hook and got Bill’s leadhead stuck in the kelp. All I can say is you need to keep track of your line at all times and pay attention to other lines around you.
We ended up with a pretty nice day out on the water. No exotics but we had a nice haul on mixed species, as is usual fishing along the kelp. Bass fishing showed great potential, especially with the live squid, and I hope it develops into a nice fall bite. Great times, great fishing!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/001-82.jpg
After a while we moved on and tried a hard bottom spot in a little deeper water. We were having a nice little pick on some exotic perch and rockfish, with a few sheephead here and there. I brought my little spinning set up with eight pound test and rigged it up with a ¾ oz. slider with a 1/0 hook. As soon as my bait hit the bottom, it was an instant bite. On one drop I hooked up and this fish gave me quite a fight on the light spinner. Soon up came my #1 target with this rig, a nice sheephead weighing 3-1/2 pounds!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/003-79.jpg
After that I hooked up again and lost what could have been another nice goat. But after a while things slowed down, and after that we tried two more spots by the kelp, but nothing much was going on and conditions kind of slacked off, so to kill a couple hours we headed a few miles out to the rockfish grounds.
The rockfish started to bite really well on our first drift and same with the second, but after that things slowed down real fast. Meanwhile, a bunch of sunfish were jumping all around the boat and out in the distance. We made several drifts throughout this area. I was using a single dropper loop with a whole fresh dead squid, and on one drift I got bit on a good fighting fish, and up came a nice big red!
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/004-67.jpg
Nothing much was going on so we headed back in to the kelp. The calicos wanted to play a little bit, but you had to get through all the smelt, mackerel, and perch first. We had to reposition and after that the bass fishing picked up, but we had the same problem with too much life around the boat. I was fishing on the outside edge of the kelp as we would swing out and in, and I was able to get down most of the time and picked a few calicos, a sheephead, and a nice sargo (a first for me, or at least I think it’s a first – I can’t remember if I’ve ever caught a sargo before). I was fishing a 3/8 oz. leadhead with live squid on 12# test I also had a huge opaleye up to the boat, and as I went to bounce it, the hook pulled. It would have easily been my personal best opaleye (if that really matters).
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/006-74.jpg
Others also got through the life and got some nice calicos. Smitty, one of the great anglers who fishes on the Tradition got a big calico that was a contender with Bill’s fish. The fish was tanked for jackpot (first photo below).
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/005-89.jpg
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/008-59.jpg
In words of exotics, one was possibly hooked my friend Bill, who was using his new set up, spooled up with 40# power pro and a top shot of 25# test. He said the force of the fish was so great it “steamrolled him”. The kelp cutting power of the power pro was doing its job, but unfortunately an angler was tangled with him and didn’t slack off, and the fish pulled the hook and got Bill’s leadhead stuck in the kelp. All I can say is you need to keep track of your line at all times and pay attention to other lines around you.
We ended up with a pretty nice day out on the water. No exotics but we had a nice haul on mixed species, as is usual fishing along the kelp. Bass fishing showed great potential, especially with the live squid, and I hope it develops into a nice fall bite. Great times, great fishing!