Jackpot Jimmy
06-10-2012, 11:20 AM
As reported on Friday morning, the Tradition scored a 25 pound white seabass and lost a much larger one to a sea lion. This got people excited and on Saturday 23 anglers would board the Tradition ready to try for a trophy seabass or halibut.
We had plenty live squid to use throughout the day, thanks to the Tradition crew who went out Thursday night and put in a lot of effort to fill the tanks. First order of business was to try for the seabass. Most of us rigged up with a dropper loop, placed at an extended length of five to seven feet above the torpedo sinker. This is to avoid not only bat rays, but the plethora of sand dabs that have been residing under the seabass. Some rigged up with light sliders, letting the squid flow in the current.
We tried one spot that wasn’t happening, so we moved and we saw a kayaker land one. Just then, Steven said that we had a nice jag of seabass under us, and he instructed Morgon to drop the anchor hand-over-hand, as to not disturb the seabass.
Not long after that, hook up! Angler Fred Cayote tied into what looked to be a nice white seabass, and sure enough, it was. He was fishing 15 pound test, however, so Steven and Morgon stood by him and made sure he was clear of the anchor line. Near the end of the battle, the fish managed to put a wrap on the anchor line, but Steven quickly got it unwrapped, and the fish surfaced not long after with a quick gaff by Morgon.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/105_0437.jpg
This white seabass weighed 30 pounds. Our hopes were high and there were a couple more hook ups, but those turned out to be bat rays. No other bites of the right kind, so we moved on to do some bass fishing.
We fished a few spots where the bass really wanted to chew, along with several bat rays. At the first spot, a light slider and a live squid got you some nice calicos. At the next two spots, the leadhead and squid was the ticket. Bites were pretty instant and the bass were of nice quality, decent one and a half, two pound calicos and sand bass. In addition, a bunch of brown rockfish as well as barely short cabezon (with one keeper) were coming over the rail, keeping the bites instant with the bass bites a welcomed occurrence.
Meanwhile, one halibut was hooked and broke off right at color. Minutes later, angler Darrel Wells hooks up to another halibut, and lands his with a nice gaff by Morgon.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/105_0438.jpg
Others then switched over to concentrate on halibut while a few still tried for the bass. We didn’t get another biter in the halibut section and we rounded up 50 bass when Steven saw there was another tide coming up, so we went back to try for a seabass. Unfortunately, no seabass to be found, so we tried one more bass spot, where some more rockfish and a couple short lingcod came over the rail.
Along with the nice seabass and halibut, the bass fishing had excellent potential – a great sign that summer is upon us. Steven and Morgon did an excellent job today staying with the anglers that hooked up on the right kind, getting them over and under other lines and trying the keep the fish away from the anchor line. Very good sign on the exotics and with the good bait, hopefully we’ll be seeing more in the near future. Great times, great fishing!
We had plenty live squid to use throughout the day, thanks to the Tradition crew who went out Thursday night and put in a lot of effort to fill the tanks. First order of business was to try for the seabass. Most of us rigged up with a dropper loop, placed at an extended length of five to seven feet above the torpedo sinker. This is to avoid not only bat rays, but the plethora of sand dabs that have been residing under the seabass. Some rigged up with light sliders, letting the squid flow in the current.
We tried one spot that wasn’t happening, so we moved and we saw a kayaker land one. Just then, Steven said that we had a nice jag of seabass under us, and he instructed Morgon to drop the anchor hand-over-hand, as to not disturb the seabass.
Not long after that, hook up! Angler Fred Cayote tied into what looked to be a nice white seabass, and sure enough, it was. He was fishing 15 pound test, however, so Steven and Morgon stood by him and made sure he was clear of the anchor line. Near the end of the battle, the fish managed to put a wrap on the anchor line, but Steven quickly got it unwrapped, and the fish surfaced not long after with a quick gaff by Morgon.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/105_0437.jpg
This white seabass weighed 30 pounds. Our hopes were high and there were a couple more hook ups, but those turned out to be bat rays. No other bites of the right kind, so we moved on to do some bass fishing.
We fished a few spots where the bass really wanted to chew, along with several bat rays. At the first spot, a light slider and a live squid got you some nice calicos. At the next two spots, the leadhead and squid was the ticket. Bites were pretty instant and the bass were of nice quality, decent one and a half, two pound calicos and sand bass. In addition, a bunch of brown rockfish as well as barely short cabezon (with one keeper) were coming over the rail, keeping the bites instant with the bass bites a welcomed occurrence.
Meanwhile, one halibut was hooked and broke off right at color. Minutes later, angler Darrel Wells hooks up to another halibut, and lands his with a nice gaff by Morgon.
http://i391.photobucket.com/albums/oo358/Jackpot-Jimmy/105_0438.jpg
Others then switched over to concentrate on halibut while a few still tried for the bass. We didn’t get another biter in the halibut section and we rounded up 50 bass when Steven saw there was another tide coming up, so we went back to try for a seabass. Unfortunately, no seabass to be found, so we tried one more bass spot, where some more rockfish and a couple short lingcod came over the rail.
Along with the nice seabass and halibut, the bass fishing had excellent potential – a great sign that summer is upon us. Steven and Morgon did an excellent job today staying with the anglers that hooked up on the right kind, getting them over and under other lines and trying the keep the fish away from the anchor line. Very good sign on the exotics and with the good bait, hopefully we’ll be seeing more in the near future. Great times, great fishing!