8/24 Freelance Twilight

[Funjunkie74]

Sooooo, after trying to get Jplee to join me for his revenge on the Nautilus and getting turned down, and as you know, since k3vin went out on a 1/2-day "Isn't corporate America great?" quasi-hooky fishing trip, he wasn't going to join me on my "60 hour weeks are way too long" twilight trip, once again, I'm fishing solo.

As I'm driving to Newport, I realize that I don't remember how to get to Newport landing...so I found myself on the Freelance at Davey's. What a good call on my part!

6:00pm I get off work.
6:35pm Drive to Davey's.
7:00pm Pay, sign in and get on board the Freelance.
7:01pm Realize that Rene, the cook, is on board!! RENE~~!!! :beer:
7:05pm Boat leaves dock, I go up to the booth and find out we're headed to DANA POINT. Bass are hitting!!
8:05pm We make it to Dana Point.
8:10pm After finding a parking spot, we drop anchor, I drop line and we fish.
8:20pm I'm hit hard and line is peeling off my reel. It's a barracuda!! YEAH!! I had only brought my Abu spinning (15#) and Stimula so this fight was nice!! Major bendo!! We gaffed it on board and realized that for once, I actually may have a real JP contender. This thing was big!! At least a good 36"+.

--Rest of the night was just nice steady sand bass fishing--

Saw lots of nice 18~20" Sandys come up. I caught one too!
Released about 15 or so "on the line" sandies and two really cute sculpins.

11:00pm Time to head back in.
11:02pm Weigh in for JP. I waited to see if anyone had something bigger than mine to spare me the embarrassment but for once, there wasn't. So I handed my barracuda to the deckhand and the challenge was on!

One older man pulls out a barrie, sorry...visually it was already smaller than mine... :idiot:

Then another, nope...not happening!! :idiot:

Finally, the last barrie.
It looked almost the same size. Some guys were elbowing me, saying "you got this one!!" Weigh it!!
The balance stood almost level. I knew immediately that his was probably about an ounce heavier. But the deckhand wanted to make sure. So he calls over deckhand #2. He's not sure, so now it's up to the people on the boat to vote.

Yep, just as I thought, his won. I lost again.... :nopity:

Oh well. It was a good night of fishing and that's good enough for me!!
Sorry no pics... 8)

[one_leg]

Couldn't find the Landing, Ha Ha Ha.

Are you ever gonna win one of these JP thingies?....j/k

Thanks for reporting.

One_Leg

[Sergio Prado]

Sorry to hear about the JP bro but join the club, never won the JP either. I'm just a donor to the pot. Hey but at least you hooked up on a nice log. Thanks for the report.

[Funjunkie74]

Sergio, you said it bro! It was a good night of fishing!!

One_Leg, I didn't even try to find it. I thought my memory was a little better. I haven't been there in 5 years!! And I didn't have enough time to go down side streets to find it.

Who knows if I'll ever win JP?!? All I care about is I'm fishing!!! YEAH!!


FJ74 :twisted:

[k3vin_kim]

That's good, at least you got out and did what you went there to do. That Stimula and abu must have been FUN to catch a log on. What kinda bait for the cuda? bait for the sandy? Do tell Joseph.

BTW, how's Rene doing? did you get the mountain of chili-Nacho's?

[Funjunkie74]

That's good, at least you got out and did what you went there to do. That Stimula and abu must have been FUN to catch a log on. What kinda bait for the cuda? bait for the sandy? Do tell Joseph.

BTW, how's Rene doing? did you get the mountain of chili-Nacho's?

Good morning k3v.
Yeah, 15# test on a log is hella fun!!
That Abu has seen so many fish outside of its class, it's actually kinda funny. First a YT and now BIG barries!!

I was using 2/0 hooks with the jumbo sardine on a dropper loop.
After about 5 hook ups, 4 lost...I switched to #1 hooks and anchovies. Then the bass started biting. Those sandies were violent!! :twisted: GRRR!!

Rene was doing good. She added a new menu, Seasoned beef quesadilla.
I'm feeling the grease churning even to this moment!! AHAHAHA!!
No nachos this time...

FJ74

[victor101]

good job man.....im jealous of u and kev. i havent been on the salt in 2 months now. :eyepop: :explode: i need to get on some fish bad! the only thing keeping me sane is your guys reports and fish porn. THANKS! :thumb:

[JapanRon]

Hi funjunkie74,

Thanks for the very good report. Sorry to hear of your near-miss on the JP. Better luck next time. Nice fishy!!

Just a hint from the experience that I had when I was semi-deadheading long ago. (paid to get on the boat) The first thing I would do when I got on a new boat or I didn't know a deckhand is to quietly let them know that the jackpot went to the crew and I expected to get a pass(s) for a win.

What does this have to do with your near-win and close tie ??? If the deck running the weigh-off knew that both guys, wiith the final contenders , were agreeable to taking pass(s) in lieu of the cash ....... they (deckie) would be a lot quicker and more agreeable to just call it a tie ....... and ........ I would get a pass I might otherwise have not received.

I don't consider this some kind of a scam but a win-win for the two lucky anglers. Wait ! Stop ! Hold It! Noooooo .... I'm not advocating that you give the crew the JP money .... just that this strategy worked for me back in the day!

Some boats are very generous in this JP-tie business others go by the policy that there can only be one jp winner! Heck, on the flip-side ... some boats don't trade the JP money for free passes ... Period.

Think I'll put this in an aside in my next Tuesday report.

Thanks for the inspiration !!

JapanRon

[Funjunkie74]

darn double posts...

[Funjunkie74]

Hi funjunkie74,

Thanks for the very good report. Sorry to hear of your near-miss on the JP. Better luck next time. Nice fishy!!

Just a hint from the experience that I had when I was semi-deadheading long ago. (paid to get on the boat) The first thing I would do when I got on a new boat or I didn't know a deckhand is to quietly let them know that the jackpot went to the crew and I expected to get a pass(s) for a win.

What does this have to do with your near-win and close tie ??? If the deck running the weigh-off knew that both guys, wiith the final contenders , were agreeable to taking pass(s) in lieu of the cash ....... they (deckie) would be a lot quicker and more agreeable to just call it a tie ....... and ........ I would get a pass I might otherwise have not received.

I don't consider this some kind of a scam but a win-win for the two lucky anglers. Wait ! Stop ! Hold It! Noooooo .... I'm not advocating that you give the crew the JP money .... just that this strategy worked for me back in the day!

Some boats are very generous in this JP-tie business others go by the policy that there can only be one jp winner! Heck, on the flip-side ... some boats don't trade the JP money for free passes ... Period.

Think I'll put this in an aside in my next Tuesday report.

Thanks for the inspiration !!

JapanRon


Hook, set and release...you inspired yourself on this one Ron!! LOL!!

Free things are always nice. JP would have been nice. But honestly though, I'm out there to fish!! JP is just paid bragging rights that last for about 30 minutes. A good fight on light line, good conversation with people on the boat, and the chance to learn something new from a more experienced angler...that's what I'm paying for, that's what I'm seeking!!
That's my true jackpot!!

FJ74

[jplee3]

Yeah, I know it would have been nice if I was there.... oh nevermind, you guys are all talking about the JackPot :D

Sorry I couldn't make it man... ended up bowling and chillin with some friends. Also figured I needed a break from paying to fish (or paying to skunk). Hahhahaa... anyway, I went up to Palos Verdes cliffs and fished all day today. Didn't catch much (as usual) but it was still a blast. I'll be posting a report in the surf/harbor/pier forums soon enough.

Well, it's a cool thing the capt has been trying new things on the wknds. Apparently, it worked to your benefit this wknd. I still feel I would have come up empty-handed even after your trip though. I probably would have had to bother you and be like "Hey Joe, can you bait my rod, cast it out, set the hook, get a FISH ON, and then hand me the pole?" - and even after successfully doing that the fish would probably jump off the hook just as I'm about to bounce it over. Bwahahahaha!

Anyway, sounds like it was a great trip. Thanks for the report!

[Funjunkie74]

Yeah, I know it would have been nice if I was there.... oh nevermind, you guys are all talking about the JackPot :D

Sorry I couldn't make it man... ended up bowling and chillin with some friends. Also figured I needed a break from paying to fish (or paying to skunk). Hahhahaa... anyway, I went up to Palos Verdes cliffs and fished all day today. Didn't catch much (as usual) but it was still a blast. I'll be posting a report in the surf/harbor/pier forums soon enough.

Well, it's a cool thing the capt has been trying new things on the wknds. Apparently, it worked to your benefit this wknd. I still feel I would have come up empty-handed even after your trip though. I probably would have had to bother you and be like "Hey Joe, can you bait my rod, cast it out, set the hook, get a FISH ON, and then hand me the pole?" - and even after successfully doing that the fish would probably jump off the hook just as I'm about to bounce it over. Bwahahahaha!

Anyway, sounds like it was a great trip. Thanks for the report!


Jeremy,
You give yourself too little credit homie!!
And even if I was to bait, cast and hook up the fish, you know you would have learned something (maybe) and started hooking up on your own. I did that to one kid on the boat!! It was his first time out on the ocean, first time to possibly hook up with a fish and I help him on his first one!! I told him what to keep an eye on, what to watch out for and you know what, HE HOOKED UP WITH 3 Barries, 4 Sandies and a Tree fish!! All within 20 minutes!!
Sometimes when you're so consumed into fishing it just takes an objective point of view to help. I can't start to tell you how many captains, deckhands and fellow anglers have helped me out!!

FJ74

[JapanRon]

Hi again Funjunkie74,

I went on a charter August 22~23 on the Fury out of Dana Wharf and it had been a while since I fished there. Luckly I've tubed the place about a year ago so I got to whee I was going. I almost got lost myself so I understand your slight confusion. :lol: :lol: :lol:

thanks,

JapanRon