Jackpot Jimmy
12-26-2012, 08:28 PM
At the last minute, I decided to fish the 3/4 day on the Spitfire the day after Christmas with my friend Ray. The decision was made at around 9:30 on Tuesday evening, so I quickly got my stuff ready and managed to get around four hours of sleep before waking up to head down. But one thing we hadn't banked on was the rain. It was pretty wet outside at 5am. Even worse, I checked NOAA and there was wind in the forecast for mid-morning. But that didn't deter us, so we headed down to Dock 52 to give it a go.
A worrisome sign greeted us when we pulled up - it was raining absolute cats and dogs. The parking lot adjacent to Dock 52 was turning into a river. But there were 13 reservations on the books so we waited patiently and, around a quarter past six, the rain stopped. Ten minutes later the Spitfire rolled up, and we boarded and we ended up with a light load of 13 passengers.
I asked Capt. Jeremy what his game plan was so I could rig up my gear fast and get warm. He said we would be trying for some belindas and other rockfish first thing. I started rigging up a jig because bocaccio mix with belindas and that could be the jackpot fish for the day, but I aborted the plan when Jeremy changed his mind to sculpin to get some fish in the bags - the forecast still called for wind, but we'd get out there and give it a go. So I rigged up with a dropper loop and a B2 Squid on a leadhead. I also rigged up a double dropper loop with small hooks in case we fished belindas later on if the wind allowed.
So we made a run out to the sculpin hole and we found the area to be fishable, but the wind definitely was coming up. The current, however, wasn't too bad - six ounces sufficed in reaching the bottom. Once the boat settled, the spot was mostly off the starboard corner. I caught a few on my B2 Squid, but I noticed that an angler named Ji was on fire with the sculpin with the whole squid and a bare hook on a dropper loop. So I took off my plastic and leadhead and put a 5/0 shrimp fly on the loop. I quickly filled my limit after that. The sculpin were all legal and some were quality sized. We were about 15 shy of limits when Jeremy wanted to make a move to see if we could get some rockfish with the sculpin.
This choice, however, was made when the wind had calmed down. By the time we pulled anchor, the wind came up again, and this time, was steadily increasing. So Jeremy elected to make a run to the inside to try for some bass, but one spot looked too good to pass up. We got anchored up and I broke out the double dropper loop with the small hooks, and this spot was jugged with reds. The majority of them were smaller, but there was a lot of them and I got a couple two-bangers right off the bat. Ray wasn't catching as many as I was, but he got a couple of decent ones. I also caught a decent one, contending with one of Ray's.
The wind, by this time, blew up something fierce. We were swinging around quite a bit, but when we'd swing back over the fish, we got instant bites. But then the anchor finally pulled, and it was too rough to reanchor. Jeremy decided to cut the trip short and give us half-off fares for next time. And with that, we high-tailed it in for the barn. Once the anchor was up, Deck Boss John Corzel weighed up the jackpot, which was between my red and Ray's red. Ray's red just barely tipped the scale, taking jackpot honors. The fish were cleaned during our quick ride back to MDR Harbor, going with the wind. It was rough out there, but the fishing was excellent and Jeremy did a great job as usual. Not to mention, my biggest red made for a great dinner - one of the finest eating fish in our waters.
Nice Red and Victory at Sea
http://imageshack.us/a/img837/9313/img0049eg.jpg
My Haul – Limits of Reds and Sculpin
http://imageshack.us/a/img811/6098/img0057kh.jpg
A worrisome sign greeted us when we pulled up - it was raining absolute cats and dogs. The parking lot adjacent to Dock 52 was turning into a river. But there were 13 reservations on the books so we waited patiently and, around a quarter past six, the rain stopped. Ten minutes later the Spitfire rolled up, and we boarded and we ended up with a light load of 13 passengers.
I asked Capt. Jeremy what his game plan was so I could rig up my gear fast and get warm. He said we would be trying for some belindas and other rockfish first thing. I started rigging up a jig because bocaccio mix with belindas and that could be the jackpot fish for the day, but I aborted the plan when Jeremy changed his mind to sculpin to get some fish in the bags - the forecast still called for wind, but we'd get out there and give it a go. So I rigged up with a dropper loop and a B2 Squid on a leadhead. I also rigged up a double dropper loop with small hooks in case we fished belindas later on if the wind allowed.
So we made a run out to the sculpin hole and we found the area to be fishable, but the wind definitely was coming up. The current, however, wasn't too bad - six ounces sufficed in reaching the bottom. Once the boat settled, the spot was mostly off the starboard corner. I caught a few on my B2 Squid, but I noticed that an angler named Ji was on fire with the sculpin with the whole squid and a bare hook on a dropper loop. So I took off my plastic and leadhead and put a 5/0 shrimp fly on the loop. I quickly filled my limit after that. The sculpin were all legal and some were quality sized. We were about 15 shy of limits when Jeremy wanted to make a move to see if we could get some rockfish with the sculpin.
This choice, however, was made when the wind had calmed down. By the time we pulled anchor, the wind came up again, and this time, was steadily increasing. So Jeremy elected to make a run to the inside to try for some bass, but one spot looked too good to pass up. We got anchored up and I broke out the double dropper loop with the small hooks, and this spot was jugged with reds. The majority of them were smaller, but there was a lot of them and I got a couple two-bangers right off the bat. Ray wasn't catching as many as I was, but he got a couple of decent ones. I also caught a decent one, contending with one of Ray's.
The wind, by this time, blew up something fierce. We were swinging around quite a bit, but when we'd swing back over the fish, we got instant bites. But then the anchor finally pulled, and it was too rough to reanchor. Jeremy decided to cut the trip short and give us half-off fares for next time. And with that, we high-tailed it in for the barn. Once the anchor was up, Deck Boss John Corzel weighed up the jackpot, which was between my red and Ray's red. Ray's red just barely tipped the scale, taking jackpot honors. The fish were cleaned during our quick ride back to MDR Harbor, going with the wind. It was rough out there, but the fishing was excellent and Jeremy did a great job as usual. Not to mention, my biggest red made for a great dinner - one of the finest eating fish in our waters.
Nice Red and Victory at Sea
http://imageshack.us/a/img837/9313/img0049eg.jpg
My Haul – Limits of Reds and Sculpin
http://imageshack.us/a/img811/6098/img0057kh.jpg