Tunaslam
01-17-2013, 09:49 AM
I went fishing Wednesday 01-16-12, with Bill Fisher, on his 18’ Trophy, “Toad Hall”. I left my work in San Bernardino at 3:30pm; arriving at Bill’s Trailer residence on a cliff overlooking the water, some 10 miles south of Rosarito at 6:15pm Tuesday evening.
After enjoying a cold one, we left for a short drive to Charley’s to enjoy Fish and Shrimp Tacos. Bill ordered take out for a Shrimp Burrito and a Chicken Quesadilla for the next day’s lunch. Returned to Bill’s and turned on the Laker’s game versus Milwaukee. Go Lakers! Lights out at 9pm, Lakers were ahead by 11 points in the fourth quarter and eventually won the game.
You know your going to have a bad hair day when you wake up to 30 knot winds, yikes! We both grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down south to Las Salinas, where Bill slips his boat. There were whitecaps in the harbor and most of the flags were in rags from the fierce wind. The forecast called for 6-8 knots in the morning, and 9 to 12 in the afternoon, what happened?
Hoping for the wind to back off we decided to check out a few view points further south and see if this was an isolated wind, nope? So we went to La Fonda’s anticipating a good breakfast, not open. Back to a small village inland, the Mission, where we found a restaurant open that Bill had previously enjoyed the meals. We both ordered Machaca (Beef and Eggs) served with Frijoles and home fried potatoes and Tortillas. Yum Yum!
Well finally the wind was showing signs of backing off. We arrived back at his slip and sure enough the winds had decreased to under 10 knots. We exited the harbor around 9:00am, into 1 foot choppy seas, however, with virtually no swells.
We headed south toward Salsapuedes, stopping in deep water about five miles out. Although we drifted at a fairly rapid pace, our first couple of drops resulted in instant bites, with Bill catching a nice Copper Rockfish and myself getting hammered by an obvious Ling cod: The fierce head shakes and several vicious short runs pulling drag providing ample ammunition to determine the kind of species. Bill collected the gaff and made a great head shot.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2400680x510_zps9d0acd24.jpg
We had drifted way off the structure and Bill put us back on the spot. Once again we were both bit within seconds of reaching the bottom. Bill caught a Red and I got slammed again by another 8 to 10 pound Lingcod. We could only get one drop in per drift as we were flying, and we spent a lot of time re-positioning the boat for each drift. I caught a third Lingcod in a row, this one just 24 inches, released, and added a nice Copper Rockfish and our first Bocaccio of the day. Bill also caught several 24-25 inch Lingcod, females loaded with eggs, which were released and his first Bocaccio.
After 40 minutes the wind was back, making fishing a real challenge in the deeper water. On our next several drifts the Humboldt Squid moved in and we kept a couple before moving on. Winds were now at 20+ knots and fishing the shallower water was our only option. We found another good bite on the Lingcod in 140 to 165 feet of water. The scope out was harsh, and really made us work to stay near the bottom to get a bite. For the most part nothing was eating up in the water column, with a couple of exceptions, a Bank Perch and the ever extinct Bocaccio. Although I got most of my Lingcod bites on the wind in.
Several times the winds backed off for ten minutes or so, and then returned to over 20 knots. We tried the under 100 feet area to no avail. It seemed the closer to shore we got the windier it became. Bill returned to the 140 foot area and promptly got hammered on his Lucanus lure. There was a serious bend in his rod and drag was spilling off the reel. I grabbed the gaff and sure enough a large Lingcod appeared from the depths. A nice head shot and the Ling was in the boat:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2403680x510_zps8a08a997.jpg
I added another nice Lingcod to the pot:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2401680x510_zpsfde1cca0.jpg
We caught 15 lingcod, 10 of which were over 24 inches, keeping four. We only caught six Bocaccio, the first time in forever, we didn’t limit out. We didn’t return with a limit of 20 fish, however, we were close. Considering the late start and crappy conditions, it was a surprising day of decent fishing.
At 1:30 pm we called it a day. The winds were now at 25+ knots with gusts over 30, time to bail.
The day’s catch of the four Lingcod:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2405680x510_zps16095a78.jpg
Cleaned the fish outside the harbor, and stopped at Charlie’s for some more fish and shrimp tacos for me to take home to the wife. Returned to Bill’s for a short rest, before beginning the long journey home to Diamond Bar at 4:00 pm.
Otay Mesa was said to be a 25 minute wait at the border. Took me 24 minutes, and pulled into my driveway at 7:20 pm.
Bill, you are uncanny for putting us on the fish, no matter the conditions, thanks for hanging in there. I had a blast, thanks so much for the invite, and fabulous hospitality. What a fun day on the big pond!
Hook up!
Cory
After enjoying a cold one, we left for a short drive to Charley’s to enjoy Fish and Shrimp Tacos. Bill ordered take out for a Shrimp Burrito and a Chicken Quesadilla for the next day’s lunch. Returned to Bill’s and turned on the Laker’s game versus Milwaukee. Go Lakers! Lights out at 9pm, Lakers were ahead by 11 points in the fourth quarter and eventually won the game.
You know your going to have a bad hair day when you wake up to 30 knot winds, yikes! We both grabbed a cup of coffee and headed down south to Las Salinas, where Bill slips his boat. There were whitecaps in the harbor and most of the flags were in rags from the fierce wind. The forecast called for 6-8 knots in the morning, and 9 to 12 in the afternoon, what happened?
Hoping for the wind to back off we decided to check out a few view points further south and see if this was an isolated wind, nope? So we went to La Fonda’s anticipating a good breakfast, not open. Back to a small village inland, the Mission, where we found a restaurant open that Bill had previously enjoyed the meals. We both ordered Machaca (Beef and Eggs) served with Frijoles and home fried potatoes and Tortillas. Yum Yum!
Well finally the wind was showing signs of backing off. We arrived back at his slip and sure enough the winds had decreased to under 10 knots. We exited the harbor around 9:00am, into 1 foot choppy seas, however, with virtually no swells.
We headed south toward Salsapuedes, stopping in deep water about five miles out. Although we drifted at a fairly rapid pace, our first couple of drops resulted in instant bites, with Bill catching a nice Copper Rockfish and myself getting hammered by an obvious Ling cod: The fierce head shakes and several vicious short runs pulling drag providing ample ammunition to determine the kind of species. Bill collected the gaff and made a great head shot.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2400680x510_zps9d0acd24.jpg
We had drifted way off the structure and Bill put us back on the spot. Once again we were both bit within seconds of reaching the bottom. Bill caught a Red and I got slammed again by another 8 to 10 pound Lingcod. We could only get one drop in per drift as we were flying, and we spent a lot of time re-positioning the boat for each drift. I caught a third Lingcod in a row, this one just 24 inches, released, and added a nice Copper Rockfish and our first Bocaccio of the day. Bill also caught several 24-25 inch Lingcod, females loaded with eggs, which were released and his first Bocaccio.
After 40 minutes the wind was back, making fishing a real challenge in the deeper water. On our next several drifts the Humboldt Squid moved in and we kept a couple before moving on. Winds were now at 20+ knots and fishing the shallower water was our only option. We found another good bite on the Lingcod in 140 to 165 feet of water. The scope out was harsh, and really made us work to stay near the bottom to get a bite. For the most part nothing was eating up in the water column, with a couple of exceptions, a Bank Perch and the ever extinct Bocaccio. Although I got most of my Lingcod bites on the wind in.
Several times the winds backed off for ten minutes or so, and then returned to over 20 knots. We tried the under 100 feet area to no avail. It seemed the closer to shore we got the windier it became. Bill returned to the 140 foot area and promptly got hammered on his Lucanus lure. There was a serious bend in his rod and drag was spilling off the reel. I grabbed the gaff and sure enough a large Lingcod appeared from the depths. A nice head shot and the Ling was in the boat:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2403680x510_zps8a08a997.jpg
I added another nice Lingcod to the pot:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2401680x510_zpsfde1cca0.jpg
We caught 15 lingcod, 10 of which were over 24 inches, keeping four. We only caught six Bocaccio, the first time in forever, we didn’t limit out. We didn’t return with a limit of 20 fish, however, we were close. Considering the late start and crappy conditions, it was a surprising day of decent fishing.
At 1:30 pm we called it a day. The winds were now at 25+ knots with gusts over 30, time to bail.
The day’s catch of the four Lingcod:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2405680x510_zps16095a78.jpg
Cleaned the fish outside the harbor, and stopped at Charlie’s for some more fish and shrimp tacos for me to take home to the wife. Returned to Bill’s for a short rest, before beginning the long journey home to Diamond Bar at 4:00 pm.
Otay Mesa was said to be a 25 minute wait at the border. Took me 24 minutes, and pulled into my driveway at 7:20 pm.
Bill, you are uncanny for putting us on the fish, no matter the conditions, thanks for hanging in there. I had a blast, thanks so much for the invite, and fabulous hospitality. What a fun day on the big pond!
Hook up!
Cory