Tunaslam
03-03-2013, 09:01 PM
I went fishing on a 2-day trip, leaving Friday evening, and fishing Saturday and Sunday 3-02-13 and 03-03-13 with John on his dynamite 25’Parker, the “Horndog”. We launched out of Cabrillo’s in San Pedro at 5:00 pm, our beginning destination being the East end of Catalina and on to the Vee’s.
Watching the Sun go down:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2468680x510_zps5dca1f36.jpg
In the lee of the Island:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2471680x510_zps074a97ae.jpg
It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach the first Vee, where we began to search for squid. The ride over was into only 1-2 foot seas, and a small wind chop, the view was crystal clear! Felt like you could reach out and touch Catalina.
We coasted up and down a ¼ mile area looking for any signs of squid. The meter lit up with some very good marks just west of the third Vee. Water Temperatures were a chilly 55.5 degrees, which certainly didn’t make prospects promising for a bite on the exotics, Yellowtail and White Seabass?
John put the light out and we at first began drifting, then we watched a mass of squid rise from the bottom in 110 feet to near the surface. The first arriving scouts were as skittish as can be, shooting past the light and returning with a burst of speed to dive under the boat.
John released the anchor and we set up for a long night. There were several other boats with lights out and both were constantly moving. We anticipate searching for some good marks. It wasn’t long before several seals joined the party. As soon as the squid began to ball up, the seals came crashing through and breaking them up. We managed to scratch a few squid in the net here and there. We had one shot with the Crowder, and managed about 30 pieces. A third and a fourth seal arrived, then six had us surrounded and at last count there were at least a dozen.
We periodically turned off the light and waited awhile before turning back on to only find that 3 or 4 of the seals had hung around. Nevertheless, we continued to pick at the squid with the net. We scooped 3 here, 2 there and lots of singles, then an occasional 5 or 6 pieces. I worked the net, while John warmed up dinner in the microwave. I had brought Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mash Potatoes and Gravy, Coleslaw and Biscuits. John brought breakfast and lunch items, while I was in charge of the dinner menu.
John enjoyed a cold Bruski, while I sipped on a glass of Chardonnay. We worked and worked at catching the fleeting small schools of squid. By 10 pm we had between 150 and 200 pieces, perhaps a short scoop? The seals were relentless and the time between a squid school making a showing was increasing, so we shut it down at 10 pm. Wow, that sleeping bag was sure inviting, and I quickly passed out.
I woke up, just at grey light, about 5:35 am. It was grease calm and the meter was empty, with maybe a little fuzz of squid eggs on the bottom. We had set out a few dropper loop outfits and I also put down a jig with several squid on it. I did get up at 2am and re-baited all three outfits, as all the squid were gone. Same thing at this hour, no bait remained on the rigs out. So I re-baited again.
John rolled out of the bunk and I poured us both a cup of coffee from the thermos I had brought. A little microwave boost to warm the cups up was welcomed. I looked at the rigs and all three were being chewed on. The meter had some sizeable schools of bait marks. Several times we pulled up hooked mackerel. The heck with wasting live squid, John had brought along a couple of bags of frozen, so we rigged up with those. Didn’t matter, could not keep the Mac’s off the bait? I put down a Sabicki rig and hammered the Mac’s. Fortunately John has a split bait tank and we added the fresh caught mackerel to the other side for future use.
John fired up the grill for some breakfast muffins, eggs and ham, yum, yum! We were ready to give on the area, as how can we expect to catch something without the ability to present a bait that is constantly under attack?
One of the private boats around us was the Fresh One and the other was the Provider. I hailed them both and only the Fresh One came back. Previous owner Matt Gerns was not on board, only the new owner Bob. They had a similar experience the night before and during the morning hours. They also could not get a bait down without the Mac’s destroying it. They were on the move and so were we. We discussed options, yet with the chilly water temps, nothing appeared easy. We agreed to stay in touch in case either of us got lucky.
We worked our way to the west end, stopping on various stones to fish rockfish, and also finding a few kelp bed areas to target Sheephead and Whitefish, or anything else that might want to bite. The fish were just not on the chew. There were about ten boats fishing the deep water Rockfish on the west end of the island. We joined them and spent about three hours catching close to limits of rockfish. More Bocaccio than we needed, a half dozen Reds, four Coppers and four Starries.
The weather throughout the day was sensational. At 1pm we had enough Rockfish, and continued on to the front side of Island. Once again we fished a variety of Kelp beds, and structure areas for nothing. We metered fish, and had good current, yet nothing wanted to play. We had heard the Isthmus was holding squid and looked around for possible clues for where they were. I fileted up some Rockfish for dinner, and we enjoyed the rice, mushrooms and broccoli I had brought along to eat with the pan fried fish. A glass of Cabernet before dinner topped off the evening.
As the sun dropped below the horizon we searched and searched for squid signs. Found a few and put out the light. The squid here were even thinner in size, and we perhaps scratched out another 20 to 30 pieces before they seemed to totally disappear. There were a few seals around, but they didn’t seem to matter with the light schools of squid we found. We both crashed for the evening, hoping for better things to come on Sunday.
I awoke at grey light and set out some bait rigs. John brewed up some fresh hot coffee, which hit the spot. The sunrise was decent, as numerous clouds had moved in, as compared to clear skies the previous day.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2474680x510_zps22828645.jpg
There was a definite change in the weather; I don’t think the sweat shirts are coming off early today. A stiff breeze was building and the nip in the air was evident. Sitting on what we believed was a squid nest, we hoped for some predators to wander by. No such luck. We hung out until after 7:30 am. John whipped up another great batch of breakfast muffins. We made a move to return to the west end to catch a few more fish tacos. 10 minutes later the seas were capping. A quick right turn and off to Palos Verdes we went. It was a downhill run and the Parker handled the 2 foot chop nicely.
We arrived at our preferred destination within 45 minutes. Several hours later we had caught 7 Calico Bass and a dozen mixed Rockfish, all released. We called it a day at 11:00 am.
It was a fun couple of days, and it was nice to research the Island. The cold water was depressing, and rumors of home guard Yellowtail on the chew were not proven by us, nor anyone else that we know of. Hopefully things will warm up soon, and the exotics will begin to bite.
I’m working the Fred Hall show opening and closing day and hope to see some old friends and meet some new ones. Drop by the AllCoast booth and say hi.
Another fun adventure together John, thanks so much for the invite. We’ll get them next time.
Hook up! Cory
Watching the Sun go down:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2468680x510_zps5dca1f36.jpg
In the lee of the Island:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2471680x510_zps074a97ae.jpg
It took us 1 hour and 10 minutes to reach the first Vee, where we began to search for squid. The ride over was into only 1-2 foot seas, and a small wind chop, the view was crystal clear! Felt like you could reach out and touch Catalina.
We coasted up and down a ¼ mile area looking for any signs of squid. The meter lit up with some very good marks just west of the third Vee. Water Temperatures were a chilly 55.5 degrees, which certainly didn’t make prospects promising for a bite on the exotics, Yellowtail and White Seabass?
John put the light out and we at first began drifting, then we watched a mass of squid rise from the bottom in 110 feet to near the surface. The first arriving scouts were as skittish as can be, shooting past the light and returning with a burst of speed to dive under the boat.
John released the anchor and we set up for a long night. There were several other boats with lights out and both were constantly moving. We anticipate searching for some good marks. It wasn’t long before several seals joined the party. As soon as the squid began to ball up, the seals came crashing through and breaking them up. We managed to scratch a few squid in the net here and there. We had one shot with the Crowder, and managed about 30 pieces. A third and a fourth seal arrived, then six had us surrounded and at last count there were at least a dozen.
We periodically turned off the light and waited awhile before turning back on to only find that 3 or 4 of the seals had hung around. Nevertheless, we continued to pick at the squid with the net. We scooped 3 here, 2 there and lots of singles, then an occasional 5 or 6 pieces. I worked the net, while John warmed up dinner in the microwave. I had brought Kentucky Fried Chicken, Mash Potatoes and Gravy, Coleslaw and Biscuits. John brought breakfast and lunch items, while I was in charge of the dinner menu.
John enjoyed a cold Bruski, while I sipped on a glass of Chardonnay. We worked and worked at catching the fleeting small schools of squid. By 10 pm we had between 150 and 200 pieces, perhaps a short scoop? The seals were relentless and the time between a squid school making a showing was increasing, so we shut it down at 10 pm. Wow, that sleeping bag was sure inviting, and I quickly passed out.
I woke up, just at grey light, about 5:35 am. It was grease calm and the meter was empty, with maybe a little fuzz of squid eggs on the bottom. We had set out a few dropper loop outfits and I also put down a jig with several squid on it. I did get up at 2am and re-baited all three outfits, as all the squid were gone. Same thing at this hour, no bait remained on the rigs out. So I re-baited again.
John rolled out of the bunk and I poured us both a cup of coffee from the thermos I had brought. A little microwave boost to warm the cups up was welcomed. I looked at the rigs and all three were being chewed on. The meter had some sizeable schools of bait marks. Several times we pulled up hooked mackerel. The heck with wasting live squid, John had brought along a couple of bags of frozen, so we rigged up with those. Didn’t matter, could not keep the Mac’s off the bait? I put down a Sabicki rig and hammered the Mac’s. Fortunately John has a split bait tank and we added the fresh caught mackerel to the other side for future use.
John fired up the grill for some breakfast muffins, eggs and ham, yum, yum! We were ready to give on the area, as how can we expect to catch something without the ability to present a bait that is constantly under attack?
One of the private boats around us was the Fresh One and the other was the Provider. I hailed them both and only the Fresh One came back. Previous owner Matt Gerns was not on board, only the new owner Bob. They had a similar experience the night before and during the morning hours. They also could not get a bait down without the Mac’s destroying it. They were on the move and so were we. We discussed options, yet with the chilly water temps, nothing appeared easy. We agreed to stay in touch in case either of us got lucky.
We worked our way to the west end, stopping on various stones to fish rockfish, and also finding a few kelp bed areas to target Sheephead and Whitefish, or anything else that might want to bite. The fish were just not on the chew. There were about ten boats fishing the deep water Rockfish on the west end of the island. We joined them and spent about three hours catching close to limits of rockfish. More Bocaccio than we needed, a half dozen Reds, four Coppers and four Starries.
The weather throughout the day was sensational. At 1pm we had enough Rockfish, and continued on to the front side of Island. Once again we fished a variety of Kelp beds, and structure areas for nothing. We metered fish, and had good current, yet nothing wanted to play. We had heard the Isthmus was holding squid and looked around for possible clues for where they were. I fileted up some Rockfish for dinner, and we enjoyed the rice, mushrooms and broccoli I had brought along to eat with the pan fried fish. A glass of Cabernet before dinner topped off the evening.
As the sun dropped below the horizon we searched and searched for squid signs. Found a few and put out the light. The squid here were even thinner in size, and we perhaps scratched out another 20 to 30 pieces before they seemed to totally disappear. There were a few seals around, but they didn’t seem to matter with the light schools of squid we found. We both crashed for the evening, hoping for better things to come on Sunday.
I awoke at grey light and set out some bait rigs. John brewed up some fresh hot coffee, which hit the spot. The sunrise was decent, as numerous clouds had moved in, as compared to clear skies the previous day.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2474680x510_zps22828645.jpg
There was a definite change in the weather; I don’t think the sweat shirts are coming off early today. A stiff breeze was building and the nip in the air was evident. Sitting on what we believed was a squid nest, we hoped for some predators to wander by. No such luck. We hung out until after 7:30 am. John whipped up another great batch of breakfast muffins. We made a move to return to the west end to catch a few more fish tacos. 10 minutes later the seas were capping. A quick right turn and off to Palos Verdes we went. It was a downhill run and the Parker handled the 2 foot chop nicely.
We arrived at our preferred destination within 45 minutes. Several hours later we had caught 7 Calico Bass and a dozen mixed Rockfish, all released. We called it a day at 11:00 am.
It was a fun couple of days, and it was nice to research the Island. The cold water was depressing, and rumors of home guard Yellowtail on the chew were not proven by us, nor anyone else that we know of. Hopefully things will warm up soon, and the exotics will begin to bite.
I’m working the Fred Hall show opening and closing day and hope to see some old friends and meet some new ones. Drop by the AllCoast booth and say hi.
Another fun adventure together John, thanks so much for the invite. We’ll get them next time.
Hook up! Cory