PDA

View Full Version : Rpt-Wed-04-03-13 The Reds and Lings wake up Hungry!



Tunaslam
04-03-2013, 08:59 PM
I went fishing Wednesday 04-03-12, with Bill Fisher, on his 18’ Trophy, “Toad Hall”. I spent Tuesday evening at Bill’s place south of Rosarito, and we awoke at 5:45 am and were quickly off to Las Salinas where Bill slips his boat. We arrived in Las Salinas, at 6:30am, and exited the harbor into fairly calm seas, with some small swells.

Bill headed out towards the Finger Bank for some deep water fishing. We reached an area showing 307 feet of depth when it quickly rose to 250 feet. There were some excellent marks below and we both dropped our preferred setups. Bill fished with a Lucanus lure with a combo plastic used as a teaser. I dropped with my favorite 8oz Burnt Orange Jax jig and a shrimp fly located 18 inches above the lure. Bill never made it to the bottom, before getting hammered. I hit bottom and reeled in my slack line and it was fish on. Bill’s fish fought all the way to the surface, meaning he had a Lingcod, or possibly a nice Red. It was a Lingcod, about 26 inches, and Bill chose to release it. I brought up a nice Copper Rockfish.

We had drifted off the hard bottom and Bill reset our drift. Same results, these fish were hungry. Both of us got slammed, and I brought up two extinct Bocaccio, while Bill brought in a big Starry. The meter still showed hard bottom, so I dropped again. I hit bottom, slowly pumped my rig up and down, then began to wind up, five cranks of the reel, and I am hammered. There was a big bend in the rod and a little drag was taken. Got to be a Lingcod, fierce head shakes and it wants no part of being reeled in, taking a little more drag several more times. Bill, are you ready with the gaff, oops, no it’s down in the cabin. As the Lingcod appeared from the depths, I held its head under water until Bill arrived with the gaff. A nice stick, thanks Bill.

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2494680x510_zps542c86eb.jpg

On our next drift, with a different direction, covering similar structure, Bill proceeded to catch more Lingcod, one was about 20 inches and the next one was another solid 25 inches, both released. I found the Reds on the chew, catching a double:

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2496680x510_zps0fa54c31.jpg

Bill dropped back down and he also caught a nice Red, however, getting Bill to take a picture is like pulling teeth, sorry. With more marks on the mete, I dropped again and caught another dandy Red, our fourth and last keeper of the day. We subsequently released several smaller Reds during the day:

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2495680x510_zps5a417555.jpg

The Lingcod kept biting, and I caught another good one:

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/100_2493680x510_zpsc48d6fe1.jpg

These rocks were loaded with Lingcod and Bocaccio, as both Bill and I loaded up with them. Most of the Lings were released, and whenever possible we released the Bocaccio. We also caught more Coppers, Starries, Bank Perch, and a small Johnny Bass. With easy limits of Bocaccio, and close to limits of an assortment of Rockfish, Mother Wind decided to cut the party short. Oh well, so we have to head to shallower water?

It was 10:00 am and Bill set us up in about 180’, where we caught way too many more Bocaccio and plenty more Lingcod, which were all released. At noon we moved into shallower water and caught a Blue Bass and Chocolate Rockfish to add to our totals of fish caught. The wind and rapid drift made the decision to head her for the barn an easy one.

We cleaned the fish at the dock; given the harbor entrance was way too rough to drift in. We ran back out to toss the carcasses outside the dock area.

I relaxed and enjoyed some Hamachi Sashimi Bill served up before heading off on my long drive home to Diamond Bar. Otay Mesa was said to be a about a 50 minute wait at the border. It took me 40 minutes to cross and I pulled into my driveway at 7:05 pm.

Bill, thanks a bunch, you can sure find the fish on the chew, fine job again! Can’t wait until our next adventure!
Hook up!
Cory

DockRat
04-08-2013, 05:28 PM
You better stick to fishing with Bill for good numbers.
Xlnt report as always.
DR