Ifishtoolittle
08-08-2013, 10:12 PM
Hello there again my fellow anglers of all ages. I bring to you all yet another IF2L report, and this one is quite the fun read!
For today’s adventure only my uncle, cousin, and I decided to venture back out of Morro Bay on my most favorite Central Cal sportboat the Fiesta. As I’ve mentioned before the boat is FAST! When it came to changing spots the vessel would never run for more than 5 minutes, and as I mentioned in my last post, we fished each spot on a drift.
The day started off with the same old routine, get to the docks, board, set-up our rigs, bait-up, sit for 40 minutes until our destination was reached, drop down, hook –up, and repeat! Interestingly, the day started off a little differently this time. We arrived to the docks at 0730 in hopes of a light load since it was a Thursday, but we were surprised with a nearly max load of 29 other anglers. Not taking this lightly we decided to station ourselves on the bow as recommended by Sean. That spot would actually turn out to be the money spot for my little cousin who just absolutely DESTROYED the rockfish today.
After we boarded, we quickly set-up the traditional dual shrimp fly rigs with a 6-16oz torpedo. The size of our leads depended on the strength of the current and while I stuck with a 6oz throughout the day my uncle opted for the 1lb lead bomber and my cousin followed suit. The drive to the first spot took roughly 40-45min with 5kts of wind approx. On this first 150’ drop most anglers did not hook up on any fish or at least as much as the skipper had preferred. Throughout the day we would discover that the better locales for the hotter bite would be in shallow water (<70-80’ and sometimes as shallow as 60’).
As the day progressed we shifted over to shallower pastures. During these stops I decided to throw a 2oz slider w/bead and a Gulp! Nuclear Chicken jerkshad rigged on a 2/0 EWG hook. Using this combo I was able to nail a Red even before I hit bottom and a sugar bass to the boot! I also utilized my excess Robocraws and bagged another sugar. The rest of the day essentially panned out with shallow water drifts with my cousin landing 20 rockfish. That little guy slayed it today with reds, chuckleheads, sugars, johnnies, blue bass, black rockfish, and gophers in his ridiculous bag of fish. The only thing that was missing was a Lingcod.
Okay, enough of the basic know how info. Let’s get to the good part. As the trip drew near its end we had about an hour left and several sizable lingcod were caught on nothing but strips and salted chovies’. My and uncle and I were looking at each other with little hope for a shot at the JP. But, if there is one thing I’ve learned from fishing with this guy is that you should always fish to the very end or at least until the deckhand or skipper chews you out for not bringing up your line. Lol! Using this motto my uncle bagged not one but two lings in a row. The first was 23” and the other was short. He did this in two consecutive drops about 30 minutes before we headed back to the barn. Talk about a lucky basstid!
With his Ling in his bag he had major doubts about winning the JP. When it came time for the fish clean Tabby called out for the JP and “luckily”, and I do say luckily, my uncle took the JP with his miniscule 4lb Ling! Other anglers on board had lings well into the 8lb class, but “luckily” they did enter the JP which allowed my uncle to reap and sow the JP winnings.
Once again, we had a stellar trip with the Fiesta crew and the great fishing up in CenCal. We’ll definitely be back in the future perhaps even for an ablie trip.
Fish count from Virg’s:
32 anglers: 4 Lings and 214 rockfish.
Fish count for us:
Me: 9 Rockfish kept, 1 released, blue bass, black rockfish, red, gopher, sugar bass, china rockfish
Uncle: 2 lings, 6 rockfish
Cousin: 20 rockfish, 15 kept, every dang species that one could catch in that area except for a china and lings
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMGP6137_zps42503b5c.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/IMGP6137_zps42503b5c.jpg.html)
Getting ready to head out!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7793_zps931697f7.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7793_zps931697f7.jpg.html)
Chinese guy with a China Rockfish?!?! Lol!!!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7780_zps8722ba94.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7780_zps8722ba94.jpg.html)
That dumb red. Nuclear Chickens aren’t edible!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7781_zpse2a3a033.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7781_zpse2a3a033.jpg.html)
The contender ling
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7783_zpsc158b4d6.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7783_zpsc158b4d6.jpg.html)
Short but sweet!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7785_zpsbdff8f6d.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7785_zpsbdff8f6d.jpg.html)
Jackpot baby! Twice in a row for this family!!!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7787_zps4f6145af.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7787_zps4f6145af.jpg.html)
Another shot.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7788_zpseaa20691.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7788_zpseaa20691.jpg.html)
My cousin’s pile of fish. Keep in mind he is only 11 and he whooped my *** today!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7796_zpsd5d1df64.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7796_zpsd5d1df64.jpg.html)
Dinner for days.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7801_zpsf8ff5bf1.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7801_zpsf8ff5bf1.jpg.html)
Yeah buddy!!!!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7802_zps78357b5e.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7802_zps78357b5e.jpg.html)
Getting ready for the gill and gut!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMGP6145_zps6f925e01.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/IMGP6145_zps6f925e01.jpg.html)
A victory drink for a fun day!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_27871_zps12a65105.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/IMG_27871_zps12a65105.jpg.html)
Goodbye Morro bay. We’ll be back soon!
-IF2L
Sean, Tabby if you two are reading this I just wanted to say thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed the read!
For today’s adventure only my uncle, cousin, and I decided to venture back out of Morro Bay on my most favorite Central Cal sportboat the Fiesta. As I’ve mentioned before the boat is FAST! When it came to changing spots the vessel would never run for more than 5 minutes, and as I mentioned in my last post, we fished each spot on a drift.
The day started off with the same old routine, get to the docks, board, set-up our rigs, bait-up, sit for 40 minutes until our destination was reached, drop down, hook –up, and repeat! Interestingly, the day started off a little differently this time. We arrived to the docks at 0730 in hopes of a light load since it was a Thursday, but we were surprised with a nearly max load of 29 other anglers. Not taking this lightly we decided to station ourselves on the bow as recommended by Sean. That spot would actually turn out to be the money spot for my little cousin who just absolutely DESTROYED the rockfish today.
After we boarded, we quickly set-up the traditional dual shrimp fly rigs with a 6-16oz torpedo. The size of our leads depended on the strength of the current and while I stuck with a 6oz throughout the day my uncle opted for the 1lb lead bomber and my cousin followed suit. The drive to the first spot took roughly 40-45min with 5kts of wind approx. On this first 150’ drop most anglers did not hook up on any fish or at least as much as the skipper had preferred. Throughout the day we would discover that the better locales for the hotter bite would be in shallow water (<70-80’ and sometimes as shallow as 60’).
As the day progressed we shifted over to shallower pastures. During these stops I decided to throw a 2oz slider w/bead and a Gulp! Nuclear Chicken jerkshad rigged on a 2/0 EWG hook. Using this combo I was able to nail a Red even before I hit bottom and a sugar bass to the boot! I also utilized my excess Robocraws and bagged another sugar. The rest of the day essentially panned out with shallow water drifts with my cousin landing 20 rockfish. That little guy slayed it today with reds, chuckleheads, sugars, johnnies, blue bass, black rockfish, and gophers in his ridiculous bag of fish. The only thing that was missing was a Lingcod.
Okay, enough of the basic know how info. Let’s get to the good part. As the trip drew near its end we had about an hour left and several sizable lingcod were caught on nothing but strips and salted chovies’. My and uncle and I were looking at each other with little hope for a shot at the JP. But, if there is one thing I’ve learned from fishing with this guy is that you should always fish to the very end or at least until the deckhand or skipper chews you out for not bringing up your line. Lol! Using this motto my uncle bagged not one but two lings in a row. The first was 23” and the other was short. He did this in two consecutive drops about 30 minutes before we headed back to the barn. Talk about a lucky basstid!
With his Ling in his bag he had major doubts about winning the JP. When it came time for the fish clean Tabby called out for the JP and “luckily”, and I do say luckily, my uncle took the JP with his miniscule 4lb Ling! Other anglers on board had lings well into the 8lb class, but “luckily” they did enter the JP which allowed my uncle to reap and sow the JP winnings.
Once again, we had a stellar trip with the Fiesta crew and the great fishing up in CenCal. We’ll definitely be back in the future perhaps even for an ablie trip.
Fish count from Virg’s:
32 anglers: 4 Lings and 214 rockfish.
Fish count for us:
Me: 9 Rockfish kept, 1 released, blue bass, black rockfish, red, gopher, sugar bass, china rockfish
Uncle: 2 lings, 6 rockfish
Cousin: 20 rockfish, 15 kept, every dang species that one could catch in that area except for a china and lings
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMGP6137_zps42503b5c.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/IMGP6137_zps42503b5c.jpg.html)
Getting ready to head out!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7793_zps931697f7.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7793_zps931697f7.jpg.html)
Chinese guy with a China Rockfish?!?! Lol!!!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7780_zps8722ba94.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7780_zps8722ba94.jpg.html)
That dumb red. Nuclear Chickens aren’t edible!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7781_zpse2a3a033.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7781_zpse2a3a033.jpg.html)
The contender ling
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7783_zpsc158b4d6.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7783_zpsc158b4d6.jpg.html)
Short but sweet!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7785_zpsbdff8f6d.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7785_zpsbdff8f6d.jpg.html)
Jackpot baby! Twice in a row for this family!!!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7787_zps4f6145af.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7787_zps4f6145af.jpg.html)
Another shot.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7788_zpseaa20691.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7788_zpseaa20691.jpg.html)
My cousin’s pile of fish. Keep in mind he is only 11 and he whooped my *** today!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7796_zpsd5d1df64.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7796_zpsd5d1df64.jpg.html)
Dinner for days.
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7801_zpsf8ff5bf1.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7801_zpsf8ff5bf1.jpg.html)
Yeah buddy!!!!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/DSCF7802_zps78357b5e.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/DSCF7802_zps78357b5e.jpg.html)
Getting ready for the gill and gut!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMGP6145_zps6f925e01.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/IMGP6145_zps6f925e01.jpg.html)
A victory drink for a fun day!
http://i661.photobucket.com/albums/uu337/Ifishtoolittle/IMG_27871_zps12a65105.jpg (http://s661.photobucket.com/user/Ifishtoolittle/media/IMG_27871_zps12a65105.jpg.html)
Goodbye Morro bay. We’ll be back soon!
-IF2L
Sean, Tabby if you two are reading this I just wanted to say thanks again, and I hope you enjoyed the read!