Tunaslam
11-03-2013, 03:40 PM
I went fishing Sat. 11-02-13, with Lal on his 18’ boat the “Rubber Ducky”. We launched out of Davies in Long Beach at 5:30 am, our beginning destination being Izor’s Reef.
The weather forecast called for all of one knot winds in the morning, and they were not wrong. It was still pitch black on the water when we arrived at Izor’s around 6:05am. Without wind and no current, the curse of fishing, we went absolutely nowhere on our first drift. We might have covered 50 feet in 15 minutes, if that?
The scenery was almost serene, with a very nice sunrise:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3003680x510_zps0c21e550.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3004680x510_zps48dba636.jpg
We moved around and saw lots of great structure and good marks, yet nothing was hungry. Finally Lal got bit and it was a good one. Up comes a four pound Sand Bass.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3005680x510_zps5445e3d0.jpg
On Lal’s next cast he again got bit, and another hard pulling Sand Bass:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3007680x510_zpsc962da54.jpg
So I finally get slammed hard on my 5” MC Red Flake, 2oz lead head and 25 pound line! Knowing that Izor’s in the wee hours generally has some lunkers on the prowl? I gain about three cranks and 15 feet of line and then the fish says I don’t want any part of this action and makes a beeline for the bottom. My drag is screaming for all of five seconds and POW! I reeled in some very badly frayed line, I got rocked. I asked Lal to test my drag and he said gad that is tight. Obviously this fish had some beef! Oh well I had the right gear and still it was not enough?
A little later we both caught 1.5 to 2 pound Sandies and a couple of Rockfish. The current never improved and we reached high tide at 8:30am. It was time for a move south to some stones, the pipe and Newport Reef. The seas were still like glass and you could see forever! What a sensational way to enjoy some time on the water.
Lal caught several more small Sand Bass and a couple of Sculpin. I caught one sand bass and a Sculpin and only got short bit a bunch of times. We must have tried some ten different stones and high spots for little in the way of bites. We had good marks; the fish just would not bite without current. At 11am we moved back north stopping on several hard bottom spots for nada.
At noon we fished the Gambler and I caught the usual lone Sand Bass at this spot and we both added to the reef with lost tackle. One more stop on a very small stone for some large Sculpin. Not even this spot was yielding much as we both caught just two with this being the largest:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3008680x510_zpscac8be17.jpg
We called it a day at 1:30 with just a little bit of breeze beginning to show. What a drop dead gorgeous day on the water. We ran in at 27 knots with barely a ripple. The final count was 9 Sand Bass, 6 Sculpin and a few Rockfish. All fish were released to fight another day.
Thanks Lal, another special adventure on the Ducky. Can’t wait for our next adventure together.
Hook up! Cory
The weather forecast called for all of one knot winds in the morning, and they were not wrong. It was still pitch black on the water when we arrived at Izor’s around 6:05am. Without wind and no current, the curse of fishing, we went absolutely nowhere on our first drift. We might have covered 50 feet in 15 minutes, if that?
The scenery was almost serene, with a very nice sunrise:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3003680x510_zps0c21e550.jpg
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3004680x510_zps48dba636.jpg
We moved around and saw lots of great structure and good marks, yet nothing was hungry. Finally Lal got bit and it was a good one. Up comes a four pound Sand Bass.
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3005680x510_zps5445e3d0.jpg
On Lal’s next cast he again got bit, and another hard pulling Sand Bass:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3007680x510_zpsc962da54.jpg
So I finally get slammed hard on my 5” MC Red Flake, 2oz lead head and 25 pound line! Knowing that Izor’s in the wee hours generally has some lunkers on the prowl? I gain about three cranks and 15 feet of line and then the fish says I don’t want any part of this action and makes a beeline for the bottom. My drag is screaming for all of five seconds and POW! I reeled in some very badly frayed line, I got rocked. I asked Lal to test my drag and he said gad that is tight. Obviously this fish had some beef! Oh well I had the right gear and still it was not enough?
A little later we both caught 1.5 to 2 pound Sandies and a couple of Rockfish. The current never improved and we reached high tide at 8:30am. It was time for a move south to some stones, the pipe and Newport Reef. The seas were still like glass and you could see forever! What a sensational way to enjoy some time on the water.
Lal caught several more small Sand Bass and a couple of Sculpin. I caught one sand bass and a Sculpin and only got short bit a bunch of times. We must have tried some ten different stones and high spots for little in the way of bites. We had good marks; the fish just would not bite without current. At 11am we moved back north stopping on several hard bottom spots for nada.
At noon we fished the Gambler and I caught the usual lone Sand Bass at this spot and we both added to the reef with lost tackle. One more stop on a very small stone for some large Sculpin. Not even this spot was yielding much as we both caught just two with this being the largest:
http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/i394/tunaslam/Lal-Bass-11-02-13/100_3008680x510_zpscac8be17.jpg
We called it a day at 1:30 with just a little bit of breeze beginning to show. What a drop dead gorgeous day on the water. We ran in at 27 knots with barely a ripple. The final count was 9 Sand Bass, 6 Sculpin and a few Rockfish. All fish were released to fight another day.
Thanks Lal, another special adventure on the Ducky. Can’t wait for our next adventure together.
Hook up! Cory