basshole1
06-16-2014, 09:28 PM
Hello FNN!! About a month ago, I was browsing Amazon for fishing goodies when I discovered an interesting product. Eight jerkbaits in a sardine pattern for a little over $13.00. Initially, I was hesitant on purchasing this item because I knew they had to be some cheap knock-offs. However, each unit being roughly $1.65 per piece, free shipping and a bit of curiosity enticed me enough to hit the checkout button. A month later, I received them and now it was time to see if it was money well spent.
Destination: King Harbor
Target Species: anything
I was in the South Bay with a couple of hours to kill so I decided to test out the lures and hopefully land a couple of quality fish. The weather was perfect, it was close to high tide, I couldn't have asked for a better day :Big Grin:. Upon arriving at my fishing destination (12:30 pm), I immediately started throwing off the rocks on the harbor side. At the water's edge, the first thing I noticed was how awful the water quality looked. Now I'm no hydrologist but it looked pretty unpleasant. Despite the nastiness, there was a plethora of life and an abundance of fish swimming near the rocks. I saw large schools of bait fish swimming by and TONS of fry swimming around. They were everywhere. Opaleye perhaps? Anyways, the first hour was pretty bunk. I had no fish and no hits. Frustrated, I fervently retrieved my lure through some kelp when I felt some resistance. I thought i got hung up but to my surprise, it turned out to be a little Calico.
Here's a photo of the little guy.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_132018_zps20b6809f.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_132018_zps20b6809f.jpg.html)
I don't think I've ever been more excited by such a small fish. I was stoked that the lures I had already written off as cheap garbage actually worked!! :Dancing Banana: I decided to move a little further down into a larger area of kelp. I was instantly rewarded with my largest fish of the day. Still pretty small but a monster compared to the first one. LOL
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_145607_zps68998a6e.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_145607_zps68998a6e.jpg.html)
The whole time, there was a HUGE Garibaldi swimming in and out of the rocks. Pretty cool. I even saw a LC Flash Minnow that was hung up on some kelp. I tried to retrieve it but after 5 minutes of a pathetic effort, I gave up. Fail. I continued to cast for 15 more minutes with no bites. On my way back, I decided to get in a few more casts where I caught my first fish. Feeling some pull, I landed my 3rd Calico of the day.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_145627_zps496736ba.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_145627_zps496736ba.jpg.html)
Next cast, I got another one. This is the smallest Calico I have ever landed or even seen for that matter. Talk about tiny, this little guy was barely larger than the lure.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_153329_zps23df26ff.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_153329_zps23df26ff.jpg.html)
I had a barracuda pursue my lure on the final cast but it broke its chase at the last minute. All in all, four Calicos in a beautiful couple of hours on the rocks. I was elated that the lures emitted enough action for the fish to bite. As soon as I got home, I went straight to my computer hoping to purchase some more. Bummer, they were unavailable and the seller even removed the items from their list. Oh well, too bad.
Here is the lure I was throwing. I took a pic next to a Rapala X-rap for comparison. Same profile except the Rapala comprises of a deep diving lip.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_200356_zps8b43e229.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_200356_zps8b43e229.jpg.html)
Hope everyone enjoyed the read and I do wish all the dads out there, a belated Happy Father's Day. Enjoy the rest of your week!!!
Destination: King Harbor
Target Species: anything
I was in the South Bay with a couple of hours to kill so I decided to test out the lures and hopefully land a couple of quality fish. The weather was perfect, it was close to high tide, I couldn't have asked for a better day :Big Grin:. Upon arriving at my fishing destination (12:30 pm), I immediately started throwing off the rocks on the harbor side. At the water's edge, the first thing I noticed was how awful the water quality looked. Now I'm no hydrologist but it looked pretty unpleasant. Despite the nastiness, there was a plethora of life and an abundance of fish swimming near the rocks. I saw large schools of bait fish swimming by and TONS of fry swimming around. They were everywhere. Opaleye perhaps? Anyways, the first hour was pretty bunk. I had no fish and no hits. Frustrated, I fervently retrieved my lure through some kelp when I felt some resistance. I thought i got hung up but to my surprise, it turned out to be a little Calico.
Here's a photo of the little guy.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_132018_zps20b6809f.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_132018_zps20b6809f.jpg.html)
I don't think I've ever been more excited by such a small fish. I was stoked that the lures I had already written off as cheap garbage actually worked!! :Dancing Banana: I decided to move a little further down into a larger area of kelp. I was instantly rewarded with my largest fish of the day. Still pretty small but a monster compared to the first one. LOL
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_145607_zps68998a6e.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_145607_zps68998a6e.jpg.html)
The whole time, there was a HUGE Garibaldi swimming in and out of the rocks. Pretty cool. I even saw a LC Flash Minnow that was hung up on some kelp. I tried to retrieve it but after 5 minutes of a pathetic effort, I gave up. Fail. I continued to cast for 15 more minutes with no bites. On my way back, I decided to get in a few more casts where I caught my first fish. Feeling some pull, I landed my 3rd Calico of the day.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_145627_zps496736ba.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_145627_zps496736ba.jpg.html)
Next cast, I got another one. This is the smallest Calico I have ever landed or even seen for that matter. Talk about tiny, this little guy was barely larger than the lure.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_153329_zps23df26ff.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_153329_zps23df26ff.jpg.html)
I had a barracuda pursue my lure on the final cast but it broke its chase at the last minute. All in all, four Calicos in a beautiful couple of hours on the rocks. I was elated that the lures emitted enough action for the fish to bite. As soon as I got home, I went straight to my computer hoping to purchase some more. Bummer, they were unavailable and the seller even removed the items from their list. Oh well, too bad.
Here is the lure I was throwing. I took a pic next to a Rapala X-rap for comparison. Same profile except the Rapala comprises of a deep diving lip.
http://i41.photobucket.com/albums/e269/hojinlim/20140616_200356_zps8b43e229.jpg (http://s41.photobucket.com/user/hojinlim/media/20140616_200356_zps8b43e229.jpg.html)
Hope everyone enjoyed the read and I do wish all the dads out there, a belated Happy Father's Day. Enjoy the rest of your week!!!