efishent
01-04-2017, 08:49 PM
The ocean was flat again- no swell or wind, light rain, clear water, so I needed to get out before the end of the day.
My first look at the water made me pull over and stop and watch:
I don’t recall seeing so many birds near shore (0-100+ft) for a long time.* For a mile they were like solid floating carpet– all species and under them I saw dolphins, porpoises and seals messing around. And what usually is a light sandy bottom under clear water had giant areas of dark ‘structure’ which were, of course, schools of anchovies. They were so thick that I would run an LC and snag them.*That’s an old LC with single hook (point) left on last treble and 2 on first. I had to drive away to find some water to cast.*
And the fishing was great.* Every hole produced – the old faithful ones from 2 years ago and the ones that I would just pick at random: can there be something there? Yep.** I could also see them even w/o polarized lenses: smelt, perch , and sharks swimming around in shallows, corbina scattering when I approached them and halibut darting from under my feet.
I did take time to measure catches and here’re the results:
Halibut (5) all 17-20”, no legals
BSP (20+) , all >10” and the year’s best (3 days into it) 15” pig
Walleye SP (1) at 8”
Giant smelt (3) 16-18”
Anchovies (many snagged) New species?
My first look at the water made me pull over and stop and watch:
I don’t recall seeing so many birds near shore (0-100+ft) for a long time.* For a mile they were like solid floating carpet– all species and under them I saw dolphins, porpoises and seals messing around. And what usually is a light sandy bottom under clear water had giant areas of dark ‘structure’ which were, of course, schools of anchovies. They were so thick that I would run an LC and snag them.*That’s an old LC with single hook (point) left on last treble and 2 on first. I had to drive away to find some water to cast.*
And the fishing was great.* Every hole produced – the old faithful ones from 2 years ago and the ones that I would just pick at random: can there be something there? Yep.** I could also see them even w/o polarized lenses: smelt, perch , and sharks swimming around in shallows, corbina scattering when I approached them and halibut darting from under my feet.
I did take time to measure catches and here’re the results:
Halibut (5) all 17-20”, no legals
BSP (20+) , all >10” and the year’s best (3 days into it) 15” pig
Walleye SP (1) at 8”
Giant smelt (3) 16-18”
Anchovies (many snagged) New species?