3/1 Rockfish Opener from Dana's Wharf - quick update
Thanks for those of you who commented on my query on rockfish here:
http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/sho...y-local-waters
I mentioned that I'll update and figure I'll do it here. This is not a fish report so I'm posting on the salt water discussion. Moderator, hope this is OK.
My wife has made one rockfish trip previously and I have done three in all including one in Mexico. So we are definitely still pretty much neophytes.
Went out on Sum Fun had 16 fisherman/woman on the boat, if I counted correctly. So relatively light load.
What really stood out for my wife and I was how incredibly responsive and quick the the two deck personnel were of their own initiative. Regardless of industry, excellence is excellence and we were very impressed. Whenever there was a tangle or some need, they would immediately take the initiative and jumped on it. Sometimes, a tangle came out of the water and we figured we'll just untangle but literally in seconds, they would jump over and help untangle. At times, before I ever thought to ask for help, they were there. This type of anticipation and action is rare anywhere.
Every time a fish came out of water, they would be right on top of it to dehook. The key is not that the did the task, but how absolutely immediately and the level of energy they took to the task. Often, before I'd think to ask, they were there. On the drive home, my wife noted that she really appreciated the obvious excellence. The younger guy is Andrew and the slightly older gentlemen, I cannot recall the name. Even at the end of the trip, the energy did not let up during the fish hcleaning and scrub down of the boat. I was watching Andrew scrub the boat as we headed back and he flat out attacked the task.
While this is not a critique of other boats (only a few, I know) I've been on, this really was excellence personified. If I owned a business rather than served in the non-profit sector, I'd be tempted to hire these guys.
The captain Brian also worked hard in jumping from spot to spot. If one spot had not fish, we'd be up and to the next spot. Bites slowed down dramatically the 2nd half of the day and he was apologetic but can't fault the effort. Also, I left a rod/reel on the rack. A couple of calls later to the man office, I got a call back that they have it and will hold it for me indefinitely until I headed back to that area. Good service.
I learned a lot - three guys on the boat warned me that my rods were way too light (freshwater) and two guys even offered to loan us their spare rods. Seriously? That was generous. I was not being stubborn but decided to use our rods to figure out why it would or would not work. I had a ton of bites but just could not set the hook effectively. At the end of the trip, some guys helped me analyze and said that my rod was too soft so when I set it against 10 oz weight, the line probably barely budget. I think I probably hooked up on 20-25% of my bites. In hindsight, I should have taken their offer for my wife. Learned a lesson about rod power - just because I could feel the fish doesn't mean I could set it. That part was a bit frustrating but I do not mind learning. I did try Berkley Gulp and would say it worked about as well as the squid.
I was intrigued by a couple of guys throwing irons. One of them won the jackpot and seemed to average the largest rock fish by a long margin and gave the winning pot to the crew. Another gal got about 8 rock fish and they made for a nice photo when she held them all up.
So how was the fishing? I can't tell if it was good or not but I'll say that probably about 100 fish was caught by the 16 people judging by the fish that was cleaned and I'm factoring in some that were not cleaned. We came home with 6 rockfish (smallish - but still rock fish) and 11 other stuff. Granted, some were given to us that others did not really care for but those are supposedly still good eating...:Smile:
All in all, a good learning day for my wife and I. Next time, I need to set her up better. :LOL:
