Rpt.-01-05-13 Bass'n on the Ducky!
I went fishing Sat. 1-05-13, 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 the Palos Verdes Coast. Gad it was cold, 40 degrees according to Lal’s truck gage.
Unfortunately, we had to make a short detour to Pierpoint Landing, as I forgot to purchase my fishing license the night before. The office was not too busy and I quickly laid out the $51.05 for the basic package. Sure wished I had bought a lifetime license many years ago when they were under $300, now $800, and prorated to $600 for my age?
The forecast called for little wind, with a 2 foot swell. As we ran through the Harbor, the sun put on a colorful display:
It was a freezing ride out to the coast, as the nip in the air required all skin areas to be covered up tightly. We arrived to extremely calm conditions and a slight current, which quickly died and with it almost all signs of fish. Our drift was virtually nonexistent; consequently we covered only minor volumes of water and structure.
We picked at a Bass here and there, mostly Calico Bass from 1 to 2 pounds with a scattering of Sand Bass in the same size range. Lal caught this 3 pound Calico Bass, which became our only picture moment of the day:
Lal set us up on all our known structure spots, yet the lack of current and very slow drift hindered our efforts. Water temps started out at 54.9 and gradually rose to 57.9 at its highest point, 53.5 in the harbor, yikes!
After five hours drifting over promising structure, some of which were loaded with bait and signs of predators, we had scratched out a total of 19 mixed Bass and a half dozen Rockfish to show for our efforts, all released.
At 11am the breeze picked up to about six knots, and allowed us to cover far more area of water. We ran over a huge bait ball and had a quick flurry of bites, our first double of the day. As I was winding up a decent 2 pound Sand Bass, all of sudden I can’t turn the handle, my rod goes big time bendo and drag starts screaming off my reel. The line stops, I begin to reel in, still holding a fish and again it is slammed, and pulls off some more drag and then let’s go. I reel in the Sand Bass and it is barely alive, having scrapes and indentations all the way up to the base of its head. Since we saw no seals, we expect it was a Black Sea Bass, which we have both caught in this area before?
That was it for the next hour and we called it a day at 1:00pm. The final count was 15 Calico Bass, 8 Sand Bass and the Rockfish. All fish were released to fight another day.
Thanks Lal, another chilling adventure on the Ducky. Happy New Year everyone.
Hook up! Cory
