Rpt 2 Day Adventure in Salsapuedes-Descanzo Bay
A two day adventure!
Day one!
Fishing Wednesday and Thursday 11-03-04,2010 with Bill Fisher, on his 18’ Trophy. “Toad Hall”. I left my home in Diamond Bar around 10am Wednesday morning. I arrived at Bill’s home in Encinitas around 11:30 am. We locked and loaded our gear and headed down to Bill’s quaint little Trailer residence on a cliff overlooking the water, some 10 miles south of Rosarito.
It took at least 25 minutes to cross the border at San Yisidro, as the US customs folks were blocking a bunch of lanes, and checking for? We made a stop in down town Rosarito for some groceries and other stuff. We arrived at Bill’s place around 2:30 pm. The ocean was calm and the weather was hot, over 90 degrees on the beach, in November no less, how strange?
We unloaded our luggage, tonight’s dinner, tomorrow’s lunch, snacks, beer, wine, ice, etc. Of course we had to enjoy a cold one before heading down to Las Salinas, where Bill keep’s his boat. Arrived Las Salinas at 3:15 pm, loaded up our fishing gear and off we went to a deep water spot, some six miles out. The seas were absolute grease calm, with a mild swell, which prevented us from cruising at full speed. Upon arrival at the numbers, the meter lit up with a big stone, and a few marks. It was game on, as both Bill and I got hammered upon reaching bottom or close to bottom. The big Reds were on the chew!
Bill with a nice Vermillion (Red) Rockfish!
The drift was very slow and allowed us to make multiple drops on the spot. Almost every time down we both caught Reds or a Starry. According to Bill this spot was absolutely loaded with Bocaccio, with a few big Reds and Lingcod. We did not catch one Bocaccio today, or any Lings? You could not ask for more beautiful conditions. We fished for two hours and managed nine big Reds, a Bank Perch, a Whitefish, and a few Starries.
Bill caught his limit of fives Reds, I caught four! Bill with another Red.
We headed for the Harbor, and I began to clean fish in the dark. Here I am with a couple of Big Reds.
Day’s Catch! Not bad for two hours of fishing?
Gad it gets dark quick? We both enjoyed a few spirits before dinner, I opened a nice bottle of Chardonnay, while Bill stayed with the Bruskies! Dinner consisted of Turkey, Green Beans in a Garlic butter sauce, Hot French Rolls, and mashed potatoes with gravy! Yum, yum!
Watched the first half of the Lakers game before sacking out, alarm was set for 5:30 am.
Day two!
What a difference a day makes! Woke up to a stiff offshore Santa Ana breeze, 15 to 20 knots and as balmy as it gets. 78 degrees at 6am, and rising fast! We arrived to the dock in Las Salinas at 6am. We exited the harbor around 6:30am, into the wind, which produced choppy seas, however, the swells were quite small, allowing us to proceed at a decent speed, although it was a little bit wet! We ran out several miles, with the deep water an absolute no go. The scope out impossible to fish! So we headed to Salsapuedes! We tried fishing the shallows, but all the big stones were a ghost town? Spot after spot yielded no marks? It’s a bummer that it appears that most of Salsapuedes has been fished out by the locals? Oh well, it’s their country!
We tucked inside, near the kelp beds, where the cliffs protected us from the balmy winds. We fished the kelp beds for nothing. The Tuna pens were nearby, guarded by a few seiners. A couple of local pangeros, were working their Lobster traps. It was 10 am, and the wind finally subsided. Not one fish on the boat? Yesterday we almost limited out on Reds in two hours, today, 3 ½ hours nothing?
We headed north, in now, calm seas. The only difference from yesterday was the current was uphill, against the swells. We looked at a couple of more deep water spots, and nothing was home. We ran back to yesterday’s numbers that produced the good fishing on Reds. The meter only showed a few scratches. Bill was bit instantly and caught another nice Red. I caught a decent size Copper Rockfish. We moved back to the spot and the fish bit again.
Bill with his Red.
Myself with a couple of Copper Rockfish.
Bill caught a couple more Reds, and I caught a couple of Big Starries. Then the bite just died.
The bay has an unlimited number of areas with structure, hard bottom, and lots of kelp, providing numerous options for fishing. I suggested to Bill that we try the shallow water spots north of us. For a change today, the meter displayed lots of marks, but few biters. The little guys were chewing, but no real quality fish were biting. We moved around and setup just outside the bull kelp. I threw a swim bait and got hammered.
Here I am with a nice sized Calico Bass.
I continued to fish with the plastics and managed one more decent fish, our one an only Bocaccio, caught in 90 feet of water?
It turned into a grease calm afternoon, but the fish were definitely on siesta. We called it a day at 2:30 pm. I filleted the fish, a few fish shy of yesterdays count in 8 hours versus 2 hours of fishing?
Relaxed for a short while at Bill’s, when he called the border at 5:00 pm. He found out it was only a 35 minute wait. So we headed north. Crossed the border in San Yisidro in 21 minutes. Arrived at Bill’s place at 7pm. I arrived home in Diamond Bar at 8:35 pm. A happy camper, lots of fish tacos for the next day’s dinner.
Bill, I had a blast once again. Thanks so much for the invite, and fabulous hospitality. I needed a break from the everyday issues we face in life.
Hook up!
Cory
