Southern Cal Sand Bass Limits 04/10 w/picss
Hey guys,
Yahooooo It Was Sand Bass City Tuesday!!
Rode Pierpoint Landing’s Southern Cal Tuesday. Back on this newly refurbished boat for a day. Collin ran the boat, Ryan (a.k.a. hot sauce) was on deck working his tail off doing his usual quality job, and Myron did galley duty.
Our 65’ moo-moo accommodates 75 anglers (see new numbering elsewhere)so we 10 eager anglers had some fishing space !! I was again relieved to see we had enough anglers Tuesday morning as I called to check for reservations and only three were on the books!! As time neared to the boarding time more and more anglers appeared. Guys ….. what’s wrong with making reservations!!??
Note: Countdown: Should be just a little more than a month, tentatively the middle of May according to the landing owner, till the Summer season starts and the boat ½-day boat leaves at 6 am!!
Target Fish Lingcod and Rockfish
Short Report- Tuesday 04/10
Tuesday: 10 anglers caught limits of Sand Bass, Calico Bass (included), 3 Sculpin, and 3 Rockfish (one was a nice Barberpole I think) !! Couldn’t ask for a much nicer day in every aspect! Shame none of those sneaky gar wanted to bite!!
Wednesday: SoCal got the numbers again on Wednesday with 30 anglers catching 141 Sand Bass and 7 Sculpin. If the fish were like the ones on Tuesday, there weren’t a lot of shorts but nice 14~15-inch fish.
(Please widen your view to fit monitor if word-wrap looks off)
Tuesday 04/10 Jackpot
Weigh-Off …………Winner!
Nice Calico Takes It
A Calico Bass was the winner today. The 2 ½ ~ 3 ½ lb fish was caught in a little less than 100 feet of water, using a whole frozen Squid on a leadhead. There were a few of the Sand Bass that were minor contenders for the Jackpot.
Long Report
Past the Forest
Nice Start
Due to the fact I’m going out two days in a row (½ -day in this report and a ¾-day boat in the next) this report might be a little short due to time limitations. That’s down and dirty just to get it out in a half-way timely fashion! Report on yesterday’s trip I might have more time.
The morning (½-day boat leaves at 10am) started out with a little overcast which quickly burned off. While cruising out of Rainbow Harbor one is greeted by the usual forest of diaper-hang …… er ….. sailboat masts. Got the usual full safety spiel from Collin and then the low-down on the days fishing plan and suggested setups.
Here and There
First Destination!
Travel Time
We headed straight out for about a 40-minute ride. Little wind-waves but there were these very large swells (mountains) which easily broke over the breakwater wall. The inside of the breakwall looked like a mess as the wash in the kelp and the sand caused the water to roil a nasty color!
The Days Fishing
Focused ……………………………...&# 46;.........&# 46;.........&# 46;.........&# 46;.......Buoy oh Buoy!
It's Swell!
Finding Fish
Today, we again pretty much went straight out and stopped, went out a little further, and then just a little further to pretty much take care of the morning’s fishing with little catching of Rockfish. Not to worry …. Isn’t that the way many mornings are presently. Started to head back around 1pm …. stopping at a number of key spots, to fish for bass and other species found in shallower water, with ever-increasing success. Last two stops ….. we left fish biting. Why ….. Because Collin is conservation minded and didn’t want to hit a single spot too hard !! Class act !!
Check out the positioning of buoys. These might be good landmarks for the newbie PBer!!
Swell direction and size have been just awesome the last few days. Swell/wave action reached 7 sometimes 8 feet at 12~18 seconds with intact swell segments maybe half a mile long.
Out to Pasture
Saw Two Moo-moos
Famliar Boat ………………………………… Mystery Boat!!
Nice PB’s
First ………………………….... .......... ....Second
The Fishin'
Looking Back
Round Up
Round 1 Short and sweet. Most anglers used dropper-loop setups and frozen Squid with about 6ozs of weight for a bite that was scratchy at best and didn’t keep us on any one spot for too long. Skipper fished hard trying to locate the fish. Fished around 120 feet of water for Reds and other Rockfish. Gotta realize that a ½ -day boat doesn’t have the luxury of the time to ‘develop’ a spot as the ¾-day boats can afford. We were a little outside at the end of the first round and we started to head further inside about 1:30 or so.
Round 2 ) Heading a little inside and going a bit shallower (80~100 feet), we hoped to find a few of the usual suspects …. Sheephead, Reds, and especially Bass. We were able to locate two separate spots where we were able to pull the majority of fish decked. The crew had personally made up some fresh frozen Squid for us to use and I think this was the key …. That is ……..we were able to use whole frozen Squid on a leadhead to catch the majority of the fish. Collin saw that the first spot didn’t need hit too hard so we moved …. with fish biting. Excellent call. Lastly, we hit another spot that held good numbers of good grade fish and ended the day their with boat-limits.
Conditions Skies cleared, it got bright and hot. Little wind but huge, rolling swells. It was great to see 60º water again! Current was strong from the get-go then continued to get stronger while later the wind added a little swing up until we pulled the hook for the last time.
Air temp stayed in the 60º~70ºs during the fishing day. Jackets felt good on the way back.
Gallery
Beauty of the Day
Rattler
The Fish– Keepers
Lots Of Fish!
Bass ………........& #46;.........& #46;....... Nice Fish ………........& #46;... Cool
Perch Too ……….. Nice Sculpin …………....... 6;......... Tasty Bass …………..More Fish
Yet More …………………….....& #46;....... Lots of Room ……………....... Bumpers
Let Them Know
The photos above are just a sample of the fish and things of interest, at least to me, on this week’s trip.Note: If you see a friend in the pictures, let them know they can copy the photo off the report, save, edit, and print it at their leisure.
Plastics
Kitchen Sink
Caught A Couple of Fish!
I threw the kitchen sink today and finally got the chartreuse tube lure to work for me. Yes I had to resort to the ol’ Squid strip! (Yech!) Truth is ….. I was fishing Kalin and Blam swimbaits for the Barracuda I saw breezing the area constantly but alas got only a single hit! Ever notice that certain cuda grab where one feels a little slack, it is suddenly snatched, have a very short 3-foot run, and finally head-shake where you are cleanly bit off!? Especially fun when you know what’s coming and have a 12lb-test leader.
Tuesday Out There
Lunar …………………………………………†¦...Wind Direction and Speed!
Tides …………………………………………†¦.......... ;.......... ;.......... ;.......Water Temps!
Tuesday’s Conditions
Fishing Grounds: Sunny, warm with little wind. Water clarity was maybe 6 feet at the most but water was a nice 59 or 60 degrees. Swells really big in the morning but later on …… due to the intervals being over 15 seconds, it wasn’t a hindrance to fishing.
Wild Creatures: Almost no birds until we headed in and began cleaning fish.
Asides:
Aside: Are the Sand Bass starting to come alive?? I think it’s still early but it’s nice to fish for something that likes to bite light tackle stuff in 2-digit depths.
Another Aside: Lots of great guys on the boat today. Good humor and they knew how to enjoy a fishing trip…. catching fish right away or not! Gee ….. they had a hold of the concept that it’s early for deeper water and then …. mid or a little later afternoon when much of the bite at the ‘Shoe’ occurs in the Winter and early Spring! What a concept!!
Yet Another Aside: Haven’t squawked about this much before. Now’s a good time! Well ….. maybe a little late but ……… If you have intentions on going on a moo-moo please make the effort to call in a reservation! With light loads still prevalent (Became noticeable in December) it is to ones own good to put some numbers on the landings reservation books for the day you plan to fish!
For the Angler:
1) You’ve increased the possibility the boat will go out if a minimum of anglers for the boat to go out can been met. The earlier the better. (landings and owners/operators have varied policies on that number)
2) Sometimes first-come-first-serve is predicated on those with reservations getting first shot at the rail spots.
3) It shows respect to the guys working on the boat. If one is not willing to be on call 24/7, don’t expect the crews working the boats to be either. Does everybody get that?! Not!
For the Crew:
1) The crew may need to do some preparation so that the boat may be ready when it was otherwise thought to be an ‘off-line’ day. Simply because everybody showed up an hour before departure!
2) By knowing approximately how many will be on the boat, the skipper will better make decisions on what’s needed to best serve his or her anglers. Little things like stocking the boat …… bait considerations ….. target species ….. fishing area ….. all the teeny-tiny stuff like that.
3) With low, low numbers (like 2 or 3 anglers) on the books, 1 hour before departure, the decision to cancel for maintenance or other boat related activities may be hastened.
Useful Information
Stern Shots!
No time to do the graphics today. Newly painted, the SoCal now has a numbering scheme where there are 3 sections, 1~25 spots. Clockwise from starboard: Green, stern is Black with the corners being 9 and 17, and the Port side is Red.
]
The SoCal (before refurbishing)
Collin file photo......... Deck-Ryan …………... Cook-Myron
Heading Home!
Trip’s End!
Collin and crew were all out on deck at-the-ready to help patrons as is their usual custom. My new rail-buddies all had fun and got lots of fixin’s for fish tacos. Met a number of regulars I hadn’t fished with in a while. Couple of guys made this their first …. nice way to start their first trip of the season. Every angler that wanted them got off the boat with a nice bag of filets for fish tacos. We were off the boat by 4:00. I was home by 4:30pm. Thanks guys.
JapanRon
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by JapanRon
