Marina Del Rey in the tub with Breeze71
Went to Marina Del Rey Saturday evening.
Right after helping out with the kids Halloween event at Castaic lagoon, Hiro met up w/me, we hooked my tub up to his truck and off we went, we got on the water about
8:30pm ish.
Started out pretty slow, the 1st 2 spots only produced a few short bites, I moved the boat to the inside finger of the outside jetty.
Working close perimeter to the jetty, I have to keep the motor running or we will slam against the rocks if not.
In the night air, a hint of fog lingered, Hiro and I both armed ourselves with the 4” gulp alive on a ¼ oz. gamagakstu jighead…
It’s really funny, on the ride over we discussed these lures and it’s potential for large fish, specifically we discussed the Calico Bass…I said “don’t be fooled ! those toad calicos will eat this gulp too….trust me Hiro !”
And then it happened !...................
Hookset !!!, right near the jettyline where there are some small pods of kelp….
In about 8’ to 10’ of water
POLE BENDING DRAG SINGING HOOKSET !!!!! Woooo Hoo ! It’s On !
Hiro’s on !.........................Zzzzzzzzzz….Zzzzzzzz Zzzzzzz..
I’m a little worried for him as this fish kept running out to the rockline !.....
Stretching his 12lb test to the limit !!!
Hiro battled on like a true professional, had he not fought this fish correctly it would have ran in into the rocks or kelp for sure……
Hiro gets the fish on top now….I see that ‘ol diamond shape patterned back……
It’s a toad Calico….one of the biggest I’ve seen in years….Ohhh Yeah.baby !!!!
To the net it goes…in the boat ! SUCCESS !...high five to Hiro on da catch !
One Saweet Toad !!!!!
We cracked up and had a helluva laugh about how I just said the toad Calicos will eat that Gulp bait…
Damn…I wish I could call it like that everytime!!!!!!
We fished on and caught some other fish but nothing real real big, we didn’t bother with pics at this point…..
A few smaller calicos and a couple sculpin, overall the bite was pretty slow and we were in the middle of the outgoing tide (no mystery why the bite was slow).
The fog started rolling in with a vengeance, it got REAL bad, I’ve never been out when it was that bad…we saw all the other craft head for shore about an hour b4 I finally made the decision to head in closer, nearer the launch ramp so we don’t get lost in the fog in my meager 12’ skiff !
It was tough to pilot/navigate….I had to get about 30’ from the rocks just to get an idea which way to go……
The crazy mofo’s that we are…WE AINT GOING HOME…..WERE GOING TO FISH ON !!!!!!
I finally make it in farther and we try 2 spots near the bait barge, we metered allot of fish holding up in about 10’ over 20’ near there….not my flatties but fish nonetheless…Hiro managed 1 short cuda on a LC and we moved on…..I kept saying ..”this is broken, we gotta fix it !”
In seach of new avenues we go, we come a ccross this cool little dock tht had 1 big light on it, where the light shined well into the water…..Hmnnnn….sounds tasty !
We fish it hard….14.8 of water seemed to be key…..
Hiro gets thumped, as soon as he hooked it I knew “that’s a flattie”….
He lands a nice Halibut about 19”…
I get a pressured bite…running off to the left……I drive on ‘em…when I feel it…”it’s a flattie….a keeper too!” I state as Hiro looks on…
My 8lb test rig was getting maxed out…my 10 lb test rig is curently at the bottom with Davy Jones (explanation later)
To da net…finally, somethin’ in tha box…dinna !!!!
Nice fat Flattie !
I got another flat strike but no hookup…we squireled around, working that zone, Hiro managed another short halibut and I got a small sandy and a sculpin and the tide was turning, they moved on…Damn !!! but at least that zone yielded 3 of our desired species !
It was in a 12’ parameter where these flatties were hunting…all the same spot !
The gulp minnow is still yielding some great catches……ohhhhh Yeah !!!
Now: to Davy’s locker, the gearshift knob is broken of on the outboard on the tub so I need to change it with pliers….as Hiro and I worked the inside finger of the outer jetty, in the darkness, we neared the rocks quickly as the waves sucked us closer…Hiro said, dude, we’re gonna hit…..
I laid my pole down, hanging outa the boat, with the line out….I fired the boat up and went deeper…the jig got caught in the rocks while I moved and yanked the pole outa the boat….I tried for quite some time to snag it but the rocky terrain didn’t allow me to drag bottom too well…
Dayamn !!!!! a brand new crucial 7.2’ rod….I don’t really care about the reel but the rod I only had for about 12 days….but a least within that 12 days I caught a grip of toads and at least 8-9 different species….
Oh well…that’s fishing….
…great fishing !...good times
