Rpt-Wed.-01-12-11 Sand Bass and Big Sculpin!
Fishing Wednesday, 1-12-11, with Lal on his 18’ boat “Rubber Ducky”. We launched out of Davies in Long Beach at 6:00 am, with our starting destination being the Izor’s Reef, and then we planned to explore the Horseshoe Kelp structure areas, for a change of pace. The forecast called for 6-8 knot winds in the morning, and 9 to 12 in the afternoon, pretty much spot on, although lighter winds prevailed in mid-morning! It was a nice sunrise, no clouds, so not a picture moment, and Catalina looked like a only a few miles away, while in the other direction, the snow lines in the local mountains were in clear view.
We arrived at Izor’s Reef in mostly flat seas, and a bit of a ripple from the wind out of the southwest. The drift was rather rapid, with a decent current, as we headed toward low tides by 10:30 am. The first few drifts resulted in a number of short bites, with a half dozen Sand Bass in only the one pound range. We picked away at the Sand Bass for a couple of hours, with the best fishing being between 7:30am and 9:00am. By slack tide at 10:30 we had not had a bite in over an hour. Lal caught a few Sand Bass to two pounds, while my largest just made it to three pounds.
With fourteen Sand Bass in the count, all released, Lal decided it was time to try some structure spots on the Horseshoe, he had not visited lately. The weather remained beautiful, and there were areas of grease calm. Father sun allowed us to removed our jackets, yet the air while moving was still holding a hint of frigid cold.
We first spotted the Victory off in the distance, and had to say hello to Ron. They were fishing Sculpin in 110 feet of water and Ron indicated that so far it was extremely slow. Although, everyone was enjoying the nice weather. We said good luck and ran off to the northeast end of the Shoe. Ron took a picture has we cruised on by.
The Ducky!
We began some drifts on small stones in 75 to 100’ of water. Some good marks, but no biters. Continued to explore, working our way closer to the break wall. Found one small stone, loaded with marks. I dropped down a 4” Red Flake plastic with a one ounce lead head. I hit bottom and the plastic was inhaled, it took me into the rocks, I pulled hard and the hook pulled free. Dropped back down and was hammered again. Gad this fish is putting on quite a show of stength, with violent head shakes, and a tail thumping that reminded me somewhat of a small Yellowtail? Up comes the biggest Sculpin I have ever seen. It weight a little over 3.5 pounds, and was 20” long!
Here I am with the huge Sculpin.
Lal caught a two pound Sugar Bass. The drift was still very fast, so we went back and re-set up the drift over the tiny stone, maybe 10’ high and 10’ wide. Both plastics were instantly slammed, and we repeated this process a half dozen times before we finally wore out our welcome. The spot yielded 13 Sculpin, Two Sugar Bass, and one Sand Bass, all released to fight another day!
We found a few more stones, hoping for similar results, yet nary a bite on any of them despite decent marks? Moved into the wall, as the winds were now in double digits. Made several drifts for only one 1.5 pound Sand Bass and called it a day at 2:30pm.
Fish and Game was not at the dock, however, the ever present stat lady was there, someone new. She was disappointed that everything was released, as she was anxious to weigh, measure and login our catch. We gave her general locations, and fish counts for each area, and that was appreciated. Few anglers had checked in with anything to report so far, and we understood her boredom.
Thanks again Lal, some great exploring on the Rubber Ducky today!
Hook up! Cory
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Originally Posted by EL_CHIDO
DR
