Rpt-2 day Adventure in Las Salinas-01-06-14
Departure-01-04-14
With a great weather window and the right tides for the Treacherous Las Salinas harbor, I went fishing Sunday and Monday- 01-06-14, with Bill Fisher, on his 18’ Trophy, “Toad Hall”. I left my home in Diamond Bar at 2:10pm; arriving at Bill’s Trailer residence on a cliff overlooking the water, some 10 miles south of Rosarito at 4:30pm Saturday afternoon. That must have been a record for traveling 161 miles including crossing the border?
While enjoying a few cold ones, we watched the sunset slowly descend over the water, wow, it was a good show:
Then it was time to watch the NFL playoffs and those were some great games all weekend! We left at halftime of the second game for a short drive to Paradise Cove to enjoy some super tasty Cheeseburgers and fries!
Returned to Bill’s and finished watching the game before calling it a night at 9pm. The right tide of a minimum 3 feet was set for 8:30 am, so no morning wake up call for me, as I am usually up before daylight no matter what?
Day One-Sunday-01-05-14
Off to Las Salinas where Bill slips his boat and on the way we stopped to buy some Breakfast burritos from Juan. My wife always expects me to bring her home a Juan’s Breakfast Burrito.
It was blowing right around 8 knots and the exit through 3.5 feet of water near the entrance to the harbor was on schedule! We exited the harbor without incident and headed north. Bill decided to fish shallow water at first, expecting the wind to back off later in the morning. Our first drift resulted in a few Lingcod about 23 inches in size, some Chocolate Rockfish, a few Johnny Bass and Bill caught a real nice Sand Bass in the four pound range:
I found the Whitefish on the chew on the Mega Bait Lures tipped with squid:
Another couple drifts in this area yielded a few more of the same. Bill moved north another mile or so and this drift resulted in some better bites on the Lingcod. Both of us were using either Mega Bait Lures and/or plastics. Bill caught our first keeper Ling at 25 inches. Unless it’s over 28 inches Bill refused to be in a picture. I then caught a 26 inch Lingcod and I wanted to be in a picture:
We both lost a few good size fish, as the Lings can sure move their heads in a mean, radical matter and thus shake off the hook. I then caught our biggest Ling of the day, just over 27 inches:
The shallow water fishing remained very consistent and the Lingcod were definitely on the chew, a few more pictures, as we caught some two dozen Lingcod, keeping only four, releasing some very plump females loaded with eggs:
It became T-shirt weather, as the sun warmed up the air in no time, and the wind did back off, so we decided to check out a few deeper water points further south. The deep water did not yield very much, only a few nice Coppers and a couple of extinct Bocaccio. Surprisingly we only caught four Bocaccio all day? More Bizarre was the fact we caught zero Reds? Here is one of the nicer Coppers caught:
We had a great day of fishing and releasing, having to cut the day short to make the tide cut at the harbor by 2:30 pm, despite incredible calm seas and sunny skies.
Fileted the Lingcod outside the harbor, gave a few fish to the security guard in the harbor, and stopped at Charlie’s for some fish and shrimp tacos to go for dinner.
Bill had taped the Chargers game and we were both eager to watch the results when we returned, what a great victory. Monday’s ideal tides were not until 9:30 am, so it was another early to bed and late to rise morning.
Day Two-Monday-01-06-14
We had ample time to go to Pescadores for a Machaca Breakfast, scrambled eggs, chopped beef, onions, salsa, refried beans, hash browned potatoes and homemade fresh tortillas, yum yum!
It was a bit breezier today with gusts well over 12 knots. The exit from the harbor was again without incident. Believe me we have had some anxious moments in the past? Bill was definitely in the shallow water mode, as the winds were on again, off again, with off and on squalls.
Our first drift was wide open, as we caught Lingcod, Chocolate Rockfish, Whitefish, and a bunch of Johnny Bass, they were thick. Bill finally caught our first Red of the weekend, a two pounder, released nicely. The Lingcod today were only in the 23 to 24 inch range and not as plentiful as yesterday. Bill caught another couple of Reds in a similar size range. Then I finally got on the board with a decent three+ pounder:
And this bigger model:
A Copper:
An okay Lingcod:
The plastics were the lures of choice, and the Reds climbed on them well, as we released limits for both of us. Despite the breezy conditions and a fast drift, the fish were hungry. Today we released most everything. We did catch a lot more Bocaccio than the prior day, thinking they were indeed extinct, no such case? The Johnny Bass were also on a serious chew, as we released well over a dozen. Once again the shallow water far out fished the deeper water.
The wind backed off by noon and it was an extraordinarily fun day on the water before calling it a day at 2:30 pm.
We stopped at Charley’s for some Shrimp Burritos for me, and Bill ordered a cheese, bacon and onion Quesadilla to go for watching the National Championship College football game. It was a decent first half, with Auburn showing signs of greatness. I was going to stay for the second half, yet the thought of arriving home around midnight was not appealing, so I left at halftime. Darn, I missed an incredible second half, although I was able to listen to it on the radio, and had set a recording before I left, so I will be able to watch it at my leisure.
I crossed the border in Otay Mesa in 2 minutes and pulled into my driveway at 9:50 pm. Wow, what a thrilling two day adventure!
Bill, you are such a blast to go fishing with. I can’t believe how much fun it was, thanks so much for the invite, and fabulous hospitality. An incredible couple of days on the big pond!
Hook up!
Cory
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Originally Posted by DockRat
