Bass Pro Shops   Daveys Locker Sportfishing  Newport Landing Sportfishing   The Fishing Syndicate  Carver Covers  Tight Lines Guide Service  Channel Islands Sportfishing  CCA-California  Bob Sands Fishing Tackle  
Results 1 to 10 of 10

Thread: Always something in the ocean

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    ventura, ca
    Posts
    136

    Default Always something in the ocean

    The ocean was flat again- no swell or wind, light rain, clear water, so I needed to get out before the end of the day.
    My first look at the water made me pull over and stop and watch:
    I don’t recall seeing so many birds near shore (0-100+ft) for a long time.* For a mile they were like solid floating carpet– all species and under them I saw dolphins, porpoises and seals messing around. And what usually is a light sandy bottom under clear water had giant areas of dark ‘structure’ which were, of course, schools of anchovies. They were so thick that I would run an LC and snag them.*That’s an old LC with single hook (point) left on last treble and 2 on first. I had to drive away to find some water to cast.*

    And the fishing was great.* Every hole produced – the old faithful ones from 2 years ago and the ones that I would just pick at random: can there be something there? Yep.** I could also see them even w/o polarized lenses: smelt, perch , and sharks swimming around in shallows, corbina scattering when I approached them and halibut darting from under my feet.
    I did take time to measure catches and here’re the results:

    Halibut (5) all 17-20”, no legals
    BSP (20+) , all >10” and the year’s best (3 days into it) 15” pig
    Walleye SP (1) at 8”
    Giant smelt (3) 16-18”
    Anchovies (many snagged) New species?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Click image for larger version. 

Name:	crab and birds.jpg 
Views:	656 
Size:	93.5 KB 
ID:	49462   Click image for larger version. 

Name:	birds 2.JPG 
Views:	597 
Size:	73.5 KB 
ID:	49463  

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jul 2016
    Location
    Long Beach, CA
    Posts
    295

    Default

    Wow! What a day! Thanks for the report!

  3. #3

    Default

    Dang, it's been three months since I've ran into bait balls. Congrats on a stellar day

  4. #4

    Default

    Very nice!!
    In the right place at the right time..
    Robert
    <><

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    valley village
    Posts
    851

    Default

    wow nice going haven't seen bait balls in a while hope this is good sign...

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Sep 2016
    Location
    Orange County, CA
    Posts
    9

    Default

    this is in socal?! Where?! haha Nice report

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Whittier
    Posts
    2,455

    Default

    Plenty of life there for sure,always nice to see.

    Cya Tuna Vic

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Aug 2016
    Location
    Los Angeles, CA
    Posts
    59

    Default

    Congrats on the amazing day! It's a bummer you didn't land any legal Halibutt. Which rod and set up were you using?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Fossilized SWAT Bones
    Posts
    4,741

    Default

    At least there is bait in the surf zone still in VC. Samo is getting pretty slim. Your lucky you didn't add multiple species of birds to your list as well using an LC...LOL

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    ventura, ca
    Posts
    136

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by bones View Post
    At least there is bait in the surf zone still in VC. Samo is getting pretty slim. Your lucky you didn't add multiple species of birds to your list as well using an LC...LOL
    Didn't see any bird species I haven't caught before so opted for fish this time.
    Now that someone asked about my cheepo setup (shimano solstice/new with shimano rod/very old) I will mention that I did hook up very large fish that by the view of belly and fins appeared to be striper but it broke off few feet away from me taking my old LC for souvenir. After saying goodbyes to both I concluded that 10 lb line and too tight drag were at fault. Didn't want to report on that until I land one but that's the story about untested reel. I would have released it anyway but that fish had trust issues..

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •