SPITFIRE 11 11 07 (NO PICS)
Hey, guys. First of all, I apologize about having no pics for you of this trip, at least fish pictures. One_leg took a few pics; maybe he will post them later. My camera is broken, and the person who was going to loan me one for the trip flaked, so I am sorry guys!!
Morning started out early, I receive a call from a person in our group stating that he and another person will not be able to make our trip. Ok, things happen. That’s already 2 less in our original group of 16. The worse part was I was supposed to get a ride from one of the guys in the morning to the landing, due to the fact that one of the members was having a get-together at their house afterwards, and I wanted to have some drinks. Well, there goes that idea. Oh well, so I get in my truck and head to the landing.
Arrive at the landing at appx 4:30 a.m. Pull up, and see Brad’s mustang already there. Brad and Alan get out of the car, and Brad introduces me to his girlfriend Amy and his friend Mike. We chill out in the parking lot for awhile, until the owner of Redondo Sport fishing and his son show up to open up the gates to the pier promptly at 5:00 a.m. to start selling tickets for the Spitfire. By 5:15, most of the rest of our group is there, minus 2 MORE of our group (I found out later one was sick, so no worries, the other member just flaked, will not be invited on any more of our trips…NO FLAKES!). We also pick up our validation tickets, which will drop the fee for parking from about $20, down to $2. MAKE SURE YOU PICK THESE UP GUYS BEFORE OR AFTER YOU PURCHASE YOUR TICKETS!! Get back to our vehicles, and head to the south side of the parking lot to park our vehicles, unload our gear, and wait for the Spitfire to board us. Headcount was appx 30 anglers for that day. We boarded the boat, and put up our gear.
Crew today was Capt. Craig, Morgan and Bobby on deck, and Derek in the galley. It’s nice to get on a sport boat where the crew actually greets you as you’re getting on the boat. That is one of the MANY great things about this boat and it’s crew. Ordered my usual breakfast burrito, waited for Craig to make his morning safety speech, and to also let us know what he had in mind as far as fishing for the day….structure sand bass fishing!! This is by far one of my favorite types of fishing on sport boats. Craig recommended 1 ½ - 2 oz lead heads, tied on to a MINIMUM of 25-30 lb test mono. PLEASE take my advice guys, fish the above recommended line for this type of fishing. Once again, I had some hardheaded guys in our group who insisted that 15-20 lb test was just fine. Throughout the day, it was actually fun watching them lose fish after fish due to line breakage. For some reason, I hear from quite a few people the same thing. Guys, it is not necessarily the SIZE of the fish you are targeting, it is also the ENVIRONMENT of where these fish live. A 1 lb bass can just as easily bust you off as a 5 lb bass can in this type of environment. The structure is VERY brutal, with barnacles, mussels, etc all over it. Your slack line can actually get frayed just by rubbing across structure. Also, a little bit more info, I spoke to Craig about the Spitfire’s plans for winter fishing once the ground fish season ends, and he told me that they will be bass fishing during the period of the ground fish closure. MAKE SURE YOU KEEP AN EYE ON THE FISH COUNTS AND CALL THE LANDING PRIOR TO YOUR TRIP. This is subject to change at any time!!
As far as the days fishing, Craig hit quite a few spots. We had a spots that produced, and spots that didn’t. There were a couple spots that I had one or two of my guys ask “why are we still sitting here, nothing is biting?” The answer to that question guys is this. Often, you have to sit and wait on spots before these fish decide to bite. Be patient! I have sat on spots for almost 45 minutes, with no fish on the boat, when suddenly, everyone goes bendo. In a perfect world, you could anchor up on a spot, and the fish cooperate immediately. It’s not a perfect world. So just be patient, listen to the advice of the crew and fellow anglers, and have fun. Also, you guys really need to pay attention to the conditions. Some of these spots can be as large as the boat, down to as small as the bait tank. So with current, boat swings, etc. You need to watch on what part of the boat people are hanging the bottom on, because that’s where YOU want to be fishing. Most of the time, Craig and his crew would tell you where the spot is, and where you need to cast your LH. That is ANOTHER awesome attribute of this boat…communication with passengers. Anyways, we spent a better part of the day hitting many structure spots, in an average depth of 65 feet, and had a decent pick on the sand bass. Good fishing for the people that took advice from crew and myself, not so good for the hardheaded guys…lol….
Well, it was getting late, so Craig decided to go outside for the remainder of our days fishing and try to get us some Lingcod. We had about 50 pieces of live mackerel for bait. We anchored up on the first spot, in about 240 feet of water. There were a few guys bringing up their mackerel TORE UP!! They weren’t letting the lings eat the baits long enough. I dropped my second mac down, hit the bottom, and got bit. I set the hook, game on…..brought up a ling that was literally ¼ inch short (GRRRRRR), and it was released unharmed. We pulled anchor, and tried another spot in the same area, dropped the anchor, and gave it a shot. No biters. Craig decided to finish our day with a quick drift, again with no biters. Time to wind em in, and go home. Morgan weighed up the jackpot, which turned out to be my friend Andre’s fish, a solid 4 ½ lb bass. Great job homie. Moran busted out the fillet board, and the guys that had fish and wanted them cleaned lined up to get them cleaned. I gave away my sand bass to my guys that didn’t have anything, or wanted a couple extra. I believe everyone in our group caught something. Morgan is EXCELLENT on the board, and he proceeded to clean the fish. The rest of us got our gear together, and socialized (our way of “socializing is sh** talking to each other, lol) on the way back to the dock. We tied up at appx 5 pm, crew thanked all of us for coming, and we got off the boat and headed to our vehicles. Another GREAT day on the Spitfire!!
Once again guys, I highly recommend this boat. EXCELLENT and VERY HELPFUL crew with a GREAT attititude. For those of you who think that when the ground fish season closes that there is nothing else to fish for for the time being, and wanna store your gear till spring, you are wrong. The Spitfire will be fishing the structure bass before and during these months. Like I said before though guys, make sure you call the landing and check counts prior to making your resies for info, as things can change. In my experiences so far with this boat and crew, there is no such thing as a bad trip. Crews can make or break a trip, regardless of how the fishing is for that day. This crew’s # 1 priority is to put you on fish, to help you whenever they can, and to make sure you have a good trip. I highly recommend this boat, once again.
My totals:
7 Legal Sand Bass
4 Short Sand Bass
5 Sculpin
1 Short Ling (GRRRRRR)
CRAIG – Once again bro, great trip. Thank you very much, the guys and I had a great time!
MORGAN – Same thing bro, you are a top-notch deck with a great attitude and very helpful, thanks for all your help throughout the day!
BOBBY- You’re a great kid with a great attitude, always there to help when needed. Don’t lose your great attitude and desire to work. You’ll be one of the best….
DEREK – What can I say man. Its great to fish with you, and you’re one of the best cooks I have experienced. You get an 11 on the double cheeseburger scale, with 10 being the best! STOCK MORE CACTUS COOLERS!!!!! Lol
The BBFNN:
Myself- What can I say Steve, I am impressed with you awesome fishing abilities and vast knowledge of fishing. You should have your own fishing show on television.
Alan – Great fishing with you again. I am very glad you FINALLY got your own gear. Awesome set up man.
Jimmy- Great fun fishing with you again metro. Thanks for the laughs with every bass you got butt holed by cuzz you are hardheaded!! Lol…
Matt – Thanks for making this trip bro, it was great having you. Saturday trips will come soon. Also, do yourself a favor and don’t listen to Jimmy’s advice on fishing.
Brad – Thanks for the too-early wake up call man, I appreciate it. Great fishing with you again. I am also proud of you, you FINALLY got a conventional set up!!!
Amy – I hope you had a great time with the boyz, and we weren’t TOO offensive.
Mike - You sleep too much
Victor – Thanks for the parole violation by coming back to Cali to fish with us man!! It was excellent finally fishing with you bro, and you talk way too much man!! Good fisherman!!
Osiito - Another fun trip with you man. Don’t drop any more reel seat screws in the ocean!!!
B20 - Glad you made another trip with us to make up for the last trip. It was great, I had a great time with you. Also, please do not eat other peoples cheeseburgers, poor Victor was hungry!!
Juan – Thanks for making another trip man, it was great!!!
Andre – Thanks my brother, it was good fishing with you again, its been way too long. It was great catching up with you, and remembering our “good old days” fishing together. Great job on the bass!! (you still cant outfish me)
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by hakaveli
