The 3 B's! 10/4

[jrodda]

Wanted to do a local run to deep drop for blackgills or black cod yesterday. Nice conditions to not have too crazy of a drift in super deep water. Slept in and got to the ramp around 0900.

Headed to my current favorite stone on the way to the deep drop grounds and picked my skunk buster on the mini iron.

#1 - Bass!



And nabbed a halfmoon by his pectoral mouth....



Left that for the deep drop zone. About half a mile short of the zone, I see boils and shiners coming at the boat. Chuck the mini iron at it and get bit but it comes off quick. Looked like pencil cuda in the water.

Pull up on my first deep drop spot and according to Navionics it's 600-800' but really it was 375'. Gave it a go anyways cuz it looked fishy. No bites so wound up and moved deeper.

Next spot was 850-900'. Dropped down and down and down and down......Kept back trolling on it so stay up and down. Even with only a slight south wind it was easy to get horizontal with a 24oz sinker. No bites for 10-15 minutes so I wound up to try again. By the time I reeled up my thumb was cramping and my other arm was sore so I was like f@ck this! I'm going shallow again!

Decided to check out a mound in 230' of water to see if it was soft or hard bottom. Soft. Nice Sand Dab came up. Added 3 more hooks to my dropper loops, pulled a few drifts on the spot, picked off 15 dabs for dinner.

Very nice!



Stopped on the Newport pipe trying to get rid of some more old squid and found one lone calico willing to play.



Then as I'm coming back to the harbor after a pleasant day, I see boils! Stopped and hit it with the mini iron. On my first two casts, what do I get but my first bonito since 2004! Do I even fish?

#2 - Bonito!



They stayed up a little longer but couldn't get another one to commit. Nice to see them!

Then! Oh, what's that over there on the surface amongst the lobster buoys? Is this gonna be the day I hit the 3 B's? Yes!!!

#3 - A near mint Basketball!



Very satisfying day.

15 Sand Dabs (Pacific and Longfin)
2 Bonito
1 Sand Bass
1 Calico Bass
1 Halfmoon
1 Basketball

Bonito sashimi was excellent.

[xjchad]

That's a productive outing, nice!
You decorated that basketball perfectly! 

[Tim524]

 What's the limit on Basketballs Looks like a fun day . Them Sand Dabs wouldn't leave my bait alone last trip I was out

[Latimeria]

Nice trip boss!  I always laugh at the things I find floating out in the ocean.  A brand new soccer ball.  Brand new volleyball.  The only thing I left out there besides a burlap bag of severed heads,
 was a Big black dong with the writing "Kogahead" on it...  I thought that dude was living in AZ.

[KogaHead]

If you went out of Newport drift around the Balboa and Newport piers for Halibut, about 100 yards off the end and then near the surf lines.

[vdisney]

You gotta be sh!tting me Jeremy, 900' with 24 ounces??  You are a man amongst men   

[jrodda]

You gotta be sh!tting me Jeremy, 900' with 24 ounces??  You are a man amongst men   

Ben makes it sound easy. He'd paddle out a couple miles then spend the day fishing 1000'+. I couldn't do 2 drifts. Gotta up my game!

[jrodda]

If you went out of Newport drift around the Balboa and Newport piers for Halibut, about 100 yards off the end and then near the surf lines.

Was out of Huntington this time, but was out front of Newport pier. I think I'll be drifting by the beach for halibut more as the water cools. I know some shallow stones I wanna drift around in that area you mentioned.

[Latimeria]

I'm going to deep drop here this winter, but I plan on using bait thread to make sure the bait stays on and spot lock to reduce the scope of drifting.  Still, I'm tired of just thinking about all that reeling up.

[BenCantrell]

Ben makes it sound easy. He'd paddle out a couple miles then spend the day fishing 1000'+. I couldn't do 2 drifts. Gotta up my game!

LOL! I liked calm days when I could use 16 oz and it would hold bottom in 1000 ft. I'd actually paddle slowly to drag my bait along the canyon bottom.

Nice report! I could really go for a plate of bonito sashimi. Love that stuff.