I didn't feel like getting up early, but needed to test out my new jack and prop. I threw a few things in the truck and went to see what this prop could do. I tried 2 different aluminum props and found the type that I liked. When ordering a SS prop, Eddie from SD Propellers was a little amazed he found one so quick and for a bit less money than he was expecting (both good for me). He did say there were some stats on the props dimensions that made it a little different from the aluminum one I was testing, but should do the trick..
Well, at 5 mp I noticed one thing right away was the torque wasn't making my steering wheel try and turn right. This was pretty welcome for just the first 5 minutes...
I finally get to the speed zone in the inlet and open it up! I had to immediately throttle back as it popped the boat right out of the water and within a few seconds was getting close to 40! It was crazy how much more power this prop gave the boat. I couldn't open it up on the water because the swell was just close enough that it wouldn't let me skip over them. There was no wind, so everything looked like glass!
The red tide was disgusting... a lot of streaky areas and lots of cold water all from 59.8 to 62.3 throughout the day.
I decided to make a few deep drops, but I didn't get bit and I was already over it reeling in from 350'. I just figured I would test the new Bluetooth computer I hooked up to the engine and see what my fuel burn is.
I headed offshore and Vallela were everywhere!
I then saw a shark jump out of the corner of my eye, well thought it was a dolphin really until I saw it jump again and waggle that huge long tail of it! Big thresher! I couldn't find it, so kept heading offshore. Mola mola everywhere! it was cool seeing these things pop their big bulbous heads out of the water so they could suck up the Vallela! I saw them anywhere from 5# to about 150#.
The packs of tiny 10 discs were my favorite, but they wanted nothing to do with me getting close to them...
I reached Tim on the radio as he was out fishing. After I got off the radio with him the first time, a big finned whale (blue?) came up right next to the boat and the exhaust of it's breath scared the sh!t out me! I had no sign of this thing, but it just came out of nowhere!
I kept hearing of all the BFT and Yellows at the 371 and S of the 302 on the radio. It was hero or zero out there from what I could gather, but sounds like there was a ton of boats.
I started cruising again and saw a super tiny kelp paddy and thought I saw something underneath it, so I cast the little megabait on the bass spinner. I watched a few Blue Perch come out and follow it for a moment before heading back under the paddy. My next cast and I saw something much bigger come out from under it and it was a yellowtail! I'm only guessing between 5-7 pounds, but a hell of a fight on 12# bass gear! I fought it for 4 or 5 minutes and as I was sliding it next to the boat stopped to take the cork off my gaff and ... he gone.... damn it... oh well.
I made a few more casts and just decided to run and look for another. Nothing was out there, so I decided to head back in and make a few stops for some rockfish. No deepwater rockfish.... literally not a single fish over 100' deep.
I moved to some shallow water spots and it was even tough there with only a few fish that I released.
I stopped in 45' of water and was shocked that so many fish were piled up there! I caught a half dozen turd rollers, a half dozen rockfish, and even a whitefish in that shallow water!
I even caught one with the worst cataracts! How the hell he saw my jig is a mystery, unless his sense of small for that squid dtrip was really keen!
Well, that was it. I kept two that swallowed the damn jig stinger hook and released the rest.
It wasn't quite a fishing trip as I had no idea what was going on out there. It's been a few months since the Curmudgeon has seen the salt, so it was fun just to get some intel and peace of mind out there.
Hopefully it will be tuna time soon....
