Topics

1

General Board / I'm trying something I haven't done in almost 40 years....

« on: June 02, 2024, 05:57:58 PM »

Airbrush a Jean Jacket.  It's going to be metal.







Now just waiting for the Gesso to dry before I can start on my piece of canvas...



I'm going 1980's on this thing.... lol

2

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Staycation SD Cays (6/1)

« on: June 02, 2024, 05:55:04 PM »

We took a family trip to stay on the bay for a night to kind of make up for being sick in Hawaii.  It was fun and I must say that our accommodations were better than Hawaii!  lol

This was the cheap view according to price point.





I went out fishing after dinner for an hour and got two typical sized SD Bay spotties.  I went back to the room so we could have a night cap... Well, we pretty much whooped it up which made for getting up in the morning a tough one, but I managed as I wanted a halibut!

Watched the kayak in the picture pick up a 27" hali, so I was pumped. 



Soon as I caught my first spotty of the morning, i guess everyone was watching me from the windows from behind as a bunch of kids started yelling to me.  Ugh
Obligatory fish shot to the kids.



I ended up getting 5 total with no halibut in the mix.  The lack of water in my body from being dehydrated finally won out and I went back up to the room and got some room service. 



Well, nothing spectacular, but another day fishing is always a good one.

Thanks for reading!

3

Outdoor Activities / The Pain of Lost Siver... (6/2)

« on: June 02, 2024, 05:39:13 PM »

Well, after losing a huge silver, I needed redemption and took a 15-minute drive to find the other thing that gives me joy... fossil hunting.  lol

Mission Accomplished.  Picking the bluffs for 2 hours gave me about 50 fossils including a vertebra I need to ID.   The crabs today were spectacular.











I also found this vert that almost seemed out of place, but it does have some matrix adhered to it.  I'm on the fence about this one though on actually being a fossil, or just an ancient coyote vert.  I'm still researching this one.



Anyway, it was a fun morning considering.  Plan was to head offshore with my buddy, but marine weather and small sizes of the tuna didn't warrant a $500 gas bill.  lol

4

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / It Almost Felt Like 2008 Again... (6/2)

« on: June 02, 2024, 05:30:50 PM »

I was going to hit the surf but decided to run down to the bay instead and throw the topwater at the top of the tide.  I had something f@cking with my spook, but it may have been smelt.

Then.... a loud ass "SLURP" and line was tight!  I swear I hooked a striper and then thought a WSB since it was ripping the drag so hard...  5-6 minutes later and it was splashing like a champ, and I was like OOOOOHHH!  This is a 2008-2009 style Corvina!   28–30-inch range and I got a little wobbly in the knees.  I'm glad fish still do that to me every now and then!

Started to slide him up and then I felt nothing.  line snapped by the knot and his big fat ass just slowly turned and just quietly swam away with my spook in his face.  Ugh….. I haven’t seen a corvine this size since the late 2000’s when the EDC was crushing the 27–31-inch fish!

My memory came back to me in hindsight as it always does and lets me know I never retied…  I would have called it laziness, but it never crossed my mind until it was too late…  We would have to get each other’s lures all the time from them snapping on big casts.  We pretty much retied multiple time a trip in those old vina days, but I definitely don’t target them like I used to and just forgot.  Ugh….

I only had a Daiwa “walk the dog” lure left so tied it on.  Tide was dropping and the surface activity seemed to slow down a bunch.  After 100 casts, I switched to a swimbait.  First cast and a typical MB spotty.

I was still depressed for losing that vina, so decided to take a drive and do a little fossil hunting to make up for it.

Mission accomplished at least on that end.

5

Fishing Talk / 60 miles

« on: May 30, 2024, 07:24:24 AM »

Too far for my sled, but they're on their way!  These aren't Koga's AZ sewer trout I'm talking about, but real fish.   

6

General Board / Football Pool

« on: May 30, 2024, 05:59:36 AM »

Just trying to grab Koga's attention.  I just have a hunch he's going to have a terrible NFL season and football pool.

7

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Shakedown Trip and Abbreviations (5/18)

« on: May 19, 2024, 06:51:34 PM »

After the skunk fiasco in the morning, I realized it was going to be a late start.  Still got down at a reasonable time and found a busy SS ramp and a lot of trailers in the lot.

PB was looking great and got word from my buddy that a guy who rented his boat got a 50# WSB in PL.  I rarely go south, but wanted to see what I can see.  The only thing I wasn't going to fish for today was rockfish.  I wanted YT, WSB, Hali, or bass.  I made plenty of perfect sized bait in PB and headed to LJ.  Muddy waters... Red Tide....  Diarrhea....

I couldn't find any clean water so decided to run up the coast a bit to TP or DM and get away from the LJ flotilla.

Stopped at some locals spots on the way up to DM and caught a handful of bass along the way.



Sun finally burst through and the AF was conducting some low level chopper fly byes!



Ran up to DM reef and found a good number of TR's.



I did hook two halibut while drifting macks.  Both felt like I got hung up on reef and I just slowly cranked in hoping the hook would sink in.  I got one legal up next to the boat, but it was a 26" fish on 60#.  Unfortunately it was just a hitch hiker and opened it's mouth and just swam off.



Next one I thought was a bite, but felt like I was hung up.  I started pulling and it came free.  I reel up my mack looking like it was shredded with deep teeth marks on both sides of the bait!  Damn it!

Oh well.  I kept releasing a slow pick of bass before heading back to the barn. All the water that was clean was quickly starting to change to a TJ toilet bowl on a Saturday night.





So I took one back for dinner since he had a hook in his belly, but the boat ran great and it just felt good squeezing the last of the Covid out of me into the fresh air.

Thanks for reading and until the next Red Tide!

8

Freshwater Shore Fishing Reports / Blowing off Steam (5/15)

« on: May 16, 2024, 01:50:03 PM »

After getting the news about my job, I decided to run down to the puddles amd soak some lines.  Plan was to see if there was any holdover trout, but half the lake is closed for construction.  All of my good spots are closed and it didn't help my mood.  Then Bass guy walks right up next to me and starts casting standing at my rod.  He could feel the tension....

Well, I got a new record... SEVEN Pond Chickens in one session!



Then I got a few real bites, but as you can see, it was quite the sprint to get to them so I ended up missing a few.  I finally got on the board with a 1.25# cat...  Not even enough for a hush puppy.  Well, no more puddles until construction is done.

9

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Kauai Part 3 - "Desperation"

« on: May 16, 2024, 10:18:10 AM »

My chance of catching fish was diminishing and diminishing after every passing minute.  I only had small windows to get out and the weather and tides were not cooperating as well as all the local netters in the only fishable spot.  I looked on Google and saw a pier not far away in Ahukini Recreational Pier State Park.  It was an old sugar wharf from the old days of the sugar plantations and was in real disarray but looked like an absolute fish magnet!

I talked my wife into getting an Uber down to the pier for a few hours before heading out to lunch.



There were a few people fishing and I saw a few fish come up on the rickety dock.  That dock was sketchy as hell and I can't believe it wasn't condemned!  lol



I walked all of those rafters and dropped crack on every piling!









Great view..



Also had a few turtles swim up to the pier and check us out.







I was casting to a HUGE Houndfish (probably 4-5 feet) but all the lure did was scare it.  I even tried snagging it I was so desperate!  lol

My wife them saw some slender needlefish which wanted to play!  I hooked at least 6, but  trying to swing a wriggle slender needlefish that high onto the dock was infuraiating.  My wife almost grabbed the one, but it bit her and she was not happy about it since I said "Just grab it!".

I am considering it a catch and new species (Platybelone argalus) even though I couldn't get a picture of it. (Species #370 in order, but #375 in the grand scheme of things)

Well, the hours flew by and my wife wanted lunch so we called our Uber.



Next morning and I could feel that something wasn't right.  Not feeling great and the weather was not helping... but the wind was starting to die out finally.







Had some good bites but I couldn't get them to stick.  A local was telling me to use small white curly tail grubs and I happened to have a pack of 1" Gulp grubs!



Today we had the helicopter trip, so my fishing was at a minimum.  Those trips are EXPENSIVE as hell, but I heard I wouldn't regret it.  I bought a few seats for my wife's 50th birthday and she was excited and a little nervous about it.  Man, that was EXHILERATING!  A memory I defintely will not forget anytime soon.  Saw no less than 200 waterfalls and dropped into the crater.  I thought we were buzzing the cliff walls awfully close, but it was just amazing.





I took GoPro of the entire trip but need to edit the video.  Absolutely amazing.





When we got back to the resort, I started eying up the Koi and almost resorted to dropping a hair rig in their face! 



My wife was now getting in real bad shape and didn't leave the room.  I was feeling terrible, but not as terrible as I would if I didn't start catching fish!  I scaled down a lot and went on a full mission to catch something.  (I have a meeting now so will finish up in a half hour)



I'm back....





I went for a quick pre-dinner trip just to make a few casts and YES!  I never knew such a small fish could bring so much joy!  LOL Stocky Hawkfish! Cirrhitus pinnulatus (Species #371



I then realized I was on a nest of them, and my little Z-Man did what it was supposed to.  I'm not sure how big these things get, but they all were pretty small.  Caught 3 and lost another 3.



Then the bites stopped, and I went back to the room to check on the wife and get ready for dinner (even though I wasn't too hungry).

Last day before we leave and I arm myself with the tiny gear.  I take the little grubs and a small Kastmaster out.  I literally walk down and on my first cast, New Species!  Moi!
6-finger Threadfin, Polydactylus sexfilis.  (Species #372)





I then realize all of the fish out here run in schools.  I was really trying for a goatfish, but that apparently is more of a summer fish along with the Ulua.

I caught the magic number of 3 (1 sportsman's release) and looked like funny mullet.  I heard the locals would have mugged me for these fish, so thankfully didn't see me catch them.







I fished longer than usual since my wife was stuck in bed and started throwing the little irons.  I then felt a hit, but only in the slightest.  As I was reeling in I saw a school of them around what I hooked!  I thought it was a needlefish at first, but saw that tiny little upper lip!  New Species! Tropical half-beak!

Hemiramphus depauperatus (Species #373)





Then the locals starting coming in waves on the beach and started jumping in my little slough.  Oh well, I walked up to check on a little waterway I saw coming into the resort.  I thought I saw peac*ck bass, but never got positive ID.  I did see a TON of cichlids!  WTH, let's see....



Boom!  I couldn't get any big ones to bite, but caught a bunch of little tilapia!  Blackchin Tilapia!  (courtesy of Africa)

Sarotherodon melanotheron (Species #374)



These guys loved the crack!



I also had a catfish, but it made small work of my little size 10 baitholder.  Later I heard they were African cats... Grr... bummed I lost this one.  Looked more eel like.

I then saw something and tried for it!  Bam!  I thought it was a snakehead when realized it was a Sandwich Island sleeper! Endemic species to Hawaii

Eleotris sandwicensis (Species #375)







On the way back to the room, I noticed a ton of Placos in the ponds!  Lets just say security was not down with me trying to catch them though...





These were the lures that got most of the fish.



Well, pretty much the trip was over at this point since my wife couldn't even get out of bed.  I ended up going to dinner by myself since my wife couldn't muster the strength.  I brought her back a meal, so she was happy but it wasn't the way we hoped to end the trip.  In any case, it was all worth it!




...Oh, I forgot to mention that I got a Hawaiian Pizza in Hawaii.  I did this to tease my Italian friends back in NY who want me hung for putting fruit on pizza!  lol



Thanks for reading and until next tide!

10

General Board / 1980's Gym Class Dodge Ball

« on: May 15, 2024, 01:32:15 PM »

I asked my boss about if I should be coming in with the "Rona" or not since all of the guidance from our company seemed to be out of date.  His response was "I'll set up a meeting for us about it" and I never got a meeting request.  I masked up and went in just to get shoveled out and told to go home.  I get home to get on my computer about the big company announcement... and.... They are shutting our TRD site down.  That means I only have 3 months, 6 months or possibly a year left.  I won't know until later this week.

I was going to put up a third and final post right now, but I may just go down to the puddles, grab a pint, and Blow the "Rona" out in the fresh air while waiting for a whisker Trout to bite.

I'll get up the finale later today.  The last 3 days have been 1980's Gym Class Dodge Ball...

11

Hunting Board / Have-A-Heart Hunting

« on: May 13, 2024, 08:22:55 PM »

My game trail cam broke, but I suspect a Racoon or Possum wreaking havoc in my garden.  My wife wants no harm to come to it, so I have to get tricky with the trap in order to catch it.

I just finished taking my NyQuil because of the bug and was ready to hit the sack at 11:00.  I decided to check the trap before bed just in case since I didn't want to deal with a pissed nocturnal animal in the day.  Sure as hell, there it was....



Well, I wish the animal transfers went as well as this one.  Put him in the truck (covered).  Ran down to the campground and found a tree filled spot near the dumpsters and off he went.  Didn't even let out a screech at all, just walked right out after opening it and went right up the tree. 

I think the wife was bummed that I relocated "Slobber", but I have this feeling I might see him again i a month or so.  Just a hunch, but I hope I'm wrong.  lol

12

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Kauai Part 2 - "Morning Recons"

« on: May 13, 2024, 08:15:57 PM »

Next morning woke up to howling wind and lowering tides.  The bartender was telling me the reef goes out really far and fishing isn't too good, but I grabbed my rod and my wife after breakfast and went scouting the beach.



First off, the reef was wicked between the lava rock and the coral.  This is not like SoCal surf fishing. Another thing, no sea-weeds anywhere, but plenty of wood!  I mean WOOD!



All of it was moving with the waves so you couldn't stand too close if a set was coming in just in case it lifted a tree trunk and dropped it on your foot!  No Joke!

Finally came across someone set fishing but it was weird.  They were using the long rods, but you couldn't cast out too far, so they were lob casting it 50 feet.  They also set the rods up high on the beach and let the line slope down from the tip straight into the sand as they walked over it.  Multiple times I watched them dive in to free their gear from the reef which seemed even more weird with this outfit.





On the way back, my wife goes Look!  I turned to the last thing I thought I would ever see on a Hawaii beach....  Seal!  Monk Seal to be exact!  This is quite the rarity and the old zoo keeper in me got a kick of it wiggling up the beach to us.







Damn thing wasn't afraid of anything... Still a cool sight.

I had 4 swings and misses.  I was throwing a 1-1/2 oz metal jig but couldn't get any of them to stick.  I had to reel in fast since it was only 1-2 feet with the reef and the water was all turgid from the wind and waves.  I wound up losing both jigs, so called it for some more resort time with the wife.

Signs all over said Don't feed the wildlife... and here's my wife...





I guess to be fair, they were only wild chickens.... unless the Myna Birds, Doves, and other assorted random birds count.  lol

Next few mornings, I tried using the 2" gulp sand worm and smaller Kastmasters (3/4 to 1 oz) just to get on the board!





Two little nibbles.... Not what I was expecting.



Tried to go big with a 2oz Kastmaster also...  Only had some huge Trumpetfish chase it in, but would never commit.





Found some cool Beach Huts made by people with great taste!





Otherwise, I was just checking out reefs and reef critters since the reefs loved what I was offering as lures go.











There's 4 of these darters or gobies in this picture.  I found a ton of micro-life.



The beaches were filled with "Wood", but also a ton of "Hairy Nuts".



Everywhere I went, there was some c*ck staring at me.  I'm still astounded by all of the chickens here!



Everytime I came back to have breakfast with the wife, I'd check the private field.  It always had a few Nenes!  We had some Nenes at the Wild Animal Park and were the coolest geese.





Well, I'm done tonight.  I'm supposed to start work tomorrow, but I feel like I'm listening to things underwater and just having a rough time with the Rona.....  Oh well, Next installment tomorrow I suppose.  I have to catch a fish, right?

13

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Kauai Part 1 - "The Trip Over...."

« on: May 12, 2024, 10:13:13 PM »

So much to write, but most of what happened was non-fishing related, so I will try and put together a little bit of a mixture of a post.

Short catch-up post is:

Wife's 50th Birthday and our 20th Anniversary happened within a week or so and I asked my wife what she wanted?  I was thinking a gift and a party, but she blurted out "I want to go to Hawaii".  Not what I expected, but I've never been there, so looking forward to it.

I knew it wasn't going to be a "fishing trip", but I packed a few travel rods in the old suitcase with a small variety of lures.

The trip out was exciting as any good trip should usually start out as.  Unfortunately, our first flight of the morning got delayed 2 hours which already put us behind on catching our second flight.  Realizing we were already going to miss our next flight was a kick in the stomach, but I was hoping something good would happen.  Sure as hell, we get on the plane and the Captain comes on the intercom and says we're going to make up that time in the air.  I'm thinking "why are so many planes late if this is the case?".

It was May 4th, so I doodled a bit on the flight over.  Not accurate, but just my mind having a little fun.



Anyway, we landed in Kahului and had enough time for a c*cktail.  lol



It was one damn fine tasting beer...



We landed in Lahue and we decided to just take a taxi the 6-7 miles to the resort.  We were upgraded from the "Garden View" to DELUXE Garden View as a gift for our anniversary and her birthday.  Get to our room, open the blinds and....  WTF.....

Nice roof building view! 



We already got there and just said we'll be fine since we won't be in the room long every day.  Might have to strategically tat the place up to compensate the "upgrade".





The wind was HOWLING!  25-35 and I heard it was supposed to be like this for 4 days at minimum.  Looking out the window and we were on the quiet side of the building.



Went right to the bar after checking a couple of things out.



The bar was bad ass, but they had one side closed off to block the nasty wind from the beach.



One thing was evident.... Chickens were everywhere!



Saw dozens coming up to the bar just begging for food.







Walked back to the room to get ready for dinner.  On the way up to the room, I noticed there was no "2" in the elevator.  It went L, 1, 3, 4, 5.  Where the hell is 2??? 
On the way back we took the stairs and sure as sh!t...





This mystery will need to be cracked by the end of the week.....

Dinner (as with everything else) was one pricey affair, but looking forward to getting a good meal in.  As I'm looking at the menu, I swore I saw Josh.  My mind's playing tricks on me.



We went for some music and more c*cktails after dinner to wind down the night. 



Walked down to check out the beach to see if the surf calmed down.  Pictures don't tell the story.





Also the beach is COVERED with WOOD!  I haven't seen this much wood since the beaches in Washington.

On the way back, I stopped to see the vending machine "Snacks".  I always liked seeing what other places stuff in their machines.  This place had Combos!  lol



....To be continued....

14

General Board / Just got back with a Special Prize!

« on: May 11, 2024, 04:52:15 PM »

Wife got sick three days ago and really bad.  Then I got it from her....  We're home now and trying to unpack and get stuff together.  Today is my wife's official 50th birthday and we're too sick to celebrate. 

Did a COVID test and both positive.  I realized that I couldn't smell the fesh cut flowers I got for my wife and then I stuck a stinky flip flop right up to my nose.  Can't smell a thing.  Neither can my wife...

We went above and beyond while out, but we heard a lot of sick people in the resort...  I really hope I get my smell back.  I'm really bummed without the sense of smell....

I'll check out all of the posts and catch up this weekend.  I have a lot of sorting to do.  lol

Cheers

15

Fishing Talk / Kauai Fishing

« on: May 02, 2024, 11:28:28 AM »

My wife is turning 50 and it's our 20th anniversary. I asked my wife what she wanted for her birthday and she said "A trip to Hawaii"....  Not exactly what I was thinking and a hell of a lot more $$$ than I was expecting, but neither of us have been to the islands before.  After she picked the island and resort, we reserved our time on Kauai at a beachfront resort.  I tried talking her into an air B&B, but she wanted a resort....  Well, I most likely won't be chartering any boats to go fishing with all the coin I'm dropping, but going to do some surf and reef fishing to hopefully get a few dozen new species to add to my list.  I would need 31 to hit the 400 species mark.  That may be a stretch, but I'm arming myself with all of the little critter gear also to help try and make that happen.

Anyone fish Kauai before?  If so, any pointers?  Everything I read so far is pretty standard to how I would go about it, but asking just in case someone knows something that I might not have thought of. 

Thanks!