Topics

31

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Rockfish Closer 12/27

« on: December 27, 2023, 06:17:02 PM »

Gotta say that idk if I've ever been this sore from a boating trip. I can't believe how wiped I am right now and I just woke up from a 2 hour nap.

I've been trying to hit the 14 for one last deep drop trip, but it keeps falling through. Looked like the better window might have been yesterday (26th) and by last night I had the boat packed and ready but it looked like it was gonna be white caps offshore and I would be stuck to the coast once again.

Could barely sleep last night and had visions of poking around the coast for halibut then got to the ramp and it was pretty mellow. Got to the mouth of the harbor at 0700 and it was nicer than expected. Then something caught my eye...2nd humpback I've seen right at the harbor mouth! Really weird spot for a whale to be (and definitely a hazard), but always awesome seeing a whale!



Started heading for the 14, but keeping in mind I would bail and cut back to the coast if I ran into the chop I was expecting, but it stayed glassy. The orcas have been going crazy off San Pedro so I was wondering if they were gonna make their way through the channel and eat me alive today.



The 25 mile ride was less than 2 hours. Feels like that trip gets longer every time I go.

First drop at 0900. Hit the bottom in 1050' and was bit within seconds. God that's a long way up with 24oz + fish. Decent blackgill!



Already felt a blister forming and cramp in my hand from reeling, so put on my work gloves and moved along the same ledge into 950'. Bite stayed instant with the flukes. Chameleon and a fat bank rockfish!



The chameleon's signature forward facing lachrymal spines:



Hanging out with the blackgills and the speckles...





Couple mexicans.



It seriously never took more than 10 seconds to hook up. Got my numbers to 7, then I switched over to the 16oz Mogambo grub with a fluke above it. Took a lot longer to get bit, then when I wrenched in this toad Pink, I found it still went for the fluke. Definitely could have inhaled the grub, too.



The grub took longer to get down so I started moving shallower to 750', 650', 550', and 350'. Never hooked up at any of those depths. Frustrating. Finally got sick of dropping without hookups, and went back to my original spot in 950', and switched back to lead and flukes. Immediately broke off on the bottom Lost my only 24oz weight so took a Hawaiin snap and 2 12oz weights and sent it back down. Instant bit. 2 more drops, got to 9 with 2 more chameleons, was sick of the deep drops and headed in. I think I reeled about 6000….7000’ by hand today.

Best of each species. The chameleons turn red after they die.



Hopefully my body recovers and my mind forgets the pain in time for the 2024 opener...

32

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Striper Delusions Continued 12/20

« on: December 20, 2023, 05:08:04 PM »

Went to a local river mouth for a very quick 30 minute session looking for the fabled fish. Light rain and wind at my back, worked about 150 yards with the jerkbait. A little micro bait around which seemed like a good sign. Was fishing it in a sweeping motion, felt an inhale bite on the pause, and exhale just as quickly. Oi! Close. Definitely a striper.

10 minutes later I hooked up, and dragged this 16” specimen up onto the sand. First halibut of the year.



Seems like I left right before it really started coming down.

33

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Rain's Got Me Excited 12/19

« on: December 19, 2023, 12:30:12 PM »

Whenever I see a cold front come through I always get to thinking about striped bass making a showing. Somebody got one in the OC yesterday to validate that intuition once again. I went out this morning throwing jerkbaits thinking any cast, any bite could be a striper.



So an hour in when I missed a good bite a lot of angry noises came out of my throat, then I said to myself "it was just a perch, don't think about it." Well I don't know for sure. Then I missed another couple bumps and started to think maybe I did find a perch hole. I was a few steps away from that hole when I finally connected with a skunk busting 11" perch.



Nothing else for the morning. Thinking I might add to this report with an afternoon session in a few hours at a different beach but we will see.

34

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Came Back With Some Juice 12/16

« on: December 16, 2023, 04:00:28 PM »

Tough couple months of financial difficulties and stupid mistakes kept me off the water. Changed the oil on the outboard last night and decided to hop around and just recalibrate all my local hard bottom spots, pull a few whitefish for dinner, see if any larger game might be around, and pick off some variety.

Out the harbor 0730. Looked nice for the first few minutes and then the morning onshore breeze blew up some white caps for a couple hours. Pretty flat swell but wind chop coming from 3 directions made the ride out a bit wet.

First drop in 120' resulted in a bass. This spot always seems to put out a bass first, then for the rest of the time spent I'm swimming in whitefish.



That's basically what happened. First one in the bag.



Picked off 2 more dink skrillas. Longfin dab in the mix.



I was more than halfway through my squid rations so I upped and moved. Was gonna stay around HB with the wind but since it died down to grease calm I decided to go forward with my plan of burning as much of my old gas as possible today and headed to Newport.



Pulled up on a spot I'd been working a couple months ago and nothing super fishy, but I was getting pecked by dinks. I was curious and hoping for some weird reef critter, but ended up with a baby rattler.



A few minutes later I nabbed another keeper whitefish and then a decent sized mackerel. Decided on the spot to rig up my 50# rod with a 3 way and 24oz weight and start bounce balling with the mackerel.

I got maybe a mile before the mackerel was undergoing rigor mortis so I switched rods and put out an LCFM on the 3 way in continuing a search for halibut. Spent about 90 minutes in 40-70' in okay looking water before it was almost noon and I decided to beat the wind back to Huntington.

Stopped on some hard bottom on the way in and wasn't seeing much on the FF, when I get a hit and run, taking off behind the boat. I knew immediately what it was, but it wouldn't jump, so I was crossing my fingers to finally see a BSB for myself. Well, 15 minutes of playing it on 30# and I finally got it up to the boat and, yes, it was a thresher, probably in the 6-7' range. Pretty cool considering I only ever catch bass with this rig and in this area. The fish was hooked midway up the tail so it was a real trick trying to secure the tail enough to remove the trebles. I grabbed the tail and leader 3 separate times, each time it exploding away, before on the 3rd time the line finally snapped and I lost the LC. Bummed for the fish and the $20. Definitely could have gaffed it but I really didn't want the mess today, and still have some big game in the freezer.

Retied another crank and scouted the area a bit more for one more bass.



Got back to the dock by 1330 and I had barely burned a gallon of gas in about 30 miles. Somehow the best fuel economy I've ever gotten when I was going out of my way to get rid of old gas. Go figure! Anyway, no halibut, but 6 species and a surprise thresher on a gorgeous day is a solid trip in my book.

35

Fishing Talk / Frustrating Morning

« on: November 22, 2023, 08:31:23 AM »

Was gonna take the Mosquito out for the first time in about a month. Finally got a little financial relief and a good weather window to try deep dropping at the 14 mile bank again. Got to the ramp, was just about to put the boat in the water. I raised the lower unit to prepare to walk the boat into the water when I heard a snap. That can't be good...

Didn't have time to check what it was when a marina worker in a golf cart rolled up and said that I shouldn't be in the marina without a trailer. I said, honestly yes I understand that but I've also launched here at least 70 times in the last couple years without an issue, so I figured we had at least come to some kind of implicit understanding seeing that I never got a ticket. He said well I'm just letting you know that is the rule, and you should talk to the new manager of 4 months and make sure you're on the same page, they come into work in an hour.

He was nice enough and introduced himself. But made me think my time getting away with what I'm doing is up...

Turned back to the outboard and I snapped the female connector of my gas valve. Day is done.



Biiiiig frustrated sigh. Set it all up just to tear it down.

I guess I'll drop by the marina to talk to the manager soon. If they're not gonna let me in anymore then I'm gonna be seriously reconsidering having the boat, maybe drop it until I can afford a Livingston on a trailer.

36

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Monday and Friday

« on: November 17, 2023, 12:43:46 PM »

Monday - Went toward the LB area with Tommy looking for halibut. Tommy got a few short nips on the dropshot gulp grub, I got nothing. I lost an LCFM that's caught me an impressive number and variety of fish. Moment of silence...

Friday - This morning went over to HB and it was wall to wall surfers. They seem to double every time I visit. I would safely estimate 200 this time, no room in between to cast for a couple miles. Scouted it from the cliffs and went back to the car. Headed to Sunset beach where there were less people, water seemed mellower, but it was grass every cast. Gave up very quickly. Woof!

Just switched out the line on my Avet 30/2 from the 100# braid for tuna to 50# to start deep dropping for sables. Keeping an eye on a weather window Wednesday, though the next week looks a bit windier and wetter than usual, so might be a minute.

37

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / LC Perching 11/10

« on: November 10, 2023, 09:50:37 AM »

Got to the beach around 0745. Opened my trunk and realized I didn't put my rod in the car . 10 minute ride back home... Got on the beach after 0800, looked across the beach and sighed. At least 100 black specks in the water. Wasn't sure if today was a working holiday or not but I think that's my answer.



Found a few hundred yards of free beach and got to work with the LC. Didn't take too long before I got rocked by a 15" surfperch.



Ooh wee! Happy with that one.



Popped another around 10" that took every treble.



Got a few other bumps over an hour or so but there was just not enough beach to work with this morning. Left around 0900. Thinking of trying the LB area this weekend. Happy Veteran's Day!

38

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / The Curse Has Lifted! 11/3

« on: November 03, 2023, 04:19:32 PM »

Didn't report it but 11/1 I went out in the afternoon and caught another 6 micro YFC in 20 minutes before it shut off. I was thinking of inviting a family of 3 from down the beach in on the bite since they were struggling on their spot, then I saw one pull a corbina and they stopped fishing. Went from feeling generous to jealous real quick!

Anyways, to today.

Got to the beach around 1400. Went from bluebird skies to thick fog right on the beach as I was driving up.



Got down to the water and not so many surfers. Maybe the fog scared them off.

Was working the back side of the high tide. Some mediocre holes but at least a nice drop off right off the hard pack. Was getting micro bites quick. Then a tick tick boom. Felt decent, could be a nice perch. Nope! My first corbina! FINALLY.



My dad joined SCSF October 2005, so that was when we got going surf fishing. 18 years on and off hitting the surf and easily thousands of hours on the sand. To some degree I understand how fishing steeper beaches in the Ventura area kept me away from corbina, but my dad had pulled several while fishing next to me even in those beaches. I figured it was only a matter of time before I hooked one in HB, though. Not the toad I've been fantasizing about forever but the curse is lifted! 130th species. Even took a selfie with it to commemorate the end of the curse.



Sent it back, kept going. Dinks pulling my leg almost every cast, ended up hooking one micro perch by chance.



In case you forgot what they looked like.

That was it for a 90 minute session. Had a pretty anxiety ridden day yesterday and regretted not easing that with a quick surf trip. Certainly fixed me up today.

Thinking about switching over to the LCFM for some sessions now. Tommy has been finding some flatties and now that the corbina is knocked off I can maybe finish my year with a legal butt.

39

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Keychain Croakers, Jumbo Jacksmelt 10/31

« on: October 31, 2023, 12:23:32 PM »

Got to the beach this morning around 0815. Real nice weather, Santa Anas pretty much gone and replaced by the typical west wind. Dog beach was absolutely LOADED with surfers. Really wanted to fish that but the break was more on the inside and it was wall to wall with kooks. Walked south instead.

This guy was maybe the southernmost surfer. He rode a wave in. Then walked 50 yards up to me, murmured something, I threw him a peace sign. I guess I approved his plan to get in the water directly in front of me. Actually just a few yards up current, just to maintain staying in front of me for a little longer.



A few more surfers spawned out of the ether to consume more open water but eventually found the end of them. Ran into another 2 fishermen and took solace in their presence. Talked to one throwing a crankbait for a minute before he had to go run up and add money to his meter.

Was starting to get micro bites just about every cast. Then missed a few takedowns that should have been surefire hookups. Then, got a super aggressive hit and run. Saw a splash in the surf. Full adrenaline, oh boy a striper? Halibut? Slowed it down pretty quick and it dogged me all the way in. Got on the sand, ahhhhh. Well...PB jacksmelt at 16". Approaching IGFA size. Never seen a smelt with so much girth. Hooked on the pec fin, otherwise I would have googled the record and considered taking it home, so the PSoul family could own yet another baitfish world record.



Finally started hooking up with some other stuff, turned out to be a school of micro YFC.



Ended up pulling out 5 of these keychain croakers. Even the little ones fight good. Got pecked on most casts, went through two pieces of gulp.

Left about 1100. Much needed sand therapy.

Happy Halloween, be safe! Gonna try not to run over anybody delivering food tonight.

40

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / And Now Some Perch From Dog Beach 10/20

« on: October 20, 2023, 03:23:56 PM »

0700-0900. 5-10mph wind for first hour, foggy. Sun came out and wind chilled a bit around 0800. 3 other fishermen besides Tommy and I, recognized one from the Central Park lake a few months ago and said hi. Plenty of surfers out but no serious issue.

3 distinct model perch for me on crack up to almost 12", a skunk busting savior for Tommy on a grub. Pretty nice troughs and holes mid-tide, solid downhill current.

Seems like the surfers around here do not give any f@cks about hopping into the water right next to us with our line in. Literally happens 3-5 times per session. As long as they don't get hooked, or they don't bitch when they get hooked, I'll c o - e x i s t. I don't know much about surfing but...well I don't think they do either.







5 times surf fishing in 8 days! 7 trips total in 9 days. Resetting my sleep schedule is paying off. I won't overload the shore fishing section with skunks but might inspire ya'll to join me in a c-rig revival. Been so long since I really went at it that it feels fresh and I'm picking up on little things, not even all fishing related, that are making it a nice regular experience. Now if only a bean would show up once and for all!

41

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Newport Halibut Scouting 10/19

« on: October 19, 2023, 03:39:38 PM »

Woke up 0630, 200 yards of vis outside my window. Woof...well the boat is inflated and everything's ready. Fog should burn off by 10 so just try not to die for a couple hours eh?

Was almost to the launch and realized that I forgot my FF battery at home. Really need the GPS on that thing today so went back for it. 20 minute delay but no real hurry here...



Got out of the harbor around 0800. Fog still pretty thick. Swell was super nice though. Going toward Newport from HB it was a sweet downhill run. Drove by the bait boat and got sights on it at a pace I was comfortable with so I relaxed, but kept my head on a swivel.

Got past the pipe, and started a slow troll around a small reef. Never stopped on it before but it had an impressive school of presumably bass on it today. Not that they wanted my offerings. Looking at the pic now, I could almost believe this is WSB. Heavy red undulating marks, hmmm is that blue/green a squid bed?



Started my slow troll there in 80' of water. 2 rods with 12oz 3-way rigs, LFCM 130 and a 5" swimbait. Kept them tight to the bottom and made my heading for the beach, covering a bunch of hard bottom for the couple miles in between.

Got bit on the swimbait in 70' of water, felt small. No marks on the meter for a good minute, so a stray sand bass? Or something more interesting? Came off midway up. Would have been nice to know what bites in the middle of nowhere.

Western Pride was jamming out on their morning half day as I idled forward. Ended up seeing them fishing the pipe later.

Got all the way to the beach, 25' or so, and grass became an issue. Pulled up and reset on the 60' contour of the west canyon edge. Nothing there. A bait ball here and there, couple stray marks.

Already 10:30, fog let up to almost a whole mile of visibility. Headed back to the artificial reef for one more go at that.

Was still marking the big school, still didn't want my offerings. Then one rod got stuck on the bottom. Put the boat in neutral and started clearing my LCFM rod and that was hung up for a second. Oi...then the LCFM popped free thank god, but had something on. Felt dinky. Got it up and it was a decent sized Fantail Sole! Very interesting. Around 15". Almost kept it for lunch but took mercy.



Decided to leave that reef alone, maybe save it for a different day and different game plan.

Started back, thinking I would hit a couple more spots. Started getting my teeth rattled with the incoming afternoon chop, so figured I would just head straight in and beat the worst of it in the oncoming hours. After about 30 minutes it cleared to a rare 4' at 17 second swell. Only seen it a few times, always neat to see. Glassy, but you lose sight of the horizon from every direction because of the big clean swell shape...

Decided to stop on my normal honey hole which has been hit and miss lately. Saw some stray marks but only bite was a big mackerel. Let it go and headed in. Chop picked back up, bumpy ride for the rest of the way in.

Talked to a guy at the ramp who said the police boat wouldn't let him leave the harbor because of the fog at 0900. Glad I didn't talk to that cop...

42

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / HB 10/18

« on: October 18, 2023, 10:06:21 AM »

Met up with Tommy to fish the surf this morning. 0700-0900. A bit foggy. No crab beds. Swell forecast 3' @ 6 seconds. Nice enough outside break to attract surfers but keep them well out of casting distance. Nice trough for about a quarter mile, a few particularly tasty holes here and there. A dozen casts with dink pecks, and one aggressive YFC for the morning on crack. Tommy got a dink BSP on a grub.



Might take the boat out tomorrow.

43

Freshwater Shore Fishing Reports / Micro Bassing 10/15

« on: October 15, 2023, 10:47:24 AM »

Met up with Tommy from Charkbait this morning to poke around with a micro rig at Huntington Central Park Lake. Trying to get a green sunfish out of there, maybe a plecco.

Showed up at 0700 and Tommy was alternating between a frog and a trout tail. Some bass busting occasionally kept him picking up the frog. I started with a micro hair jig under a float and switched to red worms on a #14 hook after 20 minutes.

Moved around a bit before finding a productive spot. Float finally moved and I broke my 3 year freshwater skunk.



I ended up with 5 green bass in this spot while Tommy was able to nab one on the trout tail. These might have been the smallest 5 bass I've ever caught.



Poked around a little more but no new species. Good time hanging with Tommy. Left at 9:45 to watch football. Should hit the surf with him this week, see how that goes.

44

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / So Proud of Myself 10/12

« on: October 12, 2023, 10:04:11 AM »

I haven't for the life of me been able to get myself out of bed to surf fish in months. I can blame it on finishing work at 9-10pm, and the local surf fishing having sucked for years, but c'mon I live 10 minutes from the beach now and I go there less than ever! Well after listening to enough press conferences with HC Mike McDaniel talking about handling adversity I decided to make a bigger effort to shift my sleep schedule back a few hours to hopefully get out surf fishing before work more mornings than not.

4.5' @ 7 seconds was the swell forecast, so I didn't have high hopes for fishability, but the tide is gonna stay around 0900 for the next few mornings so I hit the sand at 0800 if just to scout for holes and crabs and maybe even fish. This was also the first time using my new Fenwick HMX 9' 1/4-1oz rod, replacing a broken 9.5' 1/4-3/4oz. That transaction took place a few months ago and I'm horrified it took so long to test this new one out. I also took a small risk on a stupid internet deal I found for a $1 spinning reel from Temu. Feels at least as good as a Sienna or any other low-mid priced 2500 reel, but we'll see how long it takes to break it.



Surf was breaking pretty far outside for the tide being so filled in. Thankfully the new rod can huck a 1oz weight like JaMarcus Russell, pre-NFL draft, so it wasn't an issue. And 1oz was just right to maintain a gentle downhill drift in the current. Not too much in the way of structure, though there was some trace of a trough on the outside, right in front of the parking lot.

Got a couple short bites off the bat, then got a no-hesitation hook up. First YFC of the year, always love to see 'em.



Got a couple more perch pecks in that trough before it went totally dead. Walked south a wee bit to where the beach was steeper, and the break was gnarlier, and found another hole or two on the outside, but nothing playing.

That was it. 45 minutes. It was all enough to make me wanna go back again. Nice warm morning, water not too cold, empty enough beach. Surf will be slowly reducing to nothing over the next few days while the tide will only shift forward 15 minutes or so each day, so it'll be the perfect stretch of time to cover a little more ground, maybe find the other croakers. Also picked up a 7'6" 1/16-3/8oz Celilo from that Okuma deal that Mike posted, so that will be super fun to hook up with when the swell mellows.

45

Fishing Talk / Metallic Flavored BFT

« on: October 03, 2023, 03:54:29 PM »

While I’m sure Koga loves the taste of fish and pennies, I’m a bit disappointed with the quality of my BFT meat. Raw it’s got a metallic taste to it, not quite the usual metallic blood flavor but something a little different. It’s fine and good when marinaded or seasoned/seared, but raw it is pretty much crap. Been like this from the start. Tried dry aging to see if the moisture was the issue and it made no difference. My best guess is that I shouldn’t have let the loins sit in the icy seawater bath for 3 hours and soak up excess moisture before being vacuum packed. Otherwise I just think bluefin isn’t that great compared to other tunas and mackerels. Never had a great cut of it, meanwhile yellowfin has always been great for me.

Definitely will eat it all and enjoy it marinaded and seared, just disappointed that none will be good sushi. Is that how bluefin is or did I screw up somewhere in my prep?