Topics

46

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / 7/30/16 Bonita Attack at OB Pier

« on: July 30, 2016, 05:25:26 PM »

The salad has been so bad in the surf lately, I though I would give the pier a shot to make some shark bait. Hit Ocean Beach Pier at 6am today and fished the incoming tide till 9am. (high was at 8am) I brought two set ups to fish below the surface and on the surface. When I arrived I saw large clumps of eel grass patties floating on the surface. I can't seem to get away from this stuff, the shore line was dark with a lot of shopped red algae too. I went to the end of the pier on the left side of the T-intersection. Didn't see too many people on the end of the pier most were fishing the mid section of the pier. I casted the splasher rig out and was quickly rewarded with a mac sized bonito. (12")



I forgot how much fun catching bonito on the splasher rig can be. The bonito would chase the trailing feather all the way to the pilings. I quickly made my limit of 5 fish in an hour. I switched over to the mega bait jig and made a couple of macs too. If you want some fun watching the Bonito blow up on the surface get out there at sunrise.

47

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Last day of June Report 6/30

« on: July 01, 2016, 08:41:33 AM »

Although the reports called for high surf and rip current conditions I went out anyways. When I got to the spot at 7pm the tide was on it's way out. With the sun still up and the crowds were still lingering around, it didn't get dark until 8:30ish. I fished the small rod until the people cleared out of the water and then I started soaking the long rod. Nothing on the small rod, but I wasn't trying too hard. 

First long rod bait in the water at 8pm. Had lots of critter bites and after 15 minutes I reel it in to check the condition of my bait. The mac head was still there but the internals were just about completely hollowed out. I've had success with just the skeleton before, so out it goes again. Another 10 minutes go by and I think I have kelp on the line, so I start reeling it in, all of a sudden the dead weight starts pulling back! I though it was a small bat at first, but then it started behaving like a grinner. After a short battle I beach this 61" soupfin.


Still had lots of bait, but the tide was dropping fast. Fished until 10pm with lots of bait stealers, but nothing big after the soupfin.

48

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / 6/9/16 SD Surf Report

« on: June 10, 2016, 09:12:09 AM »

Went out again last night with Mike and we hit up another location in SD county. When we arrive around 8:30ish. The tide and current continues to be amazing. High tide was forecasted to be around 1am (Little 1-2 feet waves and no current.) Mike was fishing his long rod in free spool with just the clicker on. Our first location tonight was weedy for me and I was pulling in 4-5 feet long brown ribbon kelp and small red lettuce kelp on my rig. We move down the beach 100 yards and the conditions were much better. (No more Ribbon Kelp) Mike is the first to hook up with a nice 47” Bat.



While Mike is hooked up I see my rod go bendo too. I set the drag on my fish and I have it on for 30secs before it pops off. I reel my line in while Mike’s bat runs in front of me.  (I reeled my line in just in time to get out of his way) The bait on my rig is crushed like it was hit by a bat, so I’m not too hart broken.

I rebait my rig and send out another chunk of Mac body and I sit back and wait.  I see Mike land a nice size Calico Bass when then my rod goes off again. This fish was a beast. Right away I know what this is by the fast runs and top water action. It makes a dash to the left and breaches the surface and then moves right. I love the way these fish fight. It takes a couple of tries to beach her because she did not want to come in. I finally get her to calm down enough to have my trusty sand hand tail grab her. Every time Mike tries to drag her up the beach she does the death roll and gives him the tail slap. (I think Mike has a few scares from this shark) We do a quick tape measure and she’s 75” long and very thick. I drag her back into the water but it takes 3-4 tries before she wakes up and swims off.



We stayed for another hour and I land a nice Calico, but that was it for tonight. This run of grinners has been a blast for me. 

Good luck out there.

49

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Stuck in the Middle (6/7/16)

« on: June 08, 2016, 10:08:16 AM »

I get a call from Mike again saying that he wants to fish and he has to twist my arm, but I agree. 

So as tradition dictates we go back and forth over text messages on where to fish. I tell him we should fish our super secret fishing spot that requires going through mine fields and barb wire. 

Since the high tide tonight was forecasted to be at 11:30pm this is prime fishing time for us since we normally can’t get out until 8ish. When I arrive at the spot I see Mike and Jim had already beat me to the spot and they set up about 75 yards apart. Since I see enough room, I set up between them around 8pm. The conditions were epic; the ocean was like a lake with 1 to 2 feet waves, and no noticeable salad or current.

I send my Mac head out and start the wait. Around 10pm an 1.5 hrs before the high tide I get a nice knock down on my rod. I’m over talking to Jim when Mike starts yelling that my rod is going off. I run over and set the drag and hold on. Immediately I know it’s the right kind with the violent head shakes. This shark pulls like a big bat with long steady pulls except for the headshakes as the only give away.  Since I’m in between two other rods my chances of running over someone else’s line was high. Sure enough Mike’s rig gets tangled with mine. Poor Mike he though he was on for a split second. (Sorry Mike) When we get the shark to shore I’m tangled in Mike’s rig and we have Jim play sand hand. It was hilarious watching Jim try to tail this shark. I think he jumped back three or four times when the shark swings back every time he tries to grab it’s tail. It was nice not to land this 7gill shark solo tho.



After detangling the rigs and unhooking this fish it measured out to be 99”



Here is a pic of Jim and I releasing this big girl.  She swam off strong.


I switch out my rig since the wire was all bent out of shape with another 3-way setup. I send out another Mac head and go back to my spot between Mike and Jim. Another 30minutes goes by and then I get another big hit. This was a very fast hit compared to the 7gill bite. I don’t feel any pressure, but as I try to pick up the slack I can feel the fish is still on. This fish feels the pressure on it and takes off like a bullet. My drag is set a little loose so I up the drag pressure a ¼ turn. I can feel the violent head shakes on this shark with wild left and right direction changes. This is what shark fishing should be like with fast quick runs. Mike and I witness this shark go airborne two times.  We both knew this was a Soupfin Shark. I tire her out so my Sand hand, Mike does his job and tail grabs it for me. Jim measures her at 63” and we release her to be caught another day.



Here is me not able to lift this shark for a photo.


I pack it up at 11:30pm but left Mike all my Mac heads to land his elusive 7 gill. I know he’ll land it someday. 

50

Tackle Talk / Carnage II Surf Casting Rod - 12'

« on: May 22, 2016, 10:29:42 PM »

Any one have experience fishing with the Penn Carnage II Casting Rod?

Thanks

51

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / 5/20/16 SD Report

« on: May 21, 2016, 08:27:55 AM »

Fished Friday from 7:00-10pm with the high at 9pm. Went solo again since Mike scares the fish away when I fish with him. (j/k  ) It's been great with the sunsetting later and later now. I can actually see where my rig lands, kinda sad actually. 

When I arrived the conditions were pretty good, a little windy but the water was salad free and the waves were mellow. I sent the mac head out and placed the rod onto the holder. Within 5 minutes of putting my bait out there I get a nice long strike on the rod. I tighten the drag and this fish keeps going, I look down at my reel and see this fish has taken out my 80 yards of mono and I'm into the braid backing. (haven't had a fish do that in a while) By the way it's pulling and lack of head shakes we all know what it was. I look behind me and I see I have a crowd, not use to fishing during the day. I try my best not to lose it in the surf, after about 8 minutes of pulling I time the slide of this 43 inch bat in on the next wave.



I get one of the spectators to take a photo for me.

Lots of critter bites tonight I don't know how this 12" YFC get's hooked on a 10/0 circle hook?


Although I didn't catch the target species, it was fun none the less. Summer is almost here.

52

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / $3 Soup (5/7/16 Report)

« on: May 08, 2016, 09:08:05 AM »

It's been a while since I posted since I haven't anything worthy of posting, but that all changed last night. I text Mike to see when he wanted to go fishing and he said Sunday, but I had to remind him that Sunday was Mother's day and our wives probably wouldn't appreciate us leaving the kids with them on their day. So we decided Saturday would work since the high tide wasn't until 10:30ish. (We fish the p.m. shift, not by choice )

I'm low on bait since I haven't had many opportunities to make bait at the piers and the when I do go it hasn't been very productive. So I go to the asian market and pick up $3 of "blue mac", but they look like the chub macs that I get at the piers. I have an issue with buying macs, but you have to do what ya gotta do. I text Mike to see when he can go, but his son isn't feeling well, so he can't go. I've got my mac and gear ready, so it's a solo trip for me. I hit the beach by 8:45pm and find nice conditions. Theirs a 6' high tide at 10:30pm, so I can see I've got very little sand to work with.  I send out my store bought mac head and it's getting picked apart by critters but no weeds to speak of tonight. I get no love for 1.5 hrs., but the conditions were nice so I tell myself I'll stay until my bait is gone. At 10:20ish I have my reel in gear with the drag turned way down (so that my rig doesn't get dragged around by the current). I notice that my line is slowly going out and the tide is coming in. I pick up my rod and turn the star drag up a couple of turns and reel in the slack line. I can feel my line still going out and then boom the fish takes off. I'm thinking this is a bat since it's a steady long pull, but then I realize it's the right kind by the head shakes. 

I normally fish with a Penn Squall 15 since it cast way better then any other reel I own, but it's small size means I can easily get spooled by a big fish. Tonight I brought the Saltist 40 which has more line capacity and torque so I'm feeling confident in letting this fish run. This fish goes left and I follow him to keep him parallel with me, he then comes towards me and I thought I lost him for a second. The constant head shakes and side to side movement of this fish was giving me indication this wasn't a 7 gill. After 5 minutes of tug-o-war I can see this is a nice Soup Fin by the brown body. Being solo I had to time the tail grab on the next outgoing tide. As I grab the tail and walk backwards I can see I hooked this fish perfectly in the corner of the mouth with the 10/0 circle hook. As I'm getting the phone out to take a couple of photos this shark is pounding the sand with it's tail and it's producing some powerful thumb sounds. After a quick photo I put my 12' rod next to the shark and it's easily half the length of my rod, so I'm calling it 6'. I drag him back to the water and he swims off with the next incoming wave.



I wish I had a exact measurement, but fishing solo does have it's disadvantages. So, I guess store bought macs work too, but free is better. 

53

Freshwater Shore Fishing Reports / Peruvian Fishing Report 4/3/16

« on: April 11, 2016, 08:39:30 AM »

Last week I chaperoned a group of students down to Peru to complete the Lares Trek and visit the ancient Incan citadel of Machu Picchu. We started out in Cusco, Peru and drove to the base of the Andes mountain range. The Lares Trek would take us 4 days of hiking and reach a peak of 15,600 feet. Being the rainy season down there we crossed many streams flowing at full capacity. A couple of my students are also fishing enthusiast too so they brought a couple of mini-rods for this trip.



We crossed some beautiful landscapes along the way. (Photos don't do justice to the beauty that we saw)



On our 2nd and 3rd day of our hike we passed some fishable streams so we dropped our lines. Not knowing what gear to bring we used our smallest hooks that we had (size 2) with some worms that we dug up. It didn't take long to land land some small size trout.





Catching fish on this trip was just a bonus for us. After completing the Lares Trek we visited the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Machu Picchu. It was amazing to see what the ancient Incan civilization was able to accomplish in the 1500's using primitive tools.



Definitely one of the hardiest trips I've done due to the altitude, but worth it for sure. 

54

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / 2/13 MB Report

« on: February 14, 2016, 09:27:20 AM »

Yes, two fishing reports in the same week! That must be a record for me. 
With the long weekend this week, I thought I'd get in another MB session. Joe and Mike both got the invite but they couldn't make it so it was going to be a solo session. I remembered a buddy (Garik) from work was a fisherman and I kept telling him about how much fun bat fishing can be, so I send him a text invite. He's game so we meet up in our AO around 8:30pm. The high was not until 1:30am so I wasn't in a hurry to get to the spot. We set up two rods (one conventional and spinner) I give the Garik the the spinner and the prime spot, hoping to get him a fish. The tide was filling in fast and we had to keep moving the rods back every 1/2 hour. Garik is a fly fisherman and is used to light gear, so using the long rod with a 10/0 hook with 100lb crimped leader was very different for him. We get our first hit at 10:15pm and it's on the spinner. Garik makes short work of this  25" bat with the Baitrunner 12000.


25"


After the 25" ray my buddy is pretty pumped about bat ray fishing. His mind is kinda blown when I tell him that's a small one.  another 30 minutes go by and we get our second hit of the night. This time it's a much bigger initial hit and run. The bat takes the bait right toward some land based obstacles so I had to take the rod from Garik to avoid getting hung up. I give Garik back the rod and we had to follow the bat back up the sand. Being a Saturday night we had a crowed of people who followed us to see what we had caught. Once we button down the drag we started gaining line on the ray. Garik is a big guy but not use to fish that pull this hard. (trout fisherman ) It takes him about 5 minutes to beach this ray.

44"




Here is the release


Another productive evening last night. Always fun sharing the experience with newbies. Both fish caught on 4oz cannon ball rig with 10/0 hook with double squid.

55

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / MB Bat Recon Trip 2/11/16

« on: February 12, 2016, 03:59:17 PM »

Mike and I wanted to get into some batting practice in this week so we hit up MB on Thursday. Mike sends me a pin drop image of where he wants to set up but we end up setting up 1/2 mile apart from each other. I arrive at my spot around 8pm and set up the solo rod and notice a couple at the fire ring next too me celebrating Valentines day early.   

Within ten minutes of setting up my rod w/ a cannon ball rig and double squid my clicker goes off. It's been a while since I've had a bat on the line. I've forgotten how hard they can pull. The couple next to me stop "celebrating" as I get pulled up and down the shore. Since Mike was my trusty sandhand is 1/2 mile down from me I had to land my own fish. (You can't hire good help these days )



I text Mike that the action is better over here then his spot, but he's got the fire pit going and said he's already "settled in".

After cleaning up and rebaiting my line I send out another double squid offering. Another 10 minutes go by and I get really fast knock down. I set the hook and this fish felt much lighter and had more lateral runs. I thought it was a small bat but then I get headshakes as it gets closer. I see it and I can tell it's a big Leo, again timing the tailgrab and placement of the rod and reel solo takes practice. I keep my reel in free spool as I place it in the rod holder tailgrab the shark. I can see I've got a big birds nest going when I place it into the holder, but I successfully grab the shark's tail. After I caught the first Bat Ray I realized I've left my pliers at home.    I call Mike to get his ass over to my spot since he's probably not catch much at his spot. As Mike pulls up I've already got the hook out and need a measure and pic prior to the release. It tapes out at 61" a PB for me and it was thick, I could barely hold him up.





Mike sets up with his two rods and within 30 minutes he gets a nice knock down that takes his bait straight to the buoy. We can see the beast has wrapped him up on the buoy and is dragging it left and right. Mike decides to put the reel in free spool to see if the fish will untangle itself from the buoy but after 10 minutes he decides to break him off. (By the speed of the run and the high drag setting Mike had on his reel we both agree it was a 50" bat) 

I send my bait out again after clearing the lines so Mike could have room to handle his fish and I get a little tap on my line. Mike laughs at me for wanting to set the hook on my fish, I can tell it's not a big fish but it's persistent, so I wait and on the next tug I set the hook. I can tell I've hooked the fish and thought it was a SBB but it turns out to be male SNGF.


At this point it's getting to be 11:00pm so I've got to get up early and work tomorrow but I tell Mike I'll hang out til 11:30ish. We both send our baits again and at 11:15pm I get a weird hit, it's a light tap but I set the hook thinking it's a small ray or something but it takes off like a nice size bat. I get my fish in and it's a 42" size bat and then Mike finally gets another shot at redemption. He makes quick work of his Bat and wants to take a joint picture of both of our fish. (Maybe Mike can share that shot to this post)

Over all, I had a steady pick up of fish from 8-11:30pm with the incoming hightide. All fish that I caught were on squid using a 4oz cannon ball rig with 10/0 circle hook.

56

Fishing Talk / South Carolina shark attacks

« on: June 25, 2015, 07:58:20 PM »

what's up with all the press about the shark attacks in South Carolina? Do they know what type of sharks are biting people? Looks like the sharks are in close too.

57

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Coronado Island Report 4/16

« on: April 17, 2015, 08:27:12 AM »

I had to week off from work so Mike (Pinoyfisher) and I made plans to jump on a 3/4 day trip to catch some YT. The numbers were down after the weather patterns changed last week so the number of YT being caught where low. After looking at the fish count numbers from the 3/4 fleet in SD, Mike and I decided to jump on the San Diego out of Seaforth landing. (Since they have been putting up the best numbers)

We take the 2 hour trip down near the islands and looked for diving birds all morning. The schools of YT would stick around only a few minutes when we arrived so the surface iron guys on the bow seemed to be catching two-three fish before the school of fish would dive deeper. Mike was throwing the surface irons all day and he hooked up 5 times on the surface iron but was only able to land 1 of them. This was my first trip to the Coronado islands and throwing the surface irons. Even though I didn't land any fish on the irons it was a lot of fun. (definely more skill involved then flylining a sardine)

At each stop around the island the boat which had 40 guys on it was only able to land a few until the afternoon (1pm). We fish closer to the islands and we finally get a drift that had many guys hooked up at the same time. The bigger yellows were hanging around the island and most of the bigger ones where being caught on the flylined sardines. Here is a picture of the one I caught next to the island.

Butt hooking the sardines seemed to work better then the nose hooked bait since the fish were deeper down in the water.

The bite was getting better as the day went on for the flylining people on the boat since the fish seemed to be deeper down. The yo-yo irons didn't seem to be very popular on this trip it was mostly surface irons or live bait.


Picture of the various size of YT beging caught today. I was only able to hook up twice and landed the fish in the first picture but the second one felt like a big YT too but a huge male sealion took off with it. It was impressive to see this huge sealion throw a 20lb fish up into the air as it's ripping the meat off of it.

I belive the final fish count was 80 YT on the boat (avg. size 10lbs with some bigger ones in the mix)  but as the case with fishing only 3/4 of the guys caught fish while the other 1/4 guys got the skunk. Although, it wasn't wide open fishing but it was definitely more fun then rock fishing.

Hopefully, Mike can add to this report with his insight and photos. :wink:

58

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / SD Sharking Party 3/17

« on: March 18, 2015, 11:59:34 AM »

I don't have much time to write a long report right now but I will post up some pictures from last night's Sharking Party. The plan was to meet up with Joe and Mike to do some surf sharking but Mike couldn't make it since he was on "lockdown" at home. The Party started at 6pm and lasted until 9:30ish. Joe and I were pleasantly suprised to see Dave and Paul show up around 6:30ish. The four of us had a good spread of long rods going down the beach. Joe was the first one on the board with a nice 58" Leo at 6:00ish.



Then as soon as the sunset Paul was on with a shark. At first we were all thinking Leo but as he pulled the fish to shore Joe see's the distinctive tail of a 7Gill. (Joe said some choice words since he has been itching to get the 7gill off his bucket list) The shark was close to 7' long. Maybe Paul, Joe or Dave can chime in with the exact measurement. (It was big)



During Paul's hook up my new spinning set up goes off and after a lengthy battle I pull in a nice 52" ray. (Not what I was targeting but it beats a skunk)


(Side-by-side shot of the shark and the ray)

Sorry about the crappy shots but my phone takes terrible night shots.

59

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / SD Batting Practice Homerun

« on: February 26, 2015, 11:46:39 PM »

Sometimes your best fishing nights come when you don't expect it. I had the opportunity to fish tonight right after work, which is a change from the late night fishing sessions I'm normally use too. I also had the oppotunity to fish with Joe aka "Jaws" for the first time. He hooked me up with his awesome homemade cannon ball rigs. After sending out my baits Jaws and I are talking and I see my rod going into the water. After a mad dash to grab the rod I reel in this little 28" bat.


After examing why my rod took a swim I realize the sand was really soft and my rod holder just got pulled over. I am pretty sure the reel was in free spool with just the clicker on but I guess there was enough drag to pull over the rod. After changing my wet socks and paints I rebait with a nice mac head and send it out again. No more then 5 minutes later I get a nice run on the same rod and reel combo. This time I'm thinking this fish has a little more weight on it but not much since it's coming in pretty easily. Little did I realize this big girl was just swimming towards me. Once she saw the shore she took off down the shore. Thank goodness that Joe was there he cleared all the lines from the water. Everytime this fish got close to shore she would just peel line off my reel at will. After a good 15-20min tug-of-war she starts to tire out and I'm able to lift her off the bottom. Joe grabs her and she sprays water all over him. I was shocked at her size when Joe brought her up the sand by far this was the biggest bat I had the opportunity to land. After a quick measure she taped out at 54" and she was supper pregnant. I wanted to get a sense of her weight and she was easly over 150lbs.



It was awesome to beat my PB and break into the 50" club. Thanks again Joe for all the help and rigs, I'll be your deckhand next time. 

60

Fishing Talk / SD Batting Practice Thursday 2/12 (Like we need it)

« on: February 10, 2015, 02:34:50 PM »

Fishing Mission Bay Thursday night (7:30-10pm) if any SD people want to join. PM if you want the location.