Topics

31

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.

32

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!

33

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.

34

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.

35

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!

36

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...

37

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.

38

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.

39

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.

40

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?

41

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Half Day for Dalton 10/2

« on: October 02, 2023, 07:01:11 PM »

Took my long time close friend Dalton out on the Mosquito this morning. Couldn't make his birthday gathering back in April so I said I owed him a boat ride. Schedules and conditions finally aligned today.

Launched about 0715. Headed straight for my whitefish grounds with squid and hoped the whole critter variety would show. He was still trying to figure out how the baitcaster worked on a straight drop and we had a double hookup on bass. His first calico bass ever and I got a nice legal turd.





The whitefish proceeded to dominate the next couple hours. Pretty much wide open, and every other was an eater. Gathered some ceviche meat for Dalton to take back home to Thousand Oaks. Was barely paying attention to the fishing as we caught up and laughed it up.



Saw some dolphins a couple hundred yards away so I went over to play with them. They didn't want the usual 10kts, but at 4kts we got a very intimate time with some BIG old dolphins in crystal clear water. One of my new favorite dolphin memories.



Headed inside to my bass hole to troll swimbaits but they weren't around. We both picked off another turd and calico then went in.



Excellent time with my good old pal.

42

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Looking for an OC Tuna 9/22

« on: September 22, 2023, 03:31:51 PM »

I know the tuna are showing up in droves from SD up to San O or so, but I don't wanna wake up so early and commute so far with so little time and money in hand. I got a little sliver of info on local tuna yesterday so I took the nice conditions this morning and went.

Launched at sunrise 0640, headed straight out toward the Avalon Knoll. Pure glass out the gate. Haven't seen that in a while.



Water was as cool as 62º on the flats. Woof! SST yesterday showed temps at the knoll around 71º. Watched the temp steadily rise as I came off the coastal ledge.

Over the top of the knoll I found hundreds of dolphins, and some birds, working bait and commuting. Found some patties but nobody was home.



Had a cedar plug out as soon as I got into the channel and dropped back a Yozuri vibe when the water warmed over 67. Peaked at 68.1 but steady 67.75 where the life was. Lots of grass and kelp in the water made it frustrating to pull two lures so I eventually reeled up the yozuri.

Almost headed to the 277, but it was already 1030 and I didn't want a 35 mile ride back through the afternoon for a seriously low percentage bite.

A few miles south of the coastal ledge coming back, the cedar plug got bit. As I slowed down and slowly added drag it popped off before I got a good hookset. Damn....felt like a small tuna. Inspecting the line though, it came back all f@cked up like Koga's week 3 pick sheet. Small bite marks on the wood too. So I would guess small mako. Or a very lost wahoo.

Wind was coming up around the island but back toward the coast it was still glass at noon. Stopped in 260' to take off my jacket and saw the FF light up with rockfish marks. Ultimately decided I didn't wanna clean a bunch of rockfish so I didn't make any drops and headed straight in.



Scout trips be like that! The bite was certainly exciting. No actual sign of game fish all day though. So close to Catalina today, I should really just try it one time and hunt some yellowtail or whatever over there eventually.

43

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Harbor Quickie 9/15

« on: September 15, 2023, 03:18:27 PM »

Didn't really even wanna get of bed this morning, but everything was ready to go so I made the most of it. Quick harbor trip 0700-1030.

Tide was ripping toward the front of the harbor. Picked off my skunk buster off a dock with a good ol' scampy.



The morning breeze was not being kind to me as far as drift directions. Had to do a ton of tiller correcting and hardly any drifting parallel to docks made dock flipping frustrating. I put out a double dropshot as well with a banana peel strip and squid tentacles on #10 hooks. Hoped for mullet and/or white, shiner, black perch, gobies, etc.

Meandered around scouting, found a big sandy harbor cul de sac. Tossed a KM through it, the loligo got bit.



Time ran out with just the 2 to hand. Couple short bites. Still seeing a little surface action between the mullet and the juvie WSB. I should either get a trolling motor or a float tube to do the harbor right. Or just go back to trolling it.

44

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / A Little Too Ambitious 9/6

« on: September 06, 2023, 12:44:43 PM »

Almost went in search of pelagics today, but based on some recent reports, and my general lack of enthusiasm to drive down to DP and then make a 70 mile loop, I decided to go with a different vein of intel. On one end, I heard needlefish invaded Huntington Harbor. I haven't gotten one of those yet, so I figured I'd drag something shiny with tiny trebles and see if I could get one. On another end, my pal reported that he saw some silvery trout looking things chasing bait on the way out of the harbor. Corvina? Up here?? Haven't heard of that before but I don't see why it couldn't happen. Got me excited. Follow the enthusiasm.

Launched about 0700. Tide was pretty sh!tty for the morning and I still wanted to work after, so do the best with what I got. Figured bass would be off the table with so little current, so just focus up on corvinas and needles.

Headed toward the marsh and immediately saw a little topwater action. I was worried he was seeing mullet but this was definitely gamefish. Casted a little baby jerkbait around and within 5 minutes I get bit. Corvina doppleganger. White Seabass, trying its hardest to be a corvina with a lack of bars...



Ain't no vampire though.



Kept seeing occasional blowups, trying a spook as well, but wasn't getting bit. About an hour of this and I switched gears and headed deep into the harbor for needlefish. Put out a chrome jointed crankbait on a slow troll, then put out a second rod to bounce for halibut with an LCFM, because why not.

Spent about 2 hours idling around the harbor without a bite. Corvina-needlefish-legal halibut parlay didn't hit today. Cutie WSB is an okay consolation though. Gave it up around 1015. I might try this whole plan again next week with better tides.

By the way for 1/4oz this casts awesome, and catches short seabass. Yozuri somethinruther.

45

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Finally Got Mine 8/29

« on: August 29, 2023, 01:50:16 PM »

Left my house in HB about 0545, left the gates of Oside harbor a little before 0800. Not as much of a crowd as I thought. Brought a kite rig, high speed troller/jigger, and 60# casting rod.

2-3' at 9 seconds by my judgment. Very brown water out front. Was never blue, even outside, but there were breaks of green and less green.

First toward the aerial footage zone. I meandered that way, then started zig zagging. No signs of life to start. First with no trollers/kites, just trying to see if the fish will slap me in the face with some obvious foamers. After 30 minutes I put out the Yozuri High Speed Vibe.

Offshore fog rolled in and cut the vis to 300 yards at times. Not great for spotting foamers. Didn't like the idea of flying the kite through it either, for the possibility somebody pops up out of nowhere and saws everything off. I headed west for a few miles then start SE all the way to Carlsbad Canyon. Saw some rafting birds which were potentially worth a f@ck in the state they were in, trolled by a number of them. Enough grass in the water that I was clearing my line every 15 minutes and always finding some grass.

Getting closer to high tide. Headed back NW, through the main suspect zone. Water changing color constantly. Could be a good thing. Still no signs of tuna. Was ready to chalk it up to a day late and a dollar short. Popped open my snack pack and grabbed the banana. You know, the thing I don't like about bananas on my boat is really that it gets crushed so easily. Half of it was smashed! I ate what I could and donated the peel to the tuna gods.

Maybe 5 minutes later, the troller is singing. I was in disbelief. I don't see fish! Is this real? This water is sh!tty. Tip is definitely dancing. And my PVC rod holder is holding up. That's great! I was worried about that thing. And it's holding pretty through a high speed bite. Perfect. Oh, fish.

Got the rod in my hands. I was idling forward and the fish seemed to be coming to the boat quickly from behind. I thought, maybe I hooked a small dodo? Totally possible. This seems like a runt. Maybe a little bluefin.

Once it got it under the boat I found it had a lot more weight to it, but I still wasn't sure what to think. Then I saw it flash, bending its body to make a run. At that moment I thought, ahhh, mako. New species I suppose but now I gotta kill or be killed. Great.

Then it came sailing through view again. Nope! Bluefin! Good one!

Got it into death circles surprisingly quick, looked liked it was throat hooked, light trail of blood. Gaffed it. Phew. Bled it. It still had a little more rebellion in it, but overall a tame fish through the whole ordeal. 5 minute fight with maybe 8lbs of drag on the Avet 30/2.

In the boat it goes! Baby's first Bluefin Tuna!





I learned my lesson with the thresher. Fillet big game on the water. 16x40" kill bag fit the 4 loins just fine, sent the carcass to the crabs a few miles out. Already had a couple ice packs in the kill bag and added some seawater, then a small bag of ice on the way out of the harbor.



Very quick and easy trip, I've put more miles in trips for bass lately than I did today.

Off the water by 1045. Never did see surface action. Did the fiesty ones head to the 14? See Davey's Locker for details. People were launching for the afternoon, I think it might be better for them. Chris is out there now I believe?