Topics

16

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Stairs and divers

« on: December 21, 2022, 12:13:43 AM »

Walked down the 300 steps to the spot (might only be 100) and got little man and I set up to toss some bait.

Set him up with a nice bonito head on his new spinner and I put half a sand dab on my long rod.

We fished about 3.5 hours and changed baits a dozen times. Dabs got smacked but aren’t a good surf bait and come off easy, even the heads. Bone got hit but it was a mix of lobster and small rays from what I could tell.

Saw a diver getting ready, he shined his light on us 3 times before getting in. 10 minute into his swim he was in my line. I waded out, shined my light, whistled and yelled at him until I had his attention and he went north… then got out and left.

Saw two decent shovels and a turkey platter size bat in the skinny while casting so I put Donovan’s rod a little short and right between the two small sets of breakers but he just got swarmed with bait stealers.

Called it at 8:30. Still had bait but we were both freezing and decided warm showers and dinner sounded good. The stairs proved a little Challenging with cold, numb feet.

17

Fishing Talk / Deep dropping technique for small boats

« on: November 25, 2022, 08:24:04 AM »

I’ve had several people ask me how I deep drop off the kaboat and it’s really quite simple. It’s actually probably easier than a larger vessel. Made a quick video showing how I do it and don’t get any tangles.

Just remember that bait and number of lights is up to
The angler. I couldn’t decide what colors to
Use so i put 4 on plus a big light. Today I’m only going to use 2.

https://youtu.be/Ug7BtpKdYkk

18

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Solo swordfish on the inflatable

« on: November 04, 2022, 10:39:40 PM »

Some of you know that I’ve been after a sword for a few months now. I’ve only been able to do drops about 7 times now. Weather windows and solo fishing days needed to align perfectly.

 I did some exploratory runs in July and figured out how to drop my baits without tangling then started hitting it in September when I was able to do a drift for more than 4 hours.
Very first time out I hooked up on the drop. Big heavy fish that took drag but I was only on for 2 minutes or so and I think it was a thresher. But who knows.

On my 4th trip I hooked something that made the rod load but wasn’t putting up a fight until I got it to 200ft and it started acting like a fish, pulled a little drag and then was gone.

I switched to circles after that.

Had a few “hits” the other times out and got my bait torn up which kept me pushing on to get the hookup.

When I finally did hook up I thought it was a shark. It dogged me for about 10 minutes then finally shot up and was a quarter mile away when it broke surface so I couldn’t even see it but it was definitely acting like a sword.
It breached twice next to me and looked absolutely massive. Really got the adrenaline going but if you’ve watched my videos you know that just mean I might smile a little.
I haven’t mentioned this other places but swordfish are nuts! She charged me several times and I was able to just hit the throttle and keep ahead of her and then when she was at leader she would swipe back and forth hitting the boat and prop. It was like a slow motion attack and big thuds. So I’d just let off the drag and motor away then fight her back to the boat.
My First attempt with the flying gaff I just pushed it into her and she took off, diving more than 100ft. 2nd attempt I missed and 3rd stuck right behind the pec fin, she took off and took my buoy with 50ft of rope under for 30 seconds or so. When It popped up she came up about a minute later and laid sideways for me and I was able to “secure” her and then she proceeded to beat the hell out of me.
Eventually she wore out, I cut her gills and ran a rope through them and out her mouth. My buddy Travis who was drifting not far away had pulled over to help me get her in the boat. I threw him the rope I ran through her gills and mouth and then she went ape sh!t again. We stabbed her in the head multiple times and it didn’t kill her. Eventually she calmed down and Travis lifted her head out of the water enough for me to get a hand in her gills and pull her in my boat.

Mission accomplished.

She went 215 at the scale.

Video:

https://youtu.be/DIK6hwq-XJo

Gotta clean up, re rig and get back to work. Winter is upon us and that means big fish!

19

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Columbus Day offshore trip (video)

« on: October 12, 2022, 08:42:44 PM »

Decided to load the bait tank and dedicate a day to finding a yellowfin from the Kaboat.

Sardines don’t do well in my tank so I have to catch Mac’s and it was a chore this morning. Every time I’d mark bait a pod of dolphins was on my ass and chasing them. Finally picked up a couple big green backs and handful of Spanish just off the beach. Would have preferred some mini green backs.

Got slammed and cut off trolling a Yozuri crystal minnow in 90ft, but not before catching a calico on it… Some big bones around.

Headed out and met Jeremy. We had been texting and keeping each other in the loop. I kinda had an idea where he was but wasn’t 100% sure. Headed west and ran right into him.

We exchanged hellos, confirmed we had tuna on the brain and then put trollers out.

Jeremy stopped and I kept going after some commotion in the distance, ended up Finding dolphins about 10 miles out but wasn’t marking fish or bait. They weren’t too energetic either. Went back to Jeremy and we continued on and found another decent patty with marks under it but nothing would hit our jigs or live baits.

 We parted ways and I headed west; Zig zagged north and south until I was almost to the 312, bypassing paddy’s that obviously held Mahi but gave them the old big circle with trollers out.

No tuna in the bag and it was later than I’d have liked so I slid into a patty and used up my Mack’s for some fresh Mahi. Pulled 4 and missed 2 due to short strikes and them taking my bait. Figured it was enough and headed in.
Found a bag of soda cans too.

Water was 68-69 most of the time. Found some breaks with 70-71.

This is probably my last “offshore” trip. Changing gears and going to focus on some other stuff and Do some lazy yellowtail fishing once a week.

Here’s the video, hope you enjoy!

https://youtu.be/YaduYFeKnkI

20

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Donovan’s first mako, popped the boat!

« on: September 04, 2022, 02:30:33 PM »

Went out of oside per usual. We were looking for YFT and ran across some breezers. Put out a savage speed runner and cedar plug then noticed a mako on top. Cruised up to say hi and let my son check it out and then moved on. 30 seconds later the savage gets hit and I immediately knew what it was…..
my son fought it the best he could and I helped him a little.
I’d have preferred a release but she came up wrapped and cutting it would have been a death sentence in my mind so I stuck a flying gaff in it because they make better steaks than crab food. Things went south after that. The hook didn’t release and my daisy chained rope didn’t start letting out. The shark spun and went under the boat and I heard a hiss. Not sure if the gaff hook hit the boat or a tooth but we lost air in the rear chamber. Right after that the gaff functioned as designed and the mako was bleeding out 50ft away from the boat like it should have been from the start.

Some boat came in to poach whatever we were on then left when they saw it was a shark. Funny because they drove over tuna when they left.  Waved to a few others as we limped in. Kinda funny riding a 1/4 sunk boat in and people just wave and go by. 😅 I knew we were good though and already had made contact with another boat incase we lost the engine.

Of course I got video. It’s everything people complained about in my video thread on BD. Wind noise, bad focus, probably uploaded with poor quality… but here it is!.

https://youtu.be/mnkO6asCEls

21

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Pool toy mahi. Short video

« on: September 03, 2022, 07:05:44 AM »

Short video from yesterday.

Went out with tuna on my mind. I wanted to
Get one or two mahi for the table and then turn all my focus towards tuna. Early on I had a marlin come up and follow me. It was interested in a neon green squid skirt daisy chain I made last week. Never swiped that I could see but it would rush up and get a foot or so behind it then drop out and then rush back. Tried a couple tricks I learned in Japan and it just wasn’t interested in biting. After it lost interest I switched over to proper marlin lures and work the area for nothing. I didn’t see yellowfin until I was almost home. A decent school was working a tonnage of bait and i could make out windows on the bigger buildings on shore. I could get close enough for one cast before they sank out so I switched to feathers and divers and never got a sniff. They’re around though!

Here’s a short video of some mahi action. I didn’t get it all but I caught 6 and brought home 2. Lost 2 as well, one to a pulled hook when it dove at gaff and one ran into my prop and cut me off (in the video)

Hope you enjoy!

https://youtu.be/QmzoEEpmK84

22

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / My sons first mahi(s)

« on: September 01, 2022, 11:28:20 PM »

It took me way to long to get this video up. From last Saturday. We launched at noon and we’re back at the launch by 4:15pm. Raced out to a current break and put trollers in. Wasn’t long before we found fish.

Video
https://youtu.be/T7rPS84q_3s

23

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Mahi In the dinghy

« on: August 22, 2022, 07:51:51 AM »

Launched out of oside with my buddy josh in search of pelagics. We went out to Carlsbad canyon and put in trollers then pointed towards the 181. Few miles in we saw a grey hull way out in the distance and made that our target. When we got closer we noticed a boat had been hiding in its silhouette and was drifting but I couldn’t see if they were on a patty or just stopped. We got to about 300 yards from it and turned off to the right to try to give them a reasonable distance to pass and as I got inline with them they started their engine and we all were going in the same direction. About 1/4 mile later I see jumping mahi but no patty. Figured they had been working them and I’d just press on but still hope for a strike.
I see them stop and see plenty of jumpers and then about 30 seconds later my daisy chain gets hit. Land the fish and see josh is hooked up. Motored over to ask them if it was cool that we stay and see they’re right on the patty and it’s about the size of a car hood. (It’s hard to see anything from my low point of view, especially with a little chop).
They gave us the go so I continued to work the area and ended up with 7 mahi. Josh got 3. All on various lures trolling.
After my 3rd The boat started trolling as well. They probably weren’t getting much on bait. After my 5th fish I gave them my hot lure and then switched it up to a lighter set up. Seen them hook up a couple times, hope they got some in the cooler!

Video below. Figured out my little hand gaff sucks. Lol. I’m going to make one. And both my new rod holders broke. So that’s cool.

Video.
https://youtu.be/_wp4QJ26BcI

24

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Light up the night

« on: August 21, 2022, 10:12:32 AM »

Went out Friday evening to get rid of a bunch of fish trimmings, test out my new light and see what might be interested. Tried to get underwater footage but my camera was pointed down and away from the fish 😅

I think we had two different baby makos come in. One looked slightly bigger but may have been the same one just different perspective. Also had a good size yellowtail show up. It did a couple laps in the light and by the time I was able to ID it as a yellow it was gone. Couldn’t flyline baits because the small sharks and no bigger models came to play. Saw a handful of squid. Mostly market squid size but one bigger one about a foot long kept attacking the light. Dropped a squid jig and sabiki and they looked at it but wouldn’t attack.

Video

https://youtu.be/4JzZcVBs3dM

25

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Oside to the 9

« on: August 08, 2022, 11:08:00 PM »

Took the inflatables out in a little sporty conditions hoping for the best. We were planning on trolling to
The 9 and then heading out to the 182 or 302 direction depending on what we were seeing but decided to turn around before we actually crossed the upper 9 mile bank. Still had a good time. Caught some bait and learned a little more about myself and the boat.

Video log below:
https://youtu.be/6DeHlXZPSxs

26

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Tuna on the inflatable

« on: June 27, 2022, 10:29:48 PM »

Launched at 0630, made it past the fog bank around 8 and was able to see more than 100 yards. Lots of empty Pattie’s, deep marks from tuna (150-200ft) and then finally foamers.  Trolled lures though the foamers hoping for an easy hookup and they wouldn’t touch any of the newest, hottest lures or the old trusty ones.
Switched to irons, got cut off through my braid twice by the school. Got tired of re tying floro top shots on my jig stick so i Switched to my trollers, the Okuma SLX 20 with 65lb braid and 100lb mono wind on and tossed a salas 6x in chrome and got cut off, rigged my other rod which is its twin and came tight on a few fish then stuck one. The video tells the rest.

https://youtu.be/PdG362f8ztM

27

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Father’s Day boat ride. Oceanside video

« on: June 20, 2022, 06:25:47 PM »

Left the gate at 9am, back at the barn at 2:30pm.
Wind and swell picked up when we made it inshore so we didn’t bother looking around.

https://youtu.be/i0lK9NwVvC8

28

Fishing Talk / Croaker fishing

« on: June 10, 2022, 08:45:55 AM »

Been thinking about dusting off the light long rod and targeting croaker one evening. Probably do north county if anyone wants to join and sling some sand crab on dropper loops.

29

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Thresher fishing

« on: June 06, 2022, 10:08:21 AM »

My camera angle ended up not being the best but slowly getting better/ more consistent with recording.

We released 6 on this outing. I think had 8 strikes, I know I missed one.
Dale had my dad and son on his skiff and we buddy boated. Largest was the last one, it looks 12ft but dale said just over 10. My little guy I put in my lap was probably 3ft to the fork….

https://youtu.be/Dr2ASWKAXD8

30

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / Looking for sharks

« on: March 17, 2022, 06:01:05 PM »

Went out looking for threshers. Found the threshers but they had lock jaw. Seemed to be full on anchovies and … flying fish? Saw a few out there and it seems early, usually they’re here around Mother’s Day.

Got a blue to eat. I was trolling butterflied Mack’s and had two baits back about 75 ft. I had one line in my hand and was untangling the clip line for the downrigger in the other to send it down when it felt like I caught grass or trash then it was free… few seconds later it was back. Put the motor in neutral and both baits sunk but nothing happened so I put it in gear and got them tight then went to clip the bait and felt it again…. This time I slowly reeled it in and it would get tight then free then tight again. I got the bait in sight and let it sink under the boat and out of nowhere a threshers tail wrapped around the bait and then disappeared so I let it sink more while thumbing the spool and line started peeling off then stopped… after 3 times I reeled down and came tight. Found out soon after that the “thresher tail” was actually the whole 4ft blue shark. It came in easy and I had a bit of trouble getting the hook out boatside so I grabbed it and it proceeded to spin and wrapped up the leader, downrigger, a random 550 cord leash plus my arm and became a complete mess.
Got it unhooked and it spun itself out of the mess.

Here’s a little vid, Hope you enjoy! I’m going to get an action camera or two to document better.

https://youtu.be/l0TDRzPEj5A