Topics

31

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / 8/13 SD Bay 40 water

« on: August 13, 2017, 05:53:19 PM »

Hit the bay with Haliberry on my mind. A week ago I ran into em. This morning decided to see if they were still around.

Strategic late start. Dipped the yak at the low end of the tide swing. Paddled out to the area and started slinging the big stuff. First couple hours produced plenty of short bites. Only one felt right. But alas none stuck so I downsized from the 6" to a 4". Bites started sticking but all the wrong kind. Nice grade though cookie cutter footlongs.

At about the top of the swing with non of the target species to be seen I called it quits. Worked that 40 water ( 7 fathoms ) all day. Surprised to get a consistent bite on the spotties. But again never targeted spotties in deeper water before. Opens up a whole new column to work in the future. Also interesting to see the area was nothing but flatties last week and this week all spotties.

A few samples of the ones that made it over.

32

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / LJ 6/17 cobweb shaker

« on: June 17, 2017, 12:35:33 PM »

Been playing soccer coach for the last few months. Add to that field trips, orchestra concerts, birthday parties.... I'm all dad'd out. Now season's over, school's out, and it's Father's Day weekend. Time to fish!

Launched LJ shores at gray light. Shin high waves but somehow managed to take one over the brim. Marine layer in effect. Slight breeze. Water was mid 60's with light texture. No salad just garnish.

Made bait easy. A couple macs and all the 5-6" dines you wanted. Learned quickly I don't have enough flow for oxygen hogging dines. They died within an hour but the macs were lively as usual. All a moot point though as I didn't need em.



Nabbed this guy when a pod of yellows broke the surface. Dorado surface iron 3 cranks after hitting the water. Not much of a fight as it charged the boat. Was a little rusty with the gaff. Missed the head twice. 3rd time around got desperate and pierced the belly. Still counts right!

Feels good after 7 months of not being on the water. Even better was home by breakfast.

33

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / 7/17 LJ dawn patrol

« on: July 17, 2016, 10:21:06 PM »

Quick kayak report.

LJ launch at dawn. Bait everywhere early AM. All you want macks in all sizes. Micro sized bonito mixed in.

Trolled around for a couple hours. Dropped metal on meter marks for mostly dink rockfish. Did snag a sea hare. Also had a bat ray curiously swim up and hang out for a bit. I waved, it stayed, it was love at first sight.

Other than that very little action all morning. Yellows decided to make a PM showing from the reports. Oh well. Did end the day with a meal-for-one sugar bass. I can't complain.

34

General Board / 9 legged spider fossil found

« on: February 02, 2016, 03:38:51 PM »

Talk about a stiff leg. 

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2016/01/ancient-arachnid-erection-enshrined-amber?utm_campaign=email-news-latest&et_rid=97744884&et_cid=243663

35

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Run n gun 10/18

« on: October 18, 2015, 06:39:14 PM »

A PS exclusive report!

Too lazy to load the kayak so I burned a half day voucher for this morning's AM run. Weather was cloudy with temps in the mid 70's. Light breeze from the NW. Water was low to mid 70's. Slight surface texture, green color inside with clearer water outside.

We loaded up on 3-5 inch chovies then headed toward our AO. On the way out we spot some bird activity in an area of maybe 4 football fields. Multiple spots of macks, bonito, bullet/frigate tuna, and skip jack blowing up the surface. Bait and jigs go flying followed by instant hookups. Fish come flying over the rails quickly after the first wave of bites. Soon after we would wind em in and chase down the schools. A couple more stops to try and get ahead of the schools but these fish were fast and would sink out in a hurry. A few more landed and that was that. I'd say that was a good 30-40 minutes of surface activity before finishing the day bottom fishing for dinks.



I ended the day with a handful off macks, a bullet tuna, and a handful of olive rockfish. I gave em away faster than I could take a photo. Read today's fish count and it looks like the bullets/frigates are reported as bonito. Also a little inaccurate on the numbers as a quite a few were shaken off at the rail.   

36

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / 1st kayak tuna 10/11/15

« on: October 11, 2015, 03:50:00 PM »

Caught trolling a brand spankin new Rapala X-Rap. Not a beast by any means but still a rare catch in our neck of da woods. Coming in at a whopping 12 inches and easily 1 pound tops. El Nino 2015 it aint over yet!

frigate tuna ( similar to bullet tuna except longer pectoral fin extending into the lighter area )

37

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / LJ 9/3

« on: September 05, 2015, 01:56:47 AM »

Finally broke out of my weekend warrior status. Hit the jewel on Thursday since this weekend is gonna be a cluster-F*. Woke up with a sore shoulder from the last trip but I remind myself getting old isn't for the weak.

Sunrise launch. Picked off a few latina macks at kelp's edge. Then paddled away from furbag central.

Zig zagged between 23 and 25 fathoms. After about a half hour the reel went screamin. Set the drag, played tug of war, then eventually sunk a gaff...



Bled and gilled, went 18lbs and change.

Back home before lunch. Shoulder now twice as sore. Thought about icing it, but fish needs it more than I do. Filled the cooler with the cold stuff then fixed me a plate of mossback from last Saturday. Just another day El Nino 2015.

38

Rod Building / Rainshadow RCJB twins

« on: August 21, 2015, 03:15:09 PM »

Ok ok last ones for myself, for now...

Just finished Rainshadow RCJB84H and RCJB84XH . These will be dedicated 40/50 and 50/60 line class rigs, if I ever need them  . Alps Centra-lock reel seat and XN guides in titanium chrome. Seine cord rear grip with spiral under lay. Dense hypalon fore grip covered in X-shrink. Gold, white, and other misc pigments with real abalone chips mixed in make up the marble work. Black, metallic gold, and metallic gunmetal wraps. White pearl and gold mixed into the rod finish. Pain in the ass build for sure.

39

Rod Building / Varmac blue tiger

« on: August 20, 2015, 10:24:40 AM »

Built this one to replace the one that I donated to King Neptune awhile back. Blank is a Varmac GLC3-7. All graphite 7' tall rated 15-30lb medium action. Glued on some EVA and shrunk some blue X-wrap for deco/protection. Fuji trigger seat. Cork look-a-like EVA fore grip. New Fuji Concept O guides which replace the discontinued Hardloys. Thread color matches the X-wrap. Spun up a tiger wrap above the fore grip. Helps protect the blank from the jig banging around the hook keeper. Gonna pair it up with a Calcutta I forgot I had. 

40

Rod Building / set of Varmacs for me

« on: August 18, 2015, 12:12:47 AM »

Found a window of opportunity to build myself a set of rods. Blanks are Squidco's infamous Varmac graphite composites. Models GC1-8, GC2-8, and GC3-8... aka the poor man's grafighter.  Got em paired up with a trio of Daiwa Sealines.

Reels mounted on 100% genuwine cord weave.


Turksheads to compliment the rope work. The blisters are still healing as I type.


Gold variegated leaf over dragon scale.


Guides are plain old chromed stainless steel braced guides. Base wrap is dark navy blue. Guide feet and wrapped in black. Old gold metallic displays the inlay work. Should pop a lot more in the sunlight.


The top end.


Another look. Tips are carbide ringed. Same carbide rings that guide the cables on wings of older aircraft like the C-130... or so I've heard.

41

Rod Building / Varmac in green and green

« on: July 27, 2015, 01:26:19 PM »

This was for another raffle winner on my 2.5 day last year. Owner said rubber covered grips and throw some green on it. Simple enough. Blank is a Varmac GC3-7. Stands 7' tall and rated 20-40lb. Alps Centra-lock reel seat and Alps XN guides. Green, green, and white tiger wrap cover the designated art work area. Guide wraps done to compliment the color theme. Hope it comes close to what the owner had in mind.

42

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / LJ am 7/12 quick peek

« on: July 12, 2015, 07:21:08 PM »

Dry crotch launch outta LJ shores for once. Pulled the ebrake to snap this pic before heading west to what was gonna be a quick peek outside..solo. 



Conditions were about as nice as you can get. Ankle slappers, grease calm, 70 degree clear blue water. Bait was around, not plentiful, but if you spent the time you had enough yellowtail snacks for the morning. I opted out of sabiki duty and instead tied on a swimbait in hopes of luring an exotic from behind.

It was cool watching the depthfinder read constant 300' depths until reaching the end of the shelf. Then it quickly dropped to 400', then, 500', to eventually maxing out at 600'. After that it would jump around to random depths. Never maxed out the Humminbird before. Here's a shot right before the disco depths started. Oh and tempbreak! 69 degrees and crystal clear!



The tempbreak and rapid change in depth made for a night and day difference. Dolphin, whales, birds, and more dolphin. All suddenly abundant. Just no bait or fish to be found. All the life seemed to be on the move. Only once did I see bird activity which lasted a brief 60 seconds. I doubt it was fish. My best guess a passenger on the New Seaforth, which was heading offshore toward Catalina, threw out a piece of burned tortilla from his breakfast burrito and the birds swooped in on the free meal. I did throw the jig here and there. Dragged around the plastic some more. I saw a couple skiffs in the area jogging along with the dolphin trolling their offerings but both of them boned out into the horizon. They never stopped for as long as I could see. Lot's of other boats coming out of MB heading non stop into the distance. After a couple of hours of witnessing this I took it as my que hang it up and save it for another day.



I made it out about a mile passed the decommissioned wind buoy which puts me a mere 5 miles out to sea. Located myself on Google maps and confirmed my distance. It was nice listening to everything going on. No idling, no generator, nothing... just nature as it was intended to be. I also found myself talking to myself. And then the inevitable happened. I took a selfie. But with no one else watching, why not!



Headed back to a dry landing in 1 foot mush and home in time for lunch. I did make a quick stop in the kelp to land a skunkbuster spanish jack. And as the fish gods love to do... I caught a glimpse of a yellow bust a U ( or flip me the tail? ) just 10 feet below after pulling the skunkbuster in. Ah well, next time... 

43

Rod Building / Rainshadow Revelation REVS72L and ISWB946

« on: July 06, 2015, 04:06:03 PM »

Matching pair of Rainshadows for one of the pro-staffers. All Batson components of course. Green and gold wraps with camo colored tiger wraps. The REVS72L is a trout killer. The ISWB946 will see swimbait duty and would make an awesome kelp cutter for calico fishing. This pair actually matches a jigstick I did in the same colors for the owner.

44

Freshwater Boat Fishing Reports / Lake Poway 7/3 PM and night fishing

« on: July 04, 2015, 12:43:18 PM »

Hit up Lake Poway at the crack of 1pm for some pre-Independance day catfishing. Quick stop at the consessions for permits, boat rental, and snacks then down to the dock we went.

Upon arrival to the dock we were met with this.


Ranger says after last week's stock they stuck around the area to chow on all the sunken bird feed. Bird feed is a buck and change. I burned that much in gas just getting to the freeway to catch macks earlier in the week. 

Fishing wise it started off sloooow. Only saw one fish on a stringer the whole afternoon. We searched the shallows from log boom to rocky point for nada. No bass, cats, or sunfish. Ended up at the deep end of log boom for the rest of the evening too soak and sunburn.

Sometime in the evening we get bit on the bottom rig. Brought it up and netted this 14" beauty.


Yes, on the mack... in July!


Nothing much else in terms of action until sundown when we got a huge take down and got the kiddo to fight it. Saw he was having a hard time and I went over to assist. I kept the rod off the gunwale while my son cranked it in. But alas one good tug and it was off. Frayed the 8# leader on what I guess was its spines. Drats!

Only saw one other boat next to us land a decent size cat. Saw birds spying on schools of shad. Then as the sun dipped below the hill we noticed lots of topwater action which looked like sunfish feeding on flys. Right next to the boat under the rod tips at times. Left at 9pm. Never been night fishing at Poway. But certainly wont be the last. Next stock is next week. I'll be armed with bird food.

45

Saltwater Personal Craft Fishing Reports / SD Bay 6/28 Mr T sighting

« on: June 29, 2015, 01:05:59 PM »

Launched S.I. at 5pm and paddled toward the mouth to ride the tide in. Water was 68, winds an annoying 10 knots but weakening, and Smashmouth was rockin' the stage over at Humphrey's.

On the way out Mr. Triple outboards buzzes the channel to my port side. As he passes I hear a splash in his wake. I look over and see what looks like a pelican wing. Then not a second later it jumps. Nope not a wing at all but the tail of a juvenile thresher shark. Body was maybe the size of a presto log. It jumped 3 times about 50 yards away. I point my bow towards it and immediately start to throw plastics ( I'm armed with nothing but bass gear btw ). After a few unsuccessful retrieves I figure it sunk out and is long gone.

As I prepare to move along Mr. Twin outboards comes hauling ass inside of me. And sure as hell there's that thresher providing me with an aerial display in the wake. I try and take a pic with my phone but as you may well know wet fingers and touch screens don't mix. Oh well. Metered lots of bait in the area with spots of birds on em which may have lured that shark in the bay. One of the coolest thing I've seen in awhile.

Other than that fishing was a dinkfest. Spotties, flatties, and a lone sculpin but all smaller kine. Out of the water by 9pm. Next bay visit I'll be dragging a mack for sure.