Author Topic: Nabbin' Dabs  (Read 2140 times)

jrodda

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Nabbin' Dabs
« on: February 09, 2021, 07:38:01 PM »
7 days ago it was forecasted to be windy today and through my weekend. Thankfully that forecast changed a couple days ago, then I got day dreaming on what I could do with the Mosquito this time. I'm not sure how, but I managed to work up the desire to go sand dabbing. I figured, if I could find them, I'd catch some for food and then freeze some for lingcod for the opener. So I figured I'd launch out of Channel Islands harbor for the first time, try a couple spots for bass, then finish the day looking for dabs.

Woke up at 0730 and I was able to have the boat in the water by about 1000. Pure glass conditions out of the gate. First stop was La Janelle wreck, 15-20 minutes out of the harbor. Coast Guard was doing some weird boat drills with two boats real close by and they sent me a number of wakes to play with.

The area was pretty void of life, but there was one small school of what I imagined were bass that was playing hide and seek on the sonar. 2nd drop with squid to them and I got a load up but missed the hook set. Reeled up to check my bait and...



A little chunk of an octopus arm. Looks like it was big enough that I would not have wanted to deal with it on board. I don't think I've ever seen that before, though.

Metered around and did some half ass drops for 30 minutes before I figured there must be fishier places in this world. So off I went to the Gina platform. I stayed for about 20 minutes making some casts with a 6" Kalins grub tipped with squid before I decided to bail on that, and on to the true target of the day...

On the way over to Hueneme Canyon the sea really came to life. First I ran through a pod of maybe 100 dolphins. Then there was some nervous bait around. Then I saw out of the corner of my eye a big dark mass...was that just a wake? Nope, whale. Humpback I think.



Very cool, at first. Then I got paranoid that it would have some friends that weren't showing themselves that would come up and knock me over. Didn't happen but, for the rest of the day, every time I saw nervous bait around my boat, I puckered a little bit.

I didn't put in any waypoints to start at, but luckily I still had cell reception, so I opened up Google Earth and approximated where I wanted to be in proximity to the canyon. First stop ended up being in 170ft of water. As soon as I hit bottom I was getting pecked, but took a while for anything to commit. Tons of fuzz on the fish finder, cool seeing so much life around. Finally hooked up and got the biggest dab of the day. On my 2nd drop, I pulled up a surprise. Or maybe I shouldn't have been surprised by this point...



Grabbed the needlenose and shook it off, then as soon as it shot away into the deep, I realized, DOH. Aren't I stocking up on ling bait??? What a waste of an opportunity. Oh well. I doubt it would be easy to put the thing out of its misery.

End of the first drift and I don't totally suck at fishing.



2nd drift, I noticed a different type of dab showing up. The mythical albacore sanddab (longfin sanddab). New species for me.



Nice little orange coloring on the fins.



Did maybe 10 drifts total. Also set up a small dab on a dropper loop to see if a soupie was around, but nothing came of it.

It wasn't flies to $#it dab fishing like I thought it would be, but I came away with some bait and enough bigger ones for a meal. Motored back to the harbor around 2pm. Passed another pod of dolphins going the other way, but a few broke away and swam alongside me for a moment before going back to their business. Kinda cold air but great day to be on the water.

Slimy bastids,



But they sure do clean up nice.



Trying a less extreme dry-age style, just for a day or two. I'll post more of something I found on dry-aging fish over in the cooking section.
« Last Edit: February 09, 2021, 08:22:15 PM by jrodda »

sasquatch

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #1 on: February 09, 2021, 08:35:32 PM »
 Screw the DMV.

 Glad you are enjoying the boat.

vdisney

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #2 on: February 10, 2021, 03:46:01 AM »
Great report Jeremy, glad you're getting out.  The La Janelle Shipwreck led me another 30 minutes of reading, very interesting story.  Thanks for sharing
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Latimeria

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #3 on: February 10, 2021, 05:23:17 AM »
Stoked for you using the Mosquito!  That's a nice pile of Dabs you got there and I have to see this drying thing you'll do with them.

I'm looking forward to you hooking a big BSB, Thresher, or YT and towing you around!
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xjchad

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #4 on: February 10, 2021, 08:33:37 AM »
Nice work on getting your targets!
Don't think I'd have the guts to be out on the sea in that little craft haha!

skrilla

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #5 on: February 10, 2021, 10:44:46 AM »
You bite the octopus between the eyes to kill it. If you want to take it up a notch throw it over your shoulder and wear it with pride. The suckers will still latch on after death.

jrodda

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #6 on: February 10, 2021, 07:53:37 PM »
Verne I read about it as while searching for the coordinates online. I've known about the piece that's part of the Hueneme jetty for a while but my neighbor alerted me of the sunken pieces a couple months ago, said he can pull a couple bass of it with some regularity.

You bite the octopus between the eyes to kill it. If you want to take it up a notch throw it over your shoulder and wear it with pride. The suckers will still latch on after death.

Sounds like an extremely intimate way to kill something! The over-the-shoulder look would be very chic.

BenCantrell

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Re: Nabbin' Dabs
« Reply #7 on: February 11, 2021, 12:02:34 PM »
Nice report, and congrats on the haul of dabs!