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1

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Lasuen Knoll 4/9

« on: April 09, 2024, 02:40:00 PM »

The weather shaped up real nice to the point I figured I had to try the run to the 14 for the deep rockfish. Almost out of the paisans from last week already, so already due for a refill. Had a dentist appt at 1500, so factoring in the sunrise launch, I knew I would only have time for about 3 hours of fishing, but that's been enough for rockfish limits lately when it's on.

Got to the ramp with the parking lot lights still on, for once.



2 hour run to the bank. Morning wind blew against the W swell, but it cleaned up after an hour or so.

Used the big ol' Avet EX30 this day with 50# braid and leader, and a 24oz weight. Comfy T-handle. Started in 1050'. The spot was insta-bit last time, but didn't get a peck. Degrading to reel all the way back up without a bite...

On to 950'. This was where I loaded up in December on chameleons. Nothing. Felt the clock ticking.

Tried a new spot in 550'. Didn't take long to get bit there!



Steady pick on the specks, including a nicer 2lber.



Descended this rosy along with a small chili that came up right after. Started getting into the junk.



Haven't seen a greenstripe in a very long time.



It was 10am with 5 fish in the bag and I was feeling like just keeping whatever came up. Got another small chili and bagged it. Then snagged bottom and lost my rig. Last 24oz weight. Had my 30# rig ready with fresh loops so I headed to the high spot around 350' and tried it for 15 minutes with 16oz. Lots of marks and no bites until the very last minute when I caught this poor rosy that went in the bag.



Left at 10:50. Glassy conditions to start and got into white caps at the last stretch, glad I timed it that way. Also saw a whale as I was getting back on the coastal shelf, but not sure on the ID. Only came up once. Looked like we were on a collision course so I slowed down, then it never came back up. Brown(!) and very smooth (unlike humps or greys), 30-40' length. Not used to brown whales. Any guesses? Cool to see. Maybe a minke, or a fin. I think I saw one from afar last week as well, about 5 miles away from this and similarly near the coastal shelf. Loving the whale action so far this year. Though I'm sure the minute I bring Alicia out for it they will be gone to Alaska.

Not the limit I wanted, but it was a nice day and I did see some variety along with a whale, so can't complain.

Well turns out the appointment is next week…should have stayed out. Even got a text from the dentist office on the water to remind me it’s next week and I saw the sender and assumed it was a day-of reminder.

2

General Board / Released A Single...

« on: April 08, 2024, 06:36:36 PM »

I released a song onto Spotify and all other music streaming platforms, and iTunes (or whatever it's called now?). It's called Sea Monsters. Loose metaphor as you'll find out, I'm not trying to be The Fishing Songwriter or nothin', but you know me and it's gotta bleed in at some point.

https://open.spotify.com/track/301i0a9tKkQaOjRKOBd2ak?si=1c292ec09af14811

or..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRmTdCsd7fc

Album of the same name on the way by the end of the year by the looks of things.

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Paisan Opener 4/2/2024

« on: April 02, 2024, 02:14:38 PM »

And I'm not kiddin' around!

Got lucky with my day off being the best conditions of the week. Was still a little worried about the half moon not pushing enough water but hoped for the best.

Launched 0700. Small but very mixed swell. Water on the inside looked like Koga's morning routine sewage spill. Woof!

Got to the grounds about 0815. 3 cattle boats, CSU research vessel of similar size looked like it was on a crew trip, and about 4 skiffs in the zone. Went 2/2 on the first drops for paisans, then drifted off it. Was pretty much the game. 12oz had scope but kept bottom just well enough. 5" flukes for bait. Paisans love finbait. Sanddabs were showing no mercy either. Caught 5 dabs and let all of them go except this absolute unit 12.5"er.



Not instant, but steady bite. Limited by 0945. First boat off the grounds. 9 paisan 1 red. Very simple trip. jrodda launch, jrodda catch limit, jrodda go home. Off the water before 1100.



Best of the day. 12.5" and 19".



Looks like about 4 dinners. Deep fried is coming first!

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Fishing Talk / Pop the bottles folks!

« on: April 01, 2024, 09:37:34 PM »

It’s Paisan season.

Finally finished off the BFT, low on thresher, no groundfish fillets, so took the opportunity to thaw and clean my chest freezer. All ready for another year of abuse.

Gonna launch early tomorrow and see what happens.

5

Fishing Talk / New BPS opened

« on: March 28, 2024, 04:26:01 PM »

Was gonna go after work today to peruse but my lady seems down to see it with me so might go this weekend.

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Fishing Talk / Koga's Club

« on: March 25, 2024, 04:37:41 PM »

Are you AOY yet at your bass club? I can't remember your last name but I don't see any Chris even placing on your club website's tourney results

Thinking about heading out for your Open in June to give you a tutorial.

7

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Spring Bass 3/20

« on: March 20, 2024, 04:15:52 PM »

Out of the harbor about 0730. Plan was a 50/50 split on trolling for bass and squid for critters/sheeps.

First stop was on a tiny stone that landed me 3 bass in a just a few minutes before it cooled.



Moved to Izor's for a quick look. Still plenty of fish as always. Actually hooked up this time on a 2# sandie. Dropped squid on the marks and got no attention.

Decided to focus up on the squid drifts while the wind was down in the morning and I already broke the skunk. Moved over to Critter Land and got a good bite but came off after a few seconds. Saw that it bit the hook with the squid head so I felt like that might have been my sheep.

Critters were slow. Hopping from one small area to the next I found enough marks that seemed like the usual suspects, but they just weren't committing. I did end up catching a 20" sandie on a squid head though.



And a dink turd with extra sharp teeth.



Sheeps and skrillas wanted nothin' to do with it so I took the hint and headed to a few spots I don't normally fish.

Weird fishes.



Found a stone with a few more willing players.



Got some slime on a new Yozuri.



Not seeing a lot of calicos this past year but found two today.





Finished around 1200 with a dozen bass. Just as I reeled in for the last time, my outboard puttered out. Oi! Sounded like a lack of fuel pressure. Checked the bulb, yeah. Squeezed it a bunch of times and not much happened. Got it started again and got home fine. Realized the valve on the tank was slowly coming unscrewed so it wasn't as compressed as it should be. Hope that was the issue anyway.

Got back to the ramp and these two older guys with a nearly brand new Robalo 302 were trying to get it on their trailer. I don't know nothin' about nothin' when it comes to getting a boat on a trailer, but I genuinely believed their boat was not making it home the way they handled it. Boat wasn't snug on the trailer, creaking quite a bit as it came out of the water. They broke the bow winch strap and did some kind of repair that didn't look real. Then I got on the road behind them and realized how monstrous the boat really was. Had to google it: 30' x 10'6" and 9000lbs. No oversize load signs or nothin'. Their stern straps were absurdly undersized, especially considering the condition of the bow strap. Again, I don't know about trailering boats. But they certainly did a good job making me nervous.



Op, and they left the antenna up.

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Weren't Answering The Door Today 3/10

« on: March 10, 2024, 02:07:39 PM »

Was a bit tough waking up to my first alarm this morning being Spring Forward, so got a little later start than anticipated. WOT out the harbor about 0800. Brought shrimp as today's cut bait for a real college try at sheephead. Had some hope for the day with a good tide and great weather.

Stopped on my first spot and was marking plenty of fish but no bites, not even bait stealers. Looked like the usual layers of bass, whitefish, and blacksmith, so very surprised I didn't get a nip. Moved to my intended AO for the day and there were two party boats working the area, hadn't seen them before in that zone.

There was soooooooooo much bait past the 100' contour on the flat. 20 yard wide balls every 50 yards at times.



And not nearly as many whitefish marks as usual in my AO. Thought that was weird. Had bait stealers but they were very subtle, unlike the usual absurdly aggressive baby skrillas. Got 2 small reds but no whitefish or sheephead. Bites and marks were very few and far between.

Started back shallower. Wondered if the party boats had been hitting that area all winter draining it dry of the whitefish. Got over to Izor's where there were 4 other boats and started trolling my 3 way rig to maybe pick off some bass.

TONS of fish in the area, and zero bites.





Got hung up a lot on those those relief points for no payoff, moved shallower. More marks than I'd ever seen in shallow but once again zero bites.





Normally I see 2 marks tight to the bottom and 10 seconds later I'm bit. So I'm amazed that I probably put my presentation in front of hundreds more fish today and got not a tap. Maybe they're all full on all that bait in the area.

Frustrating. But nice day. Not skunked, though kinda felt like it.

9

Fishing Talk / Another HB Oil Spill

« on: March 08, 2024, 06:13:46 PM »

https://www.nbclosangeles.com/news/local/oil-spill-off-huntington-beach-coast-being-investigated/3359029/

Last one was in 2021 and was 25,000 gallons. This one doesn't seem as extreme but I'm not giving the platforms a gold star either. Hope it doesn't f@ck up the local bite, it was just starting to heat up. Might head out with the boat Sunday morning so hopefully it doesn't interfere with that plan, short term or long term.

10

Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Upped the PB Turd 2/26

« on: February 26, 2024, 12:56:39 PM »

Went out this morning for a relatively quick bass trip. It looked like rain and wind would come through around 11 so I had 3-4 hours to fish. I just wanted to play around with my GoPro that I've had for years but setting up a camera seemed to involved, from mounting to the standard of audio I wanted. I picked away at those problems and had a quick easy setup today with wireless lavs for good audio. Haven't checked the tape yet but I really hope it turned out...I'll post it when I get around to editing it.

Launched at 0700. Mr. Marina worker who told me I shouldn't be in the lot without a trailer popped up again and gave me the same exact spiel as a few months ago. I allowed myself to be visibly annoyed. I told him I talked to the manager. They couldn't give less of a f@ck. My plate number is on a sticky in the office so they know I'm cool, okay? He says THAT manager got fired and I should talk to the head head honcho who's been out for 6 months. I said, she was here 7 months ago? Yes. Okay, I was here 7 months ago, twice a week. For 2 years. She should know of my presence by now. I'm not worried about it. Then he introduced himself to me, at which point I knew he's the kind of guy with a short memory, and said he's just trying to relay the signs and he won't do anything about it (except he's the ONLY person doing anything about it). I'm thinking I should feed him some beef jerky some time soon so he remembers me, thinks kindly, and doesn't f@ck with me again...

OUT the gate, quick drive to the grounds. Glassy conditions. Turned on the GoPro and got bit quick with a barely short bass. Glad to get the skunk off in front of a camera, I was a little worried about that. Then caught a legal. Then hooked a big big fish. Drag set right, just steady reeling, through runs and everything. Really didn't wanna lose it. Thought might even be a small BSB. Then it comes up.

Oh yeah, that's a new PB. 23.5" sandie. No scale. Fair to say 6+. I got it on video too, so hopefully that came out good, and I'll have a better portrait with it.







Didn't just give me bass thumb, gave me bass hand. Rolled a couple times in the boat and ripped up both my hands. Almost kept it for the weight but took mercy.

My little setup with audio dongle thing. I put a dry bag over it while underway because the ports are exposed with the audio receiver thing.



Only got about 45 minutes of video, talking nonsense to the camera catching fish, then it died.

Kept hitting new stones. Some decent fish.



3 fish puked. Anchovy, some kind of mollusk, and whatever this is. Looks like a small eel?







Wanted to catch more bigguns with the sledgehammer, maybe attract a halibut. Stinger just got dinks.



Headed in a little shallower. I do really well when I see this kind of stuff.





10 sand bass and the brown. Called it at 10:30 as it started raining.

Got back to the ramp and gave my numbers to the surveyor.

Then I mentioned the marina worker, and he was like ohhhh yeah, he bugs me too.

11

Fishing Talk / PCS Show 2024

« on: February 13, 2024, 09:12:05 AM »

I seem to have a hard time remembering these kinds of events or having the time to get to them, but hopefully I will make this one. Seems like a great lineup. Anyone else planning on going? It’s March 7-10.

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Odd February Day 2/11

« on: February 11, 2024, 02:09:07 PM »

Met up with Jared at the ramp at 0700. Wanted to try scouting for sheephead with shrimp, and bounce balling in a new area with bigger lures hoping to capitalize on halibut or at least bigger bass.

Overall good weather out the gate. First new stone looked like it just had junk on it, and they weren't hungry.

Started bounce balling on the way to the next stone. Just before the stone, Jared hooks up. Then I look at the FF and fish start showing. I got bit and farmed it. He pulls up a nice 3# class fish.



We went over it again and got a double, two more 3# class fish.



Stopped on it with the shrimp and I pulled off a small female sheephead but it slipped out of my hands before a pic. Swam off strong which is what counts.

That stone cooled, kept moving. Jared was picking off 3#ers in the middle of nowhere between stones, my swimbait wasn't getting sniffed.

We pulled up on the next stone and he goes bendo then loses it. Then I drop shrimp down and I get hammered. Hoped for a bigger sheephead but another 3# turd.



Farmed another. FF was showing wild marks, fish were lit up and all up and down the water column. Then they disappeared. Couldn't locate them again, they just kinda left the structure. Picked off a couple blacksmith between us with the shrimp but no sheeps home.

Doing a big circle around Jared picked off another similar sized turd in the middle of nowhere. I finally switched from a baitfish color to the calico hunter he was using.

Headed in shallower and he pulled one short while we bounced from structure over to the beach and it went dead. Last drop I somehow impaled a mantis shrimp though. Kept it far away from the boat.



Got back to the ramp at 1200. If we had fished in the local bass tournament yesterday we could have won money with our bag today, probably a 15-17# best 5 for us. New zone had surprisingly great bass results. At least saw a sheep today which was good but I think I have better spots for them. And halibut aren't real.

13

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / C-Rigging and Data Gathering 2/10

« on: February 10, 2024, 10:33:07 AM »

Fished 0700-0930 with Jared and his dad this morning. Started with a c-rig, Jared and dad started with jerkbaits/swimbaits for halibut. Took a couple hundred yards to find any life at all, but eventually started getting aggressively short bit. Stuck with the hole til I got my skunk buster.



Might have been the only fish in that hole. Moved a bit and got more bites. 2 YFC, 11-12".



Saw a guy fishing from a rod holder, spinning reel with no baitfeeder, and he was sitting in his chair back like 40 feet from the rod. Looked like he was napping as well.

As the tide peaked I cut the c-rig and put on a fluke. Saw some conditions that I was looking for but no stripers. Won't be long. Jared and his dad ended up landing 1 and 2 YFC respectively.

Heading out with Jared tomorrow on the Mosquito. Bringing some fresh ideas so hopefully an interesting report to follow.

14

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / After the Rain 2/1

« on: February 01, 2024, 09:16:39 PM »

Hyped up this morning all week to try a thing for stripers. Slept absolutely horribly, decided to not derail the rest of my day with a morning trip and slept in. Went about my day grub hubbing, about 1400 I was driving over PCH around Huntington Harbor and saw the swell smacking the jetty. Looked rugged and thought I would go off the clock and stare at it for a few minutes. Got on the sand and realized the 7' @ 7 sec swell really falls apart on the outside. Inside trough actually looked super fishable. So I set up a 1oz dropshot with crack at the car and hopped back on the sand for a few casts hoping for maybe some bigger models to be swimming in the washing machine.

Second cast and I was hammered by a 10" breeder BSP. Couple other aggressive bites, moved over a bit and found the croaker. Back to back 12" YFC. Became a mix of quality fish. 6 YFC to 14", 4 BSP most around 10", 2 WSP around 9". Fished a little more than an hour. Tide wasn't moving too much, but just enough water receded for the inside trough to become less obvious, and the bites slowed. Not bad for a spontaneous trip.

15

Tackle Talk / Leader Material

« on: January 30, 2024, 02:42:18 PM »

So I've been on these for a while and been happy with all of them.

8, 10, 15# - Seaguar Red Label. 200 yard spools of "spool filler" fluorocarbon but I refuse to buy tiny premium spools of fluoro. This stuff works fine. And I've taken to using it in the surf for stiffness to avoid c-rig tangles. 10-15# section from braid through sinker to swivel, 8# leader to hook. Or put that 10-15# directly to an LC/lure. I wish they made heavier than 20# for this stuff cuz it would easily become my only leader material. I also love that it's the only budget fluoro spool I've found that has a line keeper. InvisX is nice though not stiff at all, but doesn't have a line keeper so it inevitably unravels and makes a mess.
Another note on this stuff, when I was a deckhand during the mahi bite, I was quietly tying 6' 20# leaders of this stuff from my own collection onto the rental rods and they did get bit more during tough days. I'm skeptical about fluoro, especially cheap fluoro, but it definitely paid for itself via fillet cash on those days.

30# - P-Line Fluoroclear. This is the heaviest they make. I use it for 95% of my inshore boating leaders. Fluoro coated mono, and as far as I can see it's the only one like it anymore on the market. Used to be a competitor or two....Super cheap filler spools around $10-15. Works. Gets bit. Strong enough to horse a tail hooked T to the boat, never break off unless there's heavy structure. I was using it in 6# for surf leaders but I eventually went with the Red Label for stiffness as it tangled way too often, compromising strength. Also have used it in 15, 20, and 25 with success, but 30 does it all here so I keep it simple now and pared down. It's a really great supple line for if you wanna fill a spool, too.

50, 80, 100, 120, 150 - Ande Pink Mono. Old news that off color mono disappears in water better than clear mono. 50#+ fluoro leader is all insanely expensive so I don't touch it. All my bigger presentations are either for sharks or reaction bite type stuff for pelagics, so it's not super important anyways. Also this stuff is soft enough to tie SD Jam knots no problem all the way up to 150#. 2 turns and you're good.


Reason I wrote this out was a reminder from this morning. Koga recommended to me a while ago to try the Seaguar AbrazX 12# for spotties. Definitely some hardy material for structure. I went ahead and ordered it, kept it around. He mentioned actually filling the spool with it. I don't like doing that so I tried tying short leaders with it. Literally snaps every single time I ever cinched down a uni-uni knot, totally bizarre. Switched to a modified Albright and it's done fine, then this morning I made my 100th cast of the day and it popped during a lob cast. Thankfully the LC just kinda fell to my feet so I was able to fish it out but, for whatever inexplicable reason it has incredibly mediocre braid connection strength. Sticking to the red label. I'll fill a baitcaster spool with it and try it as originally suggested eventually but it's retired from leader duties.

Anyway, take what you will from all that. For the most part it's a system that's budget friendly and works for me, but mostly because I don't need heavy fluoro for live baiting pelagics, nor do I tournament fish for bass or anything else. Otherwise premium fluoro might end up making sense.

Curious what you guys do.