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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Sacrifices Were Made 4/26/2023

« on: April 27, 2023, 04:57:56 PM »

Got a text from Tom. Fishing Wednesday? Had to ponder that. It’s trivia night and Aja, my favorite bartender usually stoops by after her new job for a beer or two.

Decided to fish.

Did the usual bite to eat and a couple beers before fishing. Would have stayed longer but the place filled up with dogs.

Got to the beach early and found some room to fish.

As it started getting dark Tom’s rod started a slow bend. He was Johnny on the spot and grabbed the rod. His face sank when nobody was home.

Not long after he got a decent clicker run. Once again nobody home. Ugh.

My rod sat silent and straight.

Then I noticed a couple deep bends and went to check my bait. My line tightened up almost parallel to the beach. Fought a decent fight. Didn’t see any jumps or feel any tail slaps so I knew it was a bat or a huge clump of weeds.

Conditions were good and the water was clean so I leaned toward bat and was proven correct. Think Tom said it measured 42”? Not sure. I was rolling on 3.5 hours of sleep. Intended to leave the tasting room early but ended up staying til closing. Whatever, I was having fun and a friend I hadn’t seen for awhile stopped in so I ended up talking with her until last call.

Got to stop partying with the young crowd.

We fished a bit longer and decided to head out. We both reeled in a bunch of slack line. Tom’s bait was half eaten, mine looked untouched. Seems like he got bit, but there was no evidence I did.

Stopped for a medicinal whiskey/ginger on the way home and got another solid 3.5 hours sleep before work.

I’ll put up the pic later, but I’m going to grab a couple hours sleep right now.

Little late, but this is a nice picture

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Fishing Talk / About to jump on the San Diego 3/31/2023

« on: March 31, 2023, 04:59:08 AM »

Full day trip to the islands then straight to booze brothers to see my friends band play.
Mead fest tomorrow.
Busy long weekend for me.

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Freshwater Boat Fishing Reports / Triumphant Return 3/18/2023

« on: March 20, 2023, 04:10:35 PM »

 Met up with Tom at Jennings for a trout, sunfish and catfish trip. Lake was open until 10pm so we had plenty of time to fish after meeting up at 3,

 Tom's plan was to limit on trout then mess around catching sunfish til evening whereupon we would begin the catfish harvest.

 Beautiful day at the lake sums up the trip.

 We trolled around trying to find the trout. Didn't find any so we tucked into a few coves and tossed out baits. On a bobber and on the bottom to cover the water column. No dice,

 Decided to secure our catfish honey hole and catch some of the panfish that usually hang around while we waited. We even put out some catfish baits to try for a daytime bite.

 Not even a nibble.

 Finally, after sunset, my rod goes full bendo and after a bit of struggle i pull in the only fish of the trip wrapped in the reeds he tangled me up in, Thank goodness for the cattail cutter rig.

 Here it is in all its triumphant glory.



On the way home I got a text saying it was adorable. Thought that friend didn't mess with the gram.

Fun day even if it was slow.

I bet Tom is at the mud puddles catching some more whisker trout right now.

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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / The Curse Is Real 12/7/2022

« on: December 08, 2022, 07:00:17 AM »

 Trying to get more into the swing of things and fish a little. Taco Tuesday has been a limiting factor.

 Got a text from Tom suggesting it might be a good night last night so I skipped my second job and met him at the bar for a couple pre fishing drinks and a bite to eat.

 He had previewed several local spots. We chose the one judged as pristine.

 Things must have changed on the rising tide as there was a bunch of weeds on the shoreline and a couple sea monsters in the surf. Not bad, but not pristine.

 Got set up and took my first cast with a chunk of mackerel.

 Sitting, relaxing, and my rod bends and clicker screams. WTH? its been 10 minutes and I'm on? Can't believe it.

 Grab my rod and start to tighten up, but there is no pressure. Reel like hell to take up slack and now its on.

 Nice run, followed by slack line. Thought I lost it, but reeled in quick and came tight once again. Classic leopard rushing the beach. Whatever. Still nice to pull on something.

 Inattention and miscommunication lead to a small tangle, followed by a lecture on watch your line.

 Tom made the tail grab and landed my fish. Soupie. Nice. Been too long. Probably would come around more often if I hit the beach instead of the brewery once in awhile.

 Fish had a big gash on one side and a small wound on the other. Love bite? or did I manage to snatch it from the mouth of something bigger? Can't say.

 Told Tom I might as well go home as it was my first cast and the curse is real. Hung around anyway just because.

 As it turns out I not only cursed myself, but Tom and the rest of the sea as we never had another hit, or even a definitely chewed bait for the next 3 hours.

 Hit the road and made last call for a quick one on the way home. Managed to find my regular trivia teammates still there basking in their victory. Guess they didn't need me after all.

5

Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / At Long Last 8/20/2022

« on: August 20, 2022, 10:48:29 AM »

 Been awhile since I got sand on my feet. Changed that this morning and met Tom for a quick morning light bait rod session.

 Scrounged up enough gear and bait to get started and met Tom at daybreak. Well, one of us ran a little late, but you know, life.

 Soaked an assortment of baits. Anchovy, sardine, mussel, clam and sand crab.

 Pretty slow, I missed a good bite on my first cast then it was occasional bait stealers pecking away.

 We each managed to hook one. Tom got a nice action shot of me. Thats been awhile.

 Anyway, scored an amazing guitarfish for the win. Not the target, but still a fish.

 Beach got crowded so we split to fulfil our family obligations.

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Sunday Fuel Burn 7/10/2022

« on: July 12, 2022, 04:12:05 PM »

 Got ivited for a hook and line/spearfishing trip with my arch trivia rival, his housemate and his friend..

 4am show up at his house meant I had to leave the brewery before last call. The horror.

 Launched out of Oside harbor  at 5 and picked up some decent bait.

 Plan was motor south to look for dorado on paddies, then troll north to some tuna numbers from earlier in the week.

 Headed south to the 182 or so and started looking with the trollers out.

 Not long until we found an open water bird school, pulled out the binos and spotted dorado jumping and slashing under them. Sweet.

 Pulled the jigs and gunned over. Dropped baits. I got picked up 4 times. I hooked up 0 times. Frank, got one on bait, then the birds and fish dispersed.



Guess as a surgeon, he doesn't want to hold his fish. Nah, it was just a quick snap on the way to the kill bag.

Trollers out and on the prowl.

Soon after we spot more birds and almost ran over a paddy. Tough to spot them in the choppy overcast conditions.

Baits in and I'm hooked up. had it on awhile and pulled the hook on a nice bull dorado I never saw.

No more bite for half an hour of drifting. Tried chunk, live bait and jigs. Nothing.

Fish still jumping all around and birds working told us it was time to force feed them some steel and the guys suited up.

First words out of their mouths were things like Wow! Holy sh!t! There are hundreds of fish! As Dave was suiting up he told me to not drift too far from the paddy and circle around to pick them up. Must have had a funny look on my face because he asked You can drive a boat, right?

I said sure. No problem.  We all made it back, so I guess I did OK. They offered me use of a mask and wet suit, but I passed. Kind of regret it, but 3 of them weren't enough to pull me back in the boat in my judgement.

Well, they speared a few fish, some made it back to the boat and some tore off. That made the fish skittish and they wouldn't come into range anymore.

Still, everyone got one I think. I was fishing the whole time and never got picked up despite the number of fish.




Finally we gave up and started heading north towards the lifeless waters of the tuna numbers. No birds, no kelps, temp dropping, but they got fish there 3 days ago and wanted more.




This is a bad video of a pod of Risso dolphins we saw. They were cool. Also I can't figure out how to post the video from Imgur.

Hit the tuna numbers for nothing and headed to the beach. 5 mile zig zags trying to spot fish, but no luck.



The tuna cannon remained silent.

Hit the ramp around 5. Frank grabbed some fish and I rode back to the pad to help with boat duties. Fuel scan said we burned about 100 gallons of gas for 4 fish. Better be some good eating.

Had a great time and hope to get the invite again soon.

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General Board / Interesting cliff erosion article

« on: May 26, 2022, 09:39:26 AM »

https://ucsdnews.ucsd.edu/feature/as-california-cliffs-erode-uc-san-diego-team-works-to-track-and-understand-these-changes

We see these guys on the beach sometimes and I’ve talked to them at work.

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Rock Cod Mission 4/3/2022

« on: April 04, 2022, 04:03:26 PM »

 Went to a mead festival Saturday. Had a great time, drank some mead, some beer and some cider. Probably should have drank a little water too.

 Ran into my trivia night arch rival, not really a surprise since I gave him a ticket I beat him out of one night. Hung out a bit, then got invited rock cod fishing. Bring a passport, Mexican license and we leave at 5. With or without you. No problem. Meet up was a mile from my house.

 Loaded my gear, hopped in the truck and we headed to shelter island.


That Tacoma looked pretty small towing that boat. Summit gas by the sports arena had gas for 569, 539 for cash. Just a heads up, Tim.

Launched at sunrise, picked up a half scoop of bait and hit the south 9 by 730.


Passed a mola on the way Amanda tried to pet it and it let her. Kinda cool.

Started off with a couple small fish. Barber pole and small boccacio so we moved on.

Hopped from rock to rock in 350-400 feet of water and found some nicer grade fish. Mostly Boccacio, but some reds and ling mixed in.







I forgot how much work it is just to check your bait at those depths. Forget bringing 2 fish at a time up with their mouths wide open.

We ended up with about 20 assorted cod. Mostly boccacio. I caught the lions share, and at one point switched to a single hook to let the others catch up. Totally not because my arms were sore.

Bite died off at the turn of the tide. We fished awhile longer then headed in for another harvest. Rock scallops.

Max and Dave picked them off the rocks free diving while Amanda and I chatted and soaked some dines for bass or halibut. No takers unfortunately.





They cleaned them on the boat. Both Amanda and I tried them for the first time. She was thrilled. Cleaned 2 ate one.

I was less than thrilled, but didn't spit it out. Didn't eat a second one either.

Pulled the boat about 330 and home by 430-5.

I behaved well enough to be promised a future invite.

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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / At Least I Wasn’t At Work 12/7/21

« on: December 08, 2021, 10:06:36 AM »

Set out for a solo mission. Tom has he’ll week at work. Hope it’s just one.

Got to the beach about 430. Nobody there but me, so I set up early.

Small surf and dropping tide with pretty clean water. Things looked good.

Soaked my first bait 30 minutes. It came back better than when I cast it out.

Same thing for 3 1/2 hours. Every bait came back perfect. Except the ones covered in isopod. Yuck.

Phone was down to %5 so I split.

Got back in time for a couple $1.50 slices and a %40 off beer.  Took the sting out of the night.

10

Fishing Talk / I’m back

« on: November 30, 2021, 05:45:38 PM »

Extra special PPLLIINNKK

That is all.

For now.

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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Hemorrhaging Fish Too 11/2/21

« on: November 03, 2021, 10:17:59 AM »

Sorry for the delay. Imgur won’t upload from my phone and my work computer won’t let me into my email.

Checked the surf on Monday and I swear it said 1-2 but Tuesday it said 3-4. WTH?

Anyway it was good we settled on the spot we did. It was fishable with just a little weed in the big surf.

Tom showed up after I did and set up on the wrong side of me. I saved some space to fish the hole I spotted while it was light. Did I say anything? I’ll leave that up to your imagination.

We spent the rising tide catching weeds and changing baits that were chewed down to nothing but bone and skin.

Tom’s light stick went airborne a few times but he never connected with it. Mine just wiggled as the critters stole my bait.

I reeled in a -1 while Tom was baiting up and his attention was elsewhere. I slipped that thing into the surf and kept my mouth shut. Later I found out Tom had done the same thing. Can’t remember the last time we hooked even one and now 3 in 2 outings? It’s a plague.

After the tide turned I got a nice bite that came in quick. A nice leopard hit the sand.

Not long after that I got another smaller model.

Tom’s light stick kept flying but his rod never bent. Found out he lost a lobster in the shore break though.

We hung around awhile longer but that was it.

Tom took a great pic of my bigger leopard. I try and put it up later.

Next week we can start earlier. Can’t wait.

Here is the pic

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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / MOVED: Not Right

« on: November 01, 2021, 06:59:57 PM »

This topic has been moved to General Board.

http://prehistoricsoul.com/forum/index.php?topic=4311.0

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Saltwater Boat Fishing Reports / Three Day Report 10/15-18/2021

« on: October 19, 2021, 09:06:02 AM »

 Once again I was invited on a long standing 3 day charter on the Pacific Voyager organized by my friend Tommy. It's a popular trip and I don't always make the list but it's a must go when I do.

 Lots of anticipation as the date drew near. Didn't know what was in store fishing wise but knew it would be a fun trip.

 Started off with the traditional potluck.



Lots of great food.

 Captain arrived and gave us our options. Things were hampered by the weather early in the week. It came down to Tanner Bank for big bluefin where the high boat the day before had 9 fish, or head south for yellowfin to a new group of fish that had been spotted with good fishing.

 We opted for south. Way south it turns out.

 Motored all night in smooth seas for the best first nights sleep I've ever had on a sportboat. Motored until late the next morning to reach the zone and began trolling for tuna.

 It was beautiful weather and the hours of trolling were interrupted by occasional skipjack strikes that never turned into a bite. One strike resulted in 3 dorado on bait. Finally near sundown we had two stops for 2 nice yellowfin on the jigs.







 That night, after a beautiful sunset and great dinner, we were invited to release some paper lanterns in memory of one of the passengers brother who passed recently. It was a new experience for me to see these and a nice tribute to his memory.





 The second day of the trip was much different with jig strikes turning into bait stops and pandemonium. The key was chasing down porpoise and the tuna bit as we trolled through them. When the fish movede on we would chase down the porpoise again and catch fish again. All day long. It was a great day.

 When I say way south, I mean we were about 10 miles or less north of Isla San Martin which is around 160 miles from SD.









The refreshing jello shots provided a nice break between bites.  Thanks Shari.



Lots of things land on the boat,but this is a first for me.



 After dinner we began the long uphill run towards home and an area that had some paddies with YT and maybe dorado left on them. It was a bumpy ride and all day as the weather turned on us.

 We trolled and looked for paddies in lumpy seas until about 1 when we had to run for home.  One paddy of the few we found was holding and we made 3 drifts for about 30 rat yellows. That was pretty much it for the day. A fre jumping marlin on the way in provided soe entertainment as it cleared the water 6-7 times as we passed.

 We had a couple slow days, but Charlie and the crew worked their asses off to find us fish and they did. I don't think anyone has any complaints.



Some random shots.











 Thanks Tommy, the crew of the PV, and my fellow passengers for a great trip.

14

Fishing Talk / Local Fish Age Brochure

« on: October 01, 2021, 12:31:48 PM »

Got this in an email from DFW. Kind of interesting.

https://nrm.dfg.ca.gov/FileHandler.ashx?DocumentID=195158&inline

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Salt Water Shore Fishing Reports / Shades of the Bat Cave 9/25/2021

« on: September 26, 2021, 07:22:41 AM »

 Been trying to fish with Tom this week but it just hasn't worked out.

 Finally got to meet up at a local beach around dark.

 Surf was small, current light, and the tide rising slowly Still warm enough out for shorts and a flannel.

 Had potential for a decent night.

 We watched our rods get mauled by bait stealers all night. Tom got one hard takedown but it turned out to be a smash and grab.

 I managed to get a few things to stick to beat the skunk.

 Tom, however did not.

 For your amusement.



 I did get a great picture of the catch of the night. Something that used to be a common bycatch at the bat cave, but fairly uncommon around here.