Gulp Grubs and Reds!

The 2009 fishing season started Saturday with our first Los Angeles Rod & Reel Club charter on the Pacific Dawn out of Ventura. Roland picked me up Friday afternoon so we could carpool with Jim and Kenji to the landing. Traffic was light so we had plenty of time for a leisurely fish & chips dinner before the boat arrived back to dock at 7:30 p.m. We were thrilled to see the bait tanks filled with live squid which meant we wouldn’t be awakened to make bait.

Jason Fleck and his girlfriend, Hillary, joined us as the Excel is still in dry dock for maintenance. Pacific Dawn crew on this trip included owner/Captain Pat Cavanaugh, Second Captain Dustin, Opey and Mike (crew on deck) and a new galley cook, Whitney.

We boarded around 8 p.m. and got all our gear stowed before we signed the manifest. I handed out a package of Gulp Grubs and a Seven Strand hand towel to each passenger courtesy of Bob Hoose and Berkley products. Everyone got their tackle rigged for the morning’s bite then gathered in the galley for the safety speech. Opey gave us the safety speech then we hit the bunks.

The boat departed around 9 p.m. and immediately faced rough seas. We bounced in our bunks until around 3 a.m. when we heard the anchor drop. Since we had been traveling so long, I assumed we had made it all the way to San Miguel Island. When I got up at 3:30 a.m., I was shocked to learn we had only made it to Santa Cruz Island. Dustin said we would try again to make the crossing to Santa Rosa Island at daybreak rather than beat everyone up while sleeping.

The weather came down enough by daybreak to make the crossing. It was still bitingly cold but the sun was out and the wind was lighter in the morning.



Best of all, the fish were biting – at least they were for those using the Gulp Grubs (me). I fished 80 lb. spectra on a Tyrnos 12 with a rods length of 40 lb. mono rigged with a couple Kenji Flies (shrimp flies hand made by Kenji). Fishing the bow with me were Kenji, Jim, Ger and Roland.


Frank Pollack and Jason Fleck


Opey making a gagnion.

We fished deep most the day and my first drop brought up one Vermillion rock fish (commonly called a Red or Reds) on the Gulp Grub and nothing on the other hook. I put the Gulp on the other hook and brought up two Reds. These were all nice size Reds too. The Gulp Grubs were working so well, it didn’t take long for the other passengers to switch from squid strips to the Gulp.

Vermillion Rock Fish - Me and Jason

Crew Member Mike and Ger with a big Red.

Al Scow with his big Red.

Captain Pat and me with a Bosco & a Chucklehead.

Dave catching his JP fish.

Dave, Ger and Al (the Fisherman’s Pal) caught the biggest Reds. Ger’s would have been the jackpot had he entered. Dave ended up taking JP. He just barely beat out Al. I was quite happy with my limit of Reds. Just about all 17 passengers caught their limit and most the rockfish were Vermillion. One particular young man (Gabe), a guest of Frank Pollack, was ecstatic with his big Salmon Grouper.

Gabe with his Salmon Grouper.

My sack of Reds.

On our last drift of the day the wind suddenly came up blowing 20 knots. Pat said bring them up, we’re heading for the barn before it gets any worse. We broke down gear and Whitney had fish enchiladas and/or fish burgers waiting for us in the galley. Mike and Opey filleted the fish on the way home while we slept. When we got up, Whitney served fish tacos to tide us over for our drive home.

Mike and Opey filleting fish.

Pat pulled the Pacific Dawn into dock around 6:30 p.m. and after we unloaded our gear, Mike and Opey handed us our bags of fillets. I was fortunate enough to take a bag of fresh dead squid home with me as well.

What a great crew and fabulous trip – not only was it good fishing with good friends but it was fishing on a clean, comfortable and well maintained boat with an owner and crew that care.

Sunday I sealed and froze most of the Reds for future meals and prepared 3 of the fish for a couple dinners. Vermillion sashimi with a glass of Champagne made a nice hors d'oeuvre Sunday evening before we had our Steamed Red.

Vermillion Sashimi

Steamed Rock Fish
Ingredients:
1 whole, fresh 6 lb. red snapper or rock cod, gill, gutted and scaled
3-4 oz. fresh ginger root
1 bottle cooking sake
2 bunches green onions, chopped in 1/8 inch pieces
1 cup soy sauce
1 cup peanut oil

Steamed Vermillion Rock Fish

Preparation:
Peel ginger root and thinly slice. I use the potato peeler as a slicer to cut thin ginger slices. Be sure fish is clean and patted dry. Place whole fish in plate with high sides. Make 3 slits in side of fish parallel with the gills. Insert ginger slices in slits. Turn fish over and repeat on other side. Put remaining ginger slices inside belly cavity of fish.

Put fish (plate and all) in top of steamer. Place sake in bottom of steamer. Steam fish until fish is cooked and coming off the bones (approximately 20 minutes) on medium high.

Remove plate of fish from steamer. Do not drain fish juices from plate. These will combine with the oil and soy sauce for your sauce.

Heat peanut oil until boiling. Pour half of peanut oil over fish. Place green onions over the entire side of the fish. Pour soy sauce over green onions. Pour remaining peanut oil over green onions.

Serving Suggestion:
Place portions of fish on plates. Spoon generous portions of green onions and sauce over fish. Serve with white rice.

Monday evening I prepared sauteed Vermillion with garlic butter linguini and broccoli. These are two of Mike's favorite meals. Needless to say, he's happy to see me returning from fishing with rock cod.

Sauteed Vermillion

As for the squid; I found some Berkley Single Use Chum Bags in the fishing department at WalMart. I chopped up some squid and put them in the chum bags and froze them to use on my kayak. Can't wait for the water to warm up.

Suggestions if you are heading to the Channel Islands to fish in the near future:

Wear warm clothes in layers. I wore long underwear (top and bottom), lined water resistant pants (Fishworks), a t-shirt, hooded, zip-up-the-front sweatshirt, down vest, jacket, and fleece hat. The layers can be removed as the day warms up.

Wear gloves, with or without fingers. Roland mentioned he was taking gloves so I packed mine at the last minute and was quite glad I did. Even wet, they kept my hands warmer than without gloves.

Wear wool socks and waterproof boots. I usually wear crew socks and this time I wore wool socks and it made a difference. I actually stayed warm on this trip.

Take Gulp Grubs. I used Gulp Grubs in Nuclear Chicken and Camo flavors. The Sardine flavor worked well too.

Use Easy Baiter hooks. These are long shanked, off-set circle hooks with a large barb. The fish don’t spin off when you wind them up.