Winter Reds on the Dawn

Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club's first charter on the Pacific Dawn took place April 10th. Captain Pat Cavanaugh gave us the safety seminar and said we would head to Santa Rosa to try for squid and seabass (if the squid show). The squid didn't show but the early departure allowed us to get a full eight hours sleep before daybreak. Around four in the morning, Dustin started the engines and we headed to San Miguel for rock fishing.

Kenny (Apollo's chef) started the coffee and bacon which encouraged anglers to give up their warm bunks. Fried rice and eggs were a delicious start to the day. By the time we finished breakfast, Pat had us set up for shallow water fishing. Man Dog (Mike) and Opie were on deck ready to pluck fish off our line for us.

The first couple drops were less than productive so Pat took us out to deeper water. Still no luck. Captain Cavanaugh moved the boat from spot to spot without finding the usual clouds of fish and wondered if there had been another earthquake. After returning home, I learned that there had indeed been a 4.5 aftershock in Mexicali. Fortunately by late morning the fish returned and were hungry.

Jim and Tom Carlisle were having a good day and so was Kenji. They were catching beautiful reds while I was catching Kenji Bass (salmon groupers). I had promised to bring two reds home - one to steam and the other for sashimi. It was noon and I still hadn't fulfilled that promise. I was beginning to barter for a red when I finally caught one. Thank heaven. I finally caught a total of 4 reds while Jim had a full limit of reds! Kenji would have taken jackpot with a big lingcod but he wasn't in the jackpot.

Kenny made fish burgers for lunch (which were fabulous), then we hit the bunks for the six hour ride to the dock. It was beautiful weather the entire day and we were lucky to get out between storms.

The best part was the fresh fish the next day - red sashimi and a steamed red.