San Miguel Island Reds!

What a great day of fishing! Al, Jim and I got the Ventura early Sunday evening before the Pacific Dawn returned from the day's fishing. We ate seafood at Andrea's in Ventura Harbor then waited for the boat to return.

Dustin brought the boat in late because they had rough weather and a very late departure the night before. The faces of the departing passengers confirmed the rough weather encountered. Fortunately for us, the weather had come down for our trip.

The owner and our regular Captain was hunting on Santa Rosa Island so Dustin was our Captain and Opie was his second supported on deck by ManDog, Kenny, Tanner and Whitney in the Galley. This was our last LARRC charter trip in Ventura for this year and we had a full boat of 16 passengers including Al Scow, Jim Carlisle, Justin Fleck, Dave Permut, Eric Rogger, Chas Shoemaker, Ted & David Feit, Vince & Kathy Shriver, Michael Dickter, Arnie Stein and Andy McDonald.

We boarded the boat around 9 p.m., signed in, rigged tackle then sat down for the safety speech and a bottle of wine. We chatted, laughed and a few played cards as we departed the harbor. I called it a night around eleven.

We awoke to calm seas at San Miguel Island and began fishing in shallow water with leadheads and plastics before dawn. The fishing improved with sunrise and we just kept filling our sacks as the morning progressed. Since we were fishing in shallow water, we were catching one fish at a time - big chuckles, reds, small lings, etc.

Late morning, Dustin decided to make a move to deeper water (300 feet) for a couple drifts. He suggested using two hook gagnions or jigs with one fly. The Reds (Vermillion Rock Fish) were really were hungry. They just climbed on the hooks as soon as we hit bottom. Suddenly we had limits of Reds so it was back to the shallows for catch and release then an early departure for home.

Whitney offered fish or chicken burritos, hamburgers, fish burgers or fish plates. All fish was fresh caught that day. I had the fish burger (which was delicious) then hit the bunk for a 4 hour nap while crew processed our catch.

The seas were so calm, we arrived back to the harbor early and were on our way home by 7 p.m. I was home by 9:15.

Of course the best part of the trip was the sashimi and steamed Red for dinner the next night.