Ghosts Elude us Again!

Jack gave me the opportunity to fish with him again Friday. Yes, we took our beautiful mackerels out of the receiver and put them to work. And we worked them and worked them to no avail. The ghosts (aka white seabass) lived up to their reputation.

We had good tides -0.76' at 3:09 am and 4.06' at 9:28 am and 69.9 degree water. Unfortunately we had wind that continued to build to about 12 knots by noon creating quite a choppy sea with white caps. The sun eventually came out around noon but it failed to warm the air.  It was a cold day on the water.

We fished the Salt Creek to Headlands area all morning and made one pass from the headlands to pipeline without a single bite for either of us. Thanks again Jack for giving it another try. At least we had the opportunity to try to find them.

Since there were no fish photos, I thought it interesting to document the wonderful process of loading Jack's boat on the trailer. Smooth operation!

Fishing the Pipe!

Tuesday I got to go out fishing on Jack's Whaler again. The Tuesday Kayak Fishing group (including Tim and Wayne) were heading out to fish the Pipeline. We decided to make bait at the headlands before joining them.

Saddleback Mountain in the background.

When we first metered the bait, we stopped the boat to fish for them. The bait would just swim on through and not bite. Jack suggested we troll for them and that did the trick. Jack caught several before I got one to the boat. Then we had a couple times we both had 3 at time on our line. It only took us an hour to make over two dozen green backed mackerel.  Much easier than last week when it took three of us two hours to get the job done.

We motored out to the pipeline and dropped a couple baits in Tim's bait tank. Wayne had made his own mackerel.  Tim and Wayne wanted to fish for the threshers. Jack and I were fishing for those elusive white seabass.

Jack moved the boat out to the 70 foot depth just south of the southern most barber pole and put us in a drift. I threw out the chum bucket and pinned a mackerel on my 40 pound outfit with a 2 ounce slider.

The weather was beautiful - sunny skies with a slight breeze. The water had warmed up to 68 degrees and was cleaner than last week but it was still a murky green. Our tides were minimal - a 3.23 foot high tide at 8:03 am and a 2.50 foot low tide at 12:12 pm.

I wish I could say we caught something but we didn't unless you count the bait. I had two baits scarred indicating some kind of activity but no real bites. Jack didn’t have any better luck either.  Around 1 pm, the bait showed up out on the pipeline. Jack called Tim to see if he had his receiver ready for some bait. The response was "yes" so I spent another 10 minutes making more bait - mostly mackerel but some sardines as well. We called it a day and delivered the bait into Tim's receiver.  Jack’s bait tank is great as all the bait looked better than they did when we caught them.

At days end, Wayne had been the lucky one as he caught a beautiful 14 inch calico plus he had hooked and lost a thresher. Apparently the thresher conveniently tangled Tim's line with Wayne's line before busting off.

It was still a fun day on the water and I did enjoy making bait.  Now I'm looking forward to next Tuesday's Kayak Fishing as the tides look better plus we already made bait!

Threshers Abound!

Jack was generous enough to take Wayne and me out fishing in his Whaler on Friday. His 18 foot center console is just perfect for in-shore fishing off Dana Point. We departed the harbor before 8 am and headed towards the pipeline to make bait.  Water was slightly warmer – 66 degrees.

I had bought a small Charkbait Chum Bucket at Hogan's to chum up some bait and hopefully the white seabass. Once we got to our bait making spot, I threw the bucket out. This was the first time I had used one and when it turned upside down in the water, I understood why the instructions said to drill holes in the top of the bucket.

Bait making was very slow again. I was using the Hayabusa Sabiki Size 10, (S-511E) which is $3.99 at Hogan's Bait and Tackle. Not sure what brand Wayne and Jack were using but my Sabiki definitely outfished theirs for green mackerel. The same thing occurred the previous trip.

We made a few mackerel at the pipe when my bait rig got slammed. I dropped down a mackerel on 40# Fluoro with a 2 ounce sliding sinker and hooked up immediately. The fish made a nice run then jumped - another Thresher Shark. It took several minutes to get it to the boat then it took off and jumped again. After a third jump, it came in - a nice 100 pounder! It was hooked in the pectoral fin. While we were deciding who would unhook the fish so I could release it, the fish took another run. I buttoned down the drag and broke him off. Now that was fun!

We moved to the headlands to try for bait and had a little better luck there. It might have been the time of day as I noticed the bait biting better around 10 in the mornings lately.  Wayne caught the biggest mackerel I have ever seen - 17 inches long! Around 10 am we had enough bait and moved back to the pipeline to fish.  Jack’s bait tank worked well.  The only die off was a couple small baits that looked like small bonito.

Jack was sitting in the bow, his rod in the holder when he got hit and his line peeled off. Jack was getting spooled on 30 pound so he tightened his drag and Bamm! Fish gone! When he got his spectra back on the reel, his fluorocarbon had come apart at the connection. Jack re-rigged and was back fishing.

As we drifted, Jack had to keep moving the boat to avoid drifting into the Dana Pride that had just motored up and anchored in our drift line. They didn't do very well and moved to deeper water for a short time before heading south. The water had become a muddier green than when we started so we decided to slow troll back towards the headlands. Jack got hit again but it didn't last long. I got hit next and this was a big fish. He took a nice long run then skimmed across the surface just long enough for Wayne and I to get a glimpse of a really large thresher before he bit through my 40 pound fluorocarbon. If we were actually fishing for threshers, we would need to put some wire on to land the bigger ones.

Around 2:30 pm the tide went slack and we called it a day. A quick run into the harbor then clean up time. The boat clean-up went quickly with 3 to do the work. I drove Wayne back over to get his car at Dana Point Jet Ski and Kayak Center. We kept that big mackerel and our leftover bait for hoop netting when lobster season opens. We put the bait and the leftover chum bucket in Tim's freezer until he fills it with his catch from Alaska next month. Anyone got an extra freezer they don't mind me keeping bait in?

Thanks again Jack for your generosity!  It was a great day on the water.

Fishing Jack’s Whaler!

I met Jack yesterday morning at Dana Point Landing and we launched his 18 foot Boston Whaler and headed out of the harbor. We were on the water heading to the bait grounds by 8 am. The water was cooler than last week, just 65 degrees and glassy calm.

We headed towards the headlands and stopped short when we saw bait jumping. They were not anxious to jump on our Sabiki's but we coaxed them with bits of squid on our hooks. Eventually we caught 6 mackerel, 1 sardine and 6 spanish mackerel. We pinned baits on our dropper loops and dropped them down.  We were fishing.

Area that I caught the Thresher

We slow trolled our baits as we travelled toward the pipeline. Once we arrived in the area, our bait began shuddering. I had a hit that lasted a few seconds then it just took my bait. I rebaited and dropped back in then got hit again. This time I saw a thresher shark jump.  It was on my line. He jumped 4 times before I got him to the boat. He was foul hooked - right in his dorsal fin. He was a beautiful, shimmering iridescent pink. I pulled him close to the boat and Jack unhooked him. We watched him swim away.

We had porpoise around the entire day and the dolphin boat came by chasing dolphin. They were loaded with passengers, all on the bow watching the marine life ahead of them.

Suddenly Jack was hooked up. It was on a heavy fish! It acted like a big halibut - just a heavy weight swimming away. Suddenly it broke off. Bummer. That was a good fish. We fished until we were out of bait and then headed in. Unfortunately we didn’t connect with the white seabass as I had hoped. Last week Jack caught a 45 pounder off Dana and we were hoping to find them again.  We cleaned up the boat and headed home. I was home around 3 pm.

Thanks Jack for a great day on the water. I can't wait to get back out there.

Shogun 1.5 Day Trip

I reached Fisherman's Landing July 13th around 2 pm in order to get a parking place prior to the scheduled 7 pm departure on the Shogun. Parked next to me was Pat Cavanaugh. He advised me he was taking his boat, the Pacific Dawn, back up to Ventura as fishing is so bad for the 1 to 3 day trips out of San Diego. Pat usually fishes the Channel Islands in the winter and spring and San Diego in the summer. White seabass, barracuda and halibut are biting well off the central coast currently.

Fourteen of us boarded the Shogun including Harry, with whom I have fished on other trips. It was nice to fish with Harry again.  One of our other passengers, Kim, was traveling with her father. She had never caught a tuna nor had she fished on a boat longer than 3/4 of a day. Her father had promised her this trip while she was fighting breast cancer. She was very excited to be on board and so was her father.

We made a quick stop at the bait receiver to top off the tanks and passed the Point about 8 pm. Bruce Smith (our Captain) gave the safety speech and told us about a new area 110 miles south. The spotter plane had spotted 5 schools of bluefin the day before in the area we were heading. I hit the sack early.

We started trolling at 6 am Thursday morning while Bill was still serving breakfast. The weather was overcast - a deep cloud cover - and misting. The water was a clear blue and 65 degrees. Seas were choppy with a few white caps. The winds were around 10 to 12 knots but they wouldn't stay that way.

We had one school of small bluefin boil up but wouldn't take a bait with a hook in it. After trolling another hour or so, we had another school of bluefin boil up and three fish were hooked and landed. These fish were all of 12 pounds each! The good part is that Kim caught her first tuna!! Congratulations Kim!  We threw everything we had (including live squid) at the school before they left us. 

The wind came up and the seas came up too. That was it for the day. We stopped on a dozen or so kelps and a total of two schools of bluefin for 3 small fish.

I had a bait picked up and dropped, but other than that, I just enjoyed chatting with Bruce and the crew. I am still in "Fishing" mode and really wishing for the "catching" karma to come back.

When I got off the Shogun Friday morning, I had a message from Ingrid Poole informing me that she had completed the sale of the Excel to Al Gross. He is an entrepreneur and long time Chartermaster/passenger on the boat. Ingrid said Al plans to keep the crew and continue to operate the boat out of Fisherman's Landing.  I’m looking forward to meeting the new owner one day.

Kayak Tuesday 7-12-11

Rumors of 50 pound white seabass being caught on kayaks fishing outside Dana Point Harbor creates in me an uncontrollable urge to go fishing. Jack, Wayne and I met at the harbor, launched our kayaks and peddled out of the harbor around 7 am on Tuesday. Along the way out, Wayne confirmed that a 45 pound white seabass had been caught on a kayak fishing next to him last week.

Overcast skies, 10 to 12 knot winds, and choppy 67 degree seas greeted us as we left the protection of the harbor. Current was running northeast at a quick clip.

Our first stop was to make some mackerel for bait. I caught a couple mackerel and a couple sardines and put them in my bait tank. Jack headed out to the pipeline. I looked for an area of bait and 60 feet of water. I pinned on a beautiful, lively mackerel and trolled him around looking for bait balls and the elusive seabass.

Bait balls were difficult to find until around 10 am, when the sun peeked out of the clouds, and then the bait just showed up. By that time, Wayne was on his way to join Jack at the pipeline to fish for calicos and sandbass. I continued to fish for the seabass around the headlands. I trolled that same little mackerel for 5 hours and covered 9.5 miles and my bait was still swimming with gusto! Other than bait, I caught nothing so I called it a day around noon.

When Wayne and Jack returned, Jack had a nice sandbass and Wayne said he had released a couple short calicos. Just another day of “Fishing.”  Looking forward to getting back to catching fish one day.

Braid 8-Day 2011

Early June 27th we boarded the Excel anxious to reach the rumored bluefin grounds. We loaded bait and cruised past the point at 10:30 am heading towards an area 240 miles south under the helm of Justin Fleck with Mike Ramirez as second. Jake Phillips was in charge of the Galley with Vince Otani assisting. Brandon, Derrick, Bundy, Kevin and Little Jimmy rounded out the crew.

Tuesday morning found us searching for the previously biting bluefin only to be disappointed. There were fish around but none interested in feeding. Justin kept the boat pointed south with Alijos Rocks as the destination. The rocks had been the promised land kicking out big yellowtail and yellowfin tuna up to 100 lbs. for other boats in the fleet. We would be there in the morning.

We slid into the area just as the RP was leaving. Two other boats would leave in another day or so. With the bluefin still suffering from lockjaw, the decision was made to spend our trip here. The water was 65 degrees with a screaming current - a current so strong that all the lines ended up in the same place a hundred yards behind the boat. The live sardines continued to tangle lines resulting in massive spectra tangles involving multiple anglers at the same time. If an angler was lucky enough to hook a fish, it had to be threaded through the tangles. Unfortunately, this situation never changed for the four days we spent at the rocks.

Yellowtail were plentiful (for most the passengers - me excluded) and ranged from 20 to 50 lbs. They preferred a live bait on a 3/0 J-hook, 40 pound fluorocarbon with 1.5 ounce sliding sinker. There were a couple jig fish and dropper loop but they were few and far between. The star angler was Roland Reesby who, after reaching his limit, single handedly hooked and handed enough fish to push a dozen anglers up to their limits of yellowtail.

Yellowfin tuna were finicky. Previous to our arrival, squid was the bait of choice so we made squid the first night. The next day, the fish preferred sardines or nothing at all. We made it through a full kite rotation which produced most of the tuna and Roland's jackpot fish. A couple tuna were hooked on flylined sardines but most were kite fish.

 

As the days passed, the water cooled off and so did the bite. Rough seas were predicted so Justin made the decision to move up the line towards Cedros. A revised weather forecast had the weather smoothing out after midnight so a decision was made to visit the bluefin grounds again. After spending an entire day (on calm seas) searching for biting fish, we headed towards Jeronimo with one 12 lb. bluefin in the hold that was caught on a trolling feather.

We finished the trip at Jeronimo catching Vermillion Rock Fish (Reds) and ling cod. We had near limits for all passengers before calling it a trip.

This was one of the slowest trips I've ever seen and I wasn't the only angler to feel this way. Only a few people caught a tuna which is usually abundant on this trip. There were a couple of standout catches - Roland had one and the Bailey's (Janet and Gordon), Steve and Kathy did as well. We all came home with fish, just not the tuna catch we have been spoiled with catching in previous years. There's always next year.

Jackpot winners were Roland Reesby with a 105.6 lb. yellowfin tuna.  Second was Curt Wiesenhutter with a 96.3 and Roger Verduyn with a 92.9 lb. tuna.