Chasing Seabass

Jeff Chuang, Jim Carlisle and I boarded Brandon Hayward's Parker at 6 p.m. April 18th for a night of chasing the famously elusive white seabass.  We motored out of Oceanside Harbor and hugged the coast for a short ride south to the fishing grounds.  The weather was in the 80's during the day but down in the 50's at night.  The sun was still bright in the sky and so was the nearly full moon.

Our first order of business was to catch mackerel for bait.  Spanish mackerel were pretty easy to catch but the larger greenies were less than plentiful. Just after sundown, Brandon moved the boat to a fishing spot he has had success with in the past.  He jockeyed the boat several times until it was sitting just right for the wind and currents then we set up our gear.

We each brought a couple set-ups:  A 60 lb. outfit and an 80 lb. outfit each with a foot of fluorocarbon tied to spectra.  Brandon had one bait set at 50 pulls from the boat and another at 80 pulls.  We also had a couple rods 15 to 20 pulls from the boat and we had a couple we worked the bait back and forth 30 feet from the boat.  After a couple hours without a bite and a changing wind direction, Brandon moved the boat a short distance and reset the anchor.  We set the rods up again and put them in the holders and waited.

Around 1:30 a.m. Brandon said we might as well nap a couple hours through the slack tide then get up and fish hard through the grey light.  Jeff curled up in the v-birth, Jim and I each settled into a bean bag on deck.  It was quite cold even with 4 layers of clothing but we managed to nap anyway. 

When I woke up, the moon was still visible through the light haze covering the sky and the ocean had become glassy calm.  These were just the conditions Brandon said were favorable.  Jim and I got up to help Brandon change all our baits then we put our bedding (bean bags) away.

Around 4:15 a.m. the starboard stern rod went off.  We called Jeff but he passed it off to me and the fight was on.  After a run to the bow and back and pulling the fish through kelp stringers, Brandon stuck a gaff in her - a gorgeous 39 pound white seabass.  Wow!  I not only had my personal best but enough seabass for the year.

In the next 15 minutes, the same rod went off again and Jeff pulled in a 63 pounder.  That fish was fat!  We put that rod back out and 15 minutes later Jim was pulling on another giant.  When that fish hit the deck, it didn't look too big until we put it next to Jeff's fish.  Jim's was longer, had a bigger tail and was just as fat.  Jim's fish weighed 68 lbs.  Time to celebrate!!

Brandon moved the boat and set us up to fish yellowtail or halibut while he cut our fish for us.  I ended up bringing home 20 lbs. of filets (which Brandon says sell for $23 per pound or $460 for my fish).  I also brought home the bones, collar and belly/ribs.  We left our seabass heads with Brandon to send to the hatchery and the hatchery will mail us the odoliths.  The hatchery scans the heads for a chip indicating they were a hatchery fish.

Brandon took a fellow Los Angeles Rod and Reel Club member out the night after our trip.  Unfortunately they were skunked.  Brandon said the school was scared because we killed the matriarchs.  Makes me feel a little sad, however, I will celebrate my fish with every bite.