White Seabass Endeavor Pays Off!

Jim Carlisle and I arrived early to Ventura Harbor hoping to enjoy a leisurely dinner before departing fishing on the Endeavor.  We found the harbor crowded with people enjoying the nice weather and at least an hour wait for a seat at all the restaurants.  Jim Googled up a recommendation for a restaurant in town, Lure.  A short drive later we found a parking spot a couple blocks from the restaurant and walked the rest of the way.

A block in the center of town was cordoned off for pedestrians and contained two live bands, one at each end of the block.  We found the restaurant and were fortunate to find two seats at the bar.  I had the local white seabass and Jim had the Cioppino.  The food was good and I would definitely go back when I’m in Ventura again.

We met up with Cathy, Steve and Jeff at Ventura Landing for a 9 pm departure on the Endeavor.  After signing in we boarded.  Captain Tucker said we would fish San Miguel Island in the morning for white seabass.  The tanks already had sardines and anchovies but no squid so the first stop was along the coast south of the landing.  The squid floated and crew (Johnnie, Jeremy, Sean and Justin) loaded the tanks plus 6 bushel baskets of squid; then we were on our way.

I got up at 3 am just before the engines turned down.  After a few minutes of searching Tucker anchored the boat and said to put out our 30 pound dropper loops.  We fished into the grey light tormented by sealions thrashing our line.  The barracuda took over from the sealions as it got light.  It was frustrating having to rerig gear.  Finally Steve got bit with a real fish – a 39 pound seabass! The fish came up dead.  Tucker was thrilled as he said it only took 5 islands to find them.  He was referring to our trip 2 weeks previous to this one where we searched four islands for seabass.

Steve switched to his Newell reel and hooked another seabass immediately.  This one was 42 pounds!  We were all excited and expected them to start biting for us all.  I hooked a fish and was sure it was a seabass but it turned out to be a soupfin shark.  Unfortunately, all I caught was sealions, whitefish, sheepshead, barracuda, and soupfin sharks.

Mid morning Tucker said we were going to do some rock cod fishing then return to halibut drifts and set up for seabass at sundown.  The rock cod fishing was spectacular in shallow water (less than 100 feet). Everyone caught limits – I caught 12 reds but could only keep 10, plus blue bass, chuckles and sugar bass.  I think I released more fish than I kept.

I was fishing the bow when I heard a commotion in the stern.  Then I head someone say “it must be a record skulpin.”  Jim’s fish weighed 4 1/2  pounds which would have been the IGFA and California State record if submitted.

The halibut drift produced two halibut but the sundown fishing for seabass failed to produce. We decided to stay at Miguel and try for seabass the next day rather than race out to San Nicolas and fish for yellowtail and possibly bluefin.  Alex served us a delicious tri-tip with roasted potatoes and steamed veggies for dinner.  The seas were calm and provided us with a good nights sleep.

I was up at 3:30 the next morning. It was cold and misty.  I had my cereal and coffee but waited to fish.  Justin and Sean had fished off and on all night getting thrashed by the sealions.  None of us fished until grey light.  Even so, our results were the same!  We caught sealions, barracuda, whitefish, sheepshead and soupfin sharks.

Tucker worked very hard trying cove after cove looking for biting seabass at Miguel and Rosa and finally we fished Santa Cruz Island for calico bass where the sun finally came out. We caught a few bass then it was time to head home with an arrival time of 6:30 pm. 

Crew pulled fish out of the hold and processed them for us on the way back to dock.  The seagulls enjoyed the ride.  At dock, crew helped us with our gear and brought our fish to the top of the landing.  I picked up a couple bags of ice while Jim grabbed our bags of fish.

It was another fun and productive trip even if our produce wasn’t seabass.  Our catch was some of the tastier critters in the sea.  Tucker and his crew did a great job and they were fun to fish with and I can never thank Cathy enough for her generosity.

I shared my catch with Shig.  He was thrilled to receive whole reds that he could steam.  I understand his joy because I steamed a red myself.

Four Island Ghost Chase!

The trip began long before boarding the Endeavor. Group Text Messages were exchanged sharing weather predictions, tackle suggestions, carpooling plans, and recent catches info. Even last minute texts regarding an earlier departure time just added to the excitement of the trip.

Chartermaster and our fishing trip benefactor, Cathy Needleman, recommended we all meet at Andrias Restaurant close to the landing.   Jim and I arrived first, then Scott Schiffman.  I ordered two Halibut and Chips dinners plus an order of onion rings for Jim and me.  We were surprised each order had 5 large pieces of deep-fried halibut, which was more than we could eat. 

Thankfully, Cathy, Jeff and Steve arrived shortly after our order arrived and helped us.  We were able to feed five of us from two dinner orders. 

We headed on over to Ventura Sportfishing, the landing that is home to the Endeavor and Pacific Dawn, two of my favorite boats.  We signed the manifest in the office and lined our gear up along the sidewalk until crew invited us to board.  

Once all our gear was on board, Tucker, the Endeavor Captain/owner, introduced our crew (Alex in the galley, Daniel, Johnnie and Jeremy on deck and Justin, Tucker’s brother and second Captain).  Tucker informed us we were headed to Santa Barbara Island where the seabass bit that morning. 

We departed around 7:15 pm and picked up some anchovies for chum before leaving the harbor.  We made a stop along the coast so crew could scoop some squid for bait.  The squid was jumbo sized - larger than I’d ever seen.  The ride was a bit bumpy and the bunkroom was cold so I didn’t sleep very well.  We arrived early morning and began fishing as soon as the anchor was down.  We fished the grey light through sun-up without a single seabass bite.  Unusual for us this year, but it was our turn to hear the phrase “You should have been here yesterday.”

Tucker decided to make a run to San Nicolas Island to see if the seabass had made a move to there.  We fished all day without catching a single seabass.  That was OK with us though because yellowtail, sheepshead, calico bass, whitefish and black seabass were biting all day long!

Fumio was the yellowtail expert.  He was on fire!  Every time I looked up, he was hooked up!   Not only did he catch 5 or 6 yellowtail, he also caught an 11 1/2 pound whitefish that we thought could be a record for California.  Unfortunately, we learned later it was a pound shy of that record.

 

Jeff decided to get his exercise pulling on blacks.  He must have had at least 3 that decided to grab his hooked bait.  When he wasn’t pulling on blacks, he was pulling on his own batch of yellows.  Jeff wasn’t the only one to be terrorized by black seabass.  Steve had a yellowtail that a black seabass tried, unsuccessfully, to steal leaving teeth marks along one side.  He also had a big halibut eaten at gaff by a 300 pound black which was witnessed by Tucker.  Jim was harassed as well.  He brought his whitefish to gaff just when a black came up and swallowed his entire fish then had the nerve to spit it back out.

As usual, we had our share of nuisance rays on the line long enough to give us the hope we had hooked a white seabass; only to come to gaff flapping its wings as if to say “fooled you again” then racing back to the depths sporting some precious Dinoheads as lip jewelry.

I caught mostly junk fish except for one nice yellowtail on a dropper loop and a big calico bass Fumio estimated was 5 to 5 1/2 pounds.  Yes, I released it to go back and produce little calicos. We had some trophy sheepshead too, one of which weighed 15 pounds caught by Steve cementing his nickname “Sheepie”. 

Around 7:30 pm Tucker informed us we were making the long run to San Miguel Island where the seabass bit pretty well that morning.  We re-rigged gear for the following days adventure and freshened up for dinner.  Alex served us some delicious prime rib (cooked sous vide), mashed potatoes and asparagus.  Then it was time to sleep.

Wednesday morning found us at the rail early again.  Not all of us though.  Some of us (me) let Fumio and Cathy do the exploring while we cheered them on.  They were menaced by sea lions that thrashed their dropper loops.  By daybreak, the sea lions had backed off and we were all fishing.  Then we heard that disappointing phrase again: “You should have been here yesterday.”

It was colder this morning.  The marine layer was thick and it was misting.  My hands were so cold they were numb.  Jeremy saved the day when he brought out a package of hand warmers for us.

Tucker worked his tail off searching for white seabass around the island and even made a jump to a reef off Santa Rosa Island (our fourth island this trip).  When that didn’t work, we headed back to San Miguel because Tucker was told that the seabass started biting.  Not for us!  They stayed true to their nickname "Ghosts."  We knew by then that seabass were avoiding us this trip.

As a last resort to put fish on the boat this day Tucker put us in a drift for halibut.  Jeff nailed one right away then hooked and landed a second.  He even caught a chucklehead on the drift!  Shortly thereafter, Scott caught a halibut too.  On the last drift I hooked up.  It was a good fish, pulling drag on 40-pound test.  I was excited as it was my only fish for the day.  I reeled slowly enjoying the fight and not wanting it to end too soon.  My fish game to gaff and it was a 9 pound whitefish! Trip was over and I had one yellowtail and one whitefish. Did I fish poorly or was it my time to pay my dues?  I don't know or care as I had fun anyway!

It was 2 pm and we had a 6 hour ride ahead of us.  Alex prepared shrimp tacos for a late lunch and crew pulled fish out of the hold for pictures then filleted all our fish for us.  

Everybody except me spent the travel time napping. We arrived back to dock by 8 pm.  We loaded our gear in our vehicles while crew brought our fish up.  Fish was sorted and iced down then we were on the road towards home.

Even though I only caught two fish, I had a great trip and still had more fish than Mike and I could eat fresh.  I ended up sharing yellowtail fillets and yellowtail ceviche with Shig and folks at my salon.  A big thank you to Jeff for sharing halibut with me.  It’s one of Mike’s favorites. 

Our trips aren’t over when we depart the landing.  The fun continues with texts joking about trip events and sharing photos after we return home.  It's a nice way to continue the fun.    

Tucker and his crew did an outstanding job and provided us with a wonderful and fun trip plus we all took fish home.  And a huge thank you to Cathy for including me on her charter.  You put together a great group of anglers on your trips.  Thank you friend!

 

Rail Time – Anglers’ Paradise!

My angling companions for our June 28^th two day trip included Cathy Needleman, Randy Sharon, Fumio Ogoshi,  Steve Chuang and Chartermaster Jeff Chuang.  Captain Gary was assisted by Jacob.  We headed directly to Catalina after boarding at 6:30 pm Monday evening.  A quick stop on the way for live squid from G Paul.  Gary had hoped to either scoop flyers or squid at Catalina. 

Catalina waters were loaded with some kind of jellyfish that looked like squid bodies with the heads bit off. Fumio found out after the trip that the headless squid looking things are called Pyrosoma Atianticum.  Fumio said “They are a species of colonial tunicate.  Each conical structure consists of thousands of individual tunicates (zooids) held together by a gelatinous mass.  Weird creatures!  Tunicates are related to salps, and they are both considered chordates because they have a notochord as larvae.”  Thanks for the education Fumio!

Catalina proved useless for bait so Gary headed on to San Clemente.  I woke up when we arrived and saw the boat surrounded by a large squid float that Gary and Jacob were scooping into our bait tanks.  After putting on board all the bait we needed, Gary anchored us in a cove and put out the dropper loops.

Around 3:30 am I awoke again just in time to see Gary put something in the hold.  It was a white seabass caught on my outfit that I call “The Gary Adams Special.”  He said he woke up to find the stern corner rods bent over and a huge kept paddy attached to the back of the boat.  He started clearing the kelp and when he grabbed my rod he realized it had a fish on it so he reeled it in.

I put my hat and jacket on then walked over to my rod (in the Starboard Stern side rod holder) just in time to see it get bit again.  It was another seabass. My rod kept getting bit and it was always in the same rod holder.  It was crazy.

By 4 am, the rest of my companions were up and pulling on fish.  The seabass were all 25 to 40 pounders.  It wasn’t long until the yellowtail woke up and joined the fun.  The yellowtail were in the same size category as the seabass.  By 6:00 am, we had a good catch in the hold and Gary asked if we would mind letting his friend take the alpha position (since he wasn’t catching seabass) and we said “no problem” as we were releasing everything by that time.

We moved around the island checking out different areas for a variety of fish including black seabass, white fish, calico bass, sheepshead, perch, and a small halibut.  It was a spectacular day.

Gary moved us into a cove and Jacob pulled the fish out of the hold to fillet.  We took photos of our catch which included 6 seabass and 9 yellowtail.  Steve, Jeff and Fumio helped Jacob process fish and I heated our dinner.  We had a delicious meal of Ziti pasta, Lemon Chicken, ribs and salad.  We all crashed early exhausted from pulling on fish.

                   

Wednesday morning I awoke at 2:30 am when Gary started the engines.  He was moving the boat to the cove we caught our fish from the previous day. I went back to sleep until 3:30 am when Gary put the  anchor down.  I got up and set the Gary Adams Special in its’ lucky rod holder.  It wasn’t 10 minutes until it got bit.  Another seabass.  The next two bites on that rod were a black seabass and a yellowtail. 

It was another spectacular morning of catching and releasing fish even though we were not parked on the alpha spot.  We kept another 6 seabass and two yellowtail for the day.  We spent the rest the day drifting on spots picking at yellowtail.  Mid day Sheepie served us some Ika Sashimi made fresh from the bait tank.  Delicious!  Around 2:30 in the afternoon, we headed for home.  Jacob pulled the fish out of the hold.  We took photos and helped process the fish.

We were back to dock about 5:40 pm.  After unloading our gear from the boat, Jacob brought up the fish and we split it all up.  Shig met the boat so I could give him a whole seabass and a bag of yellowtail filets.

I feel so fortunate to be included on these trips with friends who are fun and great anglers.  We all feel fortunate to be able to fish with Gary Adams on his boat the Rail Time.  Gary always has a positive attitude and makes everything more enjoyable plus, he’s one of the best Captains I’ve fished with.