2023 Fishing Season off to a Slow Start!

As is typical for May, the weather threatened to cause a cancellation of the trip up until two days before the May 2^nd departure.  Once we got the go ahead from Gary (the Captain and owner of the Rail Time) we packed our tackle and planned our mealtime menus. 

I arrived early at Peter’s Landing to ensure I wouldn’t get tied up in traffic.  Jake and Andy arrived early too.  Gary arrived soon after.  Once they got the boat ready, Jake came to the parking lot with the cart and loaded my stuff in and helped me load it on the boat.  He went back to the lot and helped Cathy, Jim, Jeff and Steve load their gear too.

We put away the food, then set up our 30- and 40-pound outfits with half ounce sliding sinkers and ahi twist hooks.  Gary also had us set up one dropper-loop outfit for white seabass and yellowtail. 

Gary said we were going to Catalina to make squid.  I was asleep before they started bait making, however, I awoke a couple of times with lights shining in my face from a light boat that Gary was getting squid from. I awoke again later that night with some screaming noise.  I was afraid someone had gotten hurt but that wasn’t it.  It was a baby seal screaming , probably for his mother.  He kept it up off and on for an hour or so.  It was horrible.

When I awoke in the morning, we were at San Clemente Island and Gary was moving the boat to a spot for seabass fishing.  Cathy was up and on deck fishing before the rest of us even got out of bed.

I got some coffee and bundled up to go out and start fishing.  It was cold and overcast but at least it wasn’t raining.

 

The seabass were a no show as were the yellowtail.  We hoped it was a time of the day thing but it wasn’t.  They never showed up.   We fished hard all day as Gary moved us from cove to cove and managed to catch a few miscellaneous fish.  We all caught and released various sized white fish and sheepshead. As for edibles, Cathy caught the only legal halibut, Jim caught a starry rockfish, and I caught a treefish plus most of us managed to catch at least one legal calico bass.

Around 6 pm, Gary parked us in a cove on top of a squid nest.  While we ate our BBQ ribs, macaroni and cheese and salad, Jake and Andy scooped squid and filled the tanks with fresh bait.  

Crew ate their ribs after making bait.  Before crew went to bed, dropper-loop rods were set up, with clickers on, in case the seabass came through during the night. 

 

I hit the bunk just before 9 pm. The seas were a bit confused, and we had some wind but the Seakeeper kept us comfortable. At some point during the night, I was awakened by rain pounding the roof of the boat. I awoke a couple times too when Gary got up to check the bait on the dropper-loop rods.  None of us got up before 6 am the next morning except Gary.

The rain had passed us by and the sun was peeking through the clouds. It was a nice start to the day and we were optimistic the fish were going to bite.  We were wrong.  We had rain showers around us and even a rainbow, but we kept dry.

 

We fished several coves on the backside side of the island working north.  The fish just weren’t there.  We were preparing to fish the frontside of the island when the Navy showed up and escorted us off the island.  The island was closed.

 

Our only option at that point was Catalina.  When we arrived there, the water was beautiful. Light aquamarine blue. 

As Gary was searching for any sign of fish, the Fish and Game wardens decided to pay us a visit.  Three guys on a little skiff.  Two of the guys boarded the Rail Time.  One went up top to check all of Gary’s paperwork, the other checked all of our fishing licenses.  They also checked the fish hold and inside food containers in the refrigerator looking for illegal catches. We got a clean bill of health.  No Violations!

Once they left, Gary headed up the island looking for fish.  It soon became clear that catching fish was not in the cards, so we all agreed to head in early.

Jake and Andy fileted our catch on the way back to dock.  Our total catch consisted of 6 calico bass, 1 halibut, 1 treefish and 1 starry, which we all shared.

We may not have caught many fish or pulled on any fighting gamefish, but we had fun just being together out on the water.  We are sincerely grateful to Cathy for including us on her charter.  Thanks again.   We also appreciate the phenomenal efforts of Gary to put us on fish plus Jake and Andy’s expertise assisting us on deck.