Memorial Day Prelude!

We departed Peter’s Landing around 6 p.m. May 21^st in advance of Memorial Day Weekend hoping to avoid the crowds of inexperienced boaters.  The weather wasn’t ideal, but workable.  I was lucky to join Jim, Jeff, Steve, and Matt on Cathy’s Rail Time Charter.  Gary was at the helm assisted by Eric on deck.

Our first stop was at the bait receiver where we loaded up on pristine sardines.  No Squid!  The squid have been a no-show this spring and no one knows why.  The few seabass that have been caught had stomachs full of sardines like Matt’s 55 pounder he shot while diving the previous week.  Unfortunately, the seabass haven’t been fooled into biting a sardine on a hook.  We hoped to change that.

Since the weather was a bit cranky, Gary decided to spend some time exploring Catalina looking for squid before heading over to San Clemente Island.  Gary advised us to rig up a 25# halibut outfit and a 40# dropper loop seabass outfit for the morning.  Since we had sardines for bait, we needed to scale down our hook size so we could use either a sardine or frozen squid for bait. Once our gear was rigged, we settled down for dinner – Ziti Pasta Jeff picked up from Maggiano’s. Thanks Jeff!

I hit the bunk right after dinner.  Gary searched Catalina for squid and was rewarded with 25 squid for his efforts then headed over to San Clemente Island to anchor in Northwest Harbor for a couple hours sleep.  What with the cold weather, a rocking boat and cramps in one foot and the other calf, I barely slep 3 hours.  When Gary started the engines at 5 am, I got up.  Our first indication this trip would have its challenges was when the lower head went on the fritz and Gary declared it “Out of Order” for the trip.  Fortunately, our group doesn’t let “challenges” keep us from enjoying our time on the water.  We welcome the adventure.

Gary had the coffee ready early and our breakfast treats of coffeecake (Alligator), bagels and fruit, courtesy of Matt and Cathy (thanks guys), provided some energy to start the day.  It was a short drive to where we started fishing.  We fished dropper loops and a variety of leadheads, sliding sinkers and flukes using both frozen squid and sardines hoping to trick a seabass into biting.  Our efforts only proved what we had been told:  Seabass just aren’t biting anything with a hook in it.

After working the area, allowing a reasonable time for the seabass to show up, Gary moved the boat and had us drift for halibut.  It wasn’t long until Steve landed a 25-pound halibut.  A real beauty.  It was a great start.  Jim got bit and his fish took him to the bow before it bit through his line.  Cathy had the same thing happen.  Then I got bit and the fish took lots of line before I could get a wind on the reel.  As I got the fish close to the boat, it bit through my line too.

It was about this time that we noticed puffs of colored smoke along the shore of the island and Gary got a call from the Military on the island.  Unfortunately, we had to leave the area due to military training operations planned for the day.  Before we drove away, we saw what appeared to be a group of Navy Seals appear out of the smoke running directly into the ocean waters along the shore.  Not sure I’d survive running into 59-degree water.

We spent the day fishing cove after cove and getting chased out of cove after cove by different factions of the military including some based at Pendleton.  In one area, the armament on shore looked ready to deploy and a couple helicopters buzzed us making us realize it might be safer to leave the area.  It seemed the entire island was in full training mode leading up to Memorial Day.  Was there something we didn’t know or were they rushing to finish training so crews could enjoy a long holiday weekend?

In between cove moves, we caught a few calico bass (including one breeder that was released), some sheepshead, etc.  At the end of the day, Gary tried to move us around the island thinking training would be over for the day only to be escorted off the island by three speeding military skiffs. 

Eventually Gary found us a quiet cove to anchor so he could catch a couple hours sleep before heading back to Catalina Island as Clemente was off limits for fishing.  We had a peaceful dinner of BBQ ribs and chicken, coleslaw and ice cream bars. It really tasted good.  Thanks again Cathy!

I settled into my bunk and watched part of a series episode before falling asleep.  I woke up when Gary started up the engines at 1 am to head back to Catalina.  Fortunately I slept better the second night and didn’t wake up until the engines turned down and I heard Gary say “where are my fishermen”.

We spent the day trying cove after cove at Catalina with similar results.  We had a few calicos, some juvenile seabass, Spanish mackerel and one wide open bite on bat rays, with a soupfin and a couple shovelnose and sting rays thrown in. Instead of being chased off the island by the military, we were boarded by the Department of Fish and Game.  The agents were polite and friendly as they checked the boats paperwork and our fishing licenses.  I showed the electronic version of my fishing license that’s on my phone to the agent. It worked great!  

Even at the end of the trip, Gary was still smiling and optimistic the fish would be biting at the next cove. Did we have challenges on this trip?  Yes!  And we still had a great time on the water.  Never did I hear a word of despair or negativity from the anglers nor Captain and crew.   Gary is one special captain and this group of fishermen know that it isn’t all about CATCHING FISH!  Thanks everyone for another adventure on the water!

After trip photos are always great because they show our respect for the fish that gave its life for our pleasure.  Matt gets the prize for the earliest photo - I had barely gotten home and he had prepared and started eating his Spanish mackerel. Thanks Matt.