01-06-2006, 08:04 PM
[font "Arial"][size 2]Hey there guys,
Rode the Premier today. I didn't go out last week so not report. Jimmy skippered, Arron decked, and Davis was in the galley. Had around 17 anglers go for the Winter bass. The boat bypassed the bait receivers and hit a place for a few buckets of nice fresh dead…. Squid that Is. Fished a number of areas on Horseshoe Kelp.
Short Report: 12 Calico Bass, 114 Sand Bass, and 6 Perch.
Usual Report: Excellent fishing for the near dead-of-Winter season. Good mix of legal bass with a number of short fish to keep one busy as well as C & Ring other species including sheephead and sculpin. Some guys were fishing squid chunks but most of the bites were gotten on a whole squid.
I fished the plastic for half an hour or so but soon gave up and went to first a ½ ounce for a short time and then ¾ ounce leadhead (initially to get away from the mackerel) and whole squid rig. Some guys used a dropper loop rig but were getting hung up a little more than others on the rough structure we were fishing over most of the time. Fished structure varying from 80 to 120 feet.
Although there were a lot of short biters, I ignored it as the structure and current were such that putting a stinger on the rig would have been more trouble than it would be worth. Truth is the mackerel were so thick that it wasn’t that easy to get a whole squid (head intact) down to the ZONE a good percentage of the time anyway! If you didn’t triple hook the bait you were for-sure a gonner!
The weather was nice once the morning chill wore off. The sun felt good, wind was moderate, swell direction positive, and current steady. Man was the water nasty looking everywhere we went……. inside and outside. Most guys were fishing with no more than 2 ounces of weight or less throughout the day!
As is usual, the current picked up around noon as did the height of the swell. We moved four or five times, hitting fish on every stop, and reset the anchor a couple of times as the swell direction or current would change things. Jimmy was on the ball and pretty much kept us on fish.
Aside: The best thing to fishing plastics, other than flylining, is fishing fresh dead with a leadhead. I have a source of some outstanding leadheads. Someone I know, who knows someone that makes custom leadheads as a hobby, supplies me with both ½ and ¾ oz versions. The hook has a top quality finish, has a huge gap (although still J-hook style w/eyelet bent in leadhead style) and comes in both a standard and ‘short shank’ version. I love the short shank to almost exclusion of the other for two reasons. The first reason is that I think they don’t hang up as easily (as the longer shank hooks) and come off structure (less negative leverage) more easily and secondly … fishy will take more of the squid before detecting something unusual. IMBFOI: I M(ay) B(e) F(ull) O(f) I(t).
Another aside: Looking around the boat, aside from the usual club members, there was a majority of other guys that were fishing specifically with ‘bass gear on steroids’. It’s pretty cool to have more and more guys picking up on this and making it a real test of bassing techniques in the salt. Only problem is…. with some many catching on, you start to get out-fished with a fishing style you’ve used from the early 90’s! Boo hoo!
More and more outfits are appearing that are comprised of a 9ft, super-light, graphite, 15-25 lb line class rod, matched to round Abu-garcia Ambas
uer-like graphite baitcasters w/thumb bar or Calcutta 400-like style/class aluminum frame reel, spooled with some of the newer co-polymer/hybrid line and finished off with a length of flurocarbon leader. Winter seems to bring out the hard-core bass guys locally.
Yet another aside: It was nice to see just one lonely sealion and had our Brown Pelicans friends for company for most of the day. I think they know better than some anglers what someone is hooked up to as some of them would start paddling closer even before the tom cod or mackerel showed color! :lol:
Got back to the landing around 3:30pm. The few 3/4 day boats able to get out are leaving with light loads now and this would be a good time to gather up some bass flippin' sticks and go fish the salty bass. There’s a lot to learn and guys willing to share techniques.
An update on the Pierpoint parking …. Although it is not clear, as yet, if there will be validation by the office, whatever the case …. the parking fee of $3.50 for all day will be in effect as of January 13th, 2006. That means that someone going on a half-day boat will experience an almost 10% rise in their fare!
Great boat, solid crew. Our club members (once called the ‘diaper brigade’) and other anglers were able to take home fish if they wanted. 3-4 pound sandbass took the JP.
JapanRon[/size][/font]
[signature]
Rode the Premier today. I didn't go out last week so not report. Jimmy skippered, Arron decked, and Davis was in the galley. Had around 17 anglers go for the Winter bass. The boat bypassed the bait receivers and hit a place for a few buckets of nice fresh dead…. Squid that Is. Fished a number of areas on Horseshoe Kelp.
Short Report: 12 Calico Bass, 114 Sand Bass, and 6 Perch.
Usual Report: Excellent fishing for the near dead-of-Winter season. Good mix of legal bass with a number of short fish to keep one busy as well as C & Ring other species including sheephead and sculpin. Some guys were fishing squid chunks but most of the bites were gotten on a whole squid.
I fished the plastic for half an hour or so but soon gave up and went to first a ½ ounce for a short time and then ¾ ounce leadhead (initially to get away from the mackerel) and whole squid rig. Some guys used a dropper loop rig but were getting hung up a little more than others on the rough structure we were fishing over most of the time. Fished structure varying from 80 to 120 feet.
Although there were a lot of short biters, I ignored it as the structure and current were such that putting a stinger on the rig would have been more trouble than it would be worth. Truth is the mackerel were so thick that it wasn’t that easy to get a whole squid (head intact) down to the ZONE a good percentage of the time anyway! If you didn’t triple hook the bait you were for-sure a gonner!
The weather was nice once the morning chill wore off. The sun felt good, wind was moderate, swell direction positive, and current steady. Man was the water nasty looking everywhere we went……. inside and outside. Most guys were fishing with no more than 2 ounces of weight or less throughout the day!
As is usual, the current picked up around noon as did the height of the swell. We moved four or five times, hitting fish on every stop, and reset the anchor a couple of times as the swell direction or current would change things. Jimmy was on the ball and pretty much kept us on fish.
Aside: The best thing to fishing plastics, other than flylining, is fishing fresh dead with a leadhead. I have a source of some outstanding leadheads. Someone I know, who knows someone that makes custom leadheads as a hobby, supplies me with both ½ and ¾ oz versions. The hook has a top quality finish, has a huge gap (although still J-hook style w/eyelet bent in leadhead style) and comes in both a standard and ‘short shank’ version. I love the short shank to almost exclusion of the other for two reasons. The first reason is that I think they don’t hang up as easily (as the longer shank hooks) and come off structure (less negative leverage) more easily and secondly … fishy will take more of the squid before detecting something unusual. IMBFOI: I M(ay) B(e) F(ull) O(f) I(t).
Another aside: Looking around the boat, aside from the usual club members, there was a majority of other guys that were fishing specifically with ‘bass gear on steroids’. It’s pretty cool to have more and more guys picking up on this and making it a real test of bassing techniques in the salt. Only problem is…. with some many catching on, you start to get out-fished with a fishing style you’ve used from the early 90’s! Boo hoo!
More and more outfits are appearing that are comprised of a 9ft, super-light, graphite, 15-25 lb line class rod, matched to round Abu-garcia Ambas
uer-like graphite baitcasters w/thumb bar or Calcutta 400-like style/class aluminum frame reel, spooled with some of the newer co-polymer/hybrid line and finished off with a length of flurocarbon leader. Winter seems to bring out the hard-core bass guys locally. Yet another aside: It was nice to see just one lonely sealion and had our Brown Pelicans friends for company for most of the day. I think they know better than some anglers what someone is hooked up to as some of them would start paddling closer even before the tom cod or mackerel showed color! :lol:
Got back to the landing around 3:30pm. The few 3/4 day boats able to get out are leaving with light loads now and this would be a good time to gather up some bass flippin' sticks and go fish the salty bass. There’s a lot to learn and guys willing to share techniques.
An update on the Pierpoint parking …. Although it is not clear, as yet, if there will be validation by the office, whatever the case …. the parking fee of $3.50 for all day will be in effect as of January 13th, 2006. That means that someone going on a half-day boat will experience an almost 10% rise in their fare!
Great boat, solid crew. Our club members (once called the ‘diaper brigade’) and other anglers were able to take home fish if they wanted. 3-4 pound sandbass took the JP.
JapanRon[/size][/font]
[signature]