07-13-2003, 04:41 AM
THE YEARLY SAND BASS MIGRATION IS ON!!!!
Whether you call them Striped Sand Bass or Barred Sand Bass, the annual charge from down south is ON. During the next week or so getting on an AM, PM or Twilight open-party boat here in the LA/South Bay area (San Pedro to Dana Point) will give you a big-time chance to sack up on these snappy fishies. The bag limit is 10 sandies. Sometimes the Santa Monica Bay fishery in not in sync with South Bay waters.
When you first make a stop, don't be sacking up those little barely legal 12 inchers as you'll be sorry when the bite starts going and those 3 and 4 pounders start coming over the rail. Then you can't give those little guys away! ha ha ha
The bait supply of anchovies for now seems good and I wouldn't worry as long as there is chum bait and you've got some smaller jigs and lots and lots of plastics.
Smaller, heavier (4 or 5 inch) jigs in either scrambled egg, bird poo or green and yellow should do good. I fish these jigs straight down and have tipped them with live or fresh dead squid when that bait is avaliable.
Plastics should include some Big Hammer, Kalin, and AAA swimbaits in 3 1/2 to 5 inch lengths. Leadheads in 1/4 to 1 1/2 ounce ought to fix you up for both dropping straight down and fly line presentations. Everyone's got their own preference on leadhead style. I like the banana heads for straight down and the swimmers with little eyes on them otherwise. I've looked but can't find any leadheads that have the eyes painted on cross-eyed style or with the deer-in-the headlights-stare. Let me know if you find some. Colors should include some of those nasty looking light gray, brown, and green all with the different size sparkles in them. Calicos seem to like the cleaner colors like the Channel island chovy and rainbow or the very fine sparkles in my experience.
The whole point on the leadheads is to make sure you have the short shank hooks with both a big gap and large throat for those big mouthed critters. They're easier and faster to take out of the fish too and ............ you'll get a better hook set if you're lucky enough to get the squirters for bait.
For outfits, I use 3 sets of 7 1/2 foot freshwater Medium-Heavy to Heavy Duty Jiggin' stiks with conventional reels (not the egg-shaped bait casters) loaded respectivley with between 8 and 15 pound test line. Of course I've got a cuda rig with my trusty, rusty Calcutta 400 too.
Oh ya, please return the real grumpies back to spawn. Have fun and fish safe.
JapanRon
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