Fishing Forum

Hey guys,

I will be in San Francisco from Thurs evening until Monday or maybe Tuesday morning... depending on my work schedule. During that time my boy and I are going to go out on one of the party boats for a day. I have never been on one of these boats so it's going to be a new experience for me, as well as my son.

I was thinking about going out on the Bass Tub which launches out of there. I don't really care what we go after.. they are offering pot-luck trips at the moment so we'll see.

Anyhow, I have not bought tickets yet and was wondering if anyone has any experiences on this boat or any others in the area. The $85 dollars a day with live bait included seems to be a fair price.

I bought 2 Mako saltwater rod/reel combos from BassProShops for the trip. The 7 footer for my boy and the 9footer for me. It comes with 14lb test mono on it already. Normally, I would throw the line away immediately and put something with a little quality on there, but this is a bit different. I was going to do a product review of the rod for my blog so I will be leaving the mono on my rod. I want to string my boy up with some better line however... would 40 or 50 lb braid be ok? Also, I will be buying 'nough to string two rods. If the mono it comes with sucks badly or becomes too frustrating I'll do a quick change on the water.

I was thinking of braid due to the fact that I can get a heavy line w/ a small diameter on the reel, but I am not sure if this is the best option.. again this is totally new to me... I have never done it.

Any and all suggestions are much appreciated. It'd be really nice to get my boy into a fish or two... he's 8 by the way .

Thanks in advance,
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Hey man, the only Frisco fishing I have done is from shore. None the less, it is a lot of fun up there. The charter should be fun as long as there aren't a million people on board. Learn when to rotate on the rail and you'll be fine.

As far as line goes, you are probably best sticking with a 25 or 30lb mono for your son. I love braid, but in that saltwater setting on a boat, if he gets snagged on a rock in 150' of water, he's going to lose most of his line. The deckhands usually wont sit with you for 15 minutes trying to unsnag you - they'll just cut your line at the rod-tip and go about their business, while you are left with half a spool of line. With a decent mono, you'll have the strength to horse a big halibut up from the bottom, and you will only lose the last few feet of line if you get snagged and have to break it off.

Alternately, you can use a fluoro or mono leader with braid for the same reasons.


I leave today to start my drive to the Oregon Coast. Just in time to get out of the desert heat! 10 days of vacation, here I come.
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Is this the rod / reel combo you picked up? http://www.basspro.com/Offshore-Angler-M..._THUMBNAIL I was thinking about grabbing a pair myself and taking a road trip down to the southern California coast and throwing in off a pier. Apparently anyone can fish off a public pier in California without a fishing license. I could use a couple of days of ocean air.
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sbehnke,

That is the combo I bought. The reviews on it are good so I decided to give them a try. I know I can rent equipment on the boat, but if nothing else, I'd like to own the rod I catch my fish on. I also plan on doing some surf fishing in Cali a few times a year so they will get their use.

Only time will tell now..

Later,
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