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Grand totals for this six
months...
105 Largemouth Bass
(one 8#) Almost all on topwater,
averaging about 2.8 lbs ea.
9 Striper bass
(one 10# and two 5's) Not targeting them,
they like my topwater!
15 yellowtail, (avg. small, 4 # ea., 1 @
20#) 1 Yellowfin tuna (about 15#)
(on three deep-sea trips/ one overnight, two 3/4 day, all but one on jigs!,
TUL).
3 legal lobsters,
all on one night in Mission Bay (learned S.D. Bay is better).
____________________
Ramona Lake, E. San Diego County, Calif.
12.27.2012 Thursday, on water from 2.15 p.m. till 4.30 p.m.
Sunny but dang cold, guessing about 50 degree air, water not much more.
With Paul O. and two young frinds he brought, Cameron and Zach. Me 2, Paul 2,
Cameron 4 and Zach 3. They all on d/s, Me on Senko (& lost one on the gunfish).
I was coming down with a cough/cold but it had not hit full
force, so I thought I'd get out before it did. Paul heard my voice that morning
and almost thought about taking me out of it. Probably shouldn't have as it was
so cold and windy up there, plus the hike, all uphill, took a little over an
hour (almost 3 miles). And it took 50 minutes downhill, and my right knee hardly
worked on the steepest part, which is by the dam.
Got up to the dam and walked down the staircase in the
middle, making it easy. It must be 100' below full
pool, the marker read 1,225', with 5' increments on signs, figure it's
elevation!
El Capitan, E. San Diego County, Calif.
12.13.2012 Thursday, on water from 8 a.m. till 4.30 p.m.
Air 60 degrees -rained all day, Water 60 degrees
Solo, three, one in am Plopper, one afternoon black/blue jig and 5-8 on Punker
Well, good test for my 100 MPH Bass Pro Shop rain gear. Last
spring it seemed to not work as well, and sure enough, the end of the day had my
jacket, shirt and pajamas (for added warmth), all wet/damp. Will need to spray
water repellant.
Pastor Paul was to join me be he backed out the night before, so
I went solo. Started with the S.Spook around the ramp, got the Plopper out
across the ramp 10 minutes later, and on second cast at the rock got this two
pounder, cool.
Click photo to enlarge.
Plopper fish.
Continued my 'milk run' by hitting the 'pipe' and main point on
way to north, both the one on the right, and the left. Nada.
Went to bounder bay and gave that spot a good three time work
over, Plopper, Spook and Gunfish, nada. Went straight across and tried there
too, nada. Went to the narrow, left side, then worked way back sticking with
topwater.
Kept up with it all the way to the back, then tied on the 6"
Punker and worked tops of trees. Rain continued pretty hard again. Worked my way
back to the front narrows towards dusk, nobody around (only had three all day
anyways). Threw the jig for the heck of it and got two hits, one stuck, about
a1-8.
When I got the the narrows again I tossed the Punker and
man-o-man a 5-8 went airborne about three feet on it. A sight I'll never forget.
I immediately reeled her in and bounced her onto the bottom of the Skeeter w/o
the net. Thought she was bigger, and she had some sort of white scum skin
disease.
Click photo to enlarge.
Punker lunker- went 5-8.
Murrieta Hot Springs, Murrieta,
Calif.
11.27.'12 Tuesday, on water from 2 p.m. till 5 p.m.
Air 80 degrees -sunny,
Mike and Rocio, Herbert and Gitta and me.
Me 6, big (27oz) Mike one keeper, Herbert one non-keeper
Me all on Gunfish, them plastics.
Mike and Rocio, Herbert and Gitta and me. Fished the usual $1
big, $1 most. I won both, mostly from small pond. Got one on Gunfish right off
the bat, before Herbert showed, on bridge. Gave me confidence to stay with it.
Fished the entire circuit in two hours, had four for tourney,
and then the small one for two nice ones to clinch 'the tourney'.
Celebrated at Sizzler with them.
California Delta
10.29.2012 Monday, on water from 6.30 a.m. till 6.30 p.m..
Air 60 degrees, cold, windy and blue skies.
Water, 60 degrees mid day.
Solo, 8 largemouth, 3 striper bass, two at 5 lbs..
Finished teaching the Yosemite photo class at
4 p.m. yesterday, and fished the Merced river on the way down, getting a heck of a nice blow
up twice, second time it stuck. Some kind of sucker fish, fun as heck.
Click photo to enlarge.
Topwater fun at the Merced River- sucker fish on
my Gunfish?
Made it to Flying J gas station/ truck stop
over on Hwy 5 and Hwy 12 intersection by about 10 p.m. and then slept in the
van.
Click photo to enlarge.
Tower Park Marina launch ramp, 7:05 a.m..
Click photo to enlarge.
Motoring by Tower Park Marina, headed N. East.
Up at 6.30, snagged a Subway breakfast
sandwich, as well as a regular one for lunch and dinner, then went and launched
by 7 a.m. Made my way just past the bridge then fished the first slough entrance
on the right, in the dense fog. It has a nice flat on the left side, with a deep
entrance on the right. Got one on the Plopper on the deep corner, nice 2 pounder
to start the day off, TUL!
Click photo to enlarge.
Got one in short order in the fog, Whopper
Plopper.
Continued to work the flats, nada. About an
hour into it I started working the outside tules towards Sycamore, nada. Made a
run back and started to work the major tulle islands. Slowly got one here and
there, very slow. Mostly on the Gunfish, as usual.
Click photo to enlarge.
Another on the Gunfish, pretty much my 'go to' bait this
trip.
Click photo to enlarge.
Stripers loved the Gunfish too, the five pounders
fight like crazy.
Towards dusk threw more of
the S. Spook, and got some nice 5 pound strippers, one at the boat, scared the
heck out of me. Last one, bookends for the day, was on the Plopper again. A nice
two pounder as the moon rose and the sun set. SOOO pretty, geese flying over-
I'll miss it.
Click photo to enlarge.
While sun setting on one side,the full moon came
up on the other. I prayed I'd get a nice bass, and here is the answered prayer,
so I could get a shot of it with the moon rising. Cool huh? TUL.
California Delta
10.25.2012 Thursday, on water from 1:30 p.m. till 6.30 p.m..
Air 60 degrees, cold, windy and blue skies.
Water, 60 degrees mid day.
With Cooch (Andy Cuccia) He, about 10, me 3 bass.
Was supposed to meet Cooch at 7.30, he said no
topwater action early, so why try. I was 1/2 hour late, mis-figured the drive
from Davis, it took an hour and a half, not an hour.
Click photo to enlarge.
Cooch with his Seewald art.
First gave him his winning piece of art from
the Spring Nutcase event, he got first place, but the piece ended up being the
same one he already had from me for blessing me with a trip out last fall, the
Venice 'Canal Reflection's'. So I put it in the car, he'll pick another.
We started close to his house, on Sandmound
slough, but nada. I tossed the S.Spook, and the W.Plopper, he a new wake bait
from Japan- nada. After 15 minutes we made a run to a
spot on Piper Slough, a client of his had lost a pole overboard, and he hoped
we'd find it at low tide, no luck. We fished it a bit, then went to Taylor
Slough. Cooch started getting them on crankbaits, so I put one on too. A shad
pattern square bill, and got two in short order. He tossed a deeper diver on the
outside weedbeds. These banks were do-nothing, no tules, only rip-rap. I got
another on my crank (I need a fiberglass rod for this, I don't have one).
We then went to 'old boat slough' (headed
back to Frank's, on the left, I usually get good frog fishing here- and not the name, but Cooch said it used to
have hundreds of old boats, sunk then cleaned up by the county). He got more on
the jig, but missed lot of hits.
I tossed the jig too, but nada. We went to the
west entrance to Russo's, and he got two or three off the point by the pole, the
tide coming in strong, on the jig. My jig, nada. We worked the tulles all the
way back towards Russo's, then back out to the other side point, but nada there.
Made a run to the opposite side of Franks Tract, in the corner, and he got two
on the rattle trap in short order. I tossed topwater again, Spooks, then his
spinner bait, nada. We worked our way around to some duck blinds, he says they
come up and hang at them. First one had no one home, second one he got two on
the jig (brown- mine was blue-black). I got nada.
We worked the entrance of Sandmound, where it
connects to Franks, and he got two on a white/chart. Hammer 3/4 oz. swimbait. I
tried a big Basstrix one w/ 1/2 8.0 hook, nada. We worked it down quite a way,
no more action after the first 100 yards though. We called it a day, it was
about 3 at that point.
Learned the bass move up and eat shallow this
time of year, Oct. and Nov., prepping for winter.
California Delta
10.24.2012 Wednesday, on water from 1:30 p.m. till 6.30 p.m..
Air 60 degrees, cold, windy and almost rainy.
Water, 60 degrees mid day.
With James O.-1, me 6 bass, averaging 1 pounds ea., two were stripers, a 4 and a
2, TUL.
Left boat at marina, Octavio helped take van
battery and put in boat, I'd forgot it at John's. We had blue skies, a little
windy and cold, especially when making a run. We fished the 'corner first',
before hitting Sycamore. Saw a sea lion eating a large salmon on the way, filmed
it, per James' suggestion.
Click photo to enlarge.
Dink smaller than the 4" lure itself.
I got a dink right off the bat, no bigger than
the Gunfish I was tossing. Bite was slow. James got good at the buzzbait, his
first time (he's 10 now). I got a few on the Gunfish, and the S. Spook. At one
point, a fish circled under the Spook near the boat, and I yelled for James to
toss his fluke on it, it was in his hand ready to cast anyway. He missed the
toss, too close to the boat, I told him to try again, and seconds later he got a
2-8. He did not want to hold it, afraid, so we tossed it back w/o a photo, oh
well. He was really excited about it.
Click photo to enlarge.
Striper at dusk with James.
California Delta
10.22.2012 Monday, on water from 1:30 p.m. till 6.30 p.m..
Air 65 degrees, cold, windy and almost rainy (did on drive there, and drive back
to Davis). Water, 59 degrees mid day.
Solo, 8 bass, averaging 1 pounds ea., three were stripers, TUL.
Left boat at marina, Octavio, ramp manager,
gave me the ok last Thursday, got back from my photo class last night. Was super
windy, fished the usual corner on the right side of the ramp for nada, Punker.
Headed to Sycamore after about 15 minutes. A fire had occurred on a house boat
earlier, the coast guard was speeding around.
Fished the first main island for nada, mostly
the Punker at first. After a 1/2 hour switched it up to the S. Spook, more
nada. At around 4 got my first fish, a small one on the Gunfish, the lure that
worked so well the previous Thursday (see report below).
At around 3:30 missed a really big fish on the
Spook, but it did not stick. But figured it to be a striper, and sure enough,
got one next cast. Worked them for awhile, getting two more over the next hour.
Tried flipping some hyacinths, nada. At dusk, it picked up, but small fish.
Ended up with 5 largemouth, up to 1 pound, and three stripers, kept the 2 and 3
pounders for my friends, threw the one pounder back.
NOTE: Weird, some areas measured 55 degree
water, and some nearby it got up to 63!
California Delta
10.18.2012 Thursday, on water from 1 p.m. till 7.00 p.m..
Air 85 degrees, sunny all day. Water, 64 degrees mid day.
Solo, 8 bass, averaging 3 pounds ea., TUL.
Got on water by 1 pm. Did not get anything at corner towards
north (Mokelumne River), then at 4 got one on a Lucky Craft Gunfish. At that
time went to Sycamore Slough and started to work the Gunfish at first island,
and worked my way back to the 'pole', about 5 islands back, by dark. The bite
got real good at dusk, and I got three in five minutes at 6 p.m., my fourth,
fifth and sixth for the evening.
Click photo to enlarge.
Really figured it out, the Lucky Craft
Gunfish out fished
the fluke at the same area from the afternoon before.
About 2.8 lbs each, 18". Lost a very big one
(giant one, get the net type hit) at 7 p.m., hit the Gunfish bit I could not see
that well to see if the lure was gone, when I reeled down to see if I could feel
a fish, I could not, but further reeling I felt it on, it'd run towards the
boat, but I felt it get off one second later, darn.
California Delta
10.17.2012 Wednesday, on water from 6.30 a.m. till 1.30 p.m.
w/ John O., then solo till dark (7 p.m.).
Air 85 degrees, sunny all day.
Click photo to enlarge.
John O. got the stripe of his, and the
boats, back. 5" Senko fish.
Day before, met John at 6.30 a.m. got he 1 on Senko, island three
at three island honey hole. Me nada (tossed W. Plopper). He left at 2 p.m., I
took a 1.5 hour nap (only got four hours sleep, having got to area at 2 a.m.
from San Diego night before.
Click photo to enlarge.
My first came on the 6" pumpkin Senko
El Capitan
10.15.2012 Monday, on water from 7 a.m. till 1.30 p.m..
Air 85 degrees, sunny all day.
Sam Spadero and myself, 1- 2# me.
Click photo to enlarge.
Me, by Sam Spadero
Met at shop at 5 a.m., took alum boat and launched by 6.30. Went to back of
north arm to buoy line, started working busters. Nada. Tossed a small fluke on
6# nanoline and got a two pounder at about 9 a.m..
Click photo to enlarge.
The solo bass for the day fell to a 2.5"
fluke on 6# nanofil line.
Worked further back, pretty much got nada,
tossing W.Plopper, S. Spook, some C.Rig. Went back to front, got one to hit the
S. Spook three times, but front hook fouled, this was at the 'point', where I
got the six last Friday.
El Capitan
10.12.2012 Friday, on water from 7 a.m. till 1.30 p.m..
Air 75 degrees w/ rain most of day.
SOLO- six.
Click photo to enlarge.
The panoramic made on the iPhone. Just off
'Boulder Point'.
Met Sam Spadero at shop at 5 a.m., but he felt
bad and went home, leaving me a box of doughnuts and a fresh cup of coffee.
Maybe a good thing, it rained on and off most of the day. Started with the
W.Plopper and S. Spook. Got them all over the back, one a 3 on the Plopper over
a flat.
Click photo to enlarge.
On the way to fish 'boulder point'.
Deep Sea on the "San Diego" 3/4 Day
10.5.2012 Friday
28 fishermen, 140 Yellowtail, 11 Dorado, 1 Yellowfin Tuna
Water 71.5 (in warm stream we found to fish in, 20
miles out, 40 miles south (off Coronado islands).
Solo, 12 yellows (give five away) and one YFT! (moslty all on the jig).
Ryan Bostian, owner, captained his boat; Chris cooked and helped topside, Matt
and Rene we always on top.
Guess who caught the one
Yellowfin Tuna? Yep, and also 11 yellowtail, all on the Megabite metal jig, for
the most part, including the YFT.
AKA 'The miracle on the San
Diego'
We had a 5.30 a.m. departure time, I got up at 4.30 and got my fishing poles
together, literally and figuratively (bought a new Velcro set of straps to hold
them together), and shot down the freeway for the 1/2 hour drive. Checked w/
Ryan that it'd be od to dead-head with him, he gave me the affirmative and I
checked in, giving them my yearly Mex. permit to hold also.
Got a lot of bait from
the barge, while I camped out in the galley, stretched out on the 'bunk-seats' and
tried to get some shut-eye, since I did not hit the sack till midnight. The boat
would have a 2.5 hour to get to the fishing grounds.
Click photo to enlarge.
The Megabait hologram jig, albeit missing
the treble hook mine has.
We slowed to troll about 2 hours into the
morning and found a kelp pretty fast. When we pulled up there was a hook-up with
the trollers and I tossed my jig and got hit immediately, yellowtail were
everywhere, albeit small (three pound average). I got a second on the second
cast, on the Megabait hologram jig (pictured above) and thought I'd get a third
on the third cast and decided to hold off, these were small and I did not want
to get, what I thought would be a 5 fish limit, the first five minutes. I talked
to Ryan and he said to keep fishing, I could toss my fifth fish back, to donate
them to fishless people aboard, so I went and caught another.
We pulled up on another kelp and same thing
happed, I got three, and gave two away. I pretty much stayed the same in action,
lots of yellows all over.
Just for the heck of it I tossed off the other
side of the boat when we pulled up once and I found out I got more than the side
where the kelp was. At one point I'd hooked three in a row, but everyone of them
came off at the boat, with a last minute run. Humm?
About mid day, after getting another on the
stop, I threw real far to try and reach the paddy, as we always drifted away in
short order after stopping on them, and in a few minutes they are out of reach
of casting too. But as I worked it back, reel for five seconds, jerk it hard,
reel, jerk, a fish picked it up and ran with it. Most fish were too small to
take line, I thought I'd got a dorado (aka dolphin, mahi-mahi in the
restaurants, the Hawaiian name), but as I got it up to gaff depth I saw it to be
a tuna, TUL. Ended up being a Yellowfin Tuna, everyone was ecstatic, that was
prized over everything else we'd been catching, only beat by a Bluefin Tuna,
which Ryan said he metered but wouldn't come up and eat.
Well, towards the end of the day Ryan called
another group of four fisherman to man the four 'trollers' that run behind the
boat while we cruise looking for paddies. I'd met an elderly gentleman, 94
YEARS OLD,
named Earl Bigelow that fishes for the Lord, in more ways than one as he donates
the fish he catches to homeless shelters, and he was on the other end of the trollers. I was number 21, and it was time for 21-24 (I was #21 on this trip -in
order of signing in before getting on the boat). Now I prayed 'Dear Lord, please
bless me with a nice fish, then I looked over and saw Earl and felt bad. I
changed my prayer, Dear Lord, bless Earl with a fish. "
Now you must understand, generally only one
person gets hooked-up with this system, thus the prayer. Mostly, if we are not
going by a paddy, you don't get hooked up while trolling, very few
'free-swimmers' as they call them, get caught.
The thought I was limiting God then creeped
in, as I was reminded (by Him? Probably), that He owned the cattle on a thousand
hills (from the bible, meaning he was limitless in wealth), so I changed my
prayer to "Dear Lord, please bless Earl AND me".
Then the thought came, what about the cattle on a THOUSAND hills, as I surveyed
the vast ocean, and the thought further came that he ALSO owned the fish in a
million square miles, and I changed the prayer again, getting it right finally,
"Dear Lord, please bless all four of us with a fish, included these two guys in
the middle I don't even know". Now this was asking for a real miracle, I'd never
seen more than one guy get bit like this. Less than a minute later we cruised by
a paddy, and I heard one of the middle trolling fisherman yell 'hook-up', and I
hoped I'd gotten bit, but as I undid the reel from the rail (they fasten it to
the rail and let it hang down, you don't have to hold the pole to fish) and I
thought, well, the Lord did not answer the prayer this time, as I'm not hooked
up, but as I finished un-hooking the reel and started reeling in, I notice a
fish had hit the lure and now I was fighting it in. I looked over, the other
middle fisherman had one on also. WOW, three of four, but still, no miracle or
answered prayer, as I saw Earl was getting the line un-tangled from his rod, and
as he got done I noticed he then started to fight a fish too, he actually had
one all that time? All four of us landed our fish moments later, and I
immediately started to brag I'd just prayed for that to happen moments earlier
too, to Chris the deckhand.
Click photo to enlarge.
My new friend Earl and my first Yellowfin tuna.
TUL (Thank U Lord) for the wonderful
opportunity to get out on the water, for me the blessing of letting me meet
Earl, and for giving us the opportunity to see your wonderful creations and the
ability and health to go out and be able to catch some of it for a wonderful,
tasty meal. (Ate some sashimi as I cleaned it all that night at home, saving the
$5 fee to clean each of them they charge on boat).
Click photo to enlarge.
Sunset from the boat as we got back to San Diego.
Lobster trapping, Mission Bay, San Diego County, Calif.
10.1.2012 Monday, on water from 8 p.m. till 4 a..m. next
morning.
Air 80 degrees, slightly foggy, so wet dew over all. Water ? degrees
Solo, three legals, 20 shorts.
Click photo to enlarge.
It's called a California Spiny tail Lobster. Pure gold as
food, well sought after for six months a year, the season just opened on
midnight last Friday. The three times I went last season, got skunked on each,
with a lot of 'shorts' but none legal size; it had my first time and I had no
idea what I was doing- still didn't feel I did due to it too.
Everyone has been pretty tight lipped as to the where and how of it all, don't
want to give up something that would cut down on their success, can't blame
them.
A 5 p.m. I loaded up my small aluminum bass boat with the galvanized trailer
(purchased just for such outings, although it's been in fresh, black bass
fishing, the last 100 times out) and headed the 1/2 hour south to Mission Bay,
in San Diego.
After getting the license, and a run to the store for a new battery, the one in
back for the back light had died, I launched and tried to 'make bait' with a
Sabiki rig (small hooks in a line, with colored thread for bait), but could not
find/catch a mackerel to save my life. Last year I got them from friends that
live on the bay in a boat, they got them easy they said, on the same rig!!? So I
thought I could too, wrong!
After an hour doing so by the launch ramp, I motored the 1/2 mile to the bait
barge and tried around there, a lot of pelicans and seals hang out around it
must have mackerel!? But after yet another hour I bummed two dead sardines from
them; chumming should help.
I got one small croaker, as I'd put some cut bait on the hooks, then something
big ate it next and ran for deep water, I could only hold on. Now I was only
fishing for 1/2 pound bait and had 8# Nano-line on and an ultra-light reel- was
not expecting to hook into Moby Dick, but did- and used the trolling motor to
chase it around right away or I'd of been spooled.
Thirty minutes into the fight, at 10 p.m., I got out the iPhone to record some
of it, it was so dark I mostly showed the depth finder, with it showing on the
bottom; 24' depth, mostly hugged bottom the entire time, and once, in the
beginning, it did not budge for 10 minutes and I'd thought it's left me on an
old anchor.
Now I'd fought a 60 pounder as a kid (20 year old), on 25# test with a
piano-wire leader, taking 40 minutes to land it back then, and it'd done the
same thing, so I just kept pressure, lots of pressure, on it, and it finally
started to fight again. One of the overnight sport boats cruised by, the Cortez,
and the deckhand noticed my rod bent double and yelled if I needed a gaff (gee,
hadn't thought what I do if I ever got her up) and I said yeah, but who knew how
long from then, and they kept motoring to the barge. I knew if it was even close
to being 40 pounds that this would take hours, that had me worried- I was not
there to set a line record for bat rays. So after 40 minutes of the fight I
tightened down the drag to breaking strength, my arm was getting wobbly, and I'd
wished I had two fighting arms; I could see this could take forever- it then
broke off 10 minutes later 1/2 way up to the boat- good. I called out 'thank you
Lord' to no one and yet someone, just for the experience, and then went back to
the task at hand.
So I finally gave in and went to buy bait at the barge, hoping to get away with
a $5 purchase for about 15 large sardines, but no, "1/2 scoop is minimum and is
$25" the young man blurted out to me upon asking.
I acquiesced and helped him corner the baits with a giant
15x15 foot net, as he could not do it solo, and he then 1/2 filled my 50 quart
cooler with 6 full scoops, a lifetime of bait I thought.
Then it was out to distribute my 5 nets, the max, and some guy 'lobstering' not
far away reported nada results; I didn't miss anything I guess. Well, after 40
pulls (bringing the nets up to check them, you want to every 15 minutes), and
getting about 10 shorts (not legal, too small per little device you buy to
measure head to first section of tail) I finally got my first legal. YIPPEE!!
HOW EXCITING. I felt like I'd landed my first DD bass, although I don't now how
that feels yet, I've only got them to 9.
I was re-invigorated, as it was now 2 a.m., and at 3 I got another, YIPEE. One
for the wife AND me now. My prayers were finally answered. My success seemed to
be from moving the nets deeper and deeper water, to 23-26' from 15-18', further
from to the jetties (which I'd thought would hold them better- wrong), that
seemed to do the trick. I got one more as I did a final pull of all five, with
three in that net, two shorts of course.
Got home at 5:30 after washing down the boat/storing all away, and could barely
move, I was so sore from the one hour bat-ray fight and the 100 times I pulled
up the nets (sometimes they are covered in kelp, making it VERY difficult to
pull up, not that a 3' flat net is easy to start with, it about 50 pounds of
pressure I'd guess. Got a few sting rays and octopi too.
Anyway, I thought I'd put them in a clean cooler with cleaner water, to keep
them alive, so I washed out the cooler after bagging the leftover 75 large
sardines for future baits (put three in each PVC food container attached to the
bottom of the net, with holes dilled through it to let the smells out, yet not
get eaten quickly as the holes are too small for them to do so, great system
someone invented).
Alas, today, six hours later, I awoke to them not moving, then read online where
your not supposed to put them in freshwater! Egads man, I did, no wonder they
were dead; they're are supposed to be ok for a day or two with proper care (kept
damp and cool, saltwater only).
Click photo to enlarge.
I immediately threw them in the freezer to cool way down and
then in the fridge, trying to keep them from spoiling, can you imagine after all
this work! The meat still seemed good, we'll see when the wife smells them, they
are bad if they smell like ammonia. Anyways, live and learn, at least I've got
an idea of how to do this properly, finally, TUL.
El Capitan, E. San Diego County, Calif.
9.28.2012 Friday, on water from 7 a.m. till 2 p.m.
Air 85 degrees -sunny, Water 76 degrees
Me two, Mike C., one
Met Mike C. at the ramp at 7 a.m., in my aluminum
Lowe, and went to the boulders towards the dam at first, tossing Plopper and he
the S. Spook for nada. Worked to the back, stopping at points along the way.
Stopped at the buoy line, some busters were still a bit active, but only two
boats were there and as the sun was now hitting all, the bite seemed dead. We
fished the boulder point, then worked our way further in.
Ran into Vince O, with his newer Lowe boat, and
he said it's been slow still for him for many months. We then worked further
back still, and I finally went to the Senko for a few casts to get
the stripe off the boat, and third cast got a one pounder. Mike threw the TR
fluke and got one also, small also. This was in the far back at this point.
The very far back is too shallow to hit, but I
did get a nice explosion on the fluke with 6# nanofil, but forgot I could set
the hook harder, it was not the 4 like months back. We worked out way back
towards the front.
Click photo to enlarge.
This one hit the Super Spook, the legend
of the 'new' Spook gets bigger.
By 1 pm we went back out towards the buoy line to
see if we could find some busters. But first we stopped at the bounder point and
I got a lunker off it on the S. Spook, TUL. We tossed the frog over some
grasses, and saw a couple of busters, but the wind was fierce. We packed it up
at 2 pm and left, we both had things to do.
Otay Lake, So. San Diego County, Calif.
9.26.2012 Wednesday, on water from 12.30 p.m. till 7 p.m..
Air 85 degrees -sunny, Water 76 degrees
Solo, got six total. Three frog (Live Target),
two Plopper, one TD Pencil.
The 'dock talk' was that there was not frog
bite, per se. I thought otherwise, and would till I was proven wrong. I wasn't.
Click photo to enlarge.
This one hit my Live Target hollow body
frog.
Video of this area:
http://youtu.be/7SUbCU2tHC4
Started off in the far back of Harvey's art,
in the 'trees and reeds. Got hits on the frog right off the bat. Worked to the
actual trees, and tossed waaay back, and got this nice 2+ on it and dragged her
our of them.
Kept working the back and landed three total
frog fish.
Click photo to enlarge.
The surroundings. Lovely place to rest and
to fish too.
Click photo to enlarge.
The second hit the W.Plopper.
Then worked the north shore with the big bait,
W.P., and got two more. Got to the narrows and three guys in a boat were killing
them on top, even though there were 'no busters' per se!
Click photo to enlarge.
The Plopper still working
Click photo to enlarge.
Last but not least, the T.D. Pencil strikes again.
Three pounder.
Clear Lake, N. Calif.
9.17.2012 Monday, on water from 12.30 p.m. till 8 p.m.. Out of
Clearlake town public marina.
Air 85 degrees -sunny, Water 76 degrees
Solo, ended up with two. Report from gentleman at bait shop, where I got my
Quagga inspection sticker, without the inspection, said there was no topwater
bite to speak of. Not to stop me, I went and proved him right... for awhile. I
got one explosion on the frog, then two more, from the same fish most likely, on
top of a weed bed over towards the south end where the lake turns into the
river, just of the island there. I worked into the opening, and then the river,
after a couple of hours, then worked my way back to the weed-beds without any
success. Mostly frog, but some S. Spook, Senko, and TD Pencil (which worked
great at the Delta yesterday).
Click photo to enlarge.
This one hit my fluke and stuck, the frog
just did not get hooksets.
When I worked back to the weed-beds I realized
the fluke might work better, tied it on and got a hit, then a fish, TUL! I got a
few more big hits over the 100 - 150 yard stretch of weeds, some really big ones
missed it. I got one back over by a log that always went for the bait, this time
I hit it at varying angles and the fourth time in five minutes she hit it and it
stuck.
Click photo to enlarge.
This one hit my fluke every time it tossed
it near it, three times during a few hours, and four when I targeted it only in
a five minute span, finally getting hooked.
Worked my way to the north end of the island at dark, and got
two explosions on the Whopper Plopper. Left a little after 8, it was pretty dark
by then.
California Delta
9.16.2012 Sunday, on water from 1 p.m. till 8 p.m.. Out of
Tower Park Marina.
Air 85 degrees -sunny
With John O., water 70 degrees/ slight clouds- thirteen for me, one for John, on
a TD Pencil. My big one, an eight, was on a TD Pencil after tossing the frog and
the S. Spook on the same end of tulles in Whites slough, the ridgeback that
connects two tulle islands.
Click photo to enlarge.
Around 5 p.m., with nothing
landed yet, I tie on a T.D. Pencil and toss it onto a tulle point, that I've
already tossed a S. Spook and a green popper Spro frog at, and had a 'small hit'
that kept running all over the area. Finally landed this monster, ran eight
pounds.
California Delta
9.13.2012 Thursday, on water from 9 p.m. till 7.30 p.m..
Out of Wimpy's Marina, towards Walnut Grove.
Air 90 degrees -sunny
SOLO- seven, all small. Water started at 67, got to 73.
Click to enlarge.
Our new van's first tow job for us.
A 2007 Toyota Sienna, with only 30K miles on it.
Click to enlarge.
First one came on the frog, last one on it too.
As the 12 was closed due to a wreck, I found a
marina called Wimpy's trying to take back roads to get to Tower Park. Started at
ramp, worked the bridge there, then south. Got one on a frog after two hours
fishing, then went north past the ramp and took a right past it and towards the
hwy 5.
Click to enlarge.
Four or five came on the Senko.
Went 1/2 way to the five then started working my way towards it. Finally
went to a Senko, got three, and one on a red crankbait, and one on a S. Spook.
Found great tulle spot at end of day, on the left side just past the 5 bridge,
some hit the frog, none stuck.
Deep Sea to Mexican
waters via
Seaforth Sportfishing, aboard the 'San Diego'
8.29.'12
3/4 day boat, run by Ryan
09-06-2012 3/4 Day
43 115 California Yellowtail, 17 Dorado
09-05-2012 3/4 Day
40 4 Dorado, 90 California Yellowtail
09-04-2012 3/4 Day
38 75 California Yellowtail, 2 Dorado
09-03-2012 3/4 Day Charter 37 2 Dorado, 40 California Yellowtail
09-02-2012 3/4 Day
34 46 California Yellowtail, 2 Dorado, 1 Bluefin Tuna
09-01-2012 3/4 Day
49 45 California Yellowtail
08-31-2012 3/4 Day Charter 30 16 California Yellowtail, 20 Dorado
08-30-2012 3/4 Day
41 1 Dorado, 108 California Yellowtail
08-29-2012 3/4 Day
42 7 Dorado, 82 California Yellowtail
08-28-2012 3/4 Day
47 26 California Yellowtail, 6 Dorado
Went out on the San Diego, my second trip in a
week deep-sea, cool. We left at 5.30 a.m. and got bait, sardines, at the bait
tanks not far from the docks. Was surprised the see the pelicans so obtrusive,
and bold, they would go right in the tanks with the sardines, the workers would
grab them by their wings and toss them away. Years ago they probably would just
have shot them, stop this nonsense, but these days are different.
Click photo to enlarge.
Getting bait in Mission Bay, shot with my
360 Panoramic iPhone app.
After that, Captain Ryan said it would take
about two hours to get far enough south-east to bother looking for kelp paddies,
which is what this type of tuna fishing is like. I took a nap on the way out in
the galley, leaning my head next to the wall, as many others did too, as I'd
gone to bed about 1.30 a.m. and got up at 4, 2.5 hours later.
About 8 a.m. he made an announcement that he
was putting out four trolling lines and numbers 1-4 that signed up would get to
stand next to them and reel in the fish if it hit. I was number 41, and felt I
might not get a shot at this. It was also not far enough out for him and he said
it would take another 20 or so minutes to go further east, to get away from a
lot of boat traffic in the area, especially a lot of PW (private watercraft).
After that, it was look for paddies, and when
we found one he would troll the feather jigs next to them. If we got a hook-up,
we would stop and fish it with bait. This actually got fish off of one out of
every three or four paddies. We'd find paddies about every 15 minutes, so we
might go an hour before hooking up, but when we did we'd usually get 5 to 10 off
of them. Sometimes they would have dorado, but those were far and few between.
Click photo to enlarge.
The San Diego, owned and operated by Ryan Bostian
The San Diego is one
of the finest local fishing boats in the San Diego area. Skippered by Captain
Ryan Bostian, this 75’x23’ vessel has plenty of fishing room along the rail.
Captain Ryan at the helm of the San Diego along with his crew, will make sure
you have a pleasant and enjoyable trip. Repowered in 2007 with John Deere 8061
8.1 liter engines, the San Diego is fast, cruising at 12 knots, and is equipped
with the latest electronics including Wesmar® Side Scanning Sonar. The San Diego
also utilizes a state of the art spray brine fish hold to keep your catch in
prime condition.
The San Diego is equipped with a spacious, air conditioned galley with plenty of
comfortable seating, a television and a VCR. The galley offers a variety of hot
and cold food, beverages, and snacks at reasonable prices.
One very tall, nice black gentleman, I believe
his name was Jeff, got a real nice one off the troll about two hours into it, it
was almost 5' long, but they are very flat and skinny, so it might have weighed
20 lbs. He kept praising the Lord with me for all our fish mercies, was fun to
be around.
Click photo to enlarge.
This gentleman got the largest dorado on the
boat, it ate a trolling feather, a 'solo' fish.
The first paddy that held fish I got one on
live bait, on my repaired Curado 200E7 that I just got back from Shimano. I'd
spooled it w/ 15# test, and I got a yellowtail that was about 5 lbs. Fought good
on light gear. That would be the last one, on light gear that is. All the rest I
would get on the iron. Megabait 5" lure as a matter of fact. With my Daiwa
Sealine reel and a 9' Black Steel Seeker rod that I got about 7 years ago from
SquidCo in San Diego.
One gentleman, Bob, a heavyset guy that used
to fish Barrett a lot too, like I did before the prices doubled, was getting the
same amount as me off each paddy, it was comical. I ended up with six, and so
did he.
Click photo to enlarge.
Got the largest, and tied for the most caught, on
this trip out. TUL!
We got a total of 82 yellowtail, and 7 dorado, for 42 folks. Many got
skunked.
They throw them down in icy water, about 34
degree saltwater, and bring them out and clean them, if you wish for $5 each, as
we get to the docks. I got the big one cleaned, and cleaned the five small ones,
about 3 lbs each, at home. There is no jackpot anymore on this boat, or I
would have won it.
Deep Sea, overnight to Mexican
waters via
H&M Landing, Point Loma, CA
8.23-24.'12
http://www.hmlanding.com/private.htm
Went out on the Sea Adventure II
70' x 20' Sleeps 40, we had 38 total, VERY crowded for the design of the boat.
Captain Chuck Taft (Big John was captain, overnight, and then a skinny one took
over at 6 a.m.
www.seaadventure2.com
Me- one small yellow, Mike a Dorado of about 10 lbs, TUL
Deckhands, Scotty, Dave and another guy.
Cook Eddie.
Fish Report per H&M
landing:
38 fisherman caught: 4 Bluefin Tuna, 6 Dorado, 15
Yellowtail (notice: does not say 12 of these yellows were only 3#'s each, but
they were!!!).
Ran $165 + $20 'fuel surcharge'. Noticed the
Producer was larger and took less folks, but you paid more because of it- (about
$200 and at least a $20 fuel surcharge). May be worth it.
I checked the reports online, after neighbor
Mike K. and I talked about it earlier in the day (we'd been promising each other
to get out together for fresh or salt water fishing for many years, we finally
did). I saw where most boat were booked solid for the next three days, all
except the Sea Adventure II, which only had 7 of 40 spots remaining for
that nights overnighter to Mexico, I decided it was time, the bite had been good
all week. Called and reserved my spot, and got a hold of Mike, and he did the
same. Plan was to leave in my car at 7.30, and we did.
I had two Dramamines an hour before we
departed, and another around 9 a.m. the next morning, just in case. NEVER felt
queasy the whole trip, TUL, usually do if I don't take them.
I had brought two new reels that had never had
line on them; one an Accurate that I'd won on a fishing radio program about
three years back, and the other a Shimano Cardiff 400A that came in the mail
that day (just in time from an eBay sale I'd won earlier that week, purchased
for my freshwater swimbait rod- BUT it came apart while using- need to return).
And to spool them; three spools of Izorline- 20#, 25# and one 50#. Got
suggestions from deckhand Dave on what to put on what, once I showed him the
rigs I'd brought (one troller w/ 40#, two baitcasters, each with w/ 30#).
After getting them all ready, spooled and
rigged, I hit the sack about 11.30, most other having already done so, and set
my iPhone alarm for 5 a.m. Slept very well (was nervous about it, never had been
on an overnighter before, did not know what to expect) but hit the snooze as I
was dead tired when it went off. The captain came through around 5:30 and let
everyone know we'd stop and start fishing in 20 minutes, so we all got up and
out.
We started fishing the 'floating pens',
somewhere about 115 miles south of Point Loma, and 55 miles out, as Mexico has
enforced a 24 mile 'International out of bounds limit' on fishing, and wants to
place a 200 mile one, basically bankrupting all the sport boats that go there
from California. (Guess you'd go out on Mexican ones after that).
I kept my eye on Mike, guiding him on some
practices that would increase his odds of getting a fish. As we fished, I
also suggested we split all fish caught between us 50-50, so if one got more
luckier than the other we'd still have fish to eat. He agreed, although I
expected to be the one that caught more, we would see.
Click photo to enlarge.
Had to get a shot to give you the feeling
of the day, with my 360 Panoramic iPhone app.
Nada on the first pen, moved after 1/2 hour to
another, nada caught there either, although the captain announced over the
loudspeaker that he was metering a lot below us! We went to a third and we got
two bluefin tuna, and a guy next to me got one on his jig, and snapped it off
two seconds later, bummer. The captain gave him a hard time, as he watched it
out the front window where we toss them from, as fish that breaks off
shoots down, taking a lot of the school with them. Those landed went about 15#
each, and none were caught at the fourth and final one.
It was about 10 a.m. at this point, and when we started heading back slowly
looking for kelp paddies. First one nada, which took over an hour to find. The
second one I spotted in front of the boat, at about 1 p.m., and it had small
yellowtail on them. I got one on the first cast w/ an iron jig as we pulled up
on the paddy, TUL, but it was so small I just bounced it on the deck instead of
asking for it to be gaffed. The captain asked what number I was, 34, and he was
off to staple a number on its gill plate, I went and cast again. All the baiters
were fishing by this time, and I got another one but it got off after a few
seconds. We got about 15 at that spot, then we were off.
I spotted the third, from the stern while
watching my trolling rig I had out, it was a 3 o'clock but nobody home
(surprised the guy up in the crows nest had not spotted it, at that point it was
going out of his scanning sight).
The fourth had dorado on it, we could tell as
I'd hooked up on the troll as we approached it, I was stoked, the first one to
get on on the troll and I'd only been doing it about 20 minutes, whereas we'd
done it four across four or five times now over the past three hours, and from
pen to pen earlier too.
But it got wrapped up in others lines at the
boat, including the two trolling one in the middle, that no one attended to as
we came to a stop. It made another last minute run and SNAP, lure and the
beautifully colored fish were instantly gone- BUMMER. I'd never caught one of
these before, and was really looking forward to landing it. Especially since
we'd only had 17 fish on board so far, with only two of any size to speak of. Oh
well.
I immediately went and got my bait caster and
tossed out a live bait, and got a fish to run but did not set the hook in time,
and pulled back an empty hook a minute later, OUCH. Put on another sardine bait,
and in short order it was entangled in another five was mess, and I just cut the
line to cut my losses, went and grabbed my jig rod and went to the bow, giving
it a chance to work for me again. Nada.
The captain went back to this paddy again, and
I tossed my jig again, I heard a few guys got another dorado, but they were far
and few between. Bummer, I did not end up with one here.
But I had a second Rapala diver, which I'd put
on, and lo and behold it got hit about 3 p.m., with the line screaming out. I
ran to it and went to set the hook, but it was gone. The boat had come to a stop
because of it, and 37 other folks had lines out seconds later, all for naught as
nothing was caught past my solo hit and everyone was instructed to pull up, that
was it for the day, fish wise. BUMMER, almost got another.
As we got back under way, scouting for
another paddy, I find out Mike had gotten one of the dorado while I had been
fighting mine on the jig earlier- COOL, I was so stoked for him. It ended up
being a two fold blessing... he'd never got one before either. Secondly, as that
ended up being our second and last fish together 'as a team', I ended up getting
a quite a bit more fish to eat than I'd actually caught, as we did the split
deal; so it worked in my favor this time.
Click photo to enlarge.
Mike K. scores big time, saves the day
(after a lot of prayer for us to get into some decent action).
Click photo to enlarge.
Mike K. and I, on the stern waiting for my
trolling
rod to scream 'fish on', which it did moments later.
We stopped at one more paddy later, nothing
was there. I took a nap once I had to bring in my jig, as we were closer than 24
miles to the Coronado Islands, and woke up just outside the harbor. The next day
I awoke with soooo many sore muscles, especially the back. Even though I did not
fight a lot of big fish, the resistance of the jig with a big lip on it, when
pulling in a tolling lure like the Rapala diver has, is like fighting a 25#
yellow, very hard to do.
Click photo to enlarge.
Was not going to take a pic of this small
yellow, but thought 'what the
heck', I've got to prove just how small it was...maybe three pounds max.
Overall experience:
GREAT, I learned a lot, and hope to go out
and improve my skills even more in short order, before the whole scene is not
allowed, due to anti-fishing folks, the Mexican Gov't, or both. AND we were
blessed, as most guys/gals (yes, there were two) on the boat got skunked, as
some of them got two or three fish each.
________________________________________
NOTE: not much fishing to report
for past month, van has been down since return from the Delta.
________________________
El Capitan
8.13.2012 Monday, on water from 3 p.m. till 7.30 p.m..
Air 95 degrees w/ high humidity/ sunny"
SOLO- one on a fluke at dusk.
Got there as the first day of El Cajon
Ford two day tourney (1/2 fish Otay, 1/2 here, and switch venues the next day)
was wrapping up; them going out, me going in.
Lots of cheese floating along the shore by the
ramp, so tossed Kermit around for about an hour, nada. Worked a little across
the docks, big baits, nada.
Went to Conejos arm and worked in from outside
left point, got one slap on the Whopper Plopper. After an hour went towards the
north buoy and worked my way back out, on the shadowed west side, throwing the
S.Spook, WP, and finally the fluke for the last 15 minutes, on 8# line and
landed one about 12", and lost another two or three for fear of breaking off on
the hookset, forgot this was not the 4# that had given me the problem last year.
Skinner Lake, Riverside County
7.13.2012 Friday, on water from 7 a.m. till 11.15 a.m..
Air 85 degrees/ overcast, sprinkles.
I met Mike C. at 5 a.m. sharp at my frame
shop,
where he hooked up my boat (my van is down) and I loaded up his truck w/ my gear and we were off.
It's about an hour drive, and with fast food stops we got there at almost 7
a.m., and went east, stopping at the first cove. The 'cheese' was not as I'd
heard about, they must have bluestoned it, bummer. We shot across the lake and I
got a nice 3-8 on a frog, it was in a spot I'd gotten one at last fall, but not
as big. There was a bit of cheese she was under.
Click photo to enlarge.
Got the stripe off the back with a
nice frog fish.
We then shot to the far east side, the
shallows, where the cheese was still almost non-existent. I tossed the Whopper
Plopper quite a bit, and finally got a nice on, while fishing the 'thrashing
technique'.
Click photo to enlarge.
Throwing the Whopper Plopper paid off.
We worked that whole area pretty well, ending up
about 300 yards back towards the docks. Mike got a hit on the S. Spook at a spot
I told him to try, but it did not stick. We had to both get back to work, so we
got back and loaded up by 11: 30.
Click photo to enlarge.
My second on the W.P., a cookie cutter to
the first.
El Capitan Lake, San Diego
County
7.10.2012 Monday, on water from 5:30 a.m. till 8 p.m..
Water: 72 degrees, air 90 degrees/ sunny, windy.
I met pastor Paul at 5 a.m. sharp at the
7-11, where I loaded up his boat w/ my gear and we were off. The first
place we stopped after getting on the water was at the flats towards the
back, and found topwater action on busters the way to go, right after we'd
stopped for about 10 minutes. I got one on the W.P. (Whopper Plopper) and
Paul on the S. Spook minutes later, on a buster. I put on the fluke and
got a buster with letting it sink. Lost a couple of others, and at times
there were 10 explosions per second all around the boat. Was about an hour
and every boat fishing busters (about seven or so) was almost with casting
distance to us.
Click photo to enlarge.
Got one in short order, on the W.P.
After the sun hit the water it slowed down, we
headed to the shaded side to get a few minutes more of time, but it did not
produce anything else.
We headed further back and I got one on the
W.P. on the windward side of a sunken tree. Tried to get Paul to throw the Spook
on them, but he stuck w/ plastics, like most of the day.
Click photo to enlarge.
My biggest came on a green pumpkin
5" Senko, tossed in the trees.
Was a blessing to get her out, it went 4 lbs., the 20# Power Pro braid helped.
I got a nice W.P. fish where there used to be
a nice weed covered flat, left side, but the weeds had not developed yet. Paul
got some dinks on the d/s, so I tossed the Senko and upped my numbers too, but
one was a nice 4 pounder, got her over some sunken tree limbs too, TUL.
We worked a little further back, and took a break 10 minute break under a large
tree at our honey hole area. I tried to get a fish after a lot of work getting
over dead trees on the far back left side, but this time no fish (last time got
a 5 and a 3, back to back casts, on the S. Spook, along the back of the tress).
Now it looks like someone took a saw to some of the trees to get back there
easier!
Then, heading to the far back right, through an alley that still navigable, I
got two on the frog, one of which was was way back under a 'cave' of white
fluffy growth, called that one (They both had some bad skin disease, I
photographed one).
Click photo to enlarge.
I got two nice bass on the frog in the far
back, and both had some
sort of disease. Others caught there looked ok!!?
Then I took out the buzzbait and got two in
short order, one before it came up from the toss.
We worked our way 1/2 up the creek, and I got
exploded on at the same spot I missed her last time, up and under some dried
cane poles. We then broke the left side of them up (sometimes that shows folks
there is an area, and then it's not as productive) and worked a deep back area,
last time I worked it w/o breaking it all up, but had thought about it. Got one
on the frog, and missed another.
We worked the other side and I got a big
explosion on the W.P., just after Paul said there was probably nothing in the
shallows there (about 3' and clear). We then worked out way back to the main
lake, and I got two nice ones, one on the W.P., just before 'the BIG corner
rock', leeward side off of a bush, and then the windward side, on a Senko after
it hit and missed the W.P., TUL.
We then saw the shadows on the water over on
the west side and went to fish them, starting at the shallow flats at the
beginning of that part of the lake, where we'd started in the morning.
Click photo to enlarge.
Paul wanted to record 'this
behemoth', so I did, caught on a Super Spook.
Paul got
another dink on the d/s, and I got a nice one, a 2+, on the W.P.. As we went
further back. I switched to the S. Spook for a few casts, and got a nice 2# on
the first cast, along the shore.
Click photo to enlarge.
Another two two's came from the
shadows, one on a S. Spook and one on the W.P.
That was numbers 13 and 14 for me. I thought
that boulder bay would be good to end our day at, and I got another 2 on the red
square bill crankbait (a found one from months earlier, brand unknown). We
finished about 8 p.m., sunset time.
Calif. Delta trip
(after fishing Clear Lake the week before
and teaching a photo class in Carmel)
7.2.2012 Monday 4 p.m. till 9:15 p.m..
Water: 72 degrees, air 90 degrees/ sunny, windy.
Valerie and I had to run an errand first, an important one. I had to change my
Dobyns frog rod (735C) in
for a replacement, (736C as it's stouter and was the same price) mine had a defect. So we drove up to the warehouse, where the Dobyns' family run their business, in Yuba City, about an hour north of
Sacramento, which is about 10 minutes from Davis where we are staying.
Click photo to enlarge.
I visited the Dobyns Rod company and
arranged exchanging a defective one with Richard Dobyns.
We took care of business there (arranged to go
to S. Sacramento to get the rod from a tackle store, as they were out) and got
to the Delta by 4 p.m.. Valerie hung at Tower Marina, the winds were
fierce, but manageable, in my aluminum boat. I headed to one of my honey
holes, 'three tulle islands', and worked my topwater
baits, the WP (Whopper Plopper), the Live Target frog, and the blue shad Super
Spook. The WP was the first to work, a one pounder, about an hour into throwing
it!
I got another fish on it an hour later, a
three, but she threw it near the boat. A couple of small fish tried to inhale
the frog, they had no luck. By 8 I decided to work the tulle islands back
towards the ramp, for more nada, and quit at 8:50, as the wife was waiting for
me back at the ramp, she was reading a book and hanging. BUT I saw a point that
I've done fairly well at and stopped 'for one last cast' with the Spook, and
instantly got exploded on, fish on. But hey, this was no regular nice one, this
one kept peeling line, and on 80# braid, buttoned down, made me think I was not
only going to land my first DD bass, but got right to the teen department!
As I fought her I got nervous, why wasn't she
surfacing to toss the lure, 99% do? When I finally got her to the boat, and
before she took another run or two from seeing it, I found out why, it was a
striper, albeit a very nice one. I got her landed in the net, and figured an
easy 10, and got to taking pictures right away. After the first, I noticed the
full moon was not in it as planned, and as I prepared to take another, trying to
get away from the camera which was set up in self-timer mode (iPhone app), she
shook off my grip and fell into the water- DARN! I was going to give that fish
to my friends I'm staying with, and now I'd have to catch it again if I was
going to do that.
Click photo to enlarge.
So my first DD bass ended up being a
striper, oh well.
Gave me a heck of a fight.
I tossed the lure a few more times, the tide
was going out, as it was for the past two hours, but nada hits. Got back to the
ramp about 9:35, due to no wake zone along so many docks, and left the boat as I
was going out early the next morning, that is until I saw the radiator fluid now
leaking on my friends driveway after getting home. Spent all day today
rectifying that, and will go out early tomorrow with my friend John, and try for
'another' DD. The we head home at about 11 p.m., been a good trip (see Clear
Lake report next).
Calif. Delta trip, con't.
(7.3.'12 had to fix van radiator,
instead of the fishing we'd planned, and it took all day)
7.4.2012 Wednesday 6 a.m. till 11 p.m.
Water: 72 degrees, air 90 degrees/ sunny.
Valerie and I were up at 5 a.m. and on the
road to head home by 5:40, but planned on hitting the Delta one more time. John
O. was to join me at 7, but got there about 7:30. I started at 7 and went right
out of Tower Marina, and fished the stumps before the bridge for nada. Then went
to corner and got a two on the W.P. topwater. Also got one on the red square
bill crankbait, always seems to work there. Continued on around the corner and
worked a few hundred yards up, but nada, mostly on the W.P. (some frog).
Click photo to enlarge.
So my first bass this day was on the W.P.
again. Ended up getting seven for the morning, TUL.
Picked up John and we went west, past all the
docks/storage spaces and stopped at a tulle island in short order. I got a
couple of nice ones on the W.P., and tossed the frog too for nada. We worked our
way to the 'three tulle islands' and I got one more on the square bill, and
ended up with seven for the morning. John had one on the buzzbait, middle
island, but it threw it half way back.
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