Hi, my name is Joe and I’m a fishaholic. “HI JOE!”
I didn’t post much this week because today, Friday June 8th, is the first day I haven’t fished in 5 days. Some things popped up over the course of the week that made me HAVE TO get out on the water. As a result, I’ve got some hot tips to share with you to enhance your fishing weekend.
Juj’s “Best day on the water Daddy!”
Sunday, June 3rd
Fished Dana Wharf on the Sum Fun with my kids. You couldn’t ask for a more kid friendly fishing trip. The bass bite is hot, but a simple dropper loop setup and fresh ‘chove were all that was required for my 5 year old daughter Juliana to catch 14 bass (13 calico, 1 sand, 3 keepers total). With the kids getting out of school, this is a great way to have fun that’s not in front of a tv or computer. Skinny water (so a quick, calm ride), helpful & friendly crew, hungry fish and kids 12 & under ride free on Sundays! Can’t beat it.
Monday, June 4th and Tuesday June 5th
Tons of market sized squid moved into Santa Monica Bay sparking a hot halibut and WSB bite. I heard the Monday morning reports on 976Tuna and had to get in on it…riding the twilight Spitfire on Monday and the morning New Del Mar on Tuesday. The Redondo boats like the Tradition and the Redondo Special are great options as well. Call ahead to see if they have the live squid for best results. Here’s a video of Levi catching his first seabass on Monday’s trip. He almost loses it to a sea lion at the end, but Capt. Craig scared it off with the gaff. Nice work Skipper!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugYukDm5wY?rel=0&w=640&h=360]
Bait dock flattie
Wednesday June 6th
Wednesday afternoon, I rode the Dolphin again out of Fisherman’s Landing in San Diego. HOT TIP of the WEEK: have a 20# reverse dropper setup with a size 1 or 1/0 hook and 2 oz of lead ready when you hit the bait receiver. The halibut bite there is crazy…11 shorts and 2 legals in the 10 minutes we stopped to pick up bait. There were a couple fat sand bass in the mix too. This will work if they have chovies, but not if they have sardines. I couldn’t get a bait to the bottom with a sardine before a sea lion picked it up on Thursday, but caught 1 short and had another flip off on Wednesday when we had choves. This lucky angler next to me scored a legal flattie before we hit the fishing grounds. I’m not sure if the kayak rental from the Shelter Island Pier is operating yet, but yakking the Bay would be a great way to go.
JP AND 2nd place
Once we loaded up, it was a short ride out to the kelp grounds on the north side of Point Loma. Big calico bass to be had, but have your heavy gear ready. The kelp is super thick here (very different from Dana). I probably got busted off 5 times (fishing 60# braid to 30# mono!), in the process losing what may have been a personal best calico. As usual, my buddy John Anjard, schooled me on his way to picking up the jackpot fish. His big was caught on a banana color surface iron and the rest on dines. The current picks up and the kelp lays down around 4pm, which is when we started to really lay the wood to the bass. You’ll catch fish immediately with the chove, but fish the dines to get the big fish.
There’s a new ride on the Point Loma that goes 3:30-9pm which you may want to check out to take advantage of this late afternoon bite.
Don’t stand around like a tourist…FISH!
Thursday June 7th
Spent the night in SD and went out the next morning on the Mission Belle out of Point Loma Sportfishing. The yellowtail bite that I was so fortunate to enjoy off La Jolla in April, has migrated south to the Coronados Islands. Capt. Tony Sotelo from the Daily Double was at the wheel and took us all around the islands in search of hungry yellows. Karen and Scott were on deck, and Carl manned the galley. We drifted at various spots all morning, but with no hookups other than a few cudas. When we anchored up close to the lighthouse, El Capitan skipper, Alan Fay connected on a wired surface iron off the bow (the sea lion situation was ridiculous). Shortly after, the boat started hooking up on flylined dines. I scored fishing my Terez/Avet combo (but adding on about a 100 yds of 30# mono…easier to cast). John fished straight 40# mono (on a Calstar GG900M and Newell 322) and picked one up a couple stops later. Final tally was only 8 yellows and 5 cuda for 29 anglers, but the fish were a nice size. Me and John’s were an easy 28lbs! There are still a lot of fish down there, but you never know how long these things hold up. Get out and fish! Tight lines!
Tshirts, shorts and big local yellows…SoCal fishing at its best
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