Post by prairiegoat on Jan 7, 2013 21:29:06 GMT -5
Just wanted to share my salt water adventure from last summer.
Day 1
Hit Balboa Pier with my two nephews and Jonathan for some salt-water action. Had a blast catching mackerel. Had three on at a time twice. Also caught a crab, tiny halibut, smelt and perch. All small, but it didn’t matter, had a great afternoon. Watched sea lions and even saw a dolphin swim by.
The Fiesta went for four days; man, Pilipino’s they do know how to throw a party. Whole roast pig each day and enough food to feed a small army, well my wife’s 50-75 relatives that live in southern California! Off to Disneyland today, tomorrow Sea World, Friday San Diego Zoo.
Anyway, back to fishing. We have a boat chartered for Thursday; so we’ll see how that goes. First, a stop by the pharmacy for some sea-sick pills!
Trip 1
We got together and did a ¾ day charter on the Patriot out of Newport Beach on Thursday. Clyde, Jay, Jon, Jeff, Jim and myself went. Couldn’t get Jonathan up after two solid days at Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. He rode rides till he dropped.
Boat left at 7:00 with 47 anglers on board. Here’s a video of the start of the day in the harbor:
Stopping by the bait barge to load up:
Quite a few were along for the ride or got sick and were laid out in the galley; so we had one whole side of the boat to ourselves most of the time. I followed Cher’s advice and took two seasick pills on Wednesday and one more Thursday. Almost did the trick. I got real queasy when the fish started biting and was looking down all the time. As soon as I sat down and looked up for a little while I found my sea legs and was fine the rest of the day.
We found the barracuda and I landed the first fish of the day.
Had four more on in quick succession but they all came unbuttoned and then I broke off the hot lure they had recommended at the bait shop. Caught more using live anchovies. Note to self: Bring more lures next time! We are putting together a ½ day trip for tomorrow. Better strike while the irons hot and I’m still here in Southern California.
Jeff with a couple:
After the barracuda bite stopped the captain put us on sea bass, rock fish and anything else swimming down there. One guy caught a 32” halibut, saw a couple of bat rays landed and one 4’ shark. I caught barracuda,
sea bass,
and a sculpin.
Just missed the big fish pot to another barracuda by a couple ounces with the one I landed. All of mine were nearly the same size and do they put up a fight with their torpedo like action. They fly through the water. Sure wish I hadn’t lost that lure so quickly!
Also got to see my first wild dolphins porpise by a couple a times. Here’s a video:
Few pics from the day:
And the pile of barracuda we brought back to the house. One was quickly put on the grill in foil. They all said it tasted good! I wouldn't know.
So ends my first ocean trip and I couldn’t be more pleased. What a grand time we had. Can’t wait to get in one more day!
Trip 2
Bill, you’re right, salt water fishing IS addicting. My nephew Jim, Jonathan and I chartered the Enterprize out of Long Beach on Saturday. Tried them as they had a killer day on barracuda Friday with over 300 landed. Up at 4:00 and left the pier at 6:00. Great deal today, twice a year kids fish free on their boat, and guess what, we hit one of those days. They even gave me a discount so total for ¾ day was $45.00.
After stopping by the bait barge we made it to the area the barracuda were the day before. Must have been 20 boats in the area and no where were the barracuda. Squab Jonathan kept a lookout for boils.
We meandered around until 9:15 and finally found some. As luck would have it, I landed a real nice 36” barracuda… the last of the day between the three of us. Jonathan was pretty bummed as he had his heart set on one. But hey both kept their smiles, hard to beat a day fishing no matter what the bite.
Well, he did reel in this beauty! A sea cucumber. All I heard from him was, “What the heck is that?”
Then he got a bite and landed a real nice sculpin. That got him going.
We fished the area for a couple hours and quite a few landed barracuda and nice bass. Jim had a bunch of hits but couldn’t seal the deal or they came unbuttoned. Needless to say he was pretty disappointed. That’s why they call it fishing… never used that phrase though, I think he would have thrown me overboard!
The captain put us over a bed of sculpin and flounder like fish and it was game on. All I did was re-bait Jonathan’s two hooks, lower it, hand it over and watch him set the hook. He caught over 20 fish and had multiple doubles. Man did that keep him going.
Video of Jonathan. Noticed the crossed lines he had to reel over. We had two dodos on each side that should be banned from casting; especially if they bring a baitcaster onboard!
We ended the day with probably 40 fish landed. Quite a few were below the slot size and released, but we kept this mess.
Little perspective on the length of the barracuda:
Another great day on the ocean. Now, I just need an overnighter out of San Diego and hit some Mexican Water for tuna and white sea bass. Next time!
Last Day
I don’t think I’ve eaten this much food in a ten-day period, ever! Lobster to grilled steak or BBQ’d ribs and then throw in every Pilipino food imaginable. I thought they held all these get-togethers because we were there on vacation. Oh contraire, they do this every week. They do a camping trip twice a year and 250 people show up. I had to come home and go to work just to rest up.
Enough food! Let’s head down the pier and fish.
Caught a bunch of mackeral and tiny, tiny sculpin and sand dobs. Used all the mackerel for bait by the time we left for, you guessed it, more food.
So ends the California adventure. Had a blast. But, it does feel good to get home and lay back in my recliner. Man, I looked in the mirror and I look like a raccoon with the suntan offset by pale sunglass rings around the eyes and a white forehead from wearing a cap all the time fishing. But, it’s all good.
Ol’ Goat
Day 1
Hit Balboa Pier with my two nephews and Jonathan for some salt-water action. Had a blast catching mackerel. Had three on at a time twice. Also caught a crab, tiny halibut, smelt and perch. All small, but it didn’t matter, had a great afternoon. Watched sea lions and even saw a dolphin swim by.
The Fiesta went for four days; man, Pilipino’s they do know how to throw a party. Whole roast pig each day and enough food to feed a small army, well my wife’s 50-75 relatives that live in southern California! Off to Disneyland today, tomorrow Sea World, Friday San Diego Zoo.
Anyway, back to fishing. We have a boat chartered for Thursday; so we’ll see how that goes. First, a stop by the pharmacy for some sea-sick pills!
Trip 1
We got together and did a ¾ day charter on the Patriot out of Newport Beach on Thursday. Clyde, Jay, Jon, Jeff, Jim and myself went. Couldn’t get Jonathan up after two solid days at Knott’s Berry Farm and Disneyland. He rode rides till he dropped.
Boat left at 7:00 with 47 anglers on board. Here’s a video of the start of the day in the harbor:
Stopping by the bait barge to load up:
Quite a few were along for the ride or got sick and were laid out in the galley; so we had one whole side of the boat to ourselves most of the time. I followed Cher’s advice and took two seasick pills on Wednesday and one more Thursday. Almost did the trick. I got real queasy when the fish started biting and was looking down all the time. As soon as I sat down and looked up for a little while I found my sea legs and was fine the rest of the day.
We found the barracuda and I landed the first fish of the day.
Had four more on in quick succession but they all came unbuttoned and then I broke off the hot lure they had recommended at the bait shop. Caught more using live anchovies. Note to self: Bring more lures next time! We are putting together a ½ day trip for tomorrow. Better strike while the irons hot and I’m still here in Southern California.
Jeff with a couple:
After the barracuda bite stopped the captain put us on sea bass, rock fish and anything else swimming down there. One guy caught a 32” halibut, saw a couple of bat rays landed and one 4’ shark. I caught barracuda,
sea bass,
and a sculpin.
Just missed the big fish pot to another barracuda by a couple ounces with the one I landed. All of mine were nearly the same size and do they put up a fight with their torpedo like action. They fly through the water. Sure wish I hadn’t lost that lure so quickly!
Also got to see my first wild dolphins porpise by a couple a times. Here’s a video:
Few pics from the day:
And the pile of barracuda we brought back to the house. One was quickly put on the grill in foil. They all said it tasted good! I wouldn't know.
So ends my first ocean trip and I couldn’t be more pleased. What a grand time we had. Can’t wait to get in one more day!
Trip 2
Bill, you’re right, salt water fishing IS addicting. My nephew Jim, Jonathan and I chartered the Enterprize out of Long Beach on Saturday. Tried them as they had a killer day on barracuda Friday with over 300 landed. Up at 4:00 and left the pier at 6:00. Great deal today, twice a year kids fish free on their boat, and guess what, we hit one of those days. They even gave me a discount so total for ¾ day was $45.00.
After stopping by the bait barge we made it to the area the barracuda were the day before. Must have been 20 boats in the area and no where were the barracuda. Squab Jonathan kept a lookout for boils.
We meandered around until 9:15 and finally found some. As luck would have it, I landed a real nice 36” barracuda… the last of the day between the three of us. Jonathan was pretty bummed as he had his heart set on one. But hey both kept their smiles, hard to beat a day fishing no matter what the bite.
Well, he did reel in this beauty! A sea cucumber. All I heard from him was, “What the heck is that?”
Then he got a bite and landed a real nice sculpin. That got him going.
We fished the area for a couple hours and quite a few landed barracuda and nice bass. Jim had a bunch of hits but couldn’t seal the deal or they came unbuttoned. Needless to say he was pretty disappointed. That’s why they call it fishing… never used that phrase though, I think he would have thrown me overboard!
The captain put us over a bed of sculpin and flounder like fish and it was game on. All I did was re-bait Jonathan’s two hooks, lower it, hand it over and watch him set the hook. He caught over 20 fish and had multiple doubles. Man did that keep him going.
Video of Jonathan. Noticed the crossed lines he had to reel over. We had two dodos on each side that should be banned from casting; especially if they bring a baitcaster onboard!
We ended the day with probably 40 fish landed. Quite a few were below the slot size and released, but we kept this mess.
Little perspective on the length of the barracuda:
Another great day on the ocean. Now, I just need an overnighter out of San Diego and hit some Mexican Water for tuna and white sea bass. Next time!
Last Day
I don’t think I’ve eaten this much food in a ten-day period, ever! Lobster to grilled steak or BBQ’d ribs and then throw in every Pilipino food imaginable. I thought they held all these get-togethers because we were there on vacation. Oh contraire, they do this every week. They do a camping trip twice a year and 250 people show up. I had to come home and go to work just to rest up.
Enough food! Let’s head down the pier and fish.
Caught a bunch of mackeral and tiny, tiny sculpin and sand dobs. Used all the mackerel for bait by the time we left for, you guessed it, more food.
So ends the California adventure. Had a blast. But, it does feel good to get home and lay back in my recliner. Man, I looked in the mirror and I look like a raccoon with the suntan offset by pale sunglass rings around the eyes and a white forehead from wearing a cap all the time fishing. But, it’s all good.
Ol’ Goat
