Salt Shaker is one of my buddies. I laughed when I heard it was him getting 3

I need to pull my life List up and see where I'm at.  I don't usually catch new species as often these days so I see it less and less, but it will be fun to see where I'm at.

I know for a fact that I also distinguished the same species for salt and fresh water.  I categorized my Fish List into:

• Atlantic/Gulf Saltwater
• Pacific Saltwater
• Inland Freshwater

Therefore, I have Landlocked Striper in one category and Striper's both on the Atlantic and Pacific Side.  I know this is a life list, but to me these are 3 distinct environments and all far enough away from each other that I have them categorized on how I started my list.  Example, up in the salmon river in NY, they catch Chinook salmon.  Trust me, they are not really the same as the ones I catch in Washington State.  Maybe 99.9% of DNA match, but a different race of fish. (All FW fish are lumped in one category)

I don't have too many like that, maybe salmon, but the rest are unique on the list.  I'll try to remember to pull out the list and post it.

I've been dying to deep drop, but the wahoo are here and I really, really, really, want to catch a local one badly.  I opted for offshore as I wouldn't forgive myself if I didn't at least give it a real try this fall while they are here.

Morning was nice with a land breeze and basically greasy conditions out front.  I cruised at a steady 28mph on the way out and my Merc App was showing I was only sipping the gas.  Ironically, I used twice as much gas plowing at 5mph through the back bay (5mph zone) then having the throttle at 4400 RPM.

I got wind that the Cyclops was going to be out today and gave him a call on the radio.  Cheez answers (AZ Bat Fight turd roller winner) and they were on their way to LJ.  I tried getting them intel, but everyone was out looking for Hoo so I didn't have any up-to-date intel.  It was nice that we were coving the inside and outside but this was the day for the Cyclops to run offshore!  Greasy calm conditions!

I ran to where I've been trying the last month for hoo as I know they've been caught there and apparently everyone else got the message also.  There were 3 sport boats and a few dozen other boats out there.  1/2 were trolling for Hoo and YFT, while some were looking for paddies... and then there was a big contingent of sword guys!  Holy smokes!  Commercial, recreational, Sword buoys all over the place and having to avoid them!

Water was a little turgid but warm and bright blue.  It was 75 but as I trolled north, it dropped to 73.1.  The sport boats kept pushing north, but I had my gas to keep an eye on, so I headed south as my plan was to troll down to the Mexican Border and back zig zagging over the high spot and working both the inside and outside ridge.

Not a kelp, mammal, bird to be found, but there was a ton of flying fish!  I even got startled as I saw one literally jump and coming at the boat!  I literally reached up to grab it, but it hit my rods on the console and deflected back into the water!  Squatch would have claimed victory on our last trip if he even touched it!  hahaha

I saw a few big splashes, but never saw what made them.  I assumed a Manta, but I really couldn't say.

I finally saw a gray hounding marlin just jumping and giving me the fin!  I boxed the area for a bit but it had no intention of feeding at that point.  Then I see two gulls standing on something and rushed over to see if it was a small paddy.  Not a small paddy, but a pallet floating out in the middle of nowhere.

I pitched some small 20g jigs out and found/saw nothing but noticed my fish finder was lit up with about 20 marks at 50' down below so I dropped the jig.  Boom!  I immediately saw it was a bullet tuna... or was it?  It looked different from what bullets I've seen in general but would need to investigate further when I got home. (After further investigation, it was a Frigate Mackerel! My first and a new species for my life list) Pacific frigate mackerel (Auxis brachydorax), a distinct population from the western Pacific form (Auxis thazard)

I picked up a few more before restarting my trolling pattern in hopes for a Hoo.

I reached out to Timmy and Cheez and they were on some whitefish and bass, so it appears they stopped looking for bonito, cuda, and yellows... or most likely just doing a good hiding act.  It looks like both of our plans were in the crapper today.

I heard of more people catching a bunch of Hoo's down in the Coronado Canyon and some were newbies also.  At least I could tell from their radio chatter that they really didn't know what they were doing but got lucky.  Even a blind squirrel finds a nut occasionally. 

On the way back I saw some stuff floating in the water and went up to see an ammo can.  Barnacles started forming on the top and I was thinking there is one of 3 things inside:  Ammo, Drugs, or money... especially when the tape said not to throw away!

Well, it was none of the 3 but an empty cannister.  Funny thing it was dry as bone inside and surprisingly in good shape, so I'm probably going to use a little rust away and make this baby shine again!

Well, more flying fish as I headed in.  I actually brought my little Atlantix electric reel and dropped down 600' with a jig.  Unfortunately, I had no bait and no Spot Lock, so soon as I hit bottom, I was off bottom.  If anything, I wanted to see how fast and well it retrieves from down there and it was like a dream!  I can't wait to deep drop for real with this thing!

Well, back home at 2:30 and scrubbed the boat up for its weekly slumber.

Thanks for reading and until next tide!

It's funny. I thought the same thing also about those micro YFT.  I caught them on my bass gear but they really threw it into high gear and it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be to turn the handle and bounce them.... and they are yummy!

As for deep dropping, I'm still trying for my hoo, but I really want to deep drop soon.  I also need to get my trolling motor wiring fixed.

Quote from: jrodda on October 17, 2026, 08:06:47 PMThe lobsters were probably trying a "strength in numbers" tactic, weighing down the nets in hopes that your shoulder would fall out of its socket before they could be caught.

I didn't consider that, but definitely not out of the realm of possibilities.  hahaha

BTW, the Concolor is a perfect hooping boat.  Might be good to try it out come the new year when you get things dialed in.

It was time to get some lobster as my shoulder is not improving and the ticker to the surgery is coming up quickly.  I planned on hitting SD bay since they have been getting some monsters in there, but my shoulder is not up for pulling traps up from deeper locations.  Shallower option is Mission Bay.



I got home from work an hour early (since I went in 2 hours early) and already had the boat prepped so I could leave soon as I got home which would give me plenty of time to drop the hoops before sunset.



I brought enough bait to change out the traps 3x so it should be plenty... or it should have been plenty...

I used a note taker on the phone to record my counting and to summarize totals for each string of traps.  Only had 5 traps since I was solo and it made things much easier on my little boat than having 10 on board.

First String...  5 nets... 133 lobster and only 1 legal....  It was fun to see so many but a bummer there were so few legals.  One net had 51 lobster in it.



Second String...  5 nets... 72 lobster and 2 legals.... 




Third String...  5 nets... 83 lobster and 0 legals.... 


Fourth String...  5 nets... 42 lobster and 2 legals....  (Lobster #'s dropping fast but still averaged over 8 lobster a hoop.



Fifth String...  5 nets... 37 lobster and 1 legal....  (Lowest amount of lobster yet but over 7 a net average).  Most likely from dropping in other spots to get away from the smaller ones since I was running out of bait..

Sixth string... all I needed was one more and got him in the first net so it was time to stack'em!  This string was one of my best yet as I ended up with 107 and 9 legals in this string with 7 coming from the last net alone as it was also filled with 44 lobster all at the limit of being legal!



That makes the grand total 474 bugs – 5 nets – 6 strings = 30 nets pulled
That averages to 16 lobster a hoop all night and by far my best lobster trip according to numbers.  My last best was 367 with my buddy Shaun and we were pulling 10 nets so not even close to what I did this night!

I am hurting so bad right now though... Between the lobster pokes, bad shoulder and now ruined back, I need a week off but I know I won't be getting that any time soon.  LOL

Thanks for reading!

Well, I have to smoke some marlin today but I started by cutting some big steaks for the smoker...

Looks like Pumpkin Swordfish...



Rest to come later!

Well, you know how to cook them by now as each post has a slight variation each time I cook or prepare it.

Here we go.

Chunk Light Poke



Green Onion from garden



Delicious!


Butt Cakes w/crab mixed in.  Macadamia Nut from my buddy's tree as well as pepper and onion from the garden.

Coated with Old Bay



Cakes made and coted in crushed Macadamia nut.



I can't begin to tell you how good this smells.  Cooked in grapeseed oil for high heat purposes.



What we didn't eat, got vacuum sealed in sets of two for appetizers or lunch at a later time.



It does the trick!

I decided to look offshore before the wind came up as forecasted, but figured I had a good 6 hours before it started.  My plan was to fish the inside drop-off to oblivion since that is where I have seen the most flying fish and marlin signs the last few weeks going out and coming in from the 178.



Wind was pretty choppy at first light, and I saw a familiar boat out there.  After a quick telephone call, i realized it was buddy Scott who likes to fish all Nija like.  He never answered the hail or my texts, but soon as I called him, he knew the gig was up!  He was staying inshore since he had some intel on some nice yellows.  I said I was going offshore and he tried to talk me into staying inshore saying the wind was going to be brutal.  I figured I was close enough and be able to run in with the wind at my back just fine.



I get to the area I want to fish and flying fish everywhere!  I'm feeling pretty hopeful and even found a sweet paddy but couldn't get anything to hit my micro jig and my side finder was almost blank looking under the paddy.



I started trolling a 5-rod spread:  one marlin lure, two wahoo jigs, and two small bubblers for tuna/dorado.  It wasn't long before I had my first take down on the small bubbler. 



Skippy!



I could see in the distance the weather line heading right towards me.

Then my bent butt started to scream!  I jumped on the rod and tried to make sure I sunk the hook in before clearing the other trollers.  It jumped and I literally was like "Was that a sailfish?!!!!!"  It was a pretty small billfish from what I have been catching, but I saw a huge fin/sail on it! 
Then it jumped again and I know I saw a longer sail, but it was sideways so I couldn't tell if it was a spearfish, sailfish, or small marlin!  Now my heart was pumping and I started clearing line!  I had the boat in gear and was on the last rod when i could hear it splashing and then the line started ripping off the reel and stopped suddenly.  OH NO!  I know that noise!  It popped off.  f@ck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I called Scott and he seemed to think it was most likely a shortbill spearfish, but that first jump, I swear I saw a huge sail on it and not a low and tight one to the body.  Well, I will never know but in any case, it was a really cool hook up! (The area I hooked up was 75.4 degree water and only a half miles away it was 72.6.  I definitely was on a break and flying fish everywhere)





I started trolling again and the small jet heat gets slammed.  Another skippy!



Followed by the chrome bubbler and another Skippy!



Then I realized that weather line was almost above me and then it started raining on me.  The wind went from 10 knots to 25 knots immediately and the texture on the water due to this wind was crazy!  I should have just reeled in and shot back to the ramp, but that stupid billfish had me still hunting the area.  By now it was too late.



I cleared the line and though I could run straight in with the wind at my back, but the wind created these tight tall wind waves that crashed over the bow every time I tried to overtake the backside of the wave heading in causing me to submarine and throw a wall of water over me almost every time.  I was soaked and pulled the deck plug to make sure all of the water drained out.  By the time I got into the inlet, I was a wreck and it was just plain nasty out there.

Thankfully I got 3 skippies for poke and lobster bait so it wasn't a complete loss.

Anyway, now I need to go lobster fishing.  Surgery is a month away and I need to stock up while I can!

I'll pu the pics up whem I get home from work today.

Thanks for reading!

Then again and I couldn't tell if it

I went for wahoo Steve but should have stuck with Lobster.

Dude, I left about 45 minutes too LATE.  I saw it coming but figured I had more time.  My buddy with a 28' boat called me up on the radio and said he was racing in and I probably should too.  Instead, I started trolling in until I realized that the waves at my back were going to be worse than at my bow. Ugh, I took about 400 gallons over the bow.  f@ck, I just realized that I didn't put up a post.  I'll get to work on that but glad you got back and figured out the gas issue.

The Coronado Canyon has been on fire with Hoo, but I just haven't been able to get over there.  The storm probably f@cked everything up.

Thanks for the post boss and the Jets and Fins tangle soon!

Looks like there is a small opportunity on Saturday Morning before the storm rolls in.  I don't mind bug hunting in the rain, but not in 20 knot winds!

TONIGHT
Wind NW 10 kt in the evening ... becoming variable less than 10 kt. Seas 3 ft. Wave
Detail: NW 1 foot at 4 seconds, S 3 ft at 11 seconds and W 1 foot at 11 seconds.
FRI
Wind variable less than 10 kt...becoming NW 10 kt in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 4 ft.
Wave Detail: S 3 ft at 12 seconds and W 1 foot at 14 seconds.
FRI NIGHT
Wind NW 10 kt in the evening ... becoming variable less than 10 kt. Seas 3 to 4
ft. Wave Detail: NW 1 foot at 4 seconds, S 3 ft at 11 seconds and W 1 foot at
14 seconds.
SAT
Wind variable less than 10 kt...becoming W 10 kt in the afternoon. Seas 3 to 4
ft. Wave Detail: N 1 foot at 4 seconds, W 1 foot at 13 seconds and SW 3 ft at
16 seconds.
SAT NIGHT
Wind NW 10 to 15 kt...becoming N 15 to 20 kt after midnight. Seas 4 ft ... building to 5
to 6 ft after midnight. NW 4 ft at 5 seconds and S 3 ft at 16 seconds. A slight chance
of showers in the evening, then a chance of showers after midnight.
SUN
Wind SW 20 kt. Seas 7 to 9 ft...building to 9 to 12 ft in the afternoon. SW 7 ft at 7
seconds and S 6 ft at 13 seconds. Showers likely, mainly in the morning.
SUN NIGHT
Wind SW 15 to 20 kt. Seas 8 to 10 ft. Wave Detail: W 7 ft at 7 seconds and S 6 ft at 12
seconds. A chance of showers.

Quote from: jrodda on October 07, 2026, 11:19:50 AMNice! I have pondered those a number of times, although they have been out of my price range. Looking forward to seeing some shots with it.

I refused to pay those ridiculous prices but wasted $80 on a cheapo... Basically double that and get the high-end version.  I'm pretty sure I'll be able to get some good footage but need to find some good editing software.  The ones I have now are too difficult and/or too time consuming.

Sx is in a month and 3 months of recovery.  I want a few bugs for the freezer as the only thing I'll be doing in late December is trout fishing with 2# test at best. 

I guess if the marine forecast looks good, I might as well take advantage of that and look for Hoo.

For the last few years I've wanted too get a DJI action camera as my old GoPro-3 is tough to operate, especially now that GoPro-12 is rolling out.  That should give you an idea how old it is.

I bought a cheapo off brand for $80 a couple of years ago and I should have realized the quality of the video would be the same.  I barely bring it out as the battery life is way too short and the quality is fine if you are looking at a screen the size of a phone and not an actual computer monitor or bigger.

Here comes Amazon Prime... Last time I went to buy a DJI drone and the $400 drone was listed as $220 for Prime Day.  I thought it was a bunch of bull and just marked up so I waited and the price even went over $400 after Prime Day and never even went close to that low even on Black Friday!  Ugh, I wound up getting a good but lesser version of a drone because I wasn't paying that price.

Forward to the action cameras.  I've wanted to get one as the reviews for these cameras are really off the charts even compared to the GoPros, but I didn't want to spend $350-$400 for a camera.  Unfortunately, my phone is about full of memory and the video always comes out pixelated when I share it anywhere else besides me phone so I want to get a real camera so I can actually capture under the paddy scenes as well as some cool things without filling up my phone memory just randomly videoing.

Here it was...  One day only and only for 15 minutes once it is put in the cart, but a $400 DJI camera with two spare batteries for only $195.  I had it in my cart as I pondered if I should even do it but after 20 minutes saw it went back to full price!  It was 85% taken, so I had one more chance to pull the trigger if I talked myself into it....

Well, it will be here on Thursday, so hopefully get to share more video and better underwater quality pictures with you soon!