I kicked off the first day of winter with a little "professional networking"—and what better way to connect than by hopping on the water and stacking up some fish? I met up with Quy, who owns a validation company. We've known each other for about 12 years, and he launched his business five years ago. He's always wanted to fish with me, and the timing finally lined up. Plus, I was curious if there might be a chance to work together down the road.
Quy's still pretty green when it comes to fishing—he's only been on a boat a couple of times—so I made sure he took his Dramamine. He showed up about 15 minutes late, but you could tell he was fired up. When I saw the white sneakers, I handed him my spare boots. Had to get him boat-ready.
The plan was simple: load up on bonito, then run to the "Red Grounds" to finish the job. After an hour of trolling through nothing but grass and kelp—and a blank meter—we bailed and headed straight for Red Rocks. Word on the radio was that the fleet down in Point Loma was wide-open on bonito.
I was hoping the rockfish would make up for the slow start. As we got close, another boat was drifting on my usual spot, so I slid over to a different waypoint. I set Quy up with the line-counter reel and grabbed the little spinner for myself.
First drop—bam. Solid red.
Quy's first fish wasn't huge, but he was fired up.
A little later, he got quiet and said he wasn't feeling great—maybe something he ate. I told him, "Over the rail or into the pail!" He ended up chumming, but after that he rallied and was good for the rest of the day.
The bite picked up, and it wasn't just reds. We were getting some quality "other" cod, plus a few dinks that Quy seemed to specialize in.
I handed him the little rod since he kept finding the smaller ones.
He stuck a nice barber pole—his first. Honestly, almost everything was a first for him.
I picked up a solid whitefish during the flurry.
And then my own barber pole.
Quy added a few whitefish to the count.
We hit our limits on coppers.
Then Quy hooked into something with a little more weight.
Turned out to be a nice red.
We caught more barber poles than I've seen in a long time—and some really nice ones.
Quy showing off his two-fish limit.
We kept at it until we were nearly limited out on groundfish. Then I hooked something heavy. At first, I thought it might be a shark, which made Quy a little nervous. But there were no tail slaps, and it fought all the way up from 360 feet. Turned out to be a chunky lingcod with a serious belly. Took three tries with the lip gripper to land it.
With a couple spots left, we picked up one more big barber pole before heading in.
Final tally:
• 4 Vermillions
• 2 Coppers
• 6 Barber Poles
• 4 Whitefish
• 4 Green Spotted
• 1 Ling
• ...plus a few shorts released, for 17 groundfish total.
On the way in, we looked for bonito but only found birds. Still, the trip was a win for Quy—he got to see a gray whale, a pod of dolphins, and a couple of Mola Mola.
We cruised in at 40 mph with the wind at our backs and stopped in the bay for a few more photos.
Fat-bellied ling:
All in all, Quy went home with a pile of fresh fish. We talked a bit about work opportunities, but I hope he remembers the trip first—and maybe something will come of it down the line.
Quy's still pretty green when it comes to fishing—he's only been on a boat a couple of times—so I made sure he took his Dramamine. He showed up about 15 minutes late, but you could tell he was fired up. When I saw the white sneakers, I handed him my spare boots. Had to get him boat-ready.
The plan was simple: load up on bonito, then run to the "Red Grounds" to finish the job. After an hour of trolling through nothing but grass and kelp—and a blank meter—we bailed and headed straight for Red Rocks. Word on the radio was that the fleet down in Point Loma was wide-open on bonito.
I was hoping the rockfish would make up for the slow start. As we got close, another boat was drifting on my usual spot, so I slid over to a different waypoint. I set Quy up with the line-counter reel and grabbed the little spinner for myself.
First drop—bam. Solid red.
Quy's first fish wasn't huge, but he was fired up.
A little later, he got quiet and said he wasn't feeling great—maybe something he ate. I told him, "Over the rail or into the pail!" He ended up chumming, but after that he rallied and was good for the rest of the day.
The bite picked up, and it wasn't just reds. We were getting some quality "other" cod, plus a few dinks that Quy seemed to specialize in.
I handed him the little rod since he kept finding the smaller ones.
He stuck a nice barber pole—his first. Honestly, almost everything was a first for him.
I picked up a solid whitefish during the flurry.
And then my own barber pole.
Quy added a few whitefish to the count.
We hit our limits on coppers.
Then Quy hooked into something with a little more weight.
Turned out to be a nice red.
We caught more barber poles than I've seen in a long time—and some really nice ones.
Quy showing off his two-fish limit.
We kept at it until we were nearly limited out on groundfish. Then I hooked something heavy. At first, I thought it might be a shark, which made Quy a little nervous. But there were no tail slaps, and it fought all the way up from 360 feet. Turned out to be a chunky lingcod with a serious belly. Took three tries with the lip gripper to land it.
With a couple spots left, we picked up one more big barber pole before heading in.
Final tally:
• 4 Vermillions
• 2 Coppers
• 6 Barber Poles
• 4 Whitefish
• 4 Green Spotted
• 1 Ling
• ...plus a few shorts released, for 17 groundfish total.
On the way in, we looked for bonito but only found birds. Still, the trip was a win for Quy—he got to see a gray whale, a pod of dolphins, and a couple of Mola Mola.
We cruised in at 40 mph with the wind at our backs and stopped in the bay for a few more photos.
Fat-bellied ling:
All in all, Quy went home with a pile of fresh fish. We talked a bit about work opportunities, but I hope he remembers the trip first—and maybe something will come of it down the line.
