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!

Yellows are off Point Loma... When are you getting the "Pirate Patch" in the water?

So I'm not sure I'll have the boat anywhere the hoo are as the season progresses, but I could be wrong.  I have one PTO day left that I could use as the other days are going to be used for my surgery. 

I was thinking about using up some of the carcasses in my freezer for a long night of bug hunting and using a PTO day the following day to clean and rest up.... OR....  do I just use it for another offshore trip and burn a ton of gas looking for quarry?  It'll probably be just a solo trip so either will put a hurting on my shoulder and body but I want to use my last PTO day properly.

What would you guys do?

BTW, I'd definitely give the motor the 100-hour service to reset. 

The wind was there, but the mountains and the cliffs kept the wind stream up high off the water.  It did create some waves coming from the land which was weird.

Would you guys like to see a full color logo or grayscale version?