Just bought gas at 4.99 for the first time in a while. That casino on the north side of Bishop should hopefully be around that. Have fun!

That is terrifying to almost lose a box like that, easy to forget how much the tackle adds up to sometimes. Great session!

Parked around 0530. I was 15 minutes late because I had to turn around for the neoprene socks.

Second cast I got clobbered on the spinnerbait. Third cast I got the skunk off with my first spotty out of Alamitos.



Nice morning.



Got another spotty in the channel and then a pee pee turd.



Then Omar showed up! Nice of him to join this time. Took getting to the marinas before we both started hooking some more. I got a solid 13". The current was clearly ripping right under the ends of the marinas and the smelt fry were all around.



Then his first fish of the day is his PB at 16"!



Then I get a 15", my PB.



Then we both hooked ~15"ers moments later.



Slowed a bit but we kept a steady pick til the top of the tide, then there was an hour or more of nearly no bites. We turned back from the top of our loop and I got a couple sandies to pump my numbers up and over 10 for the first time on the tube.



Last fish for me was another solid spotty, putting me at 12 to Omar's 5 for the day.



Got off the water around 1230. Nice to finally get my Alamitos curse off, and it provided better quality and quantity than Newport has produced so far for me. Looking forward to the next one.

I got rid of my Volvo because any simple thing that came up was triple the price for repair and always somehow disqualified me from being able to do it myself.

Hope you sort it out soon!

Fun...somewhere in the back of my head I thought you were just gonna layer on some fiberglass around the base and call it a day. Only bad and worse in this situation.

Quote from: Tim524 on June 09, 2026, 09:01:45 AMLures are a different story

I've got dozens of trays full of "why not", madness.

An excel sheet would probably be perfect so you could sort between rods, reels, categories, etc. That will be a neat little project to get into tonight.

Launched 0530 in Newport. Was supposed to meet Omar but he slept through his alarm. Boooooooooooo

Got on the board quick with the dropshot.



Broke off another on a pillar, then got a similar size in short succession.

Got quiet for about an hour then pulled a micro spotty.

Decided to cross the channel to an area I had yet to fish. Spent an hour over there not getting any bites.

Fished the middle of the channel over a presumed drop-off. Got a sand bass on board and the brunch cruise boat that I used to work on, biggest ship in the harbor, was getting ready for the morning brunch. The captain saw it in my hand and honked at me in approval, waking up everyone in the harbor. I do appreciate the attention.



Caught another shortly after. Looks like the ones I find around heavier structure, but not much structure in the channel.



Got off the water before 10, 5 to hand. Better than 4.


Also tried Huntington harbor on Friday and got a few bites but wore the skunk. Saw a big sea turtle which was cool.

I have a note on my computer for my up to date inventory, along with potential combos to consider. Always entertaining some things, letting ideas age, and dropping the unnecessary stuff. To be precise, I can't justify over 47...it was 46 and then I brought home an ice rod combo on a whim today...I'm really at 27 right now. I know Alicia doesn't believe me when I say I'm a minimalist.

Do you have a written or typed inventory? I'm super curious about what you've decided to keep.

It's also a regular exercise of mine in that same note to list all the rods I would bring for any given trip, and recognize which combos ultimately get ignored all the time. I get ideas for niche combos then realize most days I will still only ever need a jigstick, a dropper loop rod, light mackerel rod, and maybe a troller or two. Or just a medium rod or two for the bays/bass.

Sounds like a cool little trip. Hope the arm gets righted soon enough.

Quote from: Latimeria on June 05, 2026, 06:43:00 AMGood looking gear Jeremy!  I finally have someone coming by to check out the console on my boat so hopefully I'll be out on the water again soon and get some reels a little salty!

Thornyheads, huh?  I was considering deep dropping for Giant squid.  I'm not sure if one has been caught recreationally or not yet.

Well if you need a deckhand to get eaten alongside...Steve should be free.

That would make a lot of cut bait. Now that you mention it, I've never heard or considered where they've been found, how deep, on super deep seamounts vs continental ledges verses coastal ledges. You would have to be the first if you did get one though.

Been quietly accumulating used stuff from work the last couple years. Most of my lighter gear has been used at least once from shore. The boat stuff has just been sitting pretty all this time though.

Left to right, Tekota 500HGA, Tekota 800PGA, TAC8, TAC16II, and TAC20II. TAC8 has been on a couple boat rides, farmed a small bluefin on it last year, Tekota got some rail time rockfishing last month. The others patiently wait their turn. Not pictured are a Tiagra 30w and 50w that live on rod butts in a more incognito location, because I´m already taking up too much living room space between this full rack and the rotating inshore rack. Hope they see deep dropping, big skirts, and madmacs eventually.

The 800 yearns to pull blackgill and thornyheads from 1300´.

Quote from: Tim524 on May 31, 2026, 08:25:48 PMLooks like The Trio had a good time despite the ongoing event, Grill'n and Chill'n on The Bay in May

I was at The Hilton for Aaron's Award Ceremony next to The Convention Center, he is a Journeyman Substation Electrician for SDG&E, the kid is doing well 

Summer is here and El Nino is on the way, hope you get the boat fixed soon

Congrats to Aaron!

Happy to get down there and hang! Too bad every event ever was happening but it was an enjoyable break from the OC Abyss.

Slight preference to mission bay for salt air, less bugs and marginally easier drive, but Jennings would be a new experience for me and I do have some hot dogs to burn off in the freezer.

I am free the next many Saturdays.