I'll make this one short since it's just another bug hunt.

Went to the SD bay for the first time in a long time!  There's a lot of hazards moving in and out of that inlet!



We're used to seeing 12-50 bugs in every net and having to weed out the one or two legals.  The SD Bay is different.  Mostly blanks with a couple of keepers.



SO MANY WRIGGLING ROUND RAYS!!!!



A lot of Sheeps Crab along with a good amount of Rock Crab were also in the nets.

We picked away at the lobster.  Not many but the ones that were there were big!



The f@cking dogs were unbearable!



We should have made one more set drop, but we decided to pull and call it, only 3 short of double limits.





The livewell was looking good!



Funny.  We usually have 200-350 bugs on the white board a night with maybe double limits... but in the SD bay, we only had 21 lobster for the night with 11 legals.  What a difference 7 miles of separation are....



Thanks for reading!

My shoulder is starting to really hurt and getting the boat out would be tough.  I'm still looking for work, but need to get my fix in somehow.... enter Santee Lakes.

$10 and a half a mile away fit my current budget.

The Plan... 

-Fish in the morning
-Run home to job hunt and meet with career coach
-Grab lunch
-Job hunt more
-Fish in the afternoon

I get to the Lakes at opening.  Somehow there were people already fishing where I wanted to be, so I made a move  to another decent spot.  It wasn't long before the "bombs away" went off! 

A Beautiful "Steelhead"!  Biggest of the season for me so far.



Just then, my second rod gets bit and I run over to only lose it since I was fumbling with my other fish.  Well, that was it.  They passed by and I had my 2 opportunities.  I also had another one swimming along the shoreline trying to escape the cormorants, but he wouldn't go for my spinner.  He was too freaked out from the birds trying to eat him.

I saw one other guy catch a decent trout on the other side of the lake, but that was it.  Time to go home and get something accomplished.


PM Session

I move to my old go to spot since the lake is PACKED by this point!  Confidence was low here since this lake only had 2 stockings the last 3 months.  I was in my truck when I saw the strike indicator shoot straight up!  That only means catfish, but I was trying to wish it to be a big trout!

Nope, Big Cat instead!   Still super fun on the ultralight gear.



I only have about 30 minutes left before they close when I get another big bendo!  This one came up to the surface so I envisioned a big trout!  Nope, but a big fat Cat!  I could barely get my hands under its belly!



As I was trying to get the hook out and a picture so I could release him, I hear splashing!  I look up to see a trout splashing around on my other rod!  I drop the cat and run to fight the trout!  I get it in half way and the hook pulls.  I should have used a treble according to Dave....

I get the pics of the big cat and release it.  Now I only have 10 minutes before I'm pushed out.  I decided not to use the strike indicators but just watch the rods instead.  As the Rangers came by on their final pass, I reel up to leave and notice my line was slack in the water!  I reeled up almost all of my line before getting to the hook right at my feet!  Friggin had one on the entire time and lost it because I didn't notice my strike indicator!  Ugh!  Damn trout!

Well, no worries.  I'll try again soon.  In the meantime, I'm taking the morning off fishing so I can update my resume and call the surgeon to work on my shoulder.  I might try again this afternoon....

I wanted to nourish the garden but also keep some of the crab and lobster shells for the museum.  I figured I would peel off the shell whole and just plant the bottom half and let the worms eat the guts below.  The hot wire hopefully would prevent the critters from getting in.



So far so good... I'll keep you posted....

With my most recent lobster trip under my belt, I have a lot more lobster.  This means the wife would have to deal with an all lobster and crab dinner.

The hard part was getting all the leg and body meat out of the crab and lobster for the "side dishes".

I was sure to eat lunch before doing this so I wouldn't eat everything as I was plucking the meat out.



I was working on lobster bisque and used the shells to make a great bisque!  I even threw in some chuncks of lobster meat to bring it over the top!



I then made a "white Lobster Mac-n-cheese" as the side.... I actually used half and half lobster to crab meat for this and it was unbelievable! 



The wife didn't want extra dishes, so I decided to try something.  I took the meat swords for kabobs and threaded them up the lobster tails. 



I didn't want the lobster tails to curl when the cook and this was the perfect solution!



The damn lobster tails were huge all coming off 2.5-3 pound lobsters!  Damn, it smelled great on the grill!



Well, I actually was stuffed.  I'm not sure I've ever been stuffed with crab and lobster before, but it sure hit the spot!  I actually had a garden salad also, but there was no room for greens.  LOL



Now I just have to put the actual lobster post up.  LOL

Looks like a nice setup

I picked up 2 Okuma Komodos a couple years ago. one flew out of the boat  before I ever got to use it and had to buy another one

Looks like you will be well armed and ready to throw some lures, keep us posted 

Quote from: jrodda on January 08, 2026, 08:45:15 PMYou really filled that thing out!

Wind looks like it's gonna rip tonight. Glad we got all that rain to so we don't have another perfect storm like last year.

That wind sucked by me, but it was nice not having to worry about fire!

Last year my goal was to go to The Sierras more than twice, I went 5 times so mission accomplished

This year I want to get The Cyclops out more frequently and just enjoy being on the water with friends and family

Another Pontoon or maybe another RV of some sort might be on the horizon

Oh yeah, after healing from a knee replacement, my last goal is to stay away from the Hospital !

You really filled that thing out!

Wind looks like it's gonna rip tonight. Glad we got all that rain to so we don't have another perfect storm like last year.

And he brought a fossil donation!

Chris stopped by to see the shed.  He just got back from a petrified wood dig and donated a couple of pieces.



He had a few fantastic pieces he showed me before tucking them away back in his truck since I almost didn't want to let them go.  LOL



He left with some Cali Crabs and Trilobites and it was a nice visit. 

The wind is starting to kick up now so I need to make sure those museum windows are closed!  I don't need a mess to clean up!

Man, that's impressive healing Tim!  That first picture is nasty!  LOL

I wonder if we could draw some blood out of you... and add it to the chum line.... if the bats would magnetically head to your rod?