Restocking the Rockfish Reserves (3/26)

[Latimeria]

Squatch and I went out today hoping to track down some yellows or bonito.  Plan B was get a mess of rockfish to make the $6 a gallon worth the trip.

Wind was up more than forecasted.

Passed a f@cking water course on the bay... must be the annual Stroker Invitational.  It was and what a pain in the ass that event is...

We realized due to the swells and waves, that we were staying local for the most point.  We decided to head out looking to fill up the rockfish cooler.  It wasn't a hot bite, but a quite steady bite.  Starries and Barber Poles were pretty much everywhere.  Steve had the hot Barber Pole stick and got the lone Rattler also out there.

While we were out there, these 2 damn Storm Petrels came in hot!  The bastards would attack each other, attack our rods, attack the boat, and attack the seagulls!  I've never seen such mad and ill tempered birds like this before!  They followed us everywhere!







As we were trying to catch up to these fast moving rockfish, I thought i got slammed by a Lingcod!  It fought and pulled line the entire fight and I was fairly certain it was a ling, so I got the small hook gaff ready.
Instead, this big husky Red came sliding up and barely hooked, so I sunk the gaff into his head!  You know it's a good fish when you can gaff it and realize you could have used the big gaff to get him!

22" red!



We made a move and tried another one of our spots and once again, I could get away from the Sheepshead!  I got at least a dozen of all sizes. They kept inflating so I didn't pull any out of the water after this first one.  The rest I just shook off boatside.



Some were getting on the bigger size, but I'm on a "Let all the Sheepshead Go" kick at the moment.



We kept making some moves and kept the fish coming.



I did even manage a lone bass!  I feel like we used to slay them here, but not sure where all of them went....



We called it quits and made our way through the obstacle course having to follow some slow ass dingy for some reason.  So stupid....  Anyway, we got our limits for two and I had a lot of cleaning to do, but since I bled and iced them right away, the fillets were white as snow and clean as could be! 

Thanks again for reading.  Maybe Steve can add some storline of what happened today too, as I'm a little too beat at the moment to remember.

[sasquatch]

Fun day on the water.

Looked up the birds. Think they are shearwaters, not petrels. Either way they were a menace. Really weird how they stuck around the whole time.

Not sure how I was using the same bait and technique but could hardly buy a bite on the sheepshead.

That red was a really nice fish.

I hope things turn on soon.

[Latimeria]

I just looked it up and they were shearwaters. Same family as the petrals and really cool birds. Not as scary as the gannets though. LoL

[jrodda]

Nice rockfish! Strange deal with those birds.

[Latimeria]

Because of Jeremy's post and me not really being 100% on the ID, What we are seeing are actually a Northern or Blue fulmar and not shearwaters.

[vdisney]

That is a really nice red, thanks for the bird lessons   

[sasquatch]

Because of Jeremy's post and me not really being 100% on the ID, What we are seeing are actually a Northern or Blue fulmar and not shearwaters.

Third times the charm.

[KogaHead]

That red is a monster.

Who cares about the birds.

[skrilla]

Nice red. Water was 4 shades of doodoo just North of you. Wind from 4 directions too.