Bugging the full moon 11-6-2014

[MASSfisher]

Had the privilege of hoop netting aboard Latimeria's boat the other night.

Soon after launching I realized how awesome the conditions were: A beautiful full moon was rising and greeted us as we made our way to the hooping grounds. The was barely any wind, and very few people on the water. The current was a bit strong but we worked through it. The only negative thing about the night was the sea lions....but I'll talk about them later 

The lobster didn't show any type of patterns. This is only the second time I've ever done it from a boat and don't know the habits of these spiny creatures. Some were caught shallow, and some deep. One round we would have a bunch while the next pull produced few. I'm sure that if I kept an accurate hoop netting log book like I do for fishing that I would start to see some patterns...

Eventually it seemed like we were able to maneuver our nets to productive areas based on where we were getting the most luck and we picked away at them.

Wish I kept track of our totals but we caught a ton of shorts in proportion to the legals we got. Other critters included an almost legal halibut, an octopus, a bunch of sting rays, some assorted crabs, and a rock 

The sea lions were absolutely infuriating. There were times when they were around but didn't seem to affect the catching, but more often than not they were in the way wreaking havoc. Had they not been around, I'm very confident that our numbers would have been much higher.

During the soaks we had a few minutes to fish and talk about fishing. I managed a few spotties and Tom got rocked by something big. All in all I had an excellent time even with the sea lions around. It was great to take a break from work and school and do something different.

I had an excellent time fishing with you Tom, hope we can do it again sometimes. I learnt a lot and am glad that we were able to get on some bugs!

Totals for the night: 6 legals and a crab

[Latimeria]

Yep, great fishing with you also Brian.  I went out and bought a new band for my wrist rocket. Those sea lions are still haunting me today!

Here are some of the pics I got. It sounds like it was a tough night for many.  I think a night with less current could have also made a difference, but we did well for the conditions we had.  How a rock got into a conical net and stayed there, I'll never get unless a sea lion dumped it in there after taking the lobster out of it.  lol

Full moon rising.


One of Many short bugs.


This is a first... 20" halibut in the hoop net! (friggand seal blew up out of nowhere and ate him after we released him.)


Spider Man!


Caught with his hands in the cookie jar!  It was funny to watch him and you battle.


We had a few nice sets with a bunch of lobster, but man, so many were just a hair short.


Nice bass


A few of our quarry.


Once again, good hooping with you and thanks for saving my back from what would have been bad spasms today by pulling in all the nets. 

[sasquatch]

Been wondering all day how you guys did. Not a bad night.

[Latimeria]

I talked to Dave today. He said we should have used cans of cat food to keep the dogs away. Lol

[MASSfisher]

I talked to Dave today. He said we should have used cans of cat food to keep the dogs away. Lol

Hahaha makes sense

[faster u fool]

That looks like a great time.. fear the beard.