Throwing Bones (8/26)

Latimeria · August 28, 2017, 07:13:31 AM

Did a quick local run with Steve but had to be back at the ramp by noon the latest. I had a bunch of people coming over for the McGregor/Mayweather fight and had a lot to do before they showed up.
I heard of a big biomass locally, but knew it would be a parking lot out there, so only hoped for some bonito so I could get some shark bait.

The sea conditions were great. Light winds and small seas were prevalent, so the ride to the grounds was nice and easy. We got out at first light so it was fairly empty, but the mob quickly started to form. We looked for mackerel, but nothing around. We decided we were going to live or die by artificial lure. Good thing there were fish everywhere!

By 7:30 a.m. Steve and I limited with Bonito. All perfect size shark bait bonito! They hit about everything, but the megabait was the biggest producer.

We finally got tired of catching them after throwing back another dozen or two. On one of my last casts in the parking lot, I finally got the megabait through the bonito and actually sunk to the bottom. As I was jigging, I got a real hit!!! I knew right away it was a yellow. Not big, but the normal sized yellow that I've caught this year.

We got out of the crowd and started looking for something else. We got more of the same, but also picked up 14 rockfish on top of a bunch more bonito. I had a legit bonito on all the way to the boat. It was a double digit bonito and one of the biggest that I have caught, but due to circumstances, I lost it boatside. Oh well, time to try for another.
In the meantime, the bonito were snapping the entire time.

We decided to troll some rapalas to see if we could get any larger grade models. We trolled away from the crowd and it paid off! Steve hooked up first with a nice yeller!

We continued trolling when the clicker started screaming! Holy crap that scared the sh!t out of me! It was a beast and thankfully I had 80# braid with 60# topshot. It felt good getting the right fish on the right gear. Being in 65' of water I kept thinking that I would lose it in the kelp being that shallow!

As we were trolling home, Steve and I get knocked down. He lost his, but mine stayed on the hook. I thought it was a bigger bonito, but turned out to be another yellowtail! I didn't take a picture of this one, but it was only 6 or 7 pounds.

In any case, we caught 15 rockfish, 4 yellows, and 3-4 dozen bonito easy in 5 hours of fishing. The best part was I was home by 12:15 and had plenty of time to clean the boat and fish before company showed up!
Good times and lots of lost fish also.

Until next tide!

skrilla · August 28, 2017, 08:16:45 AM

Nice haul on the mini metal. Biggest parking lot I've seen out there this year. Guess I missed you guys in the crowd.

Latimeria · August 28, 2017, 08:53:26 AM

Quote from: skrilla on August 28, 2017, 08:16:45 AM
Nice haul on the mini metal. Biggest parking lot I've seen out there this year. Guess I missed you guys in the crowd.

That was a crazy amount of boats and yaks out there. Thankfully there was a ton of fish for everyone!

Latimeria · August 28, 2017, 08:55:17 AM

I forgot to mention that Steve and I saw 4 makos out there. Two were small, like 4 to 4.5 feet, but the other two were easily 6 feet! Pretty impressive beasts that were there for the bonito.

spideyjg · August 28, 2017, 09:02:16 AM

So if I fix my plumbing and get out there tomorrow or Wednesday, where should I go. La jolla is pretty vague. Look for the parking lot?

Jim

BenCantrell · August 28, 2017, 09:07:10 AM

Nice haul guys!

Did you not try to target the makos?

Latimeria · August 28, 2017, 09:24:26 AM

Quote from: BenCantrell on August 28, 2017, 09:07:10 AM
Nice haul guys!

Did you not try to target the makos?

Nope. Only had a small window to target and trying to fight a mako between all of those boats would have been impossible.

Latimeria · August 28, 2017, 09:28:56 AM

Quote from: spideyjg on August 28, 2017, 09:02:16 AM
So if I fix my plumbing and get out there tomorrow or Wednesday, where should I go. La jolla is pretty vague. Look for the parking lot?

Jim

The north MLPA line to the NW corner. 80' of water and you'll be in the middle of it. You'll see them jumping.

sasquatch · August 28, 2017, 10:14:58 AM

Very good productive day, once I got into the groove.

Pinoyfisher · August 28, 2017, 11:29:14 AM

Dang, would love to have some of that action!!!!!!!!

vdisney · August 28, 2017, 04:01:02 PM

What else can I say.................that sounds like a ton of fun. So glad the new ride is working out Tom, you earned it

xjchad · August 28, 2017, 04:30:49 PM

Man that looks like a blast! Glad you guys got into them!

skrilla · August 28, 2017, 05:07:00 PM

Quote from: spideyjg on August 28, 2017, 09:02:16 AM
So if I fix my plumbing and get out there tomorrow or Wednesday, where should I go. La jolla is pretty vague. Look for the parking lot?

Jim

This biomass of fish is pretty big. Big concentrations on the border, the pipe outside the green tanks, PB, NW corner, and off DM/TP... 14 fathoms right now is the universal depth it seems. Each concentration is moving fast though so by midweek I wouldn't be surprised if it spreads outside Oside if not already there. Just some current dope for ya. Good luck!

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Throwing Bones (8/26)