2020 Fishing Recap

[Latimeria]

I've had multiple boat issues this year, lock-downs for most, and general shoulder issues which have caused a ton of pain while trying to just fish in general.  (It hurts to type right now as my slinged arm won't raise to the keyboards height)

Started the year with a bang and a big 100" Sevengill!



Ende the year with a really nice cow shark too!



SNBF was a success and happened just before lockdowns.  Timmy went swimming in the mud!




Lock-Down 7-gill.  Snuck out with Squatch thinking no one will be around during the lock down.  My bad for thinking such a thing.



Great year for local triggers!



Incredible big bass year.









Managed a considerable few corvina this year, but almost all from SD bay.



Beast yellowtail season in a while for me, along with some PB's!







Thresher Shark and GWS farming.  I would show pics of the 5-6 big threshers I hooked and a few I got to the boat, but was lucky to keep all of my parts intact after the tail lashing of the 12 footer next to the boat.  Also had my first great white swim up to the boat where I could touch it.  So Cool.

Hell of a Lingcod season also!











Halibut Galore!











Plenty of bonito, and quality rockfish to fill the bags also.

I did get two things checked off my list though to do. 

Lobster....  Check



Clamming... Check



All in all, I thought it was a super slow year, but after reflecting on it... I think it really wasn't too bad at all.  I was only going to pull a few pictures from my Imgur account, but came across way more than I thought I was going to.  Well, I guess this made me reflect on my recap in a little more positive picture.  I guess it only seemed bad because my shoulder was shot and because of Covid, I stayed to myself and close to shore.  No tuna for me this year and No big Bluefin hunts either.  Yep, that's the part which makes me sad.  haha

May the fish gods all smile upon you guys this year!

[jrodda]

Serious quality all around for you this year, made it count.

Pretty low success rate for me this year. No 7s or soups, though I didn't get a lot of time in for most of the year between quarantine and work. 21 species total for 2020.

I did broaden my horizons a bit though.














I made reasonable attempts at adding at least a half dozen new species to the list this year, and while a lot of that failed, I was able to add yellowtail and spotted bass to the list.






I got some of my stuff back from the DMV for The Mosquito, and I expect to have my CF numbers by the end of January (T's and P's, knock on wood). Just heard that they're opening groundfish to 600ft in 2021, so I've picked a couple spots already for where I'll be looking for new species.

Expect more of this in 2021:

[Latimeria]

You had some great journey's this year boss.  I'm dying to get some road trips in whether they pan out or not. 

I'm already prepared that the first half of the year will all be about the slow recovery, but I'll be raring to go when the world is back up to full speed!

[BenCantrell]

I suppose I should post my new species for 2020. Crazy that the Jan stuff was only a year ago, feels more like several years went by.

Speckled sanddab - outside Mission Bay


Sharpnose seaperch - outside Mission Bay


Shadow goby - Mission Bay


Cheekspot goby - Oceanside


California clingfish - Sunset Cliffs


Mussel blenny - Sunset Cliffs


Speckled rockfish - outside Mission Bay


Pinkrose rockfish - La Jolla


Pelagic stingray - La Jolla (hey I caught a big fish!)


Prickly sculpin - Big Bear


Tule Perch - Lake Gregory


Blackgill rockfish - San Pedro


Pond loach - Los Angeles


Blackeye goby - outside Mission Bay


Cabezon - outside Mission Bay


Stripetail rockfish - Newport Beach


Pacific hake - Newport Beach


The targets I wasn't successful with included:
1. pile perch from the wrecks outside Mission Bay
2. white perch from Oceanside Harbor
3. a proper sized yellowtail from the kayak
4. banded guitarfish from San Diego Bay
5. sailfin molly from an estuary connected to San Diego Bay
6. a mako or thresher from the kayak (but maybe that's for the best)
7. staghorn sculpin from the mouth of the SD River
8. reef finspot from the tidepools
9. bluebanded goby or anything else new from Catalina

A midshipman should be on that list too, but I honestly didn't try for one. Maybe this year.

[Latimeria]

I'm always amazed at your catches Ben.  Bravo sir and species # 1,000 is right around the corner for you!

[Chris]

Jrodda, where did you find the Saturn? I've been looking all over for an outfitter model to demo and can't even find them for sale right now.

Looking at the Bris 14.1 and scout 430 now, Both seem like good boats.

[jrodda]

Jrodda, where did you find the Saturn? I've been looking all over for an outfitter model to demo and can't even find them for sale right now.

Looking at the Bris 14.1 and scout 430 now, Both seem like good boats.

https://www.boatstogo.com/kayaks-sk470xl.asp

I see they're out of stock on the outfitter models (what I purchased above), but this is the site. I nearly went with the link below until I realized I won't be in the position to tow/store a boat on a trailer for a while yet. I've only taken mine out one time but I really like it and I'm probably gonna take shots offshore or crossing the Santa Barbara channel with it as the weather permits.

https://www.boatstogo.com/inflatable-boat-sd470.asp

The boats are shipped from Miami, FL. If you do order one, leave in the order notes that you need the original copy of the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin, because they didn't send me that and it's royally screwed me with my DMV transactions and time away from water the past few months.

I do like the Scout as well, but I don't know if the price is justified, though they do have a well designed lean post option. I got an idea for a PVC post that will be comparable, which I'll post up when I get around to it.

[Chris]

Jrodda, where did you find the Saturn? I've been looking all over for an outfitter model to demo and can't even find them for sale right now.

Looking at the Bris 14.1 and scout 430 now, Both seem like good boats.

https://www.boatstogo.com/kayaks-sk470xl.asp

I see they're out of stock on the outfitter models (what I purchased above), but this is the site. I nearly went with the link below until I realized I won't be in the position to tow/store a boat on a trailer for a while yet. I've only taken mine out one time but I really like it and I'm probably gonna take shots offshore or crossing the Santa Barbara channel with it as the weather permits.

https://www.boatstogo.com/inflatable-boat-sd470.asp

The boats are shipped from Miami, FL. If you do order one, leave in the order notes that you need the original copy of the Manufacturer's Statement of Origin, because they didn't send me that and it's royally screwed me with my DMV transactions and time away from water the past few months.

I do like the Scout as well, but I don't know if the price is justified, though they do have a well designed lean post option. I got an idea for a PVC post that will be comparable, which I'll post up when I get around to it.

I think they went out of business which really sucks. I'm not sure what makes the scouts more expensive, but it seems every representative has a promo code that'll knock off $200 bringing them more inline with the Saturns normal price.
I think the Bris is in my future. They seem to hold up well on the rivers and even shore launches in Washington so I can't imagine id put it through much more abuse than that, especially just fishing inshore.