New Year New Me 1/21

[jrodda]

Last night I woke up around 1am and noticed dry sinus and itch in my throat. Woof...alarm went off at 0700 and it felt a little worse. Hm....should I actually fish? Slept in another hour and didn't feel any worse so I left for Dana Point.

Arrived and set up at 0930. I want to start making dumb youtube videos so brought some equipment. Filmed the construction of the boat for a whole 30 minutes and killed the DSLR battery and forgot a backup. Then realized I never finalized the GoPro mount. So uh, next time!

20 minute ride out to the canyon for deep dropping. Set up the Avet EX30 I topped off with 600 yards of 50# braid, 80# topshot to a 170# snap swivel holding a 9/0 circle with mackerel. Then off the bottom of that swivel a 25# line with a #4 hook and then a 16oz sinker. Figured I'd lighten the weight and just back troll as needed. Figure the large hook has a shot for swords so I wanna stand a fighting chance while I'm in the zone. Some describe them as cods with katanas, so cod rig needs to be fit!

Pulled up to my zone and there were a few boats watching a whale. I saw the spout from a quarter mile away and then the whale and crowd dissipated by the time I got close. Whale life was a good sign though.

Set up behind them, cut bait, let 'er rip! 5 minute drop down to 1200'...........

Gave it 3 good 30 minute soaks each drop, nary a bite. Reeling up wasn't nearly as bad thanks to using a reel with a big T-handle.





Added a nice compass to my makeshift dash over the holidays.



Had some scraps of meat going up and down my line, up to 100' from the hooks...wonder if it was from the mackerel bait or if I'm rubbing up on strange creatures somewhere in that 1200'....



Wind blew me off by 1230. Tried one more drop in 700' and it was too much wind for too much line. As I was reeling that one up, there was some bird activity a quarter mile away. Drove over and marked a bait school but none of the bluefin I was holding my breath for.

Headed in. Noticed somebody was putting out kite bait on the way in.



Definitely catching a cold now. I wanted to launch from Huntington tomorrow morning for some bassing but I should probably get some rest while I can.

[vdisney]

Hoping you feel better soon, I just got over a lung infection.  Sucks to be sick

[Latimeria]

Wow, a hell of a day!  Nicely done Jeremy, and that snot on your line is pelagic critters that live deep and come up every night in the migration.  Nasty little snot balls.

I'm just tired thinking about dropping 1000+ feet.  I dropped a bait last year about 900' and was like "WTF?!?!"  lol

[jrodda]

I'm just tired thinking about dropping 1000+ feet.  I dropped a bait last year about 900' and was like "WTF?!?!"  lol

This is certainly gonna make bottom fishing 400' seem like light work!

[BenCantrell]

Thanks for the report! Are you heading out and just looking for 1000-1200 ft, or are you picking out good structure at those depths as well? I know the fish finder won't show much once you're that deep, but you can find good spots with Google Earth or some other tool ahead of time and focus on those spots.

[jrodda]

Thanks for the report! Are you heading out and just looking for 1000-1200 ft, or are you picking out good structure at those depths as well? I know the fish finder won't show much once you're that deep, but you can find good spots with Google Earth or some other tool ahead of time and focus on those spots.

I'm focusing on the most distinct canyon walls I can find on Navionics. I hear sablefish roam over mud bottom for the most part so I'm blending mud canyon walls with drifting longer periods to intersect them.

[Chris]

I hate that brown stuff. It fouls the roller tip and I have to take it apart and clean it every time.

[Tim524]

Great spot to mount the compass