Sunday on the Santa Monica Bay - Jeffery's Big Day

Out on the Ramblin' and got into some great fishing action on Sunday. 6/26/2011

We Got Em'! We were very lucky. We got very big fish. Jeffery was the lucky angler and he got 2 monster fish! Maybe it’s a payback from over tipping the bait guy.

We left Marina Del Rey harbor at the same time that the New Del Mar was making it out of the Breakwater. Headed south. We metered some good looking marks just north of the fleet of boats off of Redondo Beach. So we set up and fished. It was a while but we all got into the groove. Then Jeff hooked up. He gingerly worked it for a long time. It came up slowly. Then we saw the nice halibut and decided quickly to switch from net to gaff.

Jeffery's morning Halibut

I gaffed it and brought it over the transom through the aft door. Would have been smoother if Carl had not looked over my shoulder to see the fish. I bopped him in the eye with the gaff. Ooops. Sorry Carl. Hope the ice helped.

We relaxed a bit. Most of the fleet moved off to fish other areas. We stayed. We relaxed and kept at it. Then moved in tighter to where the fleet had moved from. Carl again picked a spot to anchor next to some good meter marks.

A few other fish came up for us. The Rays teased us with visions of WSB in our heads. Then Jeff got his second one. Jeff was on it. It had hit hard. A major bendo'. He followed the fish forward up the rail. Following the fish Under the anchor rode on the bow. Carl followed behind to hold his belt when transiting the narrow parts and to back him up if the boat rocked. Eventually Carl even gaffed the fish on the bow.

Jeffery's afternoon White Seabass

We kept only these two fish. However these beasts are worth braggin' about.

We got Halibut, White Seabass, Barracuda, and Rays within sight of the blue whale wall in Redondo Beach. The Barracuda and misc fish were released. I missed my chance to get one. It came unbuttoned with a bit of the fishes jaw attached to the hook. It had been in the rod holder and was too tight of a drag while we fooled around with the fresh one on deck.

Jeffery was the definitely the hot stick. All three of us DRYC guys on boat were blanked on the elusive White Seabass. My brother Carl. My dock mate David of the boat Top Dog. Carl, Jeffery and I are active members of Marina Del Rey Anglers. Carl and David are members at the Avalon Tuna club. All of us can and do get fish. It was just Jeffery's big day.

We headed in around 4 pm. It was a fine blue sky day with really nice weather and not any problems with the swell.

At the Marina Del Rey Fuel Dock

Unfortunately the Del Rey Fuels fish weigh-in hoist was not rigged with any lines or pulley. So we were out of luck to get an officially weighted in weight slip there.

Then we used a scale at Del Rey Yacht Club on their hoist. Since Jeffery and I had a bet as to the real size of the Halibut we needed an accurate scale. Carl just happened to have one.

Here are the Proof in the certified scale photos! First the Halibut.

When we got this one it measured out at 44 inches. I was sure it was closer to 36 lbs. Jeff was sure it was a 40 pound fish. Jeff won as it came in at 39lbs.

Then the Beast of the White Seabass

Jeffery had cared for the fish nicely in ice and careful to not bruise the meat. When it came out of the kill bag it still looked great. What do you think of this photo?

Only problematic issue with such big fish is you need a lot of ice and a lot of time to clean and package the meat. We felt like we were butchering a full cow it was so much work. In order to have a nice space to work on the fish we went over to Burton Chase park to the Fish Cleaning station in the park. It was a great space to do the butchering. We saved the WSB head for the research program.

In the end, my Fish Wish was granted… We had some fun!

Sincerely,

Keith
skipper of the Ramblin'


PS Thanks goes to Philip Friedman for his Facebook and Patch.com posts. His reporting helped me get my brother and some fishing buddies out on the water.


PPS WSB Fishing Tips...
Look at the tide charts and fish AM or PM hours during the best tide swing. Use a very light dragg on the pick up. Always have the freshest bait. Try not to ever leave the rail. Once hooked never let your rod lose it's bend. Speak up once hooked, tell your fellow fishermen to move as needed. Over or under as needed to follow your fish around the boat. It will take some time to bring these big fish to the boat! Cooperation is a must.

Fishing for White Seabass at Santa Barbara Island

On Tuesday the 14th the news was White F'n Open on White Seabass at Santa Barbara Island.

I got my work done and booked a passage on a sport boat. few can take midweek days off and go with me on my boat. If I'm on my boat I'm stressen' a lot of issues. Tide. Bait. Lines. Fuel calcs. Food and galley issues. Navigation. Captain. Gally Guy. Gilligan clearing lines and tying knots. Simple stuff like worrying about the health of the bait and where to anchor up is enough to tax the weekend warrior like me. I wanted to relax and fish!

So with the help of a fellow MDRA member steve Santin we picked the Toronado out of Peirpoint landeing in Long Beach. Had to wait until Friday. Hoping the bite had not ended by then.

Here is my Fish Report for the Friday, 6/17/2011, fishing on the Toronado. Left Pierpoint after 10 pm on Thursday and they went to my favorite target for WSB of SBI. A bit damp and misty but not that this would stop me from being out on the deck to tie up my rigs. I brought 5 rods (and used all 5)

I had an iron w/ glow paint rigged & ready on a spinner for casting as we arrived and was casting hoping for the first fish. Tossed that in the dark as we set up and anchored. The WSB did not show until much later when the chum brought them around around sunrise. I got one on the dropper loop in the middle of the bigger of the first two good runs of bites. It went approx 12 1/2 lbs. Very Tasty.

Then most of the AM they would breeze through and pop up as a 1 or 2 fish hook up. One short woman angler was always under the boat with a squid and got her 3 fish limit. So it was not the casting that mattered.

On the second big run of fish a 14 lb fish got on my line and the crew gaffed it at the corner and pulled in the fish and several lines to be freed up after we got the WSB on the deck.

One guy (Tennyson) worked it with long casts and finesse on the reel to hook and pass off several fish and also landed a 30# fish to take a big healthy jackpot. ($380) I look forward to seeing him again around Avalon for the marlin tournaments this season.

Special Note... The Crew and Deck Hands of the Toronado were helpful and cheery and fun. (some were noting the pleasant change here) I was happy to be on a open charter boat with good people. AND it seemed that the customers were very cooperative. No one tried to "own" the corner and most were very cooperative on over and under to follow the lines. Maybe that was because it was a week day and the folks on this trip were all there because they knew WSB limits had just changed to 3 fish. IE. There were folks on this boat who get it.

End Result... 26 fish for the boat. 2 for me. Fishing was good. water was calm and pleasant. Trip was relaxing and Fun. Fish Wish Granted. It was a very good trip to SBI to get White Seabass.

Tight Lines,

Keith


PS - Steve got blanked on the WSB like I did last year on a simular trip. ouch.