Malibu to Santa Barbara 10/30/09
by Chuck Melber
|
| MORE FIELD EDITOR REPORTS |
|
More Reports by Chuck Melber:
|
I can only hope the weather hasnt slowed you down too much, and time will tell how much the water was turned over. Island Bass fishing survived the last big blow, but I think this was was even worse. Hopefully things hold on, and we can have a few more weeks of decent fishing. After talking to some of the commercial albacore fishermen in Central Cal yesterday, it looks as though the season is all but over. Most are shutting down operations and switching over to Black Cod fishing for the rest of the year. But there are a few holding out for one last run of Albi's out of the Moro region. Hopefully things hold on out there too, and people can put on a few more of the chickens before thanksgiving.
The seas have been angry this week, keeping virtually everyone north of Santa Monica land locked. I headed down to the coast yesterday hoping that maybe I could find some fishable Perch conditions only to be turned back by some massive storm surge and ripping currents. It was nice to get down to the water however and be reminded of the oceans raw power.
Now that lobster season is on, its time to not only put some bugs on the table, but also get out there and start looking for new stones to fish. One of the most convenient tools out there for people looking for new places to fish and target bass is those thousands of lobster floats dotting the coastline, and out at the islands. Many of them may be in painfully obvious locations, not warranting your investigation. But there are even more are in spots you never would have assumed have structure. This cam range from a single big boulder, to a wreck, to a big 'ol pactch of surf grass, all of which are worthy of investigation.
As fishing slows down, but you still have an itch to get on the water, spend a day exploring these various floats and see if you cant find a spot with some great structure, and hopefully some Bass holding.
When you motor by a float and see nothing but flat bottom sand on your fish finder, spin around on it, and check it out one more time, this time from a bit further out. Often times, trappers will put their gear a little ways from the stone itself to prevent storm damage, or the float itself is down current from where the trap and structure is. Spend a couple of minutes investigating, heck even drop a plastic of jig down, you never know what you'll find.
Even if you don't get any fish off of the spot that day, but the structure looks great, mark it, and save it for another time. You never know if and when the fish will move in, and maybe it will prove to be a great summer time spot.
Despite the onslaught of wind and winter, fishing is holding out throughout the zone for many. The Stardust has been whoopn the cod nearly every day. It doesn't seem to matter if they are on a ¾ day trip to the islands or fishing local, they are getting their limits in. Interestingly they even stumbled into some Bonito yesterday, hopefully these fish decide to make a last minute showing, to re-invigorate a slow surface fishing year.
|
Also, the Island Tak is standing strong and posting great catches of Calico's upholding their reputation as the fiercest Calico catching vessel on the coast. Yesterday they were one fish shy of 100 for their 11 passengers.
As water temps cool down, that means game fish will be slowing down both physically and metabolically so they wont be quite as aggressive as they were in the summer months. As the wintery season prevails, which will force us to use different techniques to target otherwise voracious predators. Calico's are moving off of the kelp they were in all summer into more hard bottom territory. They will be less inclined to hang out up and down in the water column, and instead will be hugging the bottom. This is an attempt to insulate themselves from the fluctuating temperatures of the surface.
Drop your baits down with a sliding sinker or even a one once torpedo sinker and a dropper loop. If you go for the dropper loop method, make the loop at least a foot long, and use this for the sinker. Then attach your hook to an 18-24 inch tag end. It may sound basic, but i've seen it knock the snot out of wintertime Calico's. If artificials are more your cup of tea, work that plastic slooooow, and bounce it along the bottom. Sometimes you have to spoon feed the bass your bait to get them to eat it.
Weather this weekend is shaping up to be anything but spooky. Ten knots or less are predicted for most of the weekend at the lower Channel Islands and along the Ventura coast. If you dont have familial responsibilities and candy to hand out this weekend, it may be a good time to get out to the islands for some hooping-netting, and fishing. If you do decide to head out for bugs, remember to pick up a lobster report card from your local fishing or dive shop. If you find yourself pulling on some Bones while your out there, remember to save some for the hoop-net, as there is hardly a better bait out there. And as always, shoot me an email and let me know how the trip went.
Until next week, Tight lines and screamn drags.
::::Just IN::::
Live squid available at Channel Islands Sportfishing for the weekend!!!
Please feel free to email me any questions, comments, reports, or photos at Tunachuck@gmail.com. Also, follow me on Twitter. Www.twitter.com/TunaChuck
|
|
|
