I went hooping with my son Sean Monday and Tuesday at Catalina. After picking up a half scoop of cured sardines from Nacho, we headed across the channel in nice conditions that just got better the closer we got. The island is green and beautiful after all the rain, and it was a perfect sunny day between the storms. I was thinking it does not get much better mid-winter.
Bonito are still holding at the island, and we were able to catch enough to stuff the bait tubes in short order. We tried several front side beaches and deep spots for halibut, but got no biters. Making a move back side to Silver Canyon produced a toad sand bass for Sean, but fishing is slow right now.
We set up that night on our lobster spot with the moon, tide and current not in our favor. The first set of 5 hoops pulled at 7 PM produced only shorts and empty nets. Not good! The 2nd pull at 9 brought some relief with 2 good size legal bugs, but a few shorts per hoop was the norm. At 11 we made our last pull for 3 more good size legals and called it a night with 5 in the tank.
Tuesday was another beautiful day, starting out catching more bonito. We basically just relaxed all day, picked up some lunch in Avalon and anchored up on a nice beach to enjoy the scenery and a quick nap. That night we managed 4 more bugs, 3 of which were big males. Over all it was slow, and we did not get many per hoop, with some empty nets and a couple of large spider crabs. We even got a small horn shark in one net. Even though the weather was good, it was really cold that night! We called it quits at 11 – thankful we had 9 nice bugs – same number we caught a few weeks ago in one night.
The ride home in the morning started out well, but then the boat gremlins caught up to us. First, the radio antenna broke – busted right at the place where the fiberglass goes into the metal bracket. Then about 10 miles out, the engine just randomly shut down and it did not sound good. It started up right away, but it did not sound right, so we limped home at 6 knots. I was able to get back up on a plane later, but something is definitely wrong. Then when we got back to the ramp, one of the trailer wheels was locked up. A few taps with a hammer on the brake plate freed it up.
The one good thing was this all happened on the way home, not the way there – so we were able to enjoy our time at the island. We made it home safe without being towed. Now it’s time for some major maintenance. You know what they say BOAT means: Break Out Another Thousand (or two).
Be safe out there,
Mike
Nice bug!
Sean's toad sand bass - which was released
Bonito are still holding at the island, and we were able to catch enough to stuff the bait tubes in short order. We tried several front side beaches and deep spots for halibut, but got no biters. Making a move back side to Silver Canyon produced a toad sand bass for Sean, but fishing is slow right now.
We set up that night on our lobster spot with the moon, tide and current not in our favor. The first set of 5 hoops pulled at 7 PM produced only shorts and empty nets. Not good! The 2nd pull at 9 brought some relief with 2 good size legal bugs, but a few shorts per hoop was the norm. At 11 we made our last pull for 3 more good size legals and called it a night with 5 in the tank.
Tuesday was another beautiful day, starting out catching more bonito. We basically just relaxed all day, picked up some lunch in Avalon and anchored up on a nice beach to enjoy the scenery and a quick nap. That night we managed 4 more bugs, 3 of which were big males. Over all it was slow, and we did not get many per hoop, with some empty nets and a couple of large spider crabs. We even got a small horn shark in one net. Even though the weather was good, it was really cold that night! We called it quits at 11 – thankful we had 9 nice bugs – same number we caught a few weeks ago in one night.
The ride home in the morning started out well, but then the boat gremlins caught up to us. First, the radio antenna broke – busted right at the place where the fiberglass goes into the metal bracket. Then about 10 miles out, the engine just randomly shut down and it did not sound good. It started up right away, but it did not sound right, so we limped home at 6 knots. I was able to get back up on a plane later, but something is definitely wrong. Then when we got back to the ramp, one of the trailer wheels was locked up. A few taps with a hammer on the brake plate freed it up.
The one good thing was this all happened on the way home, not the way there – so we were able to enjoy our time at the island. We made it home safe without being towed. Now it’s time for some major maintenance. You know what they say BOAT means: Break Out Another Thousand (or two).
Be safe out there,
Mike
Nice bug!
Sean's toad sand bass - which was released
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