After being out of the game for almost two months with arthritis issues, I was finally able to put together a trip for my son Sean and I. We launched from Huntington Harbor Monday morning and picked up a scoop of sardines from Nacho.
The ocean was flat calm as we checked out the oil rigs and then pointed it to the Avalon Bank. There was some life in this area with dolphins and a blue whale, which we were lucky enough to see go tail flukes up on a dive! A couple of paddies had no fish, so it was off to the back side east.
Slowing trolling sardines got us on the board with some of the small bones that are everywhere at the Island right now. There were boats on the hook and drifting up the line and the sport fleet was just arriving, so we decided to set up a drift at the Palisades. About 9 AM, a guy in a Parker with about 7 people on board lands a nice yellow so at least we know we are in the right area. I got to say, that boat did the best out of everyone there that morning.
After watching the guys on the Parker and sport boats land a few more yellows, I get absolutely freight trained by the right kind. I love those long, drag burning first runs, and this fish did not disappoint! A few more solid runs, and we got him at deep color circling. He looks huge in the water (to me) and I am starting to sweat it out as I am on my 25# outfit, so I back off the drag just a tad. Good thing I did because he made one more power dive to the bottom. Short pumping got him back into range quickly and Sean made the gaff shot count. Finally! He scaled out at 18 pounds but fought way above his weight class! Two years of yellow fever frustration ends.
A few more yellows were caught after that (not by us), but the snap seemed over like flipping a switch. Off. We stayed back there until 7 PM for only more bones, then called it a night with a mooring in Avalon.
Tuesday morning found with only a few baits left, so we jigged up a bunch of smelt at Salta Verde. Back at the Palisades it was a dead zone. We did not catch a single fish. Nobody else we saw did either. The sport fleet showed up again and left quickly for greener pastures. What a difference a day makes. We felt extremely lucky to have gotten our fish yesterday. With nothing else going on, we pinned some bonito on bait o’matics and trolled offshore for a couple of hours. Zippo.
Back in Avalon for lunch, we went for a cooling swim. The beaches all have tables set up for outside dining, and they were packed with tourists. The harbor was practically full. Good to see Avalon back in business, they sorely need it. Slow trolling big smelt and mackerel between Frog rock and the K20 kelp that afternoon was a bust.
Wednesday morning, we headed up to the Isthmus to try for rock fish. We found a dinghy adrift outside of Bird rock with a frayed rope attached. Probably broke off while someone asleep at the wheel was dragging it behind their boat. We towed it in and passed it off to the harbor master - hopefully someone will get their dinghy back.
Our shallow water rock fish spot produced two reds and two tree fish for the deep fryer to top off the trip. The trip back to the barn was a bit rough with a big west swell and cross swell, but we made good time. Overall, it was a fun trip. We got our yellow, the boat ran great, the weather was nice and we made it back in one piece! Water temps at the island were 67 to 70.
Have fun and stay safe out there!
My hard won 18 pound yellow
Hope someone gets this back!
Nice red for tacos!
The ocean was flat calm as we checked out the oil rigs and then pointed it to the Avalon Bank. There was some life in this area with dolphins and a blue whale, which we were lucky enough to see go tail flukes up on a dive! A couple of paddies had no fish, so it was off to the back side east.
Slowing trolling sardines got us on the board with some of the small bones that are everywhere at the Island right now. There were boats on the hook and drifting up the line and the sport fleet was just arriving, so we decided to set up a drift at the Palisades. About 9 AM, a guy in a Parker with about 7 people on board lands a nice yellow so at least we know we are in the right area. I got to say, that boat did the best out of everyone there that morning.
After watching the guys on the Parker and sport boats land a few more yellows, I get absolutely freight trained by the right kind. I love those long, drag burning first runs, and this fish did not disappoint! A few more solid runs, and we got him at deep color circling. He looks huge in the water (to me) and I am starting to sweat it out as I am on my 25# outfit, so I back off the drag just a tad. Good thing I did because he made one more power dive to the bottom. Short pumping got him back into range quickly and Sean made the gaff shot count. Finally! He scaled out at 18 pounds but fought way above his weight class! Two years of yellow fever frustration ends.
A few more yellows were caught after that (not by us), but the snap seemed over like flipping a switch. Off. We stayed back there until 7 PM for only more bones, then called it a night with a mooring in Avalon.
Tuesday morning found with only a few baits left, so we jigged up a bunch of smelt at Salta Verde. Back at the Palisades it was a dead zone. We did not catch a single fish. Nobody else we saw did either. The sport fleet showed up again and left quickly for greener pastures. What a difference a day makes. We felt extremely lucky to have gotten our fish yesterday. With nothing else going on, we pinned some bonito on bait o’matics and trolled offshore for a couple of hours. Zippo.
Back in Avalon for lunch, we went for a cooling swim. The beaches all have tables set up for outside dining, and they were packed with tourists. The harbor was practically full. Good to see Avalon back in business, they sorely need it. Slow trolling big smelt and mackerel between Frog rock and the K20 kelp that afternoon was a bust.
Wednesday morning, we headed up to the Isthmus to try for rock fish. We found a dinghy adrift outside of Bird rock with a frayed rope attached. Probably broke off while someone asleep at the wheel was dragging it behind their boat. We towed it in and passed it off to the harbor master - hopefully someone will get their dinghy back.
Our shallow water rock fish spot produced two reds and two tree fish for the deep fryer to top off the trip. The trip back to the barn was a bit rough with a big west swell and cross swell, but we made good time. Overall, it was a fun trip. We got our yellow, the boat ran great, the weather was nice and we made it back in one piece! Water temps at the island were 67 to 70.
Have fun and stay safe out there!
My hard won 18 pound yellow
Hope someone gets this back!
Nice red for tacos!
