My son Sean and I fished Catalina Wednesday through Friday this week. We picked up live squid and sardines from Nacho and tried to stay off the beaten path on the way over, looking for kelp paddies, but the few we saw were not holding. Starting at the Suicide kelp on the backside, 8 to 10 pound yellowtail were hammering slow trolled sardines right off the bat. We even had a double hook up. The tally for the morning was 9 yellows, with 4 of them released along with a few bass and bones. Early exit stage left to Avalon.
Thursday morning we headed off shore to the 152 and 277. A few toilet lid sized paddies had micro bait, but no game fish. We trolled around a few hours for zilch, and then gave it up to go fish the yellows again. Back in the same Palisades area, 2 more bleeder yellows went in the box, with another 2 released and we were back in Avalon by 11:00 AM.
A pump snafu left us sans-bait Friday morning, but we decided to give it one last try before heading home. Not expecting much, blue magnum rapalas went in and about 15 minutes later, Sean’s reel starts screaming the real deal (I love that sound!). Sean worked like a champ, with the fish making many long runs. After about a 10 minute fight, I see the fish at deep color, and it’s a huge yellow! One more big run, and then a chin music gaff shot puts 28 pounds of personal best yellowtail on the deck for Sean. He is SO stoked!
Thursday morning we headed off shore to the 152 and 277. A few toilet lid sized paddies had micro bait, but no game fish. We trolled around a few hours for zilch, and then gave it up to go fish the yellows again. Back in the same Palisades area, 2 more bleeder yellows went in the box, with another 2 released and we were back in Avalon by 11:00 AM.
A pump snafu left us sans-bait Friday morning, but we decided to give it one last try before heading home. Not expecting much, blue magnum rapalas went in and about 15 minutes later, Sean’s reel starts screaming the real deal (I love that sound!). Sean worked like a champ, with the fish making many long runs. After about a 10 minute fight, I see the fish at deep color, and it’s a huge yellow! One more big run, and then a chin music gaff shot puts 28 pounds of personal best yellowtail on the deck for Sean. He is SO stoked!
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