LJ 8/30
 

Launched at 5:30 to ankle slappers. Saw some big Leo’s in the surf with their eyes reflecting my headlamp. Bait was fairy easy to make (10:1 ratio of Spanish to mini green backs) and with a full bait tank I slow trolled until 12:30 with no takers. Was hoping for some bones on the lures but no takers today. Hope you all did better

Water dropped 14 degrees in a week. 76 last Sunday, 62 today :mad:

No bait anywhere outside, none. Came inside for one greenback and slow trolled it for over an hour for nothing. Such a frustrating Summer this year with water conditions. Hope you all had better luck
Bright side was the ankle slapper surf and almost no wind made for a beautiful day once the Sun broke through

100% - the temp drop is pretty wild. Didn’t have a temp last week but did today. 61 in the kelp. Vis was better today, 15-20’.

Spanish were near the bottom just outside the kelp. Salami sized greenbacks on the surface a little further out.

Just curious but when you are not catching the yellowtail or bones why don't you catch a couple of rockfish for tacos? Since I have never fished LJ that might be a dumb question but I'm wondering if you could target halibut or something else.

Rockfish make a great consolation prize. Ask me how I know. :p

seems logical to me but not everyone eats what they catch or only like certain kinds of fish. Still looking to make my first La Jolla trip, maybe this fall

I swam at Cardiff state beach today and I THOUGHT it felt a little chilly :D

Sorry bout all them skunks. Next time.

I was out there with my son on Saturday trying to target rockfish or bass and only came up with one.

Must be something about the weather lol

I love eating what I catch and I love rockfish as much as any fish. Only have limited time on the water though so I chose to flyline mackerel and cast jigs all day instead

I understand I'm in the same boat plus 100 miles from salt makes it harder. But I really hate going home with no fish at all. Which I do regularly.

You definitely can do that, but I always tell people if you really want to get a yellowtail (especially your first) you don't give up on your target ALL DAY. I can't tell you how many times I've got nothing not even a sniff all morning, only to have the yt bust wide open at 11am. You must stay focused on the big fish... not for an hour, not for a day.... but week after week, year after year. Until you have your initial success it is hard to commit to this.

My biggest piece of advice... NEVER say to yourself "the yellowtail aren't biting". It is just philosophically wrong. Better to say "I am not finding the biting yellowtail". The moment you give influence of the outcome to random uncontrollable events, you have let yourself off the hook so to speak. You aren't taking responsibility for your short comings or mistakes. It's more productive to think, "gosh i'm pretty sure the yellows are around, what could I have done differently to get a bite or to locate those fish". Even if you are lying to yourself, you learn nothing by assigning your lack of success to random chance. Take ownership of every skunk to improve your technique every trip.

I can still bitch about this crazy up and down water temp though right? :D

Great post Chris, I'm gonna keep on trying for sure :reel::yt:

Yep, Yep
 

:biggrinjester:

For sure...but it's sooooo much better if you follow that up with, "and so I figured the YT would respond by doing XYZ, so I changed my approach, and then I roped a 30# homeguard with the yoyo iron while everybody else was catching calicos"

:jig:

He's right you know, there's a reason they say 10% of the fisherman catch 90% of the fish. Even if you don't get a bite all day learn something about the location you are fishing to apply next time. There are certain guides that get people on yellows and WSB in La Jolla more consistently than anyone else, they aren't "luckier" than the dudes who aren't catching them, they have put in the time to learn when/where/how these fish are biting at any given time.

Thinking about heading out this afternoon/evening. Anyone have more recent info from this week? Feel free to pm me or text me if you don’t want to publicly post...



C

X2

I think if your focus is on one species then stay focused but if you are out fishing and want to take home fish then it should be okay to switch your focus. Yellowtail or WSB are great but if you don't catch anything then you will be eating vegetarian fish tacos.

Great conditions this afternoon.