Headed down to Fishermans landing and got on the Islander for a one and a half day trip to San Clemente Island. The crew made short work of getting all the yaks and passengers loaded up for the trip.
We had a load of about 23 anglers. Steamroll ,Holy Mackeral,Mad Scientist, Dave Easton and Iceman were all on board. No need to stop at the bait barge when you already have a tank full of squirts:
We got to SCI and anchored at China point at 5am with a bit of a breeze blowing right off the bat.
After a quick breakfast the kayaks were unloaded and off I went. I told myself I was going to fish for yellowtails first then bass in the afternoon. But I couldn't resist the sound of the waves crashing on all of those boiler rocks.
So off I went to the nearest set of rocks.
First cast into the rocks with a trixs spinnerbait resulted in getting slammed and broken off by a big bass before I could even get two cranks on the handle. 2nd cast was right back up into the same spot with a Jettyworm and with same results. x( I tied on a 4" Swimbait for the 3rd cast and went right back to the same spot. This time pay dirt:
It hit my swimbait and ran down and out from the rocks but into some thick kelp. I pulled on him for 2 minutes before he shot out of there and headed back towards the rocks.I had to put the rod between my knees and back peddle to get myself out of the danger zone. When I finally got him in the boat I was thinking 8pounds but he went 7.4 pounds on my scale. here's a 2nd shot of him in the foot well of the yak:
}( I fished for yellowtails for an hour after that and then went back to calicos because the wind just wasn't getting any better. But the bass fishing was insane. I was getting quality 1-2 pound fish with the occasional 3 and 4 pounder all morning. Everything worked. I pulled 3 off the rock in the background with a jettyworm.
Right before Lunch Holy Mackerel scored the first yellowtail of the day.
I forget the weight but it was some where around 25 pounds.
Trix spinnerbaits were the bomb all day. Slow rolling it just under the the surface produced explosive out of the water hits for quality bass like this 4 and 5 pounder.
Don't use the orange ones they don't work. :P
Here's Steamroll getting into the act:
Every time you hooked a fish you had at least 6 more follow you back to the boat. If the fish you hooked came unbuttoned, no problem there was another there waiting to eat your bait. Here's a underwater shot.
I ended the day with 40 bass. I could of had more easily but my arms were to tired to paddle. Once I was back on the boat I snapped this picture of Iceman fighting a yellowtail that weighed in at 28 pounds.
The diehards of the trip fished right up until sunset
I like d the moon rising behind Brad on this one.
All in all it was one of the more memorable trips I have ever been on despite the fact that I didn't bring any meat home. The accommodations were great and the crew was awesome and the passengers were all in good spirits. I will definitely book this trip again next June.
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