Mission Bay Classic in the Kraken

The 2nd annual Mission Bay Classic, a Heroes on the Water fundraising event, was a huge success! With over 70 signed entries, the saltwater bass division was full of competition. Fellow Jackson Kayak Team Members Jarrod McGehee and Richard Penny were also in attendance.

Though the fishing was great, it was extremely tough being able to weigh fish, with having regulations set at 14" minimum. No matter the case, it was a great event helping out a great cause.

I took out my Jackson Kayak Kraken, for some easy Bay fishing. Having my Kraken plumbed with the KKrate as a livewell, made for easy catch and release with no fishes harmed (besides being hooked!).

Here's a quick video showcasing the Kraken out in San Diego's Mission Bay!

Mission Bay HOW Tournament

Whoops! Forgot to post up the results of the HOW tournament from 5/9/14 at Mission Bay.

I did some prefishing in the days leading up to the tournament, and had a general idea of what I was going to do. They were biting the warblade, and of course the BH swimbaits. Unfortunately, all the fish I'd caught prefishing were no where close to being legal. I knew it was going to be tough fishing on tournament day. Add to the fact that the days leading up were EXTREMELY hot and windy, and day of would be much cooler. Nevertheless, I was planning on hitting some channels, and some docks, as the east bay just wasn't producing at the time.

Come tourney day, I show up early at 6 a.m. Lots of people already there and boats near the water. Being my first tournament, I was very nervous, yet excited to compete! Met up with Jarrod, and we traded some intel/tips/plans for the days events. Signed in, brought our boats down, and listened in on the captain's meeting. Apparently, there were about 102 other anglers out there on that day. Yikes!

I had brought 4 rigs with me on that day:  Alabama Rig, homemade warblade, BH swimbait, and a spinner bait. I'll usually throw out the BH, as that's my confidence rig that's tried and true. Once I found them, I was planning on throwing some bigger/flashier baits to get the bigger ones. At the start of the horn, we were off to fish some points and docks.

Nothing was going on on our first few stops. I mean absolutely nothing! Fish just weren't where they were before, and the tides was not moving just yet. As we made some stops near the west side coves, I thought for sure we would get at least bit once. Nope, nothing. Threw everything I had tied on. Not a sniff. Decided to make our way to the main channel near the bridges, as that's always a top producer.

Again nothing for some time, and decided to now drift inwards towards Fiesta Island not before throwing some baits out. I set myself up before the bridges and threw towards the shores. This usually rewards me with some nice bass, and I was hoping the same would happen that day. Tossed out my 1/4oz. BH on 8lb test, and got absolutely smashed! Alright! First fish in the boat! Or so I thought...Somehow she broke off, and I knew that one was a tanker. Bleh, should have retied after my prefishing sessions. Oh well, live and learn.

We drifted through and past the bridges, and still couldn't find any willing players. As Jarrod left to hit some docks, I stayed in the general area, tossing out the 'Bama rig, warblade, and the swimbait. Finally, I hooked into another fish and measured it out to be a legal! Nice, into the tankwell she went, and back to slinging the baits. Again, nothing happening for a good amount of time, so we continued drifting inward.

As Jarrod and I were shooting the shit, I looked into my tankwell to see how my fish was doing. It was in there for almost 2 hours, and was probably losing weight quick. But one thing I noticed was some clam shells were all on the bottom now. Hmmm, these guys were on the chew near the bottom. Once I saw that, I tied on my trusty T-rigged T&C Swimbait in Razor Clam and first cast, BAM, fish on! I actually caught 2 more and on the last one it tore up my swimbait. My. Very. Last. T&C. Swimbait (in razor clam). It was my absolute favorite color (one that has caught my 2nd best halibut). Oh well, things slowed down quite a bit as I didn't really have anything remotely close to the T&C. Though, happily we weighed my fish after calling over the weigh boat. Turns out, she was 2lb 6oz! Nice!

As the time ticked on, and the day progressed, fishing was just extremely slow (as I expected). Not much chatter on the radios, so we headed back towards the launch. Once closing time came around, and everyone had their fill of some delicious Thresher shark tacos, we awaited the results. Apparently, it was slow fishing for everyone else too. Not much people caught legals, so I was stoked that I at least weighed one fish. If I hadn't lost my first one, who knows what would have happened. They announced the top 6 (or 7), and would announce the rest of the results later in the coming days. Turns out, I actually got 8th place! I was super stoked! Fishing my first tournament, against 102 anglers, and I got top 10!

All in all, I had a great time, for a great cause. Definitely will be fishing more tournaments to come! Didn't really take much pictures on the water, as I was too focused on fishing. But next time, hopefully I'll be able to get more footage, AND do better.

Hana pa'a!

Fishing is Heating Up in Southern California

When many think of Southern California, they see year round sunny days without much seasonal changes. That's somewhat true, however, we do have variations in weather that do affect water temperatures and fishing conditions. Thus, certain times of year see better fishing for certain species. With Spring finally here, bringing warmer conditions and longer days, the bite is definitely getting hotter and only getting better!

With such close proximity to many great fisheries, from our freshwater lakes and reservoirs to the saltwater bays and inshore kelp beds, now's the time to get out on the water! For many beginners, I'd recommend starting off slow and hitting one of the many lakes and reservoirs. Getting comfortable in your in your new boats is a must. But if you're more than ready to tackle the surf, have at it!

Bass are either in prespawn, or spawning and are moving in shallow. Dropshotting worms, or slow dragging jigs in 5'-10' of water seem to be the ticket. If you're more into saltwater action, the bays are spitting out some nice chunks of saltwater bass! Sticking to structure, and slow swimming  a swimbait over some eel grass or channel edges have produced great numbers. Now that the sardines have showed up, drifting with live bait has been producing nice sized halibut!

Whether you're an experienced kayak fisherman,  just starting out, or even just thinking about jumping into this sport, now's the time to get out and fish! Remember, a bad day of fishing is still better than a good day at the office!

SD Bay Last Week(end) Quick Report

I've been meaning to put up a report of my recent fishing from last week and this past weekend, but work has been keeping me quite busy. So, better late than never.

I'd recently bought a new boat, the Jackson Cuda 14 last Monday, and was quite excited to try it out that day.

Didn't really have much time to rig it up fancy, so I went out with just a couple rods and hit up the South bay. First impressions? I absolutely love this boat! Very stable and quite fast, like my Trident 15. Lots of deck space, and quite the comfy seat! The weather was a bit snotty, and the Cuda did really well in windy weather. Having the rudder especially helped with tracking straight in the wind and chop. 

Hit SD bay over the weekend as well for some nice players.

I was able to pick up my first ever bonefish from the south bay! Those suckers are fun little drag burners. Also picked up 20+ spotties in the same session. Good times out there in the new boat. Hoping to take her out in La Jolla soon. Thank for looking!

Hanapa'a!

sd bay - 8/18 Sabiki Surprise!

on the hunt again for my elusive legal on the yak. started a little later than i wanted too and otw by 7.

outgoing tide, minimal wind at first. caught my usual bait (lizard fish) on the sabiki and drifted with a sliding egg sinker rig.

hooked up on a sculpin first drop, and resent my sabiki down for more bait. sabiki rod was bending as i was playing with my swimbait rod and reeled in a hali!

sabiki does it again! (previously, caught 5 bass at once)

closer inspection showed he ate a lizard that was hooked on the sabiki!

drifted around for a couple bass, and another halibut. then my drift rod gets slammed! thinking this is it, finally my legal hali, i prepare myself. he's making some nice runs and then comes to color.

big angel shark!

fun fight, but not my target. sent her back on her way after having to untangle the mess. retied and sent some more lizzies on the drift. caught a couple more bass, AND bigger lizards all on smaller live lizards. got slammed one more time, but popped off. looks like a bad knot on my part...

ended the day with 2 shorts, a bunch of bass, and an angel shark. all caught on live/dead lizard fish!

3/13-14 Mission bay - foggy foggy bass

3/13
5:30-8PM incoming low to high tide.

with all this warm weather, decided to wet a line. upon arrival to my first spot, weather seemed nice, but i could see the marine layer slowing creeping in. tossed out my swimmy for some takers before getting sawed off, twice. damn cudas.

off to spot #2. by this time, the fog had fully rolled in. it was very eery. yet, it was still kinda light outside. started tossing out another swimmy (brown grunion) for a steady pick of sbb.

first of the day

saw a bunch of these fellas everywhere

pickings were steady throughout, maybe 1 every 3 casts. then as the sun set, i switched over to the black widow bh. the bite was almost every cast!

chunky fella right here

greedy guy!

1 sandbass for the sesh

ended that nights sesh with a whoopping 22 sbb! they were hugging the shoreline real tight. and they were hungry! it was literally, back to back to back fish.  awesome. night.

3/14
5-7pm
foggy conditions

decided to hit my first spot again to get into some cudas. upon arrival, water was flat, no life. tossed out a brown grunion swimbait for nada. after about an 1hr of casting practice, an explosion of baitfish just erupted around me! fat cudas were jumping, trashing, and chasing the baitfish. and the schools of baitfish were everywhere! literal explosions of them.

some baitfish

i tossed everythign at them. swimbait, hardbait, poppers all for nada. some taps here and there, but it looked like too much real bait to go for the lures.

all in all, pretty good 2 days. i had some questions for you guys as well. i have a baitcaster set up, usually with 1 brake on and whatnot. my distance however seems to decrease over the course of my sometimes 4 hour sessions, wherein i just turn off all my brakes and then im fine until it starts to decrease again. does this happen to anyone else? if i start with all brakes off, i bird nest liek crazy. doesn't sound gritty or anything, my spool just seems to spin slower after fishign for a while.

Night Time Variety

this report is going to look a little different than my usual format. more of a lessons/observations learned and/or questions answered for the newer folks.

place:  sd bay
time:  5:30 PM to 8:00 PM

observation 1:  hardbaits - $15 vs <$5

i've got a few lc's, which run in the $15-$20 range. some people ask about alternatives, and if they catch just as well as the lc's.  well, from my experience, i've caught more fish on a less than $5 hardbait than the lc.  i picked it up on a closeout sale at sport chalet (there might be some left). apparently, this hardbait caught me a few bass, a nice short halibut, and a couple smelt. retrieval was a very slow crank.

if it looks fishy, its worth a buy and try.

observation 2:  halibut at night?

yes.

this was literally my 3rd halibut at night. they're definitely on the chew at night, just gotta be at the right place at the right time.

observation 3:   beans at night?

alright. this one caught me by surprise. literally. caught him really close in shore as i was pretty much done with my retrieval. caught him at night, and on a swimmy. whouda thunk? btw, this guy had some meat to it! pulled my tightened down drag i had for bass!

still had some life, thats why he's so sandy...

all in all, had a blast in sd bay. as they say, variety is the spice of life, and sd bay tops mbay for that very reason. thanks for looking!

bonus pic:

PB Hali!!!

haven't gone fishing since spring, as I don't usually enjoy fishing when the crowds are out during summer.  now that its winter, less crowds, and the hot sbb bite returns!

decided to hit the minus tide (-1.6ft) yesterday in the jungle at mission bay with a friend of mine. drizzling on and off, wind was sporadic, and just downright cold. but, we already made the trek out, so decided to still give it a go.

armed with my clarus/symetre 2500/15lb braid setup and t-rigged razor clam t&c lure, we went on the hunt. tide was still going down when we arrived, and took quite a while to get any action. i got struck first with a pretty nice lunker! man i've missed fishing!

then, nothing, for quite some time. no bites, nothing. just windy, wet, and cold. we contemplated packing it in early, but we saw something that i've never thought i'd witness...a hali jumping out of the water! luckily my friend also saw the same thing, and we both were energized to continue fishing.

we continued fishing into the low tide and had only caught 1 other sbb. so much for the negative tides in this weather. headed back to the truck and kept tossing the swimbait. then...BAM!! hooked up to another fish. i wasnt quite sure what it was in the beginning as it made some headshakes like an sbb, yet it felt heavy like it was caught on some grass, or maybe even the flat kind. dare i say it was what i was hoping, but pushed that out of my mind for fear of bad luck. it took some time to reel it closer to shore, and we still couldn't make out what it was. we saw a flash of white, and my friend goes "ray, no wait, shovelnose!". then he goes, "holy sh*t! its a huge halibut!!!"

right then and there, it takes off on some long runs. im fighting this fish, hoping that all my knots are tied properly, and the hook will stay in and not break. just praying that i get to see it beached! after a good 4 attempts at landing this fish, my friend finally was able to tail grab it and throw it to shore. this was my first beast...some pics for proof.

measured out to 33", besting my pb of 22" by almost a foot! it was heavy too! so pumped, and glad i stuck it out during that wet/cold weather. happy to be back fishing!!!


hanapa'a!

They bite at night! - Mission Bay 2/22/2012

i haven't posted any reports lately, mainly because someone gave away my go to spots and now fishing
at night is crowded......anyways, my gf's been bugging me to pick up something that floats that'll fit the
both of us, so we can go fishing on the water instead of the shore. decided on a Seahawk 2 (kinda small
for 2 ppl). took her out on some earlier fun adventures this past week, but not anything like last night!

went to an old spot around 6:30 pm, armed with my 7'6" MF Clarus, symetre 15lb pp t-rigged t&c  black
widow, and 7'6" ML Compre, symetre 8lb pline drop shot fluke jr arkansas shad (that was a mouthful), i had
steady pickings of sbb throughout the night.

you're usual grump.

if you've ever caught a sbb in mb, you know the fight they put up. last night was a bit different for some of
them. theyd fight for a bit, then just give up, felt like pulling up dead weight a lot of times. imagine my
surprise when i hooked something a bit different!

i was casting near some boats and had already picked up 3 sbb in this spot on the dropshot. this time when
it bit, felt like i said earlier, dead weight. right when i brought it to the surface it took a dive for deeper water!
man, good thing i had just respooled with 8lb test (coming from 6 lb) and my drag was on the lighter side, or this thing woulda broke me off. he made some good runs, and i finally landed him! had to tire him out and tail grab him since i didn't have a net with me.

they bite at night!

so pumped! all fish safely c&r'd. ended the night at 11 pm with 16 spotties, 2 sandies, 1 hali!!

hanapa'a!

i never tire of these...

im puttting in my time before my 4th knee surgery and will be out of commission for month or so, so hit up mb again. i never tire fishing for SBB. pound for pound, they put up a mean fight. been fishing right at sunset into the night and have been picking up a steady count. 4 on the dropshot fluke, 3 on the t&c black widow. most came nearer to and after sunset. there still out there, go get um!

MB Night Bassin 1/24/2012 - 2 PB!

the stars looked aligned for another great night bassin' session, so decided to hit up MB. night was a little cloudy, a little windy, but not too cold. hit up a few new spots for nada, so decided to hit up my go to spot. lots of boils and baitfish swimming around, but was able to only pick up 1. decided to move around. good idea as around 8 pm, the wind died down, and the bite took off.

picked up my pb SBB! a little over 17".

another look at him.

back to back fish on multiple casts, brought an exciting night for me. ended the night at 10:30 pm (gf was calling), and they were still biting. left with 15 sbb, another new best for me!

equipment of choice: shimano clarus, symetre spooled with 15lb pp, t-rigged T&C Black widow (thanks kevin, may need more)- 1/0 EWG, 3/8 weight. had to bump up my weight as all the fish were in deeper water.

hanapa'a!

MB Night Bassin 1/2/2012

did not finish 2011 with a big bang (skunk and dinks @ the surf), so decided to try something a lil different. been seeing all these night bassin posts, so said, why the heck not?

hit up MB at around 6:30pm, to nice flat conditions. hit up my 1st spot of the night for nada. drove around to a 2nd spot and picked up 2 spotties! sweet! i'm liking night bassin'.

first catch of the night. ~12"

decided to move once the wind picked up and the fog rolled in. found another spot and the wind calmed down, but the fog was thick. saw a bunch of movement in the water and knew i'd get into some.

size 11 for reference.

bass thumb. sweet.

ended my sesh at around 9:30pm, biggest was about 16", the rest being 12-14. total tally - 10 spotties! had an extremely fun time, will definitely be back for some more night bassin. set up was 7'6" clarus, symetre 2500 spooled with 15lb braid pp. all on 3" bh black widow slathered in unibutter.