I wanted to get the boat out since it's my last week before starting up work again. The ocean seemed to be quiet, so I decided to do an easy trip on the SD bay.
The gas has been sitting there for a month, so I needed to burn some....
I get down to beautiful conditions. Plan was to hit the halibut grounds and hit it hard for a big back bay hali.
(https://i.imgur.com/QfTpfyC.jpeg)
I get there and there is already a boat there so I move up the line a little. I set out the trolling motor and realize my remote control was dead! Batteries were dead and I didn't have any on board! Ugh!
I make a few casts and see clouds of fish on the sonar...
It's been a long time since I've seen this many Lizards!
(https://i.imgur.com/LSacFnB.jpeg)
I decided to run back to the truck and look for AAA batteries. I saw my headlamp and thankfully had 3 in there... Perfect, they work! Back out to the spot!
(https://i.imgur.com/SBqXDoi.jpeg)
First real fish was a Sandy and I got to hit the clicker.
(https://i.imgur.com/ohHmdHm.jpeg)
I had a hard time finding them. It was all lizard fish so I kept working North until I could find a pocket and I did. Tide was moving and the fish were biting!
(https://i.imgur.com/mYzeOFd.jpeg)
They were pretty small, all in about the 10" range with a few about 11".
I decided to troll since the grass wasn't floating yet and yep... These things were like piranhas.
(https://i.imgur.com/kR0oYye.jpeg)
I'm looking towards TJ and see a black cloud forming. It was a lot clearer in person than my picture but whatever was burning was big and a lot of black smoke. The Cartel is at it again!
(https://i.imgur.com/lxXAZU9.jpeg)
The water was really dirty and not easy to see down into it so I switched up to a bright swimmy and it actually did better than my natural colored bait!
(https://i.imgur.com/KewZrAg.jpeg)
The bass were even bigger and got one over a foot.
(https://i.imgur.com/dCVnaKJ.jpeg)
Then I felt a doozie! I knew it was a halibut and it took me around the boat a few times. I saw a faint outline of it and it was BIG! I had it 3 feet from the surface and could barely see it. It dove down again and gone. Reeled up my swimmy and everything was there.. WTF.... Oh well, I hit the spot lock and decided to work this area hard!
A few casts later and I hook up again! This one had more head shakes, but the bite was very hali like. I got him to the net and success! Nothing huge but a few inches bigger than my net opening at 18", so I'm calling 20".
(https://i.imgur.com/vEJj6m8.jpeg)
He was all calm so I set up the phone to get a picture and removed the hook in the net. Then a Three-Stooges moment happened.
I went to pick him up and he exploded forward and hit my trolling motor... then bounced back into my arms. I was bear hugging it upside down and it slapped me in the face with its tail, bounced off the deck and back in the water. GRRRRR!!!
I stayed in this small area for the next hour and caught a good amount of bass.
(https://i.imgur.com/DDOwxf6.jpeg)
I switched baits since my swimmy was torn up, but stuck with the chartreuse color. Immediately got some more bass and a third butt. Postage stamp sized.
(https://i.imgur.com/laf147c.jpeg)
Well, the tide stopped and so did the bites. The wind picked up and my shoulder was dead from casting, so I called it around 11:15am. Not a bad total of 31 bass and butts. I probably also got a few dozen Lizards so it seems like I caught a lot more.
(https://i.imgur.com/jnXWoRK.jpeg)
Really weird thing was I get back to the ramp and was greeted by the warden. I opened all the hatches and cooler, but was thinking "what are people keeping down here, pee-pee bass?".
(https://i.imgur.com/c4qK7jM.jpeg)
In any case, It was a fun morning and I have a few more days to squeeze some more fishing in before the real world grabs hold of me. LOL
Thanks for reading!