Felt kinda lazy through the weekend (I bought edibles on Thursday so there goes my month). Then Omar told me when I got into work that he fished twice through the weekend and did well. So I said, well, the tide can't be beat and the weather is nice, so I'll go this afternoon.
I do tend to crash Monday afternoons but I stayed strong and headed straight to Newport after work.
Calcutta 100B that I've been fishing was feeling the last few sessions so I switched to a low profile Tranx 150. Launch around 1600. By 1605 my hand was aching from the rod's trigger grip in relation to the reel. I landed, went to my car for the Calcuta, opened the side plate, and the spool was stubbornly hanging onto it. There's the problem. Pulled the spool out and ran my fingers around all of it to dust off any salt and put it back in. Butter. It will do for now! I professionally recommend popping the spool out after the session for it to dry and not fuse, but personally I am quite lazy.
Not a sniff on the dropshot to start. Switched to a 5" fluke and got one short bite. Normally I can get 1 or 2 near the launch spot but I was getting frozen out. Keep trekking. More short bites on several different baits but nothing to stick.
Tried a new set of docks for me and after 30 minutes, I got bit on the fall with a fluke near a piling.
The Harbinger of No Good Bites. I really enjoy the pattern on this particular fish.
(https://i.imgur.com/UYILD2fh.jpeg)
More short bites on a long-ish trek back to the landing spot. Landed at 1930 without a skunk. Nice weather, just a little windier than expected.
I don't know if it's coincidence, but there seems to be something about catching dink sand bass in the harbor that tells me that I am not onto the bite pattern. It's normally a lure thing, where it's the only fish I will catch on that particular lure for an hour or two. Sounds kind of stupid but it's quickly becoming a theory bordering on superstition that I have. Conversely, a spotty or halibut to hand often indicates I should be catching a couple more if I keep it up.
My next report should be taking my sister float tubing this weekend. Excited!
She is suddenly taking a measurable interest in fishing at ~25 years old. Maybe I'll get her to start writing us float tube reports for Channel Islands Harbor if I play my cards right.
You got out at least, even if you only caught "Koga" sized bass... the pee-pee variety. lol, poor Koga...
I could see you in a 17' skiff... a Maverick 17 HPX‑V or possibly a Yellowfin 17 CE..
Thanks for reporting boss. I miss seeing all of the posts again. Social media has pretty much ruined me lately.
: Latimeria July 14, 2026, 07:00:15 pYou got out at least, even if you only caught "Koga" sized bass... the pee-pee variety. lol, poor Koga...
I could see you in a 17' skiff... a Maverick 17 HPX‑V or possibly a Yellowfin 17 CE..
Thanks for reporting boss. I miss seeing all of the posts again. Social media has pretty much ruined me lately.
I really wanna build a 15.5' livingston cat like that deck layout but more width. Standup in the front and subtle trolling build in the back.
Cool shot of the Dink, glad to hear you sister has an interest in fishing 8)
The Square Boma was only 16', and it used to take Squatch and I anywhere we wanted to go including offshore. A 15.5 Livingston would totally do the trick.