My buddy from Brooklyn called me out of nowhere about a month ago and said he was coming to SoCal with his girlfriend and her kids. Both of them are freshly divorced, and she somehow convinced him to head west. You need to understand, this man is Archie Bunker in every possible way. He's spent years swearing he'd never set foot in California because it was "full of fruits, nuts, and Libs." I figured the only way I'd ever see him again was if I flew back east. So yeah... I'm still shocked they actually came out.
They were only here for six days and planned to cram every tourist attraction into that tiny window. I couldn't believe their schedule when were they planning to sleep? They wanted to do the usual sightseeing when they came down to SD to hang with me for half a day, but I pitched a whale-and-dolphin run on my boat instead. If I was taking the day off work, I'd rather be on the water than stuck in traffic pointing at landmarks. They agreed, and the plan was simple: cruise the coast, find whatever marine mammals we could, then finish at the Barefoot Bar for drinks and lunch.
They're all Italian, which means two things: they love food, and they're always late. So I brought a couple rods, my bay bass setup and a big troller in case I stumbled into pelagics or yellows.
I got there a few hours early to squeeze in some bay bass fishing. I launched the boat, parked the trailer, and spotted a banana peel in the back of my truck. Who the f@ck put that there? I tossed it into a plastic bag, got distracted by a phone call, and—without thinking—brought the bag onto the boat. Great. The curse was officially onboard.
(https://i.imgur.com/5Q2oID0.jpeg)
I fished for bass for about an hour and only got two short bites. It looked so good back there, but with time to spare I ran to the bridge hoping for a halibut. No dice.
So I decided to open up the Curmudgeon in the high‑speed zone. Hit 43.8 mph... any more trim and I'd be dolphin‑hopping. Then I saw fish jumping and boiling in the distance. All mullet. And all I had was a swimmy. No chance.
I didn't bring tackle, so I did the classic "Sasquatch" move and searched the boat for random hooks. Found a few rusty big ones and a tiny pack of trout hooks. No bait. Nothing usable. Then I remembered the damn banana. I'd heard rumors about mullet eating banana skin, so I grabbed the gill scissors and figured... why not?
I didn't even have a split shot. Just a small bronze hook tied to 10‑pound. I cut a tiny piece of banana, pinned it on, and cast. It hit the water and—ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ—gone. What the hell? Tried again. Nothing. Third cast—hooked a monster. Got it to the boat, tried flipping it into the livewell to keep the deck clean for my buddy's girlfriend and daughter, and snap... the hook broke.
I tied another and went 3 for 12 on mullet. If they didn't hit within a minute, I'd reel in and recast.
The first two I actually landed were the usual 14‑inch models.
(https://i.imgur.com/AfRCd80.jpeg)
Most just came unbuttoned, but two absolute units broke the hook on their initial runs. Drag was tight, but they were dumping line like crazy.
One even spooled me, so I chased it with the boat to get line back. Scooped its head with the bait net and dropped it into the livewell.
A two‑footer. Absolute tank.
(https://i.imgur.com/2eBdgg2.jpeg)
I checked my phone and.... my buddy and his crew were already waiting at the ramp! Time to boogie.
The trip with them was great. We found tons of dolphin and sea lions, and they were fired up. Total success. But honestly? The cherry on top was battling those monster mullet. I still can't believe how powerful they are. Next time I'll bring peas or something else—anything but a banana. That was a total accident, and I'm not risking that curse again.
Until next tide.
I've known about the banana trick for years and never ever remembered to bring a banana (at the same time as a knife anyway). Only jealous you got on 'em first. Super cool. Going out tomorrow to a pretty mullet heavy area and I am itching to try this.