I only got bits and pieces and don't want to ruin his story, but I am pleased to know he survived the epic (land) journey as I did something sort of similar before and know how white knuckled it can be.

Looking forward to reading about the trip!

I met up with my fossil buddy from the museum to do a little crab hunting.  Looks like this plot of land may be off limits here in the future so we got in while the getting was good.

Ironically having him here we actually figured out what was happening and where they were coming from.  I had an idea, but having my buddy who works as a full-time paleontologist at the museum really confirmed that I had the same hypothesis.

Basically, we tracked the erosional movements of the crab fossils from the source to where the erosion brought them over the years and decades.

Pretty cool stuff and found some really great specimens.  I'll post them later also.

Water was warm and turgid...  I didn't put a lot of time in since there was a lot of floating stuff in the water and the wind started to kick up a little earlier than I was hoping (along with the jet ski/boat traffic).

The rocks were tough, so I moved to some beach.  I thought I snagged a lump of weeds until I felt it shake and realized I was on.  One 18" flatty slid up on shore and I was pretty stoked. 

I have a pic but have to post it later.  It was kicking up the good old MB mud on me and shimmied back into the bay before I could get some better pics.

Oh well, but better than a skunking and I wish I saw more flatties around the bay like that.

Looks like a great trip Tim! Nothing like taking a break from the Sierras to go stack up some taco meat. 

That story about the guy with the Squidtrex in his thigh had me a little bit laughing and a little bit cringing. Everyone thinks a hook will just slide right out until they find out skin is a lot tougher than people think. Once that barb is buried, it's pretty much a choice between creative surgery or a trip to see someone with better tools and pain meds.

It's great to see Cheez! Sounds like he came ready to fish while Max came ready to enjoy some boat napping. At least he was conserving energy for the fish tacos.

Question... did you guys troll Rapalas for yellows at all, or was it frozen squid and bottom fishing all day?

Nice day fellas!

Yeah, I can't really post the photos as they would definitely be attacked online.  As for the yellows, I'm sure they are still there but where is the question.  The bait is the toughest thing.  All of my fish have been on the artificials which is quite amazing in its own right, but I would have tripled my Yellow count with real live bait.

Tim, you may be out there when they start to snap again, so don't go by recent reports.  Day by day bites are totally the norm this year.  I'd definitely try to troll some big Rapalas if you can't find any good bait.  5 mph about 50 yards behind the boat will give you a good shot.  If you meter bait then fish that area since there is not much bait out there.  The gamefish will be close by.

Ouch.... that's a tough one. Sounds like you guys did everything right and just ended up on the wrong side of the fish gods that day (did you pour out some beer in homage to the fish gods that morning?). Between the bait shortage, the armada sitting on the yellows, and running 75 miles south only to find lockjaw fish, that's about as expensive a boat ride as they come.  Bait has been really hard to come by the past month or two.

Honestly, I'd rather burn a lot less fuel and take my chances with The Cyclops out of La Jolla too. With your track record, I wouldn't be surprised if you put together a better report locally than the entire fleet did offshore.

Good luck with Cheez on Friday. Hopefully the next report includes bent rods, bloody decks, and a fish story worth every penny this trip wasn't! Looking forward to hearing how it goes.

I'll actually finish this later.  Just know we stayed away from the crowd and worked the area hard.  What we thought was a 40-50 pound yellow grabbing the rapala turned out to be a 50# BSB!!!!  I was in shock, but my buddy was super stoked as it was his biggest game fish in California!  He's caught 30# flatheads out here and lots of 20-30 pound fish, but weirdly enough, never broken the 50# mark since he doesn't Bat Ray fish.  LOL

I have the pictures, but will leave them out of the AI spotlight.

Long story short and we caught a big BSB, a few halibut and a bass on the 7" deep diving Rapalas.  Totally never would have expected that, but I'll take the strange day over the usual any time!

Is that a nuclear chicken color lure on the first pic?  That right there may be your problem.  lol

Well done boss and glad to read someone else's fishing post.  Forums these days have given way to a quick snapshot on social media and a quick line like "Look how great I am" or "Go get sum" instead of telling the story of the trip.

Damn, I started the post, but I forgot I have a Dr Appt for my shoulder MRI, so I will finish it later.

Fishing was really slow but there was no skunk for the Curmudgeon.





I'll finish the post later today.

Koga and Jeremy are in again this season.  Tim?  $30 to test your NFL luck?

I get down to the bay with hopes of capitalizing on the filling tide.

Water was warm, but pretty dirty with lots of floating grass because of the wind.

Jet skis were on the water early this morning.

90 minutes and only two bites.

11" spotty skunk buster but my shoulder was killing me so I called it quits.

Long week of work ahead of me again. Saving my PTO for fishing and going to find out in a week or two if I need surgery.

Thanks for reading.

If he had a tag number on his wing, I could tell you where it was hatched and raised or if a wild one.  We had a breeding program at the San Diego Zoo and saw them all the time.

Super cool to see in the wild!

Wow, great write up and pictures Jeremy!  I especially loved all the Koga digs you slipped in there as he'll never see it because I question if he even knows how to work a computer.  lol

Bummer about the extra drive and closed MB, but it looks like a trip that I need to do.  Really fun read and thanks!

Your kids are chomping at the bit to get a yellowtail! Don't settle for whitefish!  lol

Quote from: jrodda on August 07, 2026, 07:15:38 PMI'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.

Did you try it?  I keep wondering if they were breathing in my bait or actually eating it.