Nice turn around! Last time I was on the bay it was toooough. Pretty ridiculous (numbers) fishery though when it's on.

Andrew has never been to the flats and I told him we could get 100 fish, or 40 at the absolute worst.  He said "Yeah, Right", but took up the challenge.

Water was 74.5 degrees, but the air was frigid!  The SW wind was brutal since the start of the morning and it was going to be an uphill battle to get 100.

I did our usual routine, but it was S-L-O-W....  In the first 30 minutes, I could only pull up one bass.



Andrew was like "Well, this aint going to happen, but wouldn't stop casting".



I went to all of the hotspots but hardly anyone was home.  We had a real slow pick, but Andrew got the variety.  He had a corvina that he tried to bounce into the boat.  That didn't go well, so no picture but it was like a 16" corvina.

We slowly picked away but only landed 8 fish in the first 5 hours!  That's not good fishing!



He also got a nice little flatty which made him smile.



Finally I about had it and I said lets try my usual last spot.  When I showed him, he was very unimpressed... until it went wide open for an hour.



We caught 2 dozen within the next hour.



The fish finder was LIT UP!



I hook something that starts screaming line!  I knew it wasn't a hali or bass, but not sure what I hooked.  Then a 22-23 inch corvina pops up throwing it head like a tarpon!  There went my jig and I couldn't even put a click on the counter.

Oh well, but we called it quits since my arm was shot from casting.  Andrew didn't want to leave biting fish, but I had to clean the boat when I got back and gas it up for tomorrow's adventure to the kelp.

Not a bad way to end the day!



Boat is finally cleaned, batteries charged and the gas tank full.

Time to look for some yellows tomorrow.

Andrew is out so the plan was to fish with him as much as possible before he heads back to VA Beach.  He loves surf fishing out here since we have species to catch 365 days a year.  Out east they only have "runs" at certain times then literally nothing inbetween.

His goal was to get a surf halibut.  It didn't take long before he accomplished his mission, even if it was a postage stamp size.





I cast and cast for nothing.  Grass was pretty bad and I should have switched to crabs right away with all of the corbinas I saw, but I was stubborn and wanted gamefish.

After working all the way up to Delmar, I had to switch to a C-Rig since my shoulder was killing me.

On the way back, the wind really started to pick up and conditions deteriorated.  Thank goodness after about 3 missed fish, I got the skunk off.

Palm sized Perch!





That was it.  I had to run to work to drop off some keys and then rush home to meet up with Roger and Captain Bill Schaefer at the country club.



Finished a couple of LI Ice Teas and a big chicken sandwich then ran home to get the boat ready for Saturday Shenanigans!

Until Next Tide!

I saw something not too long ago about evapo-rust from CRC.  The guy doing the test was amazed and it looked genuine, so I decided to give it the ultimate test... Rusty hooks.

I have some expensive big rusty hooks that I don't want to just throw out so I put it to the test.  I actually have video, but not sure how to post video on the forum.

These were my test hooks and I was blown away what happened.  I forgot to take pics afterwards since I videoed, but the big 16/0 circle is to show what happened.



RUSTY ASS big hooks.



Pulled it out 24 hours later and....



There are pits where the rust was really thick, but I don't think it really compromised the strength of the hook.



I'll share more later, but I literally dissolved all of the rust on anything I threw in there....  Just crazy.

There are so many Campgrounds up in Bishop, it's hard to narrow it down. Also there are Cabins to rent that are pretty cool too (Parcher's is one to consider and Tom's Place is another) Water is everywhere up there and there are no fees to pay for parking or entering the Lakes, you just explore and fish where you feel like it.

Feel free to call me and I can fill you in with more details and great places to see  

I haven't done much of either. But I've been wanting to check out Rock Creek Lake for a while (Eastern Sierras), as well as Edison Lake. Both have brown, golden, brook, and rainbows.

I'll text you if Jared lets me know about WA stuff.

I have some time off between looking for jobs now.  My company still has its claws in my next week for a few days, but I'm thinking about getting away on a fishing excursion.  I might go up to Washington to fish for big river stuff, but I've also been thinking about taking a road trip and camping in the high mountain lakes.

I've never been up there, but does anyone have any suggestions and why?  I'm actually thinking about camping since it is still August, but any info I can get from you is worth it.

Thanks in advance!

Good idea, except these will be low to the sand.  I'm making them to be more "Bay" holders.

Max and Myles made some a couple years ago, still going strong. I had them put a PVC end cap on there too for a bait holder or a can holder

Glad you got out again! And got your hands dirty. Hope to see more Cyclops on the water!

Quote from: Latimeria on August 12, 2025, 11:18:16 AMOne of the worst was coming back a few months ago to see fresh tar splattered all over the hull.  That was a bitch to get off.

Hopefully you get that taken care of and it's not too much to fix.  At least it doesn't look terrible, but just a scar with a story.

When I did a coastal run from Santa Barbara harbor up to Goleta, there was a natural slick for miles. Thankfully I didn't really give a sh!t with the Mosquito, but I can only imagine the work that has to be done as a regular up there.