Getting the Lay of the Land (3/28)

[Latimeria]

Having to fish weekends has been tough.  It's so much more crowded than I ever remember and all I can say is .... stupid work.  LOL

I had a feeling about a spot since the islands were going off and decided to make the run to investigate.

Blue sky on the way out...



Socked in soon as I left the inlet...



It took a lot longer to get there in the fog, but it started clearing up soon as I arrived.  I made some macks and just put one out while trying to get the boat organized for what I was going to fish for today.  I hear creaking and see my rod doubled over!  No way!

1st yellow of the season to gaff.  Not bad, but probably a 15# model.



Other boats started coming into view so I made sure they weren't privy to what I just caught.

I put another mack out and was hooked up within 5 minutes!  Damn thing unbuttoned at color.  I think my circle hook was too small.

I put a bigger hook on and started slow trolling and got hooked up on another yellow!  Issue was other boats and I spent more energy trying to avoid them than fighting the fish and it got stuck in some kelp.  I thought I got it out, but what I felt was it just popping off the hook while being wrapped.

One more slow trolled knockdown and I had a 10 second run before it was gone.  Damn it!

Too many boats all slow trolling now so I moved on.  Plan B was to load up on whitefish while catching some bass for fun.  I stopped along the way since I saw some interesting structure on the bottom and dropped a fresh squid down.  Instant hook up and I got it to color just to have the line break at color.  WTF was it???



I re-tie and drop down another squid and get another big bite!  This one felt like a big yellow or possible WSB...  I was pretty stoked!



You got to be kidding me.... a big ass Soupie....



I dropped down again but lost my hook on the hookset and knew it was a school of soupies below me, so I decided to move on.

I made the trip to another spot I really wanted to investigate a little further.

Whitefish were there.



I ended up with only damn 9.  That last whitefish was impossible to find.



Caught plenty of bass also.



Well, a greatly successful day, but almost a REALLY good one, but too many lost opportunities.  Well, I guess this means I have to wait a week to fish again...

Thanks for reading!