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Charter Blues

Started by Tim524, August 25, 2026, 07:33:13 PM

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Tim524

August 25, 2026, 07:33:13 PM
 My buddy that I fish with in Mammoth and Bishop wanted me to set up a Charter for 4 of us, so I arranged it out of Huntington Harbor. $2800 for a full day, $700 a piece, oh well.

Launched at 5:30 am, so I had to leave my house at 2:30am to be there in time :o Headed out of the harbor only to learn there was no bait to be had anywhere ::)  Finally found micro Anchovies in Newport >:( We got to where the Yellows were and there was at least 50 boats stacked up like Cord Wood !!! We trolled for a bit and never metered anything so we headed off shore....75 miles South and 30 miles out. We found tons of Dolphin but no other life ???  Finally found a huge school of something at 150' but they were not biting either.

Beautiful flat calm seas and warm weather along with an expensive boat ride, got back to the Harbor at 6:30 pm, gave a nice tip and made my way back home at 8:30pm. Long day and had fun with my buddies but now I want to take The Cyclops out to LJ and try my luck locally ;)

Cheez is coming out Thursday and we will fish Friday, hope to have a report this weekend  :)

jrodda

#1
August 25, 2026, 08:15:04 PM
Valiant effort! Hope it was a least a nice time with friends. The yellowtail zone in Long Beach is pretty ridiculous right now. And the bait situation has been poor all summer, cattle boats get what few sardine are available and small boats get scraps.

What charter company was that? I have talked shop with one of the few charter captains in there a number of times at Charkbait.

Latimeria

#2
Today at 07:20:48 AM
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.
You can't catch them from your computer chair.

Tim524

#3
Today at 07:33:20 AM
Quote from: jrodda on August 25, 2026, 08:15:04 PMValiant effort! Hope it was a least a nice time with friends. The yellowtail zone in Long Beach is pretty ridiculous right now. And the bait situation has been poor all summer, cattle boats get what few sardine are available and small boats get scraps.

What charter company was that? I have talked shop with one of the few charter captains in there a number of times at Charkbait.


Bowline Sport Fishing, he's a buddy of mine  8)
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