Location: Shelter Island boat moorings
Tide: Incoming
Bait: 5" Gulp Jerkshad (sardine)
Rig: Drop shot
Fish Count: 5 Spotted Bay Bass
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Mission Bay Night Session - 5/30/2013
Location: Mission Bay - Quivira Basin boat docks
Tide: Incoming
Bait: Berkley Gulp 3" shrimp (camo), 3" Gulp baitfish (pearl white)
Rig: Drop shot
Fish Count: 4 Spotted Bay Bass, 1 Yellowfin Croaker
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Shelter Island - Legal Halibut 5/19/2013
After a slow day at Carlsbad jetty and losing a Spotfin Croaker, I needed to redeem myself so I called my fishing partner Tony, and we were on the water in no time. We arrived just before sunset and right when the tide began to recede. We immediately started throwing 5" Gulp Jerkshads in hopes for a legal Halibut. Well, after about 15 minutes of casting I get bit right on front of the rocks and it starts running. I immediately knew it was the right kind because of its power. After a couple runs, Tony grabbed helped me land the fish by grabbing it out of the water. It turned out to be a 29" Halibut, which is a personal best for me. After catching the Halibut, I called it quits because I was so satisfied. I hardly ever keep the fish that I catch, but if I do it might as well be a big Halibut. With the help of Tony, we managed to get four very nice filets out of it.
Location: Shelter Island
Tide: Outgoing
Rig: Drop shot
Bait: 5" Berkley Gulp Jerkshad (Sardine color)
Fish Count: 1 29" Halibut
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| 29" California Halibut ---------------------------------------------------------- |
I just got back from a family vacation in Pismo Beach, CA, located on the central coast. This was my second time being there. The first time there I didn't have my rods and tackle, and after seeing how fishable it was I made it a must to bring my fishing stuff. My hotel room was right on the beach, so after a very short walk down a cliff I would catch my bait and start fishing. Sand crabs were all over the beach so bait wasn't an issue. Fishing on the other hand, wasn't the greatest. I went at the right times and threw the right bait, but could not manage to catch fish. After fishing a total of two days I managed to catch one Barred Surf Perch of nice size. In my opinion, the reason for this was the beaches lack of structure, but it could have just been me. I wish I caught more fish, but I had a great time spending quality time with family, and having the privilege of fishing a new location.
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| My one and only Barred Surf Perch |
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| View from my hotel |
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| On the beach |
San Diego Bay - Corvina
After a couple rainy days here in sunny San Diego there was a little break from the weather, so me and Tony made it out for a little night session. It turned out to be a good idea, because the fish were biting. The weather was a little rough with strong winds so it made casting pretty tough. It was hard to keep the bait in one place. It didn't take too long for me to catch my second Corvina of the year and a new personal best. It also didn't take long for the rain to come back, so we left them biting. Between the two of us we caught a total of 17 fish in a couple hours. Not a bad night!
Location: San Diego bay
Tide: Outgoing
Rig: Drop shot
Bait: Berkley Gulp 3" minnow in pearl white color
Fish Count: 6 Spotted Bay Bass, 2 Yellowfin Croaker, 1 Shortfin Corvina
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| Corvina |
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| Corvina |
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| This was a healthy Yellowfin Croaker |
Shelter Island Halibut - 4/27/13
I didn't have to go into work early Saturday morning, so I headed out to Shelter Island located in San Diego bay. It wasn't the best fishing, but I managed a couple Halibut of decent size. It was a rare occasion because I've never had an outing where Halibut were the only species caught. Not even a bass. I got a lot of small bites that I'm assuming were lizard fish. I used a slow retrieve with a swim bait. For example, crank crank crank > pause> crank crank crank > pause > repeat
Location: Shelter Island
Tide: Incoming
Bait: 3" Big Hammer swim bait (fongfish color), 3/8 ounce Big Hammer lead head in red
Technique: Slow retrieve
Fish Count: 2 Halibut
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| First Halibut |
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| Second smaller sized Halibut |
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| Perfect hook set |
Guest Report - Mission Bay 4/16/13
This report comes from Jake Romanski and Cooper Sholder who I met through Twitter. I received a message from Jake the other day asking for any tips for catching bass in Mission Bay, so I suggested a couple baits that work well for me and pointed them in the right direction. This is my first guest report on the blog and I'm looking forward to more. Heres the report:
We Fished seaforth docks in Mission Bay using 8 lb test, 1/4 big hammer lead heads (silver) deep purple, and green grunion big hammer 3 inch swim baits. Cooper Sholder used green grunion while I used deep purple. Finished with 4 spotted bay bass and 2 calico bass caught between 8-10 pm. All fish were caught letting the swimbait sink to the bottom and using a slow retrieve.
Twitter: @JakeRomanski
@Coopkinski22
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| Jake Romanski with a nice Spotted Bay Bass |
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| Cooper Sholder with his first Spotted Bay Bass |
Mission Bay - 4/14/13
Location: Mission Bay
Rig: Drop shot
Bait: Berkley Gulp Minnow
Tide: Incoming / Outgoing
Fish Count: 7 Calico bass, 4 Sculpin
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| Nice Sculpin caught by my fishing partner, Tony |
Mission Bay Calicos
I got tired of being a couch potato the past couple days so I decided to head out on a solo night mission. I headed straight for some boat docks located in Mission Bay where I've had luck catching big bass at night. After a good thirty minutes I only managed one Spotted Bay Bass, so I explored new spots in the area. It turned out to be a good idea because I found the fish. I found some nice kelp structure and started to get on a good Calico Bite, including a decent sized Sculpin and two China Croakers. It was a very productive outing and I found another place to fish.
Location: Mission Bay
Bait: Berkley Gulp Minnows and Gulp shrimp
Tide: Outgoing
Fish Count: 1 Spotted Bay Bass, 7 Calicos, 1 Sculpin and 2 China Croakers
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| Calico |
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| Third Calico of the night |
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| Decent Calico |
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| Chunky Sculpin |
Imperial Beach Jetty - Perchin
Location: Imperial Beach, CA
Bait: Ghost Shrimp
Rig: Carolina
Tide: Incoming
Fish Count: 1 Black Perch, 1 Pile Perch, 5 Barred Surf Perch
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| Pile Perch caught right in the rocks |
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| Black Perch sporting some awesome colors |
Mission Bay Docks - Big Bass
Location: Quivira Basin boat docks
Rig: Drop shot
Bait: Berkley Gulp! 3" minnow
Tide: Incoming
Fish Count: 3 Spotted Bay Bass
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| First 15.5" Spotty |
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| Same fish |
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| Second spotty pushing 15.5" long but beefier |
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| Biggest bass of the year so far... |
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Coronado - 2/21/13Fishing has been pretty slow for me lately. I've been able to scratch a few bass here and there mainly because of my timing. Weather and tidal conditions haven't been on my side lately. Its been either too cold and windy, or the tides haven't been ideal.
Well, with all the excuses out of the way, I headed out to Coronado Island around 8am with my friend Tony. It was cold and windy, but the sun was started to break through a little. I started casting a 3/8 ounce Big Hammer lead head with a 3 inch swim bait. I started getting bit on almost every cast but nothing would stick (I think lizard fish). We walked over to a different spot and switched to the drop shot with a 3" Gulp shrimp. After a couple casts I hooked up but the fish came off in some eel grass. A couple casts later I hooked up again in the same spot and got my first and only bass of the outing. After a couple hours we called it a day because the tide got too low.
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| Spotty |
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| Fishing off 12 foot wall |
San Diego Bay 12/6/12
Location - San Diego Bay
Bait - Berkley Gulp minnow (watermelon pearl), Gulp shrimp (new penny), 5" jerk shad (chartreuse)
Rig - Drop shot rig
Totals - 15 Spotted Bay Bass
Tide - Incoming
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| The bass bite was very good. This was one of the better bass of the night. Nothing huge but always fun to catch |
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| This little guy fought like a champ. He's definitely been eating good by the looks of his belly |
Imperial Beach - Slooow Fishin 8/25/12
So I've been really itchin to fish lately and had no plans saturday evening. I decided to take advantage of the great weather and head to the beach. My fishing partner was busy so I headed out by myself. Got to the beach around 4:30pm and conditions were great perfect; low surf, minimal wind, and the sun was out. I made bait very quickly (sand crabs) and starting fishing right away. There were a lot of anglers out there as well. To sum everything up, it was a really slow day. Even though the conditions were great the fish weren't biting. I managed a small corbina and a stingray in about 3 hours of fishing. I didn't see any other anglers pulling in much either. Til next time!
Rig - Carolina rig 1 ounce sinker
Bait - Sand crabs
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| Mini Corbina |
Sunday Evening IB Jetty
Made it out to Imperial Beach jetty for a spontaneous fishing session late Sunday evening. We arrived around 5:30pm and made plans to fish until sunset. The first thing we had to do was find the sand crabs so we can use them for bait. Walked towards the jetty and instantly found a huge sand crab bed. With a couple digs in the sand we had more than enough bait for the 2-3 hour session. The tide was very high and it was pulling seaweed from the beach into the water, which made it a little hard to fish. On my first cast I hooked into something nice but it came unbuttoned once I got it to the rocks. Just as the sun began to set the bite went crazy. I was getting bit on every cast and managed 4 nice perch and a yellowfin croaker. My friend Tony also caught 2 very nice Barred Surf Perch as well. It turned out to be a pretty fun but very quick fishing outing.
Rig: Carolina 1 ounce sinker
Bait: Sand Crabs
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| My biggest Perch of the day |
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| Same fish |
San Diego Bay - Personal Best Bass
I recently caught my personal best Spotted Bay Bass while fishing underneath the Coronado bridge. What I thought was a small halibut ended up being the biggest Spotted Bay bass I've ever seen in person. This fish was caught on a Berkley Gulp jerkshad on a drop shot rig.
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| Just over 16 inches |
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| Big fat belly |
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SD Bay - 6/30/12
Made it out to San Diego Bay but this time on the boat. We were on the water by 8 am. We started in Bonefish territory but couldn't find any takers. We couldn't get on any decent drifts so it made fishing a little slow. It finally picked up after 12 pm. The bass bite was really good in deeper waters just inside the channel. I was hunting for halibut but only managed one.
We threw Ghost Shrimp, 5" Berkley Gulp jerkshads, and 5" white Zoom flukes. The zoom flukes did a hurting on the bass that day. I was getting nice fat bass on almost every cast towards the end of the day. Zoom flukes and jerkshads were rigged on a drop shot rig.
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| This Halibut bit the Berkley Gulp jerkshad in nuclear chicken color |
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Carlsbad Jetty - 6/25/12It had been awhile since I fished one of my favorite spots which is Carlsbad jetty. Since I was on vacation I decided to take advantage of the great weather and head out there. Me and my friend Tony made plans to pump ghost shrimp in the early morning then head to Carlsbad. However, our ghost shrimp pump wasn't suctioning and we couldn't find any replacement parts for it. Three tackle shops later we finally found the part we needed. We got a really late start and didn't end up fishing until 2 pm. Upon arrival the conditions were beautiful. Sunny sky's and minimal wind made the day much better.
We ended up catching tons of fish including: Perch, Corbina, Yellowfin Croaker, Spotfin Croaker, Bat Ray, Shovelnose Shark, and Sting Rays. What started as a frustrating day turned out to be one of our best fishing outings so far. We caught our target species (Spotfin Croaker) and much more.
All fish caught on Ghost Shrimp on a Carolina rig. All fish caught and released
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| The arrival. Water looked amazing |
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| Corbina released safely |
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| Surf Perch |
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| Tonys Spotfin Croaker |
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| My second Corbina for the day |
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| My second Spotfin of the year |
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| Same fish different pic. It had beautiful colors |
San Diego Bay/ Coronado - 6/5/12
Headed out to San Diego Bay with a couple friends for some grunion run fishing. We decided to fish the grunion run in Coronado for some Corvina and Halibut that would be stalking the grunion onto the beach. Upon arrival the tide was really, really high at around 7 feet.
The night started out a bit slow with a couple bass being landed. We were throwing swimbaits, drop shotted flukes and lucky craft minnows. The grunion never showed up which was a little disappointing, but we decided to stick around and see what we could scratch up. It seemed as if everyone else fishing the area was looking for corvina, but I don't think anyone landed one. Towards the end of the night I decided to throw on a 2" Gulp shrimp in new penny color on the drop shot rig. That seemed to be the ticket because the bass began hitting my bait every cast. I ended up pulling in bass one after another. Eventually I kept loosing my rig on some heavy structure so we called it a night.
All fish were caught and released.
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| My second legal bass of the night |
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| Me and my friend Tony pulled in these two quality bass almost at the same time |
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Imperial Beach Jetty - First Spotfin Croaker
Went out to Imperial Beach Jetty to catch some fish and enjoy the weather. I did catch fish, but the weather wasn't too enjoyable. Inland it was nice and sunny, but as we got to the beach it was ugly and cold. Right off the bat I caught a Surf Perch on my 2nd cast. Then I managed my first Spotfin Croaker right at the rocks. I was able to catch the Spotfin in what we call "the lane" where the current drifts our rigs out very tight to the rocks. The lane is where I've caught a majority of my biggest fish. I was very pleased to catch one of my target species for 2012.
Bait: Ghost Shrimp
Rig: Carolina
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San Diego Bay - After the Storm 3/21/12
So I was able to take advantage of a beautiful day here in San Diego by having nice little fishing session before work. We got to our usual fishing spot around 10:30am. The conditions were pretty nice with a little bit of wind blowing. It was high tide at 9:30am so by the time we got there the down had already started going back out.
As soon as we got there I quickly threw on a bait and started fishing. On my first cast I brought my bait back to the rocks and I was awarded with a new species for me; a rubber lip perch. I continued casting away and was soon awarded with a decent sized halibut and a couple spotted bay bass. It was a nice day to be out fishing especially after a storm, and the fish just made everything nicer.
Rig - Drop shot
Bait - 2.5 inch Berkley Gulp Minnow - watermelon pearl color
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Huntington Beach, CA Surf Report
I was able to get away for the weekend and headed to Huntington Beach with the girlfriend. With our hotel being across the street from the beach, why not get some fishing in?! So, that's exactly what I did our last day there. I woke up around 7am and gathered my things. Walked across the street and wala! I was on the sand.
Conditions were pretty ugly. It was cold, windy, high surf, and a 30% chance of rain. With these conditions I made the best out of it and told myself I was leaving without catching a fish. I began casting and instantly started to feel bites, but no hookups. For bait I was using Gulp Camo Worms (Fish Crack) on a carolina rig. After while, I started to get frustrated feeling all these bites and still no fish, so I decided to cut 1/4 of the worm off making it easier to hook the fish. It definitely paid off because I started hooking up. If I would have made that decision earlier I probably would have had 15 fish or so. I started to get cold so I called it after catching 5 Barred Surf Perch and a smile on my face.
In conclusion, I had a great time getting away for a little in Huntington Beach. I would love go back and do a lot more fishing. It felt really good being able to catch fish somewhere other than home by applying what I have learned over the past couple years.
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| This fish swallowed the hook, but was safely released |
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Starting the New Year Right - Carlsbad Jetty
I was able to start off the new year right by heading to one of my favorite fishing spots, Carlsbad jetty. I did my research the day before and found that the conditions made for a great day of fishing. We got to the spot around 1pm after pumping for ghost shrimp. There was a pretty strong current moving south that made it hard to keep our baits in the "money zone" where we usually catch all the fish. We caught a couple small perch and decided to head to the other jetty where we instantly starting catching more fish. We caught a couple nice sized surf perch and a nice yellowfin croaker. Overall it was a nice day of fishing. The highlight of the trip was getting my brother- in- law Jojean on his first surf perch and first time fishing the surf zone. He ended up catching about 5 perch.
Bait : Ghost Shrimp
Rig: Carolina with a 2 foot leader
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Mission Bay Boat Docks
Headed out to Mission Bay to hunt for some bigger sized bass. We planned to hit the boat docks to try and lure the bass out of cover. There was a nice incoming tide that we were trying to take advantage of. Unfortunately, it was a pretty slow night. We caught about 5 bass total between me and Tony. However, the quality of the bass were much better than San Diego Bay and that's why we were there. At one point I broke off my drop shot rig and decided to tie on a 3" Big Hammer swimbait in all black. On my first cast, I pulled in a really nice sized bass that put up a good fight. Just as I felt we were getting into the fish we got kicked out by security. Boooo....
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| Caught on a 3" Big Hammer swimbait, 3/8 ounce jighead |
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| This guy had a big fat head |
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San Diego Bay - Back to Bassin'
After two weeks of no fishing I was itching to get back to the water and catch some fish. Me and Tony headed out to SD Bay around 9pm. We hit the Coronado side of the bay and started fishing spots we never fished before. Right off the bat we started catching some smaller model Spotted Bay Bass. We then headed to a different spot and started catching a couple more small spotties. We ended the night on a launch ramp where we caught a couple bigger sized bass. Overall, it felt really good to get back into some fish after the two week long break from fishing.
All fish were caught on pearl white Berkley Gulp Minnows on a drop shot rig.
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SD Bay - Back for Bonefish
After having such a good time fighting Bonefish we couldn't wait to get some more action. Got to the spot and immediately started catching bonefish on ghost shrimp. I managed to get 6 bonefish with a total of about 15 landed in the boat between three of us. I also landed a couple Smooth hound sharks that also put up a great fight.
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SD Bay - Bassin and Bonefish
Started this fishing trip bright and early on Sunday (10/16) morning. Got on the water by 8am. Once we got on the water we went straight to the Coronado bridge where there is usually big bass and halibut hanging around. We definitely found the bass, but no halibut. Our first couple drifts produced some nice spotted bay bass, china croaker and yellowfin croaker.
My friend Tony and his dad were using ghost shrimp on a drop shot rig and I was using various Big Hammer swimbaits and Berkley Gulp plastics. The main colors I used were pearl white and clear red flake baits. The clear and red flake swimbaits seemed to produce the bigger bass of the day.
As the tide went slack around 11:30am the fish stopped biting and the wind really picked up. The wind started to make fishing uncomfortable, so we decided to head south towards the launch ramp. Tony made a last minute decision to go hunt for some bonefish with the few ghost shrimp we had left. It was a great decision! We had a blast catching and fighting bonefish with our reels going ZZZzzzZZzzzZz.
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| Tonys dads Bonefish |
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| My first Bonefish in the bay |
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| Tonys Bonefish |
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| Nice Spotted Bay Bass |
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San Diego Bay - Sand Bassin 9/28/11
Went out to San Diego Bay to hunt for some Sand Bass and Halibut since Sand Bass season is coming. It was tough trying to get away from those damn lizard fish that were everywhere. Once our line hit the bottom we would instantly feel lizard fish. We ended up getting on a couple good drifts and pulled out some small Sand Bass on Gulp Jerkshads in new penny color. The fish of the day was Tony's legal Sand Bass. Overall, it was a tough day fishing but we made the best of it.
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| Tonys Sand Bass. Released to fight another day |
Carlsbad Jetty - Bonefish from the Surf?!
Fished the Carlsbad jetty during my vacation. It was pretty slow fishing with a few small Yellowfin Croakers, Surf Perch and Walleyes. The highlight of the day was me catching my first ever BoneFish. I never thought it would be caught in the surf though! Catching a bonefish in the surf is unheard of and uncommon, which made my first bonefish experience even cooler. All fish caught using a carolina rig with ghost shrimp.
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South San Diego Bay- Bonefish Hunt
Hit the bay to try and get some Bonefish in the South Bay. Tony ended up getting his first Bonefish on ghost shrimp. Great fighters!
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| Departure Shot |
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San Diego Bay: Early AM
On Wednesday 9/14 I was able to go on my friend and his dads boat in the early morning. Woke up very early to be on the water by 7 o'clock. It turned out to be a really good day on the water with a nice variety of species. Literally every spot we fished we caught something. Our bait of choice was ghost shrimp and various Berkley Gulp baits. We were getting on some good drifts, and here was a nice incoming tide which surely had something to do with the non stop action. Here's the pics
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| Yellow Fin Croaker |
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| Chine Croaker (caught many of these) |
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| Diamond Turbot |
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| Tonys Sargo |
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| Little Smooth Hound Shark |
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New Species: Pile Perch
Caught this Pile Perch drifting my bait near the rocks on the jetty. They came out of the rocks, nailed our sand crabs and put up a pretty good fight. Pile perch is a new species for me and a fun fish to catch.
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| My first Pile Perch |
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| Nice sized perch |
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| Tony's Pile Perch |
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Nolan's Spot Fin Croaker
My friend Nolan caught this huge Spot Fin Croaker on sand crabs
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Imperial Beach Jetty Fishing 8-22-11
Went to go fishing off the jetty in Imperial Beach in the early morning. Got to the spot around 7:30 am. Spent some time catching sand crabs for bait and headed for the jetty. We walked to the point of the jetty and began blasting our bait out into the open ocean. We caught a good number of quality surf perch and yellowfin croaker. Every perch was at least 10 inches and very meaty.
Sand crabs as bait on a carolina rig
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San Diego Bay Night Time Fishing
Did a quick fishing session at night. Tried a different spot for a change and it turned into a pretty productive spot. I caught two Sargos a Yellowfin Croaker and a Spotted Bay Bass. All fish were caught using ghost shrimp on a drop shot rig, slowly reeling the bait back to me. Enjoy!
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San Diego Bay 8-8-11
Headed out to San Diego bay to do some late night fishing with Tony. We had some left over ghost shrimp from our previous jetty fishing session in Carlsbad. We got to our spot around 10 o'clock and the tide was very low at 1.5 feet and getting lower.
I ended up catching my first sargo at night along with 10-15 medium sized spotted bay bass. Overall, it was pretty good fishing session considering the tides were pretty bad. I caught a majority of the fish while slooowly reeling in my bait along the bottom.
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Carlsbad Jetty 7-24-11
Upon arrival the conditions were near perfect. It was partly cloudy with the sun peaking out every once in awhile with minimal winds. The surf wasn't too high which was very nice. The day started out a little slow but it finally picked up within an hour or so. We had a field day catching some quality fish. All four of us were using ghost shrimp on a carolina rig.
Overall, it was a great day to be out and especially fishing. We were off the water by 8:15p.m and it was time to make some fish tacos and have a couple beers. Good times with the fellas!
Fish Count:
Yellowfin Croaker - Too many to count
Corbina - 1 (caught by Tony)
Barred Surf Perch - 2 (caught by Tony)
Walleye Surf Perch - 2
Spotfin Croaker - 2 (Tony and Adrian)
Sargo - 1 (caught by Mike)
Stingray - (me)
Mystery Fish?? - I had a real nice fish on pulling a lot of drag and came off....
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| Variety |
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| Tony after he caught a nice spotfin but came off in the rocks. He touched it though! |
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| Mike (left) Adrian (right) |
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| Mike |
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| Adrian |
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| Departure shot |
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| Croaker, Sargo, and Corbina Tacos yummm |
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| Doesn't get any better |
Harbor Island 7-12-11
After 9 days of not fishing I decided to have an after work, night time fishing session. Due to construction I wasn't able to fish my usual spot in San Diego Bay. So we decided to fish a new spot which turned out to be Harbor Island, which is still located in San Diego Bay. We started fishing around 10:00 pm. We missed the high tide at around 8:30 but we still had nice tidal movement. It ended up being a short session with only a few spotted bay bass pulled in. All fish were caught on the drop shot with a 3" Berkley Gulp minnow in smelt color. Thats all for now!
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| Got this nice sized bass on my second cast |
