Mirage

The only party boat overnighter going out in all of SoCal was the Mirage of Port Hueneme Sportfishing. Rockfish, rockfish, and more rockfish. Just a note about Shimano's Lucanus jig... It's certainly gotten it's fair share of naysayers, and probably rightly so for the price Shimano charges (especially if you went all out and got the package), but it was deadly on this trip. A couple lings (both short), most of my rockfish, and even a surprise bonito on the drop.

Pics from the Mirage...

Admiring our not-so-spacious staterooms


Huh? Bonito on the Lucanus!








Dude, that's a big hook...

Port Hueneme Pier

Spent a couple hours at Port Hueneme Pier while Thomas and I waited to board the Mirage overnighter. Stuck around mid-pier and was able to snag a few shiner perch, wherein I proceed to stick one on my halibut rig. Saw one guy catch 3 thornbacks in a row with market shrimp. Another guy walked off the pier with about a 26" hali. Guys at the end of the pier were snagging huge sardines.

Port Hueneme Pier with the Channel Islands in the background

City of Redondo

Had plans to jump on a 1.5-day boat out of San Diego, but they were all canceled because not enough people had signed up. Decided to stick around LA and rode the City of Redondo half-day boat with fellow fishing buddy Thomas. It was a far cry from our dreams of tuna and yellows, but it was fishing nonetheless! We took a pretty good shot at bonito but they were few and far in between with each stop. My only success came on the butterfly jig. The rest of our time was spent picking up several sculpin and a nice 20" sand bass.

First Time Hooping Off The Yak

Got a late start and was on the water by 8:30pm... Met up with fellow yakker Ron who was gracious enough to show me the ropes. Short story is that I pulled up a few worthless crabs and called it a night around 11pm.

The not-so-short-story of it was that after dropping my hoops, the rest of the night was spent assisting a stranded boat. This guy was out there on his dinghy without a radio, no lights, and no life-jacket. Apparently his motor wasn't working and he said he'd been rowing in circles for about 2 hours getting nowhere. I called out for assistance on channel 16 and got in touch with the Coast Guard who coordinated with Harbor Patrol. While we waited, I tied him to my kayak and we rowed together to keep him from drifting further out with the current. Harbor Patrol finally got to us and, needless to say, I was pretty worn out. Pulled up my hoops and went home.