Spottie Killers: February 2011

Monday, February 28, 2011

Here are a few tips for fishing the bay from Jeff Stock, guide and manager of Bluewater Tackle and San Diego Fly Shop:

Here are a few tips for fishing the bay from Jeff Stock, guide and manager of Bluewater Tackle and San Diego Fly Shop:
1. Try to find a time when the tide is changing, preferably from low to a high tide. The better the current, the better the fishing, usually. Why? “The baitfish fight the current, and the bigger, predatory fish shoot in to feed on the baitfish,” Stock said.
2. Whether you use a spinning reel or a conventional baitcasting reel, pick an outfit (rod and reel) suitable for 6-to 12-pound test line. Stock is a big fan of Spectra line, which he tops off with 10 to 12 feet of monofilament, going to the clear, hard-to-see fluorocarbon on bright, sunny days. He uses lighter 6-pound test when fishing for spotted bay bass but switches to heavier 12-pound test when targeting the hard-fighting halibut.
3. Asked to pick four species in the bay that would represent his San Diego Bay Grand Slam, Stock picked sand bass, spotted bay bass, halibut and bonefish.
Here's why: Sand bass because they're “fairly plentiful and usually are bigger and pull harder than spotties”; spotted bay bass because “they're so plentiful and easy to catch”; halibut because there's always a chance of catching a big doormat-sized fish; bonefish because “it's such an exotic species.”
4. Stock says bonito, barracuda and mackerel are bonus species in the bay. They mostly come into the bay in the summer and can be located by looking for diving birds splashing into schools of baitfish. He uses Kastmasters and Crocodile spoons for bonito and barracuda.
5. As for technique, Stock likes to cast, reel slowly and every so often lift the bait such as the Berkley Gulp shrimp. He prefers using a football-shaped jig on 3-inch Gulp shrimp because it allows the bait to lie flat. He uses triangular-shaped jig heads for 6-inch MC Swimbaits. Also, rather than setting the hook on spotted bay bass when it first bites, he just continues to reel until he feels pressure and allows that reeling action to preset the hook before any full swing to set the hook deeper. Most of the time it's not even necessary to do a full swing. The fish is on. For halibut and sand bass, he uses a hook-set right away.
“Those spotted bay bass are so floppy when they're hooked that if you set the hook hard right away, you can tear a hole in the lip and they'll come in loose and get off,” Stock said. “But on halibut and sand bass, I like to give a good set.”
6. Stock's recommended areas to catch various species in the bay are: Shallow, grassy flats for spotted bay bass. The south bay below the Coronado Bridge is a big area. He likes channel edges with structure for sand bass. Fish them on edges with 90-degree angles, places where upwelling will put bait up against the bank. His favorite halibut area is the main channel below the Coronado Bridge, at the point where the Glorietta Bay channel converges with the bay's main channel. Bonefish are the rarest of the catches, but his favorite area is to start down by the Loews Coronado Bay Resort and let a northwest wind carry his boat on a drift to the east. “The key is to keep making drifts,” Stock said. “I've caught most of my fish on ghost shrimp.” He said bonito can be found in the Sweetwater Channel, an area that often holds some resident bonito. Barracuda and bonito often school out in the swifter current at the mouth of the bay.

Saturday, February 26, 2011

Hunting in the past few months

OLD

all i can say is that this is so long ago. This was my fisrst deep sea trip and probably the best one i have ever taken. everyday(3 days there) we would wake up and go fish all day and come back with a full dead box of yellow fin and dorado, not only did we catch those we caught snapper and this bad boy which is still my biggest fish ever.