Another way to counterbalance the lack of give is to use a more forgiving rod.  I found a couple that I liked when I hit Fred Hall Del Mar a few weeks back…

Hot rep demo wrap

Calstar GFX 800H

I told John Cameron of Calstar Rods that I fished a lot of braid.  The GFX 800H is the rod he showed me.  It didn’t have that customary black/teal coloring scheme…he only had a rep demo version available at the show.  The GFX 800H is 8 feet long and rated 30-60 lb.  Going back to the 3 rod premise, it could fill the role of your heavy rod.  I’d probably fish 65 lb braid, with a topshot of 40 or 50 lb on it.  The rod has that familiar parabolic Calstar bend to it, yet felt very strong.  I could imagine pulling as hard as you want and not needing to finesse the fish as much.  Maybe that saves enough time that you get one or 2 more fish during a good bite?  If you’re paying good money to be out and there’s only one good hit all day, 1 or 2 more fish would make all the difference in the world, right?

I definitely want to check this one out further.

Seeker Inshore Pro Series

Calico Bass by Matt Kotch.  Nice touch!

These are the new series of rods updating the Corey Sanden Blue Lightning line of inshore focused rods.  Corey is the maker of MC Swimbaits and likes to fish heavy braid in heavy kelp, targeting big calico bass.  When I say heavy braid, I mean heavy…like to 80 lb braid to a short 80 lb fluoro topshot kinda heavy.  That heaviness is not so much to fight the fish, but to be able to get it out of the kelp and into the boat after he’s hooked one.  Corey’s home fishery is San Diego Bay and if you know calico fishing in San Diego, you know that the Point Loma kelp is some of the thickest, most unforgiving kelp we have to deal with in SoCal.

Now imagine you’re in that kelp…you get bit, and you go for the big swing to set that hook.  If you are fishing a stiff rod and were fishing heavy like Corey, good chance you’ll rip your bait right out of the bass’ mouth or tear a hole in his mouth allowing the fish to shake itself off.  The bend on these rods is designed to counteract that violence and maintain a proper hookset.

Calico on the MC weedless in the Pt. Loma kelp

Seeker General Manager, Darin Dohi, showed me the ISP808 model.  The 808 is one of 5 rods available now.  The others are the 659, 706, 708, and 807…all designed to throw specific MC Swimbaits.  The 808 was designed to fish Corey’s weedless bait.  Seeker is introducing 2 new, beefier models at the Pacific Coast Sportfishing show later this month designed specifically for Cedros Island.  The rods are an S-glass/graphite composite, making for a very light (20% lighter than the original Blue Lightning rods), yet strong weapon.  After bending the rod, I made the comment to Darin that I wouldn’t feel overmatched if I was fishing calicos in the kelp and got picked up by a yellow.  ”Exactly” Darin stated.  ”And with the beefier Cedros models, you could fight a 40 or 50 lb Cedros sized yellow.”  These would be the perfect rods if you are lucky enough to be going on that Shogun Skiff Trip to Cedros in June.  Darin said that the stouter models are designed to throw a big bait.  In a pinch, you could even use them to throw surface iron.  Hmmm…

Conclusion

Both of these rods bear further investigation.  I could easily see them making it into my lineup.  I like the fact that both are proudly made here in SoCal.  The Calstar rod was supposed to be ready by the Fred Hall show, but a supply problem with one of their vendors prevented that from happening.  They should be making their way into a showroom soon though.  The Seeker Inshore Pro rods are available now (except the 709 and 809).

VIDEO: The promo video for the Shogun Skiff Trip

Fisherman’s Landing Adds 1/2 Day Boat

Fisherman’s Landing has always kind of been the long range landing to me.  It has a fair amount of overnight and 2 day boats, like the Condor and the Pacific Queen, but the emphasis has been on their long range boats like the Excel, Shogun, Searcher and Royal Polaris.  Recently, the Dolphin has come over from Seaforth to add a local boat to their lineup.  To celebrate, skipper/owner Jason Coz ran a half price special for the month of March of $23 for a half day trip.  Seeing as how I’ve got less discretionary funds for fishing now, I decided to take advantage and see what they had to offer.

Deckhand Kevin hoists John's jackpot chuckie

Thursday, my buddy John and I fished both runs.  The morning ride was really slow.  We got a few small rocks each and donated them to some anglers who got skunked.  The afternoon run was a little better…46 rockfish for 19 anglers.  John and I took home a limit though   I managed some nice reds on Gulp squids.  John won the jackpot with a nice chucklehead.

One of the highlights of the trip was this sunfish or mola mola that I caught on video.  Don’t those fins remind you of the fins on the Hobie Mirage Drive kayaks?  Great crew, nice boat (sister ship of the New Seaforth), I’ll fish with them again.

Fastlane’s Fishin’ Mission

When I arrived in San Diego on Wednesday afternoon, I had a couple hours to kill before I was supposed to meetup with John.  I had hoped to fish Shelter Island where Corey Sanden had mapped out some spots for me.  Unfortunately, the bait shack/kayak rental was closed (seasonal?).  So I drove over to Mission Bay and dropped by Fastlane Sailing and Kayak to see if they rented kayaks.  They sent me to Dana Landing Market (just a couple doors down) where I was able to rent a kayak and fish the bay for an hour ($15/hr, $30 for 4 hours).  They also told me about a new program they’re running every Saturday during the months of April and May called Fishin’ Mission.  For $50 they’ll take you out on a guided kayak fishing trip in Mission Bay (7am-noon).  Sounds like a great way to checkout the fun you can have fishing a yak.

Twilight on the New Del Mar

The Puffer Shark

As I was driving home from San Diego, I was thinking of where I could fish.  I wanted to go back up to Channel Islands and ride the Pacific Islander.  Unfortunately, the PI cancelled it’s Saturday run due to weather.  Their Sunday run only had 1 reservation and is probably benched as well   Then my buddy LeRoy texted me to say he was on the Spitfire and was planning to ride the twilight on the New Del Mar.  Sounds good to me.

I went home and got my foul weather gear.  Boy was I glad!  It got pretty nasty out there.  Cold, sideways rain pestered us most of the night.  Remarkably though, the fishing itself was ok.  I think sometimes the fish know when a storm is coming and feel like eating knowing it might be tough for awhile.  Anyway, the boat managed to get some nice bass…mostly sandies and one nice calico (nice work Jeff).  The surprise of the night though was the puffer shark (aka swell shark) that LeRoy caught.  In water, these fish will fill their stomach with water to swell to twice their size (hence the name).  They do this as a defensive maneuver when threatened.  Out of water, they do the same thing with air, which we witnessed on the boat.  Funky.

I only got a couple sculpin.  My personal highlight was meeting Salty reader Sean who found the blog via Google.  Thanks Sean for saying “Hi”.  I hope to continue seeing you out on the water!  Please like us on Facebook to see where we’ll be fishing.

Angler David took jackpot with this 4 lb., 11 oz. sand bass.  Not only did David take jackpot, but he also stole 3rd place from Drew (4 lb., 8 oz. sand bass) on the monthly bass tourney to earn himself a free pass on the boat.  Sorry Drew.  A new angler, Danny, won the March tourney with a 6 lb., 1 oz. sand bass.

David with deckhand Chris, and a fat sand bass

Once this weather passes, I think we’re going to be in for some good fishing.  We saw some squid in the water Saturday night.  I’ve gotten reports here and there of barracuda.  Once the water warms up, it’s going to start getting good.  I’ll work on rounding out the bottomfish on my Top 10 and try to get my sheephead and halibut this month.  I also want to get out to the islands as I think we might be in for some white seabass action.  Tight lines!

Corey Sanden talks swimbaits (photo credit – The Juj)

In the last post, I explained how Corey recommends fishing his new, smaller swimbait.  Today I’ll share what he said about color, and how to fish his new slugbait.

bright/less clear; less bright/clear; lower light/lower visibility

Corey’s philosophy is simple: brighter day=brighter colors…cleaner water=clearer lures.  He typically takes 4 baits, representing different combos of color and clarity that he chooses from depending on conditions as the day progresses and his observations at the rail.  He likes using leadheads with eyes on it.  Corey believes big predator fish got that way by being efficient killers.  They attack the head and even if they don’t take it on that first pass, the target fish is now fatally disabled and the predator will get a second shot at it.  Eyes are a key focal point for the predator, so leadheads should have eyes too.  On leadhead colors, he usually fishes a plain one.  If he does use color, he likes yellow and red.

The Smaller Slugbait

Unlike the swimbait, the idea with these baits is to let them hit bottom.  Cast, then face your rod tip down.  Let it hit bottom. Wind it in 5 ft, lift the tip of your rod up slightly, then let it sink again.  Repeat and work a fan (or different parts of the boat) and cover your area.  Corey paints a picture of a fish is sitting in it’s spot and it sees the bait come whizzing by.  He thinks to himself, “Oh it’s going too fast, I’ll wait for the next one.”  Then you let it drop…Oh!  I better grab it!  That’s the reaction bite.  (Note – I highly recommend going to one of our local aquariums like Cabrillo or Long Beach and observing the fish.  You’ll learn a lot.)  In fishing you always want to work edges.  Corey agrees and cited examples…edges of walls, edges of eelgrass, edges before dropoffs etc.  This bait was designed to work these edges in skinny water, so perfect for the kayak or skiff fisherman.  With this bait and this methodology, Corey has caught spotted bay bass, sand bass, shortfin corvina, and halibut in his home fishery (and research lab) around San Diego Bay.

Seems easy enough.  I can do this!  I’m going to try and fish the spot Corey mapped for me this coming Friday.  I’ll let you know how I do.  Tight lines!

Video: How To Rig These MC Swimbaits

Corey was super cool and suggested I take this video.  Done.  Thanks.  I can’t wait to fish them.  Enjoy!

Corey explains how to fish his plastic

I mentioned in my last post how Corey Sanden took a nice chunk of time to chat with the Salty crew recently at the Fred Hall Show.  In an industry where nice guys are the norm, he stands out as one of truly good guys.  Last year, he took time to sign Jake’s copy of Pacific Coast Sportfishing with him on the cover, and show us his favorite baits.  This year, we went to his seminar at the show, and he just sat down on the stage in front of us and chatted.  No big sales preso, just “What do you guys want to know about fishing plastic?”   He went over his allotted time and invited us to come back by the booth to continue the conversation.

Well, from last year to this year, we tried the baits, but without much success.  What it came down to, was I was unsure when to use them and how to use them.  This year, I wanted to get beyond, “What’s your favorite bait?” and try to understand when and how to actually uses them.  Corey showed us how to rig them, what sort of conditions to fish them in, and how to fish them.  He even went so far as to draw me a map of a certain spot in SD and what to use there!

This year, Corey has introduced 2 new baits into the MC Swimbait line.  Here they are and how he suggests fishing them.

The Smaller Weedless Swimbait

The big swimbait and the new smaller ones

Corey's Seeker/Shimano combos

Corey still likes to fish his big swimbait (the one on the left, a 7 incher), but he’s introduced a new smaller one that measures 5.5 inches (the other 3).  The big one he fished with 80# spectra to 80# fluoro (yes, really), but he said a lot of people couldn’t get their head around fishing that way (gee I wonder why).  So he developed this smaller bait.  He prefers to rig it with the 7/0, 3/8oz Gamakatsu Superline Spring-Lock hook, and recommends fishing it 50# spectra to a 50# fluoro leader (not less than 30#).  Corey is using the Seeker Blue Lightning II Inshore Series line of rods which have a fairly fast action tip, but shut off pretty quickly so that you have the backbone to turn fish quickly in the kelp.  He says that with using the heavy spectra, he needs a faster tip to prevent ripping the bait out of a fish’s mouth on the hook set.

One advantage to fishing this smaller bait, is that it swims correctly on the drop.  What this allows you to do is cast over the kelp, slide it over the top, and then let it drop into the “manholes” or little openings in the middle of the kelp.  In this scenario, all the action happens in the top 2 feet of water or so.  What you want to do is swim the bait…SLOWLY…allowing the fish to track it coming across the top of the kelp (remember – fish mostly look up).  When you hit that manhole and let it drop, the bite will often happen on that drop.  Just as often, he said they’ll crash the bait from the bottom up before you hit the hole.

What you don’t want to do though is drive your boat right up to the kelp’s edge and skip the kelp stringers emanating out from the main body of the kelp jungle.  If you are on the outside edge and the current is running toward the kelp, often times the bigger fish will work their way to the outer edge to get the jump on their smaller counterparts.  What you want to do is start your drift well away from the kelp and work the outer edge.  Let the current take you in and cast further in and over it as you get closer to the edge of the main body.

Corey isn’t a huge proponent of using scent.  It doesn’t hurt, but he says you are looking for a visual reaction bite.  The water needs to be fairly clear so the fish can see the bait and react to it.  Thus, in low light or dark conditions a swimbait isn’t going to be your best bet.  You can help yourself in this kind of a scenario if you use scent.  Remember though that Corey said the action is going to come top water with these baits.  When it’s darker and colder, the fish are going to hold lower, so you are probably better off fishing the leadhead and squid rig that we’re used to using riding twilight on the New Del Mar.  If you are going to use scent though, put your scent in a quart size bag with a 3 oz lead in it.  You can apply scent as needed, then reseal the bag when you’re done.  The weight keeps the bag from flying away.

To be continued…

Jake & Juj on the New Del Mar

This weekend I had the kids. From a straight fishing standpoint, it was nothing to write home about. But you know what? It was a GREAT weekend. Saturday we had intended to get down to Dana Wharf, but we all ended up sleeping in. The kids were still up to fish though, so we hit the afternoon halfer in Marina Del Rey. We spent the night down in San Clemente. After breakfast we went for a walk on the beach. After drying the kids out and dusting off the sand, we finished the day at the Fred Hall Show in Del Mar.

Jake is enamored with swimbaits. Ever since first taking him down to Dana Wharf and seeing some kids absolutely kill it using plastic vs. ‘dines, he’s wanted to know how to use them. Unfortunately, I haven’t been a good resource for him, as fishing plastic is something I need to get better at as well. At the show, we had the pleasure of talking at length one-on-one with Corey Sanden of MC Swimbaits. I’ll share with you that conversation in the next post. ‘Til then, tight lines!

Here’s the weekend in pictures…

Juj, Eric, and Jake on the NDM

Lone ling took jackpot

Juj hamming it up at San Clemente beach

Please don't get wet

Arriving at the show

Jake & Juj with our buddy Dan Hernandez

Big calico in the salty tank

Juj with some DVL stripers

Sandy and Scully

Juj gets a bite reaction with a swimbait

Corey Sanden of MC Swimbaits

Jake: making the feathers rain

Let me just start off this post saying, “The fishing was lousy!”  That was for you @Fishbum55!

Went out Sunday on the kids’ boat at Dana Wharf.  As I’ve mentioned before, Dana Wharf has a great kids clinic every Sunday at noon.  The clinic takes place on a boat and they show the kids how to tie knots, pin on a bait etc.  At 12:30, the boat goes out (given enough people show up) for a half day.  The kids and I had a very fishy weekend…Saturday at the Fred Hall Show in Del Mar, and Sunday at Dana Wharf.  I thank God they enjoy it (or put up with Dad).  Jake scored a ton of free stuff at the show.   One example being, he amazed the DFG guys by knocking out 16 pheasants in their simulation, winning a killer trout starter kit.  Another real thrill for Jake, was Corey Sanden of MC Swimbaits signing his current issue of Pacific Coast Sportfishing and personally showing Jake his favorite calico killer baits.  These plastics are a So Cal secret and are favorites of guys like Morgan Promnitz of Hobie Kayak Fishing and SWBA competitors.

Jake and Juju with Capt. Jack

I  bought the special Owner hooks to match the MC’s, and we were ready to take jackpot.  Unfortunately, Sunday didn’t quite play out as planned.  We made it to the clinic.  There we met asst captain, Jack.  Jack, Jake, Juliana, and Joe (aka Salty) hit it off from the start.  Jake showed off how he already knew how to tie a Palomar knot and pick a good bait.

I was just excited to catch a nice day.  It was raining inland, but we somehow knew that heading south we’d get out from under the clouds and we were right.  The weather and the fact that Juju a) wanted to come out, and b) didn’t get seasick was a win in my book.  I tried to remind Jake of this fact as the day progressed, but he was having none of it.  I gotta give the kid credit, he plays to win.  Unfortunately, time of year and location worked against us.  If I was by myself, for this time of year, I’d hit the MDR 3/4 with Capt. Jeremy, or go up north to the Channel Islands, for rockfishing and chance of WSB, or hit SD for rockfish and a chance to hit a yellowtail with a yoyo jig.  So my expectations were managed.  Personally, given where we were in South OC, I wanted to hit the beach with some new plastic (a sweet Fred Hall find…big bag for a $1) that is supposed to kill for surf fishing…maybe finally add a corbina to my resume.  But Jake was

Juju with my short sandy

all hyped from meeting Corey Sanden and was into getting a big calico.  As the day played out, a perch was the jackpot fish (excluding some shorty calicos) up to about the second to last stop.   There, Juju’s new friend Riley, a 9 year old out with her dad, two brothers and cousin, scored the first legal bass of the day…a barely minimum calico bass.  Shortly after her win, a couple other kids scored legal sandies off the stern on squid strips with a 1 oz slider rig.  And that was pretty much it.  Highlight of my day, fishing-wise at least, was a shorty sandy and getting broken off by a mud marlin (bat ray).   I’ve got the kids again this week, so maybe I’ll get to use my new surf plastic.  Silver lining though was Juju had a successful outing on the water and will hopefully want to do it again soon.  It helps a bit for me that I didn’t have to pay for her ticket   We also got coupons for 10% off our next trip…I guess since it was slow.  Salty appreciates the gesture.  Capt Jack was great with the kids.  He helped Jake with casting and hooked him up with a bunch of his favorite plastic for next time.  Thanks Dana Wharf Sportfishing.