Yup, gotta scratch the itch. I went shore fishing with my buddy and hooked up some huge Shovelnose shark. I used my Fin Nor Lethal 100 for the frst time to see how it'll perform. Luckily, I hooked to a monster Shovelnose. After this hookup, I'm sold on the LT 100. A solid reel with strong drag. A reel that could handle big boys that swim the ocean. I can't wait to take it offshore next season. Happy New Year!
My Fin Nor Lethal 100 & Daiwa Beef Stick combo hooked to a nice Shovelnose Shark
My friend Mike's hookup also with a nice Shovelnose.
Well this year, when not offshore fishing, I thought I'd resurrect my love for surf fishing. It's been awhile since I've hit the surf. So I dusted off my light surf gears, and started hitting the surf again. It turned out to be one of the best season for surf fishing as the Bonitos were coming in and were willing to play. It was so much fun that I hit the surf as much as I can. There were times when my jig was getting hit on the drop. Truly a phenomenal season! My old Berkley Air IM7 Salmon/Steelhead rod, a veteran of countless surf hookups continued to deliver. I even bought a used Temple Fork Outfitter Salmon/Steelhead rod from another surf angler that's lure rated at 1oz to gain more distance when casting heavier micro jigs. It too got bent many times. Some of the best 2014 surf fishing hookups I shot on video here in Southern California. Enjoy, hope you like it, and thanks for visiting my blog!
The fishing season continued to heat up as the month of August rolled in. Even wahoos have reached our local waters which is really quite extraordinary. I had a 2-day window that I can break away from work in late August. I scrambled to find a boat with available open spots, and luckily I found a spot on the Ultra out of 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro. I've never fished on this boat before so I did some checking on the internet. The Ultra is a 50 footer with the capacity for 10 anglers. It was just recently refurbished in 2013; it's a nice and clean boat.
On this trip, I decided to bring my Shimano Blue Rose 140gm short jigging rod. I think the last time I used this rod was over 4 years ago and caught a Yellowtail with it. I paired it with the Shimano Biomaster 8000PG. The Blue Rose and Biomaster combo turned out to be my hot stick on this trip. It was just so fun using that awesome short Blue Rose jig stick! In addition, I also brought along my new Shimano 10000SW Spheros.
Shimano Blue Rose
Shimano Biomaster 8000PG
Shimano Spheros
On the night of our trip, the only live bait available was anchovies. We filled the bait tanks with them, but lots of them rolled by morning. Yup, the demand for live bait was so high due the terrific fishing season that the anchovies didn't have time to cure at the bait barge, and they're already getting scooped up by the sportfishing fleet. Using anchovy for bait means using lighter line and smaller hooks so they can swim out and away from the boat easier. On this trip, we ran
across many paddies that were only holding rat Yellowtails. Most of the tuna
we caught on this trip were metered tuna. We chummed them up and once they surfaced it was non-stop hookups,
and boils all over. A couple of folks fishing with 15lb leaders got bit
fast and consistently. I tried throwing a popper, and only got hit once
but didn’t connect. Tried metal jigs-nada! I did had some
success with the Flatfall jig in sardine and saury color pattern. At
first I was using the bigger size flatfall jigs, no takers. Decided to
tie on the smaller size, and it worked pretty well. There was one stop
where we had the most hookups of the trip. A hammerhead shark was ever
present, and bit one of the angler’s tuna in half. To sum it up, it was
surely an awesome trip. It was a blast to fish with an amazing group
of anglers on a nice boat. My hat’s off to skipper Jacob Moreno and the crew of the Ultra, they
did an outstanding job! We had an older gentleman on-board in his 80’s
and the crew took the time to hookup some fish and handed it off to him
and stayed with him till the fish was gaffed. He had a blast! I sure would fish on this boat again, and one that I'd add on my list of favorites.
I took these pics after the first day of fishing. Unfortunately these are the only pics I took on this trip as my camera died on me.
Some videos I took with my GoPro on this trip.
This is one of the best screaming drag I captured on video. The sound of the Shimano Biomaster 8000PG is music to my ears! This small tuna got me fooled into thinking that I was hooked to a bigger fish. The little devil could sure pull some heavy drag!
My hot combo on this trip in action!
Shot of the Spheros in action when the tuna bit the Flat Fall jig. Sweet reel!
