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ON THE SPOT FEATURE
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ON-THE-SPOT
BY RICH HOLLAND/WON Staff WriterPublished: Jul 02, 2009
HUNTINGTON HARBOUR – A fishing trip on the Rail Time with Berkley’s Bob Hoose produced a couple great shots at quality yellowtail and white seabass even though word of Navy closures altered the original game plan.
Word Tuesday evening at Catalina was the Navy had kicked both the Options and the Dreamer out of the latest Clemente hot spot. Rail Time skipper Gary Adams had planned a quick look at a new area of squid at Catalina and then a run to the other island, but that news and what soon unfolded changed the plans.
First stop was the Long Beach Carnage for a couple scoops of live squid to get things started and provide some insurance if the bait fishing proved tough. The skipper told us some yellowtail and white seabass were on the prowl off Seal Rock and the East End Light, but conditions didn’t look good enough to Adams for us to spend more than a little time there. 
A move above Church Rock found a good pocket of seabass water, but the conditions surrounding that water amazed Adams.
“I can’t believe how clean and blue this water is,” he said. “And it’s all the way up to 66 degrees. It sure warmed up quick.”
Only a few small bass hit and it was on to where Adams really wanted to head on Catalina — the middle of the backside below Ben Weston, an area that shows up on just about all the maps for the site of a future MLPA
Several lightboats were in the area off Owl Rock and a seiner began a daylight wrap of squid when the Rail Time pulled in. Adams decided on a drift and it soon paid off in a tanker seabass for Jock Albright. It’s a good thing Jock taught his son Charlie well, because that’s who was working the deck and stuck the big biscuit.
A double hookup on big seabass followed for Hoose and his friend Greg Ragatz and Albright quickly added another before Adams decided to drop the anchor and stake out some turf. One seiner after another appeared on the horizon, as well as more lightboats and sportfishers of all sizes and kinds.
The scene was a zoo all night long with seiners running figure eights around anchored boats trying to find a batch in all those lights that was wrappable. Adams and Charlie Albright worked hard with the crowder to top off the bait tanks with squid and someone kept watch on the deck for a possible night bite all night long. This reporter got up at 4 a.m. in hopes of a repeat of the hot croaker bite the morning before. But dawn came and went with only a report of a single seabass on the Tonnage and a visual of the Ultra landing a big halibut. I don’t think it helped that seiners carved in and around the boats set up to fish well past dawn and I kind of think they did it on purpose as sort of a reprisal for getting in the way of their taking every last piece of bait they could.
The Amigo headed out for Clemente at dawn to take its chances. Adams had already told us he was committed to fishing Catalina, so we gave it an hours or so then ran up to West Cove instead of backtracking. One stretch of kelp held great promise, kicking out a bass a cast and a schoolie seabass for Hoose. But the potential never developed beyond bigger and bigger calicos coming out of the kelp to eat the squid.
The move that did pay off was to set up on the High Spot and liberally sprinkle it with squid. First it was big bonito, then barracuda that were on either side of legal on up to log proportions that ate the squid. Then a big yellow boiled on the chum just 10 feet off the boat. Sandy Hoose, Bob’s dad, was the first to get a yellow to eat a bait with a hook in it and he landed the beauty. Next up was Ragatz, who was also successful. Ross Stotesbury got the final hookup before the sea lions shut the party down, but his big fish broke off at deep color after a long fight.
The front of the island looked beautiful for yellows, but the wind was against the current and nothing but bass bit during stops at Starlight and Empire Landing.
A call to Port Ops at San Clemente Island the next day said that while the Web site showed all areas would be in full operations, it was uncertain whether the island would be closed that weekend. The advice given wouldn’t save any gas: “Just tell them to come out and if it’s closed we’ll let them know.”
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HUNTINGTON HARBOUR – A fishing trip on the Rail Time with Berkley’s Bob Hoose produced a couple great shots at quality yellowtail and white seabass even though word of Navy closures altered the original game plan. Word Tuesday evening at Catalina was the Navy had kicked both the Options and the Dreamer out of the latest Clemente hot spot. Rail Time skipper Gary Adams had planned a quick look at a new area of squid at Catalina and then a run to the other island, but that news and what soon unfolded changed the plans. First stop was the Long Beach Carnage for a couple scoops of live squid to get things started and provide some insurance if the bait fishing proved tough. The skipper told us some yellowtail and white seabass were on the prowl off Seal Rock and the East End Light, but conditions didn’t look good enough to Adams for us to spend more than a little time there. A move above Church Rock found a good pocket of seabass water, but the conditions surrounding that water amazed Adams. “I can’t believe how clean and blue this water is,” he said. “And it’s all the way up to 66 degrees. It sure warmed up quick.” Only a few small bass hit and it was on to where Adams really wanted to head on Catalina — the middle of the backside below Ben Weston, an area that shows up on just about all the maps for the site of a future MLPA Several lightboats were in the area off Owl Rock and a seiner began a daylight wrap of squid when the Rail Time pulled in. Adams decided on a drift and it soon paid off in a tanker seabass for Jock Albright. It’s a good thing Jock taught his son Charlie well, because that’s who was working the deck and stuck the big biscuit. A double hookup on big seabass followed for Hoose and his friend Greg Ragatz and Albright quickly added another before Adams decided to drop the anchor and stake out some turf. One seiner after another appeared on the horizon, as well as more lightboats and sportfishers of all sizes and kinds. The scene was a zoo all night long with seiners running figure eights around anchored boats trying to find a batch in all those lights that was wrappable. Adams and Charlie Albright worked hard with the crowder to top off the bait tanks with squid and someone kept watch on the deck for a possible night bite all night long. This reporter got up at 4 a.m. in hopes of a repeat of the hot croaker bite the morning before. But dawn came and went with only a report of a single seabass on the Tonnage and a visual of the Ultra landing a big halibut. I don’t think it helped that seiners carved in and around the boats set up to fish well past dawn and I kind of think they did it on purpose as sort of a reprisal for getting in the way of their taking every last piece of bait they could. The Amigo headed out for Clemente at dawn to take its chances. Adams had already told us he was committed to fishing Catalina, so we gave it an hours or so then ran up to West Cove instead of backtracking. One stretch of kelp held great promise, kicking out a bass a cast and a schoolie seabass for Hoose. But the potential never developed beyond bigger and bigger calicos coming out of the kelp to eat the squid. The move that did pay off was to set up on the High Spot and liberally sprinkle it with squid. First it was big bonito, then barracuda that were on either side of legal on up to log proportions that ate the squid. Then a big yellow boiled on the chum just 10 feet off the boat. Sandy Hoose, Bob’s dad, was the first to get a yellow to eat a bait with a hook in it and he landed the beauty. Next up was Ragatz, who was also successful. Ross Stotesbury got the final hookup before the sea lions shut the party down, but his big fish broke off at deep color after a long fight. The front of the island looked beautiful for yellows, but the wind was against the current and nothing but bass bit during stops at Starlight and Empire Landing. A call to Port Ops at San Clemente Island the next day said that while the Web site showed all areas would be in full operations, it was uncertain whether the island would be closed that weekend. The advice given wouldn’t save any gas: “Just tell them to come out and if it’s closed we’ll let them know.” |
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