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SOCAL SALT UPDATE: Channel Islands trip yields limits of quality rockfish for on season opener.
BY CRAIG BENTLEY/Special to Western Outdoor NewsPublished: Mar 08, 2010
SOUTH CALSALT REPORT
SANTA BARBARA—A trip to Southern California for rockfish out to the Channel Islands proved to be worth the effort and drive time for three Northern California sportsmen who enjoyed some great light tackle fishing for limits of quality rockfish on last Saturdays opener at Santa Cruz Island.
For my fishing buddies Tom Cook Jr. and Josh Giordano, it hadn’t been too long since they had been out on an ocean fishing trip, however, this writer hadn’t been out on the sea for at least 10 years, a fact that made him both excited as well as cautious at the same time.
As we all do, I had needed a break from my day job, so I tacked on a couple of vacation dates to my regular scheduled weekend off, began making plans with my buddies, checking the marine weather forecast for the Channel Islands, particularly, the area known as the “Gap” between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Island.
The weather forecast looked good for opening day, with light winds and comparatively small combined seas for what had been a very stormy winter. Even though the forecast was looking good, any seasoned mariner knows the weather can change in hours, so we also made additional plans for other land bound outdoor sporting activities just in case the weather turned sour. As the opener drew close, the forecast for fair weather held and the green light was on for a “go” on our fishing trip.
• NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FISHING BUDDIES Josh Giordano, left, and Craig Bentley, both of Butte County, enjoyed catching limits of quality rock fish on light tackle while fishing in the "Gap" between Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands with Captain Tony Vultaggio of Santa Barbara Sportfishing Charters on the 24-foot Radon Milargo on last Monday’s rockfish opener.
• CAPTAIN TONY VULTAGGIO of Santa Barbara Sportfishing Charters congratulates Craig Bentley after the former WON staffer showed the kids how to catch doubles, on three consecutive drops in a row! Bentley was fishing a 4-ounce jig and a single shrimp fly on light tackle in 170 feet of water.
When we arrived in Santa Barbara the weather was beautiful with warm sunny skies and a light breeze, a welcome break from the cold rains of Northern California. After checking in at our motel. our host and skipper, Captain Tony Vultaggio stopped by to talk about our trip and line us out on what we going to be doing the next day. Our excitement grew as we realized everything had come together for a great trip with perfect conditions!
On Monday morning we met Vultaggio at the dock near Sea Landing in the Santa Barbara Harbor at 6 a.m. to begin our day. As we motored out of the harbor to the channel the seas were somewhat mixed up and still laying down from the last series of winter storms that had rolled through the state. The cruise out to the islands was easily tolerated by all on board, relatively short and in less than 90 minutes we were on the fishing grounds near the 53 line. A plus for all onboard on the ride out were sightings of porpoises, seals and even a humpback whale, all of which were spotted first by our skipper!
Vultaggio slowed down his 24-foot Radon sportfisher Milargo as he watched the electronics to find his mark. After marking fish on the spot he took the boat out of gear and came out of the wheel house with four brand new Penn, 7 foot, medium-heavy Power Stix rods fitted with Penn Mag 525 hi-speed reels, spooled with 50-pound Power-Pro braid, with 40 feet of 40-pound Berkley Big Game fluorocarbon line spliced in as the working end. He then began to rig the rods.
• LIMITS OF QUALITY ROCK FISH WERE TAKEN BY, left to right, Josh Giordano, Uncle Joe, Tommy Cook Jr and Craig Bentley- all of Northern California, while fishing with Captain Tony Vultaggio, of Santa Barbara Sportfishing.
In a manner that amazed even this old guide, Vultaggio, seemingly out of nowhere, as if by magic had all four rods rigged with a blue over white shrimp fly, 4 ounce torpedo weights at the end and baited in less than five minutes! Vultaggio then gave us a little talk about how to fish the rig and the characteristics of the bottom structure in the 150- to 170-foot deep water we would be fishing over.
As the captain swung the boat around, bets began to fly for the first fish and the biggest fish, as we all were ready to jump the gun. Before Tony even said let them drop, Tommy Cook was already getting bit and promptly set the hook on what came up to be a decent sized Pacific Whitefish. This stick pulled up a little blue as the first drift was ended by the proverbial “pick ‘em up” command that is heard often for us to reel up our lines.
The next few hours the tide mixed up the seas, so keeping the boat on the mark was a real chore for Captain Tony in the washing machine effect of the tide and current on the waves. We continued to pick off a fish or two on each drop as we worked two spots in the “Gap” and waited for the tide to turn around. It had been a decent morning so far, as we had 19 fish, a mix of blues, coppers and whitefish, in the box by 11a.m.
After a hearty lunch of fresh deli style sandwiches, snacks and soft drinks, Vultaggio headed the boat to a new spot a little farther to the south where we quickly found and caught more quality size coppers, blues, red rockfish along with a few legal, yet early Lingcod, which we released. We each caught a few doubles; one fish would hit the jig and then, tap-tap, another on the shrimp fly.
This writer showed the youngsters how to load up and brought up three consecutive doubles of big coppers by being patient enough to let a second fish bite before reeling up. Josh Giordano on the hand, caught all of his fish on a 3-ounce jig fished on a 7-foot medium heavy Berkley Air rod and Abu Cardinal 6300 bait casting reel for all the fun of light tackle jigging. By 1:30 we were limited out on big quality rockfish for all aboard and after a brief photo session, Captain Tony headed the Milargo for the harbor for a nice smooth ride to end a great day of light tackle rock fishing.
A Santa Barbara native, Tony Vultaggio is a U, S, Coast certified, licensed Captain and has over 20 years experience as a charter boat operator in both fresh and saltwater in the waters off of Alaska, Costa Rica, Florida, the Bahamas and Mexico. For more information or to book a trip, call him at (805) 637-3425 or check out his website at www.sbsportfishing.com
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SOUTH CALSALT REPORT SANTA BARBARA—A trip to Southern California for rockfish out to the Channel Islands proved to be worth the effort and drive time for three Northern California sportsmen who enjoyed some great light tackle fishing for limits of quality rockfish on last Saturdays opener at Santa Cruz Island.For my fishing buddies Tom Cook Jr. and Josh Giordano, it hadn’t been too long since they had been out on an ocean fishing trip, however, this writer hadn’t been out on the sea for at least 10 years, a fact that made him both excited as well as cautious at the same time. As we all do, I had needed a break from my day job, so I tacked on a couple of vacation dates to my regular scheduled weekend off, began making plans with my buddies, checking the marine weather forecast for the Channel Islands, particularly, the area known as the “Gap” between Santa Rosa and Santa Cruz Island. The weather forecast looked good for opening day, with light winds and comparatively small combined seas for what had been a very stormy winter. Even though the forecast was looking good, any seasoned mariner knows the weather can change in hours, so we also made additional plans for other land bound outdoor sporting activities just in case the weather turned sour. As the opener drew close, the forecast for fair weather held and the green light was on for a “go” on our fishing trip. • NORTHERN CALIFORNIA FISHING BUDDIES Josh Giordano, left, and Craig Bentley, both of Butte County, enjoyed catching limits of quality rock fish on light tackle while fishing in the "Gap" between Santa Cruz and Santa Rosa Islands with Captain Tony Vultaggio of Santa Barbara Sportfishing Charters on the 24-foot Radon Milargo on last Monday’s rockfish opener. • CAPTAIN TONY VULTAGGIO of Santa Barbara Sportfishing Charters congratulates Craig Bentley after the former WON staffer showed the kids how to catch doubles, on three consecutive drops in a row! Bentley was fishing a 4-ounce jig and a single shrimp fly on light tackle in 170 feet of water. When we arrived in Santa Barbara the weather was beautiful with warm sunny skies and a light breeze, a welcome break from the cold rains of Northern California. After checking in at our motel. our host and skipper, Captain Tony Vultaggio stopped by to talk about our trip and line us out on what we going to be doing the next day. Our excitement grew as we realized everything had come together for a great trip with perfect conditions! On Monday morning we met Vultaggio at the dock near Sea Landing in the Santa Barbara Harbor at 6 a.m. to begin our day. As we motored out of the harbor to the channel the seas were somewhat mixed up and still laying down from the last series of winter storms that had rolled through the state. The cruise out to the islands was easily tolerated by all on board, relatively short and in less than 90 minutes we were on the fishing grounds near the 53 line. A plus for all onboard on the ride out were sightings of porpoises, seals and even a humpback whale, all of which were spotted first by our skipper! Vultaggio slowed down his 24-foot Radon sportfisher Milargo as he watched the electronics to find his mark. After marking fish on the spot he took the boat out of gear and came out of the wheel house with four brand new Penn, 7 foot, medium-heavy Power Stix rods fitted with Penn Mag 525 hi-speed reels, spooled with 50-pound Power-Pro braid, with 40 feet of 40-pound Berkley Big Game fluorocarbon line spliced in as the working end. He then began to rig the rods. • LIMITS OF QUALITY ROCK FISH WERE TAKEN BY, left to right, Josh Giordano, Uncle Joe, Tommy Cook Jr and Craig Bentley- all of Northern California, while fishing with Captain Tony Vultaggio, of Santa Barbara Sportfishing. In a manner that amazed even this old guide, Vultaggio, seemingly out of nowhere, as if by magic had all four rods rigged with a blue over white shrimp fly, 4 ounce torpedo weights at the end and baited in less than five minutes! Vultaggio then gave us a little talk about how to fish the rig and the characteristics of the bottom structure in the 150- to 170-foot deep water we would be fishing over. As the captain swung the boat around, bets began to fly for the first fish and the biggest fish, as we all were ready to jump the gun. Before Tony even said let them drop, Tommy Cook was already getting bit and promptly set the hook on what came up to be a decent sized Pacific Whitefish. This stick pulled up a little blue as the first drift was ended by the proverbial “pick ‘em up” command that is heard often for us to reel up our lines. The next few hours the tide mixed up the seas, so keeping the boat on the mark was a real chore for Captain Tony in the washing machine effect of the tide and current on the waves. We continued to pick off a fish or two on each drop as we worked two spots in the “Gap” and waited for the tide to turn around. It had been a decent morning so far, as we had 19 fish, a mix of blues, coppers and whitefish, in the box by 11a.m. After a hearty lunch of fresh deli style sandwiches, snacks and soft drinks, Vultaggio headed the boat to a new spot a little farther to the south where we quickly found and caught more quality size coppers, blues, red rockfish along with a few legal, yet early Lingcod, which we released. We each caught a few doubles; one fish would hit the jig and then, tap-tap, another on the shrimp fly. This writer showed the youngsters how to load up and brought up three consecutive doubles of big coppers by being patient enough to let a second fish bite before reeling up. Josh Giordano on the hand, caught all of his fish on a 3-ounce jig fished on a 7-foot medium heavy Berkley Air rod and Abu Cardinal 6300 bait casting reel for all the fun of light tackle jigging. By 1:30 we were limited out on big quality rockfish for all aboard and after a brief photo session, Captain Tony headed the Milargo for the harbor for a nice smooth ride to end a great day of light tackle rock fishing. A Santa Barbara native, Tony Vultaggio is a U, S, Coast certified, licensed Captain and has over 20 years experience as a charter boat operator in both fresh and saltwater in the waters off of Alaska, Costa Rica, Florida, the Bahamas and Mexico. For more information or to book a trip, call him at (805) 637-3425 or check out his website at www.sbsportfishing.com |
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