Mission bay July 06 /Tidelands and DP July 07
 

Fished mission bay on sat on the water 0600 went to the bait barge and the dines were massive, biggest ive ever seen such big ones. Had a good day helped a guy land a big hali, caught 2 small halis and probably half dozen spotties. Off the water by 1 Sunday Met up with mrpatrick and 2 others at around 6 at tidelands had a blast and fished till around noon. Did really well on the spotties a dozen or more. I stopped counting. Then I headed straight to DP to fish with a buddy for the afternoon. Attempted to head out to the point/ salt creek around 3 and it was deffinately a no go. The wind had picked up and I was taking lots of spray and getting soaked paddling into the chop/ wind. Ended up staying in the harbor and just fishing for whatever wanted to bite. It was completely dead and nobody out there was catching anything at all. Overall great day and had alot of fun. Off the water at 7

Sounds like a busy weekend. Better luck next time.

I'me done at tidelands, eel grass central! Not just growing, but floating everywhere so I'm constantly pulling that crap off my lure every cast. I think I've caught 1 lizard fish there. I do much better along the golf course. Sounds like you had a good day of fishing

Don't do that !!! - LOL :)
IMHO - you will missing out on one of the top Bay fisheries in the WORLD....


Tidelands is MAJOR money $$$$.

i've caught THOUSANDS of spots there in 50+ outings over past decade.
and released every one of them. so there have to be some left there. ;)
I also got one 14 lb Hali on plastic grub, between bridge pilings & moored sailboats, about 5 yrs ago.
my few best days ever @ Tidelands, produced 80-90 bass, in a single day's outing, lasting around 10 hrs.

eel grass is everywhere in Bays, definitley worse in Fall/Winter.
and WAY worse all over MB, than in SDB.

but for Tidelands... get out near the deep channel, where eel grass is typically not as thick or accumulated.
then drift with tide/current, bouncing plastics or gulp shrimp along the bottom.
if you get a good drift set-up, you can work 2 or even 3 rods all on your deck simultaneously.

i've also caught LOTS of smaller spots near the moored sailboats and around the bridge pilings.
but i have always caught the BIGGER bass, and MORE bass, out around the deep channel.

u just have to keep your eyes open for the big military ships, or commercial ships, coming in or out,
because they usually require you to vacate the deep channel for their passing.
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I have to second Hobie-Peddler. The channel is where it's most productive. I don't do the three rod set up though that could get wild if you hit a school of spots or sandies. I start new people outside the buoy line of the sailboats and the when they feel comfortable I take them to the deep water. When they see what they can catch and how many, their eyes light up.

Which is exactly how he did it and how it happened haha.

Busy couple days there Easy. You'll get that butt yet.

As far as dealing with eel grass, go weedless. Try a Warbait Slayer head or try a Texas or Carolina rig. I definitely wouldn't give up on Tidelands because of the grass. That'd be like not fishing Mission Bay because of the grass. Too much to miss.

BTW, when I first started bay fishing (in a float tube maybe 13yrs ago) I gave up on Mission Bay because of the grass. Then the freshwater guys on another board recommended weedless freshwater baits and it was game on.

Yep DP was very quiet. I ended up with only 1 queen in 5+ hours, and I didn't get it till around 7. Beat the skunk with it though

Forgot to also mention Owner Sledheads for weedless presentations.

I've had some tough outings to LJ lately so I headed to Tidelands yesterday. It was good as ever. I agree that the channel offers the best. I tried some shallow areas to the south and towards Glorietta near the golf course and they all had hungry fish. Glad you had a good day. You'll have many more double digit days out there.

Working the deeper channel...I'd have to change my set up I suppose. I use a krock about 98% of the time fishing for bass simply for the type of fishing/action it requires you to do. I love it. I assume fishing the channel you guys are using a small grub with a sinker similar to a reverse dropper loop?

Grub or swimbait on a 1/2 ounce or 3/4 ounce jighead. Dropshot also works well.

Yep I was using a 4" zman paddlerz in white on a 1/2 oz weedless jig head. And a chartreuse grub with an extra long tail on a 3/4 oz jig head once the wind picked up and 1/2 oz wouldn't stay on the bottom while I drifted

there's too much eel grass. you will always be removing it from your bait, after every cast. - LOLOL
NOW, i see why u were complaining about eel grass at top of thread. ;)


i use Krocs & Crankbaits (Frenzy Diving Minnow & Fat Free Shad) at times in SDB, but usually only around the Shelter Island launch, where bay is more open, and only when no eel grass in the area i'm fishing.

but i usually catch Barrys, and occasional Bones & Corvina, with crankbaits & krocs, when used in Bays.
it is hard to keep these lures near bottom, unless you are fishing fairly shallow water,
and the shallows, often are infested with eel grass.

to get the Bay Bass in good numbers, you almost always HAVE TO BE FISHING ON THE BOTTOM !!

thus, the go to baits in Bays, especially for Bass, are curly-tail grubs, swimbaits, and Gulp shrimp, all on lead jig-heads.
(when i work 3 poles on deck simulatneously, these are often the 3 separate baits, that i have out drifting behind yak.)


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i use 3/8 oz in Bays, when NOT in deep channels.

once I'm fishing over 35-40 ft depth, i use 1/2 oz for drifting thru channel.
when "drifting" with tide/current, the bait will stay on bottom even in deep channel, with 1/2 oz.

and i feel i get bit/hooked up more, with lighter jig weight.

on the nightmare days when tide/wind are opposing, and you can't get a good drift going, and thus need to cast & retrieve jigs... then i will use a 1/2 oz in shallower areas, and 3/4 oz in the deep channel, to keep it near bottom while cast & retrieve.
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I have used a a shallow crank bait, 3ft diver on a Carolina rig with a one ounce sliding egg sinker in 45' deep water with very good results. The bait dives down to the bottom and the floats back up on the retrieve. Sand bass are very susceptible to this. Hali's hit it too.