Quote:
Originally Posted by BrokeLoser
WOW! I've read your posts on another site where you gave some pretty good information on how and where to fish Catalina. I've used your information and have done well at the island with it...Thanks for that. It's nothing to be ashamed of.
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I'm not ashamed or mad, I'm just telling you how I see it from my perspective, and trying to possibly shorten your learning curve.
Giving information on fishing Catalina Island or Santa Barbara Island is different then posting a local La Jolla report. Especially on this board where so few have access to that fishery. That channel keeps a lot of people away from the island and posting info about fishing there is not the same is posting inshore information about bite closer to local harbors.
As to what I've posted about Catalina on BWE. Well the truth is very few kayakers fish Catalina, not enough in my honest opinion, and I want more guys to try it. It's a great place to fish and you guys are missing out. Most people that do take their boats across the channel usually stay in their boats, but it's a hell of a place to fish from a yak.
In general the detailed areas I talk about at Catalina are for the most part are very hard to fish from a skiff and could only be fished well from a kayak. There are areas like some of the little beaches that would be great areas to fish from a yak, that get almost zero pressure be cause you can't really hit them right from a skiff or big boat.
Also with Catalina conditions are in constant flux and the fish always on the move so giving people info about spots on the island is not as big a deal because there is so much area to fish and for the most part very few people fishing it. There are literally thousands of La Jolla like spots at the island. It's twenty miles long with a ton of good areas to fish both front and back. Unless you are fishing with the fleet on some "hot bite" that someone posted on BD or another site, your usually pretty much fishing alone, so if you find a red hot bite you're miles away from an port or location where hundreds of boats could come out at a moment notice.
It's just not like La Jolla or Rocky Point where the whole fleet is only ten minutes away, or where one careless post could mobilize thousands of people.
For the most part the same rules apply though. If you post hoop locations at Catalina they will get overrun by divers and hoop netters, and over time the spot will get over fished and go down the tubes. Posting Seabass bites there might not have the same immediate impact of posting a inshore bite, but if the bite lasts long enough posting info about it online can lead to the same kind of crowds and overfishing.
My general rule of thumb is if everyone is fishing one location at Catalina due to some internet post I take note of those conditions, and then find another area at the island where the same conditions exist but I do not have to fish in a crowd. It's a big island plenty of places to fish.
It's really tempting when your new to want to just follow the crowd. My take is you need to learn first how to find and catch your own fish, then you won't need the crowd or even want to fish with them. Sometimes it is tempting to run to the hot spot that everyone's fishing but that truth is if they are all fishing that one spot there are probably other areas holding fish, maybe with even better bites, and probably a lot less hassle.