Kayak Fishing Adventures on Big Water’s Edge - View Single Post - San Clemente island on the Islander 2.5 Day

Zfish03 · 07-01-2014, 02:14 PM

Awesome pictures and fun group! As always, the Islander crew worked hard to put us on fish. The food was icing on the cake.
I figured the bait situation was going to suck so I brought my sabiki pole. We were lucky to have a few macs and small dines mixed in with the anchovies. I wasn't able to make any greenies at the island but picked up a few good size spanish mac's that got destroyed by the nuisance 4-5lb calico's

Searched for the brown and yellow kind with no love on the first day. However, I did have a blast catching the bonita on my bass set up. They tried making squid after the first day, the sea lions made it tough but managed to get about 3 squid each + the fresh frozen I brought. I was hoping to keep trying to get more squid but they called it quits after an hour or so.
The second day I went away from the pack and searched for deeper water were I saw some birds working. About 100 yards away from bull kelp, in 120ft soft bottom saw a decent mark with birds around. Dropped one of my 3 live squid and was going to start to use the yoyo when the squid got picked up. Classic yellowtail hit and run, I thought I had the drag set perfect but this thing was no 20-30 pounder...It was kicking my ass and within a minute I was getting close to the kelp line. Decision time: Do I lift my tip even higher and tighten my drag to hopefully turn it? Will it bust off if I do that? Or keep working it, let my 65#braid and 6 feet of #40lb fluro do it's job? Too late, I already feel kelp on the line. I loosened the drag a bit, popped a few strands, and gained a little bit on it. Then I was in the thick of the bull kelp...

After about 30 minutes, getting pounded by swell, I'm pouring sweat, trying every angle, loosen/tighten drag, and can still feel the fish on. My arm is jello, my VHF suddenly died on me, hailed a nearby kayaker to radio the zodiac for a pair of fresh arms to help out. The deckhand tried his best to free it, can still feel the fish too, after about 20 minutes we look at each other and make the decision to start pulling hard and see what happens.

at the 40lb fluro. The worst part was we only had about 30-40 feet of line to go. Moral crushed. Tried the same spot with the remaining two squid which were promptly eaten by calico. Peddled back to the boat for more bait to find out we are changing locations. Managed to find a good sheepshead and 4lb whitefish bite during my halibut attempts. Ended the day with a killer meal, good buzz, and fun/heart break memories. Still came out with a decent amount of fish.

Turns out whitefish and bonita make killer sushi! I've heard horror stories about bonita too. Never tried bonita before. I actually almost threw it all out when I was filleting it because I wan't stoked on the "mushy" texture. Gave it a go anyhow. Cured the fillets with sugar, salt, pepper, and parsley for a few hours. On the smoker they went. I was pleasantly surprised, they tasted awesome!
Fun fishing with you all, see you OTW.
-Zac

07-01-2014, 02:14 PM	#17
Zfish03 Senior Member Join Date: Dec 2011 Location: Oceanside Posts: 197	Awesome pictures and fun group! As always, the Islander crew worked hard to put us on fish. The food was icing on the cake. I figured the bait situation was going to suck so I brought my sabiki pole. We were lucky to have a few macs and small dines mixed in with the anchovies. I wasn't able to make any greenies at the island but picked up a few good size spanish mac's that got destroyed by the nuisance 4-5lb calico's Searched for the brown and yellow kind with no love on the first day. However, I did have a blast catching the bonita on my bass set up. They tried making squid after the first day, the sea lions made it tough but managed to get about 3 squid each + the fresh frozen I brought. I was hoping to keep trying to get more squid but they called it quits after an hour or so. The second day I went away from the pack and searched for deeper water were I saw some birds working. About 100 yards away from bull kelp, in 120ft soft bottom saw a decent mark with birds around. Dropped one of my 3 live squid and was going to start to use the yoyo when the squid got picked up. Classic yellowtail hit and run, I thought I had the drag set perfect but this thing was no 20-30 pounder...It was kicking my ass and within a minute I was getting close to the kelp line. Decision time: Do I lift my tip even higher and tighten my drag to hopefully turn it? Will it bust off if I do that? Or keep working it, let my 65#braid and 6 feet of #40lb fluro do it's job? Too late, I already feel kelp on the line. I loosened the drag a bit, popped a few strands, and gained a little bit on it. Then I was in the thick of the bull kelp... After about 30 minutes, getting pounded by swell, I'm pouring sweat, trying every angle, loosen/tighten drag, and can still feel the fish on. My arm is jello, my VHF suddenly died on me, hailed a nearby kayaker to radio the zodiac for a pair of fresh arms to help out. The deckhand tried his best to free it, can still feel the fish too, after about 20 minutes we look at each other and make the decision to start pulling hard and see what happens. at the 40lb fluro. The worst part was we only had about 30-40 feet of line to go. Moral crushed. Tried the same spot with the remaining two squid which were promptly eaten by calico. Peddled back to the boat for more bait to find out we are changing locations. Managed to find a good sheepshead and 4lb whitefish bite during my halibut attempts. Ended the day with a killer meal, good buzz, and fun/heart break memories. Still came out with a decent amount of fish. Turns out whitefish and bonita make killer sushi! I've heard horror stories about bonita too. Never tried bonita before. I actually almost threw it all out when I was filleting it because I wan't stoked on the "mushy" texture. Gave it a go anyhow. Cured the fillets with sugar, salt, pepper, and parsley for a few hours. On the smoker they went. I was pleasantly surprised, they tasted awesome! Fun fishing with you all, see you OTW. -Zac Last edited by Zfish03; 07-01-2014 at 02:21 PM.