Mackerel?

[lowprofile]

I need to load up on mackerel and there’s nothing running at the piers. Is there decent bait in La Jolla or in the big bay?

[FISH11]

I was out there today at La Jolla with a friend and we went to different areas trying to find the bait. Saw plenty marks on the fish finder but it seemed like none wanted to play the game. Went north and west of the pier then we came back and over the canyons to the cove area, later in the afternoon there was heavy bird action that had not been present throughout the day. It was happening to the north and not quite even with the pier and out in 170 feet of water, so off wen went on another chase. This time it was hard and heavy so we started throwing jigs hopping for some Yellows like we saw a small boil and a boat beat us to it and they landed 1 yellow approx 10lbs. But this time there was no boils but thousands of nice 10"-13" greenbacks and on every single cast using flatfalls, colt snipers and other similar jigs was a hook up with the large macs. The weird thing is there was then, bait all over the place in like a mile circle but did not see anymore yellows. These greenbacks were so hungry they were inhaling all the of the treble hooks inside their mouths when using a 60gr colt sniper and a 160gr flat fall jig and that's a pretty large treble hook It made it hard to remove the hooks. I can't remember when I have seen so many greenbacks at once but yet no other larger fish. Did manage to get a nice Calico on the flatfall and my friend caught a couple of the biggest white fish I have ever seen (they were released as they appear to be classified as rock fish and out of season till March 1st. The thing is who knows if they will show up tomorrow. Only one way to find out. Just keep an eye out for bird action which is what we did all day long and only found then at around 2:30pm and we were searching since like 7am.

[Finngo]

Originally Posted by FISH11

I was out there today at La Jolla with a friend and we went to different areas trying to find the bait. Saw plenty marks on the fish finder but it seemed like none wanted to play the game. Went north and west of the pier then we came back and over the canyons to the cove area, later in the afternoon there was heavy bird action that had not been present throughout the day. It was happening to the north and not quite even with the pier and out in 170 feet of water, so off wen went on another chase. This time it was hard and heavy so we started throwing jigs hopping for some Yellows like we saw a small boil and a boat beat us to it and they landed 1 yellow approx 10lbs. But this time there was no boils but thousands of nice 10"-13" greenbacks and on every single cast using flatfalls, colt snipers and other similar jigs was a hook up with the large macs. The weird thing is there was then, bait all over the place in like a mile circle but did not see anymore yellows. These greenbacks were so hungry they were inhaling all the of the treble hooks inside their mouths when using a 160gr flat fall jig and that's a pretty large treble hook It made it hard to remove the hooks. I can't remember when I have seen so many greenbacks at once but yet no other larger fish. Did manage to get a nice Calico on the flatfall and my friend caught a couple of the biggest white fish I have ever seen (they were released as they appear to be classified as rock fish and out of season till March 1st. The thing is who knows if they will show up tomorrow. Only one way to find out. Just keep an eye out for bird action which is what we did all day long and only found then at around 2:30pm and we were searching since like 7am.

+1

[TJones]

Originally Posted by FISH11

I was out there today at La Jolla with a friend and we went to different areas trying to find the bait. Saw plenty marks on the fish finder but it seemed like none wanted to play the game. Went north and west of the pier then we came back and over the canyons to the cove area, later in the afternoon there was heavy bird action that had not been present throughout the day. It was happening to the north and not quite even with the pier and out in 170 feet of water, so off wen went on another chase. This time it was hard and heavy so we started throwing jigs hopping for some Yellows like we saw a small boil and a boat beat us to it and they landed 1 yellow approx 10lbs. But this time there was no boils but thousands of nice 10"-13" greenbacks and on every single cast using flatfalls, colt snipers and other similar jigs was a hook up with the large macs. The weird thing is there was then, bait all over the place in like a mile circle but did not see anymore yellows. These greenbacks were so hungry they were inhaling all the of the treble hooks inside their mouths when using a 160gr flat fall jig and that's a pretty large treble hook It made it hard to remove the hooks. I can't remember when I have seen so many greenbacks at once but yet no other larger fish. Did manage to get a nice Calico on the flatfall and my friend caught a couple of the biggest white fish I have ever seen (they were released as they appear to be classified as rock fish and out of season till March 1st. The thing is who knows if they will show up tomorrow. Only one way to find out. Just keep an eye out for bird action which is what we did all day long and only found then at around 2:30pm and we were searching since like 7am.

by the way, I believe the white fish can be taken year round. somebody chime in, if I am wrong?

[stevie951]

chum baby chum.. old squid from the freezer or a bunch of canned cat food?

[FoodGeekFish]

Originally Posted by TJones

by the way, I believe the white fish can be taken year round. somebody chime in, if I am wrong?

You're wrong


In the Southern Management Area (Concepcion south) Ocean Whitefish are treated same as RCG Complex, closed Jan 1-Feb 28, and no take year round outside 450'.

https://wildlife.ca.gov/Fishing/Ocea...ndfish-Summary

The "Fish Rules" app is a good phone based resource for quick checks.

[TJones]

. thanks for correction.