Round 2, SD Bay Night

[JeffB]

It was such a hard choice for me to make to get out on the water last night. After having a good night Tuesday, my options were sit on the couch or fish. Gee I wonder what my choice was! I got off to a late start unfortunately, but I was not worried. I visited with a BWE couple as soon as I got on the water for a few secs, then it was off to work. I caught 6 bass my first 10 cast. I thought to myself that this is going to be an awesome night. I started off throwing a 6" swimbait, rather than a 5". I was bound to catch a big fish last night. I hit one spot pretty hard, then moved on. About an hr went by without another fish. What in the heck is going? I was getting a lot of bites, but I just could not get my hook set. So I decided to down size to a 5" bait. Still no luck. I finally found a small little clam bed at the east end of SI and started catching some fish. I pulled up a handful of 8"-10", then moved on. I did not come out to catch bait ! So I headed west of the pier. I messed around for a few hours playing around with different baits while I waited for the tide to change over and for the current to start ripping back out to the ocean. I have a special spot for when the current is rolling out with a passion.

Finally, 3:00am, after patiently waiting and making a trip all the way out to the mouth of bay and jetty, the current is in my favor. I post up with my 6" swim and go to town. I was catching fish after fish. This is why I came out to fish ! I was catching a very mixed bag as far as size. I caught anywhere from 8" fish to 3lb fish. It was so funny because I pulled up a 8" calico on the big swimbait. I was using a 1.5oz jig with 7/0 hook. The gap of the hook with the swimbait was twice the size and his little mouth. I was laughing so hard I almost teared up. I raised him up it the air next to the bait a couple times. I asked him was he was thinking. No reply, so I set him free. I caught close to 30 fish on this little hole. It was almost like I was anchored down because I fished the spot so tight. All the fish wanted was my 6" swimbait. I tried a 5", but they were not very interested. I threw five different colors last night and they all worked evenly the same. Finally 5:00am rolled around and I headed over to search for another barn door.

I pulled up to a spot that I have had a lot of luck at in the past. Hit it pretty hard and only managed a few decent bass. However I had one big bite that doubled my rod over, pulling a 1/4 of my rod into the water and pulling a little drag out of my Curado 300. I was not even able to crank on it any and it shook its head with four big thumps and it swam away. Oh well, I wonder what it may have been? I moved back to one last spot and fished it so hard. I was so bound and determined to catch a halibut. Between 7:00-7:30am I hooked into three nice fish, all three fought harder than the big halibut from the day before. I just knew each one was another big barn. I put all three fish in the boat and they all came in as so:
1) 21" Sandbass 4.76lb
2) 22" Sandbass 5.31lb
3) 22 1/2" Sandbass 5.96

I had a gentlemen take a pick of the fish, but he took a small video clip instead. So I took a still frame from it (well my wife did for me). Then I took a pic of all the fish I kept before I cleaned them. A gentlemen at the pier brought me his scale, he wanted to see what they weighed. I do not usually catch bass, especially out of the bay, but my wife warned me what would happen if I came home empty handed. I had a few hiccups with the fish on my last three trips. That however is and entirely different story for an entirely different time. The fish were so fat, it was crazy. I opened up one of the big ones stomachs because it was the size of my fist. It was full of pencil clams, small grey/blue crabs, and a cpl little bait fish. I filled up 3 big ziplock bags full of meat. I treated Reel Anxious with a bag for his generosity for always letting me use the yak. My wife was happy and I get to go fishing yet another day!

Ps. I apologize to the green bass fisherman on here in advance. I would never ever, nor have I ever in the past 24yrs of my freshwater bass fishing career kept a largemouth, smallmouth or spot. I do not feel so passionate towards saltwater bass, but for those who do, don't yell at me throught your computer screen... Have you ever seen this face on a tiny little Thai women, well take it from me you don't want too. If she wants fish, then she gets fish!!! LOL!

[slobslayer]

thats awesome! let me know next time you head out if you want some company

[andrewtp]

Sweet! If only NPH produced like that..,

[blitzburgh]

Nice haul!

[roadx]

i'll take sandbass any day. wife love's them! those are some beauty's

[ashmoz]

u da SB masta! dude

[Gigafish]

Awesome report and fantastic fishing. If I didn't read the fish report I would think it was wide open out there which is certainly not the case. Congrats.

[JeffB]

You know in my avatar pic, the bass was 23 1/2" and only weighed 6.01. Had that bass been as fat as these, it would have went 7lbs. I just can not get over how fat some of these fish were.,a few off them looked like you could poke them with a pin and just popped them like a balloon.

[thefisher]

Do work Jeff! too bad I missed your call otherwise I would have cruised out with yah!

[mtnbykr2]

Nice results there for the night bite, I would, actually do the same if momma wants fish she gets fish if I do...

[GHOSTHUNTR]

Great Job, and there is absolutely nothing wrong with harvesting a few for the table. That stringer would win you the San Diego Bay Bass tournament most years, very impressive.

[ful-rac]

What do you think your doing??! Are you insane? Keepn all that bass? ...Thats it buddy .....your fishing licence has been officially revoked!


Nah, just kidding good job on the bass! Dont worry about what other people think, just follow the rules and its all good! Them bass are tasty too, i know some guys wont eat'm but more for us!

[DESTROYER]

Nice Catch!

CPR for me...Catch, Photgraph, Release so you can catch them another day. Sand Bass taste mealy to me but everything is good FRIED

[Aaron&Julie]

Nice haul!

[William Novotny]

As said above, thats a turney winning stringer right there! Another great job. Do you find that the bass bite is better at night?

[JeffB]

The bass bite has always better for me a night in both bays, whether it be spots or sandies. However, I'm always able to pin down a few big sandies in the morning hours here and there. The main thing for me is not to be afraid to throw real big baits inside the bay. I rarely see other anglers throwing anything over 3"-4" baits, every now and the I see them throwing slim 5" baits and occasional 5" big hammer. 5" big hammers are the smallest I through for sand bass. The are so much more aggressive in the bay and a lot more to catch in the shallow waters. You do not have worry about them bloating up have way up to the kayak.

[PapaDave]

Hey Jeff, it was good to meet you on the water. I brought a freind who was new to both a kayak and fishing, and she got sick shortly before 10pm. We ended up leaving before the bite turned on. Although I did get hammered twice while drifting back to the launch area. We will have to get together sometime, if that is okay.

[roby]

You got some quality fish right there.......maybe a night time bass tournament???

[roadx]

Originally Posted by roby

You got some quality fish right there.......maybe a night time bass tournament???

we have had those before, always fun. i got a Lincoln/Hamilton/jackson ? i can donate

[JeffB]

A night tourney would be cool. I put something together in the past. We had about 20 guys show up and all threw in $10 for the guy with the single biggest Sandbass. Gave away a custom rod I built as well. I would be down for that again for sure!