Dana point hoop net 2-28

Was good weather got out on the water at 745 ish got all 6 hoops dropped by 830 let em soak for a while to thaw the bait out. Decided to make a couple casts on the bass rod picked up a tiny sandy but it managed to almost swallow my whole 4" hammer bait. Started pulling nets short after short after short got 1 keeper between me and my buddy. We had to have pulled in 15 or more shorts we just stopped counting. Wind was picking up bad and pushing us out fast so we called it a night. Off the water by 1ish with 1 keeper to show for it. Lots of really small ones like crawdad size.....I shall see them in october.

[danjor]

Every time out at Dana I pull up tons of short lobsters and I always think next year will be a good year. And when next year rolls around all I catch is short ones again. I'm starting to think the big lobsters trained the little ones to steal our bait and bring it to the big ones

[dpasinli]

Thanks for the report! Thinking of getting out tonight to drop a few hoops at DP ; kinda new to the whole kayak deal and hooped a few time before but only for a few hours at a time. Question, how much bait is required for 5 hrs of hooping, and isn't it a little sketchy being out that long so late?

Originally Posted by dpasinli

Thanks for the report! Thinking of getting out tonight to drop a few hoops at DP ; kinda new to the whole kayak deal and hooped a few time before but only for a few hours at a time. Question, how much bait is required for 5 hrs of hooping, and isn't it a little sketchy being out that long so late?

If im going to be out that long that late ill go with a buddy and Its actually really peaceful and serene out there. also I never change my bait i made my own bait tubes out of abs plastic and i stuff them completely full i can get 6 good size mackerel cut up in chunks in one of my tubes so I never change it out and sometimes ill use the same bait for1-3 trips just depends how it looks at the end of the nights. This was my first season hooping but I have learned a lot. If you have any questions feel free to pm me and ill be more than willing to answer anything i can. Ill post up some pics of the bat tubes i made sometime today. The longest i have been out hooping was like 7 hours or so.

[rossman]

Thanks for the report. I hope to get out there a couple time next week.

For those not so inclined to do it yourself, I was just at Hogans in DP and they have all of their hoop netting stuff on sale for 25% off. I bought a couple of the Promar 9" bait tubes for 7.50 each. DIY would be less expensive but unless I feel I need 20 of them, I'd just as soon drop the cash.

The Rossman

[dpasinli]

Right, Buddy system is the call, I guess the more you do it the more comfortable you are on the water. And great idea on the bait tubes, when i bought my gear they came with the little cages so i've used those the two times i've been out....I'll have to check out Hogans as well, always in need of something right. Probably gonna hit it tonight at DP, so if any would like to join the company would be welcome. Thanks for the insight and if you're ever looking for a hooping partner I am good for it most weekends.

thnx deniz.

[ful-rac]

Good work! Yeah its tough to get anything legal outta the dp breakwall, its been hammered so much, hey at least its polluted with shorts...!

Wish I could go again tonight the wife would not be happy. She is already upset with the sat all day trip i have planned. hha i may be able to sneak out for a while though ill let ya know

[FishNinjaY]

Originally Posted by madncrzydm

Ill post up some pics of the bat tubes i made sometime today. The longest i have been out hooping was like 7 hours or so.

I'd love to see pics of this. I have a picture in my mind of how this probably works, but wondering about PVC size used, etc. I don't even have a kayak or hoop nets yet... YET.

Originally Posted by FishNinjaY

I'd love to see pics of this. I have a picture in my mind of how this probably works, but wondering about PVC size used, etc. I don't even have a kayak or hoop nets yet... YET.

ill go take some pics right now

we attached weights to the outside to hold it down we had a problem with them floating a little bit but on most we just took scrap lead and gooped it to the inside of the screw caps and just zip tied a 8oz or so to the other end... also I dont know how you have your rope/ buoy set up but i found a really good way to keep it all manageable and visible from a boat or a kayak

[FishNinjaY]

thanks! they float? I thought PVC sinks? or is this ABS? What size is this? Wow, that's a lot of holes drilled! Thanks again for the info.

I thought that too but we put em in the bathtub after the first time netting with them and they floated may be the goop but they floated fairly well.Yes it ABS the tubes we cut to 12" and it is 3" ABS and the caps are just added length we opted to get the really cheap caps as opposed the expensive ones because the cheap ones had holes in the already and i want worried about a watertight seal And yes the holes took a while to drill with a hand drill and no vise. Milk crate and zipties my new vise. and for my buoys i drilled a hole in them and put a 3oz weight to ballast one side down then drilled a hole in the top to stick a glowstick in it. Then for my rope I run my rope through the buoy and i use a 10 oz weight and clip it to the end of the rope and just throw the rope out so it sinks drop the buoy in the water then the net and it will free slide through so you never have to worry about adjusting for depth on your rope and the glow stick is always out of the water and i covered them in reflective tape.

[FishNinjaY]

ha.. I was float tube fishing and made a PVC trolling rod holder out of a T-piece... it jiggled loose and sent my cork-handled cheap spinning rod down to Daveys Locker.