Noob questions re:Mission Bay Quivira Basin

[pbb]

I am planning to give kayak fishing a try (for the first time) in Mission Bay tomorrow. My plan is to rent a yak from Aqua Adventures in Quivira Basin, and to fish around the bait barge and surrounding areas.

Any advice for a noob?

I am bringing swimbaits and I have grubs. I have light iron. I can't claim any great experience actually catching fish on any of these.

I figure I could also buy live bait at the bait barge (or try to jig some on a sabiki) and flyline that, which I at least have the experience of doing in the party boat environment.

(I have a battery aerator for a bait bucket).

Any suggestions to make my first time out successful?

[JeffB]

Don't worry about live bait and I would leave the iron at home ( me personally). Small swim baits, grubs, and spinnerbaits are go to baits in MB. You can fish anywhere there, it's a very shallow bay. I would fish in between and around the bridges. You will find a lot of eel grass full of spots and halibut. The pile ons in the marinas hold a lot of fish as well. "My" go to spot is the Ski Beach area.

If you go out, good luck to you....

[blitzburgh]

Be mindful around the bait barge. Dogs and boats can make it tricky. If you have some freshwater spinnerbaits bring a couple and throw them on the eel grass beds for spotties. Fish areas with little eddies forming. Good luck!

[pbb]

Thanks for the advice.

It was a beautiful day on the water. I went out for a couple of hours with swimbaits and spinnerbaits.

The only thing I hooked up with was a catamaran that ran over my line.

I still have a lot to learn...

[beef78]

One thing that might help is to remember to let your baits sink to the bottom on flat sandy areas and just over the grass where there is grass. The fish are normally low. If it is super sunny, fish where there is shade. Those simple tips helped me get into the spotties. Also, I do well with live bait in the bay for halibut and fishing near structure with livies yields bass sometimes.

[Hobie-Pedaller]

Originally Posted by pbb

....My plan is to rent a yak from Aqua Adventures in Quivira Basin...

.....Any suggestions to make my first time out successful?

if you are renting yak, i understand your limitations of LOCATION.

but IMHO - for newbs, SD Bay is a much better place to start & learn.
if u have a way to get a kayak that u can use at SDB, you should try there a few times.

i have fished both SD and Mission Bays for many years.
i ALWAYS catch 2-4 times as many TOTAL fish every outing in SD Bay, compared to Mission Bay.
while i always catch FEWER TOTAL in MB, the Spotties are ALWAYS bigger & fatter in MB.

SDB has WAY LESS eel grass, than Mission Bay.
MB has eel grass EVERYWHERE.
SDB has eel grass mostly only in the shallower areas.
majority of SDB has weedless sandy bottoms.

that eel grass is a haven for the bigger bass in MB.
but it makes the fishing much more challenging for the angler.

for beginners, i would recommend Shelter Island beach (sand) launch, by the moored sailboats. then just go straight out from launch, and get out in the med to deep channel areas. then just drift with tide/current/wind, using plastics or gulp on lead jig-heads, allowing them to bounce along the bottom during the drift. you can usually just keep drifting and working baits on bottom endlessly in SDB, and you will only occasionally get tangled in eel grass or weeds, and you WILL CATCH SOME FISH.

where as in MB, you can NOT typically just drift baits on bottom endlessly there, because you constantly get weeds & eel grass all over baits, which then has to be reeled in, removed, then re-cast, etc.


PS - i never have, but many others use a variety of "weedless" type baits in MB.
this minimizes some of the weed issues, but requires additional types of lures/rigs to be purchased.

hope this helps. good luck with it !!
.

[pbb]

Thanks for feedback.

My longer term goal would be to get out to the kelp, but in the short term my reasons for fishing Mission Bay are twofold: 1) I want to eat what I catch (assuming I ever catch anything) and my read is that the PCB levels in SD Bay are significantly higher, and 2) for now I am renting (but that could be overcome, even if it involved renting for the weekend and launching in SD Bay).

That said, I have to double problem of not knowing the best places to fish and not really knowing how to fish effectively for Bay Bass. So it feels like shooting in the dark.

It sounds like plastics are basically the go to tackle in Mission Bay, and I can't claim to have ever caught anything on plastics. I have no freshwater bass background. I have caught undersized Bass from the Mission Bay Jetty, but using bait (can't remember for sure what, probably mussel, but maybe squid), not plastics.

If it would help to learn the techniques for catching Bay Bass in SD Bay, and those skills would be transferable to Mission Bay, that would make sense.

I am interested in taking the OEX kayak fishing class, but it sounds like CJ is really busy right now. The last one scheduled in June happened to be the weekend I was in Alaska. (I'm not complaining, I caught a nice King while I was there).

Anyone who wouldn't mind have a noob tag along, I figure I will learn much faster going out with someone that knows what they are doing, then trying to figure it all out on my own.

[ctfphoto]

"(I have a battery aerator for a bait bucket)."

I did that for awhile ... it kinda works ......

The Best extra you can buy for kayak fishing is a live bait tank. It took me a year to figure out I needed one. Bought one and within in week, I caught a white sea bass. Since then, The live bait tank has allowed me to catch 2 legal halibut and a trophy yellowtail and lots of by catch . Live bait rules ......... imo

[Hobie-Pedaller]

PBB,

spinnerbaits & crankbaits such Frenzy Minnow or Bomber Fat Free Shad, also work well in MB and SDB.

although in general MOST DAYS, plastics such as swimbaits or curly tail grubs, are better in the Bays.

and Gulp Shrimp, or Gulp curly tails, are usually the best for the Bays.
although the Gulp baits are more expensive than plastics.

[easyday]

Originally Posted by Hobie-Pedaller

PBB,
Gulp Shrimp, or Gulp curly tails, are usually the best for the Bays.
although the Gulp baits are more expensive than plastics.

X2 love the gulp shrimp those spotties really tear them up...:thumbup:

[Hobie-Pedaller]

Originally Posted by ctfphoto

"(I have a battery aerator for a bait bucket)."

I did that for awhile ... it kinda works ......

The Best extra you can buy for kayak fishing is a live bait tank. It took me a year to figure out I needed one. Bought one and within in week, I caught a white sea bass. Since then, The live bait tank has allowed me to catch 2 legal halibut and a trophy yellowtail and lots of by catch . Live bait rules ......... imo

PBB is just starting out here, still RENTING yak to get on water.

got to buy a KAYAK, before even thinking about buying BAIT TANK. - LOL


but i DEFINITELY agree with you, that if someone wants to fish LJ for the Big 3 (YT, WSB, Hali) and the resulting bycatch of 3 B's (Bass, Bonita, Barracuda), or someone who wants to fish Bays for keeper Halibut, then you DEFINITELY want to use LIVE BAIT there !!!

and thus a Bait Tank is a coveted possession !!!


But if someone is wanting to catch BAY BASS, from my personal experience, i would ALWAYS recommend....

3" Gulp Shrimp as the BEST possible bait, with 3" to 5" plastic grubs or swimbaits a slightly distant second best.

not only are these artificial baits USUALLY going to produce more Bass in Bays, they are less expensive & much simpler, than dealing with a bait tank & live bait.
.

[Hobie-Pedaller]

Originally Posted by pbb

....If it would help to learn the techniques for catching Bay Bass in SD Bay, and those skills would be transferable to Mission Bay, that would make sense....

IMO - going to SDB would definitley be your best approach, if you are going out on your own, w/o any expereinced fisherman with you to show you some basic pointers on the water in MB.....

Originally Posted by Hobie-Pedaller

....for beginners, i would recommend Shelter Island beach (sand) launch, by the moored sailboats. then just go straight out from launch, and get out in the med to deep channel areas. then just drift with tide/current/wind, using plastics or gulp on lead jig-heads, allowing them to bounce along the bottom during the drift. you can usually just keep drifting and working baits on bottom endlessly in SDB, and you will only occasionally get tangled in eel grass or weeds, and you WILL CATCH SOME FISH....

launch from SI, and as soon as you are past/outside of the moored sailboats, which is only approx 50 ft from sandy beach launch, you can start fishing right there. allow the tide/current/wind to drift your yak whichever direction it takes you, and then cast your line into the direction you are drifitng AWAY FROM, and make sure bait falls all the way to bottom, and then at least 20 to 30 more feet of line after that, so bait is not directly under your kayak, and line is trailing behind your drift. then just allow the drift to carry your kayak along, and this will drag your bait, bouncing along the bottom, several feet behind your kakayk.

put a 3" Gulp Shrimp in New Penny color, on a 1/2 oz lead jig-head, as your bait.
use either 8 lb or 10 lb monofilament, tied directly to jig with palomar knot.
(no need for braided line, leaders, etc.)

YOU WILL CATCH SOME BASS (and also some Lizard Fish unfortunatley).
but when just starting out, ANYTHING tugging back against your pole, even Lizards, are fun to reel in.


PS - DO NOT GET SUNSCREEN ON YOUR BAITS, HOOKS, LINES, ETC.

something in Sunscreen, acts basically like a fish repellant, for all species.
if u get it on your baits, it will appreciably limit the amount of bites you get, in any type of fishing.

I always cover with a good layer of sunscreen AT HOME, just before i go out fishing.
then wash my hands good w/ soap & hot water, to completely get the oily film OFF MY HANDS.

Originally Posted by pbb

...Anyone who wouldn't mind have a noob tag along, I figure I will learn much faster going out with someone that knows what they are doing, then trying to figure it all out on my own....

you are more than welcome to fish with me ANYTIME u can make it.
although i only fish Mo, Tu, or Fri, depending on my each week's schedule.
(i almost never fish weekends, because it is often a ZOO of power boat/jet ski traffic in both LJ and Bays.)

my next Bay outing will likely be Monday, Aug 5. likely launching around 9 am, or so.
lmk if you're interested/available that date.

it seems from your initial post here, you perhaps can only fish Sat/Sun. (not sure ?)

if u can only fish Sat/Sun, just keep an eye on various posts on other threads in this msg board.
there is often guys posting they are going out to SDB or MB, on weekend days, and offereing if anyone else wants to meet up & join them, etc.
.

[Ggiannig89]

when I first statyed fishing mission bay a few years ago this map really helped. I really really prefer using weedless swim baits with the heaviest weight amd smallest swimbait that will fit together.I like fishing the edges of the eel grass. My way to first find the edges of the grass was to just drop a hook down and see if it got snagged then just drift around until it quits getting snagged and u find the edge and work that area with the swimbaits. Good luck

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