Dana Pt, 12-26-11

[Amish Ed]

Got to the launch at around 5:30 and it was COLD. I sat in my truck and finished my coffee. After a while I realized nobody else was there and decided to give myself a Christmas present. I went and launched from the boat ramp. I wish I could afford it every week, so much better with the shorter paddle.

Anyways, got on the water at 6:30 and the offshore wind was howling pretty good. Tucked around the long jetty and fished it real tight to stay out of the wind. Gotta nice calico on the first cast and another on the fourth cast. But, that was it for an hour plus. Decided to deal with the cold wind and headed for the pipe. Got out there and started fishing in about 50'. The wind made it really hard to keep the bait on the bottom, about 9:30 the offshore stopped, had half hour of calm and then the wind came around out of the west. Typical Dana Pt winter morning. Water was 57.3-57.8º and clear.

The fishing was slowish, but for late December I won't complain. 9 bass and a Tree fish for the day. There was 4 baits today that worked... 6" MC dropshot bait in lime green (not key lime) clear belly and 5" baby bass Zoom Swimming Super Fluke both rigged on an Owner Sled Head. The other 2 were 4" Edge Flurry's in redfish and gold chovy rigged on a 1oz Hammerhead. Line weight didn't seem to matter today as they ate both the 8lb and the 17lb. About 11:00am I decided I'd had enough (no bites the last 45min) and made the short paddle back in. Fun day.

On a side note, my Sideboards did not want to go into the rails on my T140. It took a lot of work to get them in, anybody else have that issue when it's cold out?