Dondo Bones

[acorad]

I was able to get out last Sunday and also yesterday, for my first two fishing trips out of Redondo.

Last Sunday it was just me, 8 or 9 cattle boats, a dozen or so kayakers, and scores of stand up paddlers.

I trolled my way out to where the party boats were and picked up a bonito on the Rapala on the way out. I haven't caught any bonito in years, and man, the amount of fight in these fish is impressive!

When I got to the boats I trolled around for a while for nothing, and then, as I was leaving, I got a big hit that broke off.

That was my only Rapala so I tied on a soft swim bait and headed back in and got spooled and broken off again!

Thankfully, I guess my second rod had heavier line on it, as I was able to land a nice bonito on a soft swim bait right next to the "Sport King" party boat. The captain was awesome, cheering me on as the bone pulled the kayak around a little.

Except for a couple big mackerel, that was it for me so I headed in.

Yesterday I headed back to Redondo and found no party boats and not nearly the crowds of last week. And this time I was armed with my fish finder. It was the first time I've ever used it, and I really liked it. I found a spot where there was a pretty steep drop off from about 100' to 150'+ and there seemed to be clouds of baitfish, so I trolled around there for a couple of hours.

After being broken off 3 or 4 times last week, I had loaded my rods with 65#braid and 20# leaders. No breakoffs this time!

After a number of annoying hyperactive mackerel, I was able to hook my first bone of the day, and he was a fighter!

I've been using pretty light tackle - freshwater bass gear, mainly. #45 spinning reels, and old 5-15# rated rods. Man, the bones bend those rods down into the grips! Super fun, but when a fur bag almost got one of my fish (he bit the tail almost off), I realized I really should have some stouter gear in order to get the fish in the kayak faster.

After a while the bite seemed to calm down and I noticed a private boat anchored a ways off with a red diving flag. Figuring they would only be diving there if there was something to see, I headed over. Sure enough, they were spearfishing and I hooked a nice bone on my first pass by the boat. I ended up landing 3 or 4 bones there in rapid succession. Again, the big ones bending my rods into pretzels.

I ended up keeping three fish, the largest weighed out at 5.5#. I threw a bunch back, probably landing 10 or so for the day. I'm using an old cooler that's been kicking around in my garage strapped to the back of my Revo 13. It's been doing the job but I should probably upgrade to some kind of kill-bag.

Talked to some very cool kayak fishermen yesterday, and saw a guy fishing that looked like he had an electric motor on his Hobie?

Anyway, super fun, and delicious!

Andy