Sunday Mixed Bag 12/17/23

[Salty]

Up early and paddled out with my buddy Anthony(Blackflag Fishing). Got a great sunrise and a mixed bag. Conditions were glassy and smooth just about all day. Got the sandbass and bonito first thing in the morning, then got some rockfish outside the 50-fathom curve after. Apparently, with the new regs, once you have any rockfish on board, you can't deploy any fishing gear shoreward of the curve. So once I had a few rockfish, I wrapped it up and called it a day. I've never kept sand bass in the past, but my GF said she wanted to try it since I catch them all the time. This one was decent size too at 21". I also kept a slightly smaller one as well to test the rumor that the smaller legal sizes are better tasting than the larger models. We'll see!

Also, tried out mounting the Reliable kill bag at the stern of the kayak instead of the bow. Used some small tiedowns to lock down each corner. It was solid! Didn't budge an inch and kept the bow nice and open. It fit perfectly behind the livewell and rod holders. Even with all my rods/net/gaff in the way, it was still pretty easy to get fish into it. I admit it would be a bit more awkward to get a bigger fish into, but that would be a great problem to have anyway!