Catalina Mole BD trip 3/23/2016 Non-kayak report

[Mahigeer]

This would be the fifth time that I had taken the advantage of the free round trip on your birthday promotion by the generous Catalina Express Co.

So Join me on my trip if you like.




Wednesday, March 23rd, 2016


As usual I was first in line for the 6:00 AM* departure from the Long Beach terminal. By 8:00 AM, I had one rod set up with cast-a-bubble and feather rig and a 12’ rod with a Megabait lure in anchovies color.

I along three other anglers who were using multi-rig feather rigs made casts all day with only a couple of mackerel to show for it.
This included during the sunset (the golden) hours.


Thus, I decide to execute my plan of getting up before sunrise and cast for bonito next day. Since my trip was free, I opted to stay at the Hermosa Hotel overnight rather than fish all night as in previous trip.

I also setup a float rig, but first I used cooked mini-shrimp that I had purchased at Costco.
I caught fish with the shrimp, but not as much as I had hoped for. Perhaps due to the fact that the shrimp was cooked. Later I diced the shrimp and added to my chum of ground white bread and peas





1-Spot—the sea lion hung around all day and tried to catch the fish I was releasing. Even got in fight with a faster cormorant that took a fish.



2-You can get food and drinks here while fishing at the Mole. They stay open until the last Catalina Express boat leaves the island.



3-The cruise ship was there all day long. It was suggested by other anglers that the bonito was hanging around the ship, since the bait fish may be using the “structure” as protection and staying under the ship.



4-Sunset is very romantic especially at Catalina.



5- The full moon is always mesmerizing too.


After dinner I took a stroll toward the Casino to digest my dinner and check out the jetty.


6-This was in front of the Tuna Club.



On the way to Casino, I saw a young lady who was upset because she had dropped her cell phone in the rocks. A passing visitor offered to look for it with her boyfriend. I provided my headlamp and they crawled under a rock that had the most possibility.
They actually found the phone in water and recovered it. I was worried if I had to call the Fire Department to have them rescued from under the rock. Fortunately everything turned out alright.


7-The Good Samaritan (in blue shorts) dove under the rock looking for the dropped cell phone.






Thursday, March 24th, 2016


At 4:00 AM it was not easy to get up for the second night in the row and this time go to the Mole, but I had promised someone else (who did not show up) I would be there.
Once I was there, I setup the same two rigs for bonito and sat on a bench waiting for dawn.


8-I had a companion in the wee hours of the morning.



9-The sunrise from the east. The island makes it possible to witness this over the water.



10-Amazingly the full moon was still visible at dawn.



11-Water like glass plus no wind made casting easy and the conditions ideal for bonito fishing.




It was 6:30 AM before the sky started to get lighter by the minute.

I started casting with the Megabait lure. No replies. After a while I switched to cast-a-bubble and feather rig. After few casts I finally had a hookup.
However, the fight was short and the fish was off. The second hookup after few more casts later, was a better one. It lasted much longer, yet again the fish got off.

What is going on here?
The casting with cast-a bubble continued and once again I had a hookup. This one was landed.

12-The first bonito that was landed. Perhaps the best fighting for size that I have caught at the Mole.



13-The last bonito of the trip.

I caught two more and then the bite died. I tried throughout the day casting in between bait fishing, but no more bonito showed up.



14- One of the many bass that was C&Rd during this outing. This one was caught with mini-shrimp as bait while most fish were caught with frozen peas. Especially fresh bought peas.


Saw two small yellowtails caught which were the second and third for a family that was using trout rods and squid as bait.


15-An idea for a new business at Catalina.
Take a platform like this to the deeper water and fish from it.
Not too possible, but one can dream…No?



The fish that were caught and released were: (3) bonito, one garibaldi, two large and some small opaleye, too many halfmoon and calico bass.



The 7:45 PM departed boat sailed smoothly to Long Beach and the hot jazz on the car radio helped my mood of going back to home. Traffic was smooth as well.



Next trip, on Jun 6th with Ken Jones on his BD trip.


Report to follow.


*There are new departure times for the Catalina Express boats. Be sure to check the new times when making reservations.




The End.

[toby]

Once again, very enjoyable post! Maybe you could post a picture of you rigs.

Thanks Tim

[Mahigeer]

Originally Posted by toby

Once again, very enjoyable post! Maybe you could post a picture of you rigs.

Thanks Tim

Thanks for the nice comment.

I will next time I set one up.