Whats in season (January)?

[flytuber4]

Looks like im delayed on picking up my kayak. Leave it to classic cars for always needing something fixed

Anyway, i believe i can get it in the next 3 days so im wondering what fish will be in season January?

Thanks guys

[food4less562]

Almost everything except rock fish.

[food4less562]

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/mapregs5.asp

[jorluivil]

I'll be fishing for:

lizard fish
octupus
smelt
white croackers(the contaminated kind)
sardines
short sandbass & calicos
mackerel
and maybe some flat fish called hell-i-bit

[Jimmyz123]

The thing is, if you have a chance to fish, no matter what month it is, get out and fish.

[flytuber4]

Originally Posted by Jimmyz123

The thing is, if you have a chance to fish, no matter what month it is, get out and fish.

[lowprofile]

new bass regs go into affect jan 1st right? 14" min. and 5 fish bag?

if you want to get through the colder months and have some steady action hit the bays and learn to fish spotties. you can even drift for halibut while your there.

[roadx]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

new bass regs go into affect jan 1st right? 14" min. and 5 fish bag?

if you want to get through the colder months and have some steady action hit the bays and learn to fish spotties. you can even drift for halibut while your there.

New saltwater bass regulations will not go into effect until at least February according to WON and nothing posted on DFG site.

http://www.fgc.ca.gov/regulations/2013/index.aspx




http://www.wonews.com/t-FeatureArtic...gs_122012.aspx

[flytuber4]

Originally Posted by lowprofile

new bass regs go into affect jan 1st right? 14" min. and 5 fish bag?

if you want to get through the colder months and have some steady action hit the bays and learn to fish spotties. you can even drift for halibut while your there.

Oh ive caught 100's of spotties.lol Not an issue. How do you drift for the hali though that i would be interested in.

[JeffB]

I know that bay Tourny posted up that the fish must be 14". I talked to a DFG the other day at Dana Landing boat launch and he said it would at the new yr.

Drifting for halibut in the bay is easy and effective. You can go with live bait or artificials. It's like $15 for a kayak scoop at the barges in MB and SDB. I prefer artificials. I like going with a big lead head and a 5"-6" swim bait. Just simply drifting with the current, try keeping the front of the kayak facing the current causing you to drift backwards. The heavier the bait, the better thud you will get once you bounce it off the bottom. I like to make a nice long cast, constantly keeping my bait moving by bouncing on the bottom. One benefit to the heavier bait is it is easier to feel the bottom everytime you hit it. You can really tell it is putting off a nice vibration on the bottom each time it hits. Then once the baits start to go under your yak, repeat the process. This works well with sandbass as well. The bait barge area is good for halibut in San Diego Bay. It's a huge mud flat bottom about 40-45' depending on the tide. On the North Island side of the bay produces some nice halibut. Both ends of shelter island on a high to low tide transition in the early morning or late evening produces nice halibut. There are shallow shoals right there.mthe big fish move up on them during that time to feed on all of bait fish that are getting dragged out of the marinas.

Or you can do like a lot of guys and just drag the bottom with swim baits or live bait. A good rig for the bay for live bait is a reverse dropper loop. Every now and then I do something somewhat similar. I will make a bounce ball rig. I take a three way swivel, medium size flasher, and a medium diving crank bait and troll it. It is a rig that has produced a lot of fish for me. I usually only fish it when I fish solo. It's a perfect rig to use when trying to locate fish in the bay. Key thing is to go with the current, helps keep your line down and keep the weight on the bottom the best as possible. I use either a ball or torpedo weight, I get the same results with both, 4oz-8oz for the bay.

This time of year though is the perfect time to catch big sandbass with out having to go out and fighting the elements of the ocean. Stay inside and hit the big bay. The water has dropped in temp nice and all the big sand bass are moving in. Grant it sandbass are in the bay year round, but the big ones come in for the winter. I call them drifters, bc they come for the season. Best way to tell them a part is that all the bay stayers have dirty nicotine stained bellies vs the drifters have nice clean white bellies with a lot more color to them. They are usually a little more healthy. Also if you ever clean them, you will find worms in the bay stayers vs nice clean meat in the drifters. Whatever you do though, don't be afraid to throw big baits. I tell all my buddies all the time. They are so used to fishing for bay bass that they go small. Big to them is a 3/4oz head w/ 4" swim bait, that's tiny. You will catch fish, but little guys. Not saying you won't catch a big one, bc my biggest halibut, about 35lbs, came on a 3" grub in MB. Just bigger baits catch bigger fish period.

Well I hope this helps you out a little. These are just a couple techniques that produce good quality fish for me this time of yr, and halibut yr round. I think I had close to 45-50 legal halibut this yr, only kept maybe 15-20. I'm no pro, but I defiantly know how to catch fish in the bays. Good luck to you. Hit me up if you ever wanna get a line wet.

[Dannowar]

Does this guy know how to party or what!?


Good advice and info! Caught a few on the shoal the other day.

Make sure you work WITH the currents or you will get some fantastic exercise.

[Biggameaddict]

Originally Posted by JeffB

I know that bay Tourny posted up that the fish must be 14". I talked to a DFG the other day at Dana Landing boat launch and he said it would at the new yr.

Drifting for halibut in the bay is easy and effective. You can go with live bait or artificials. It's like $15 for a kayak scoop at the barges in MB and SDB. I prefer artificials. I like going with a big lead head and a 5"-6" swim bait. Just simply drifting with the current, try keeping the front of the kayak facing the current causing you to drift backwards. The heavier the bait, the better thud you will get once you bounce it off the bottom. I like to make a nice long cast, constantly keeping my bait moving by bouncing on the bottom. One benefit to the heavier bait is it is easier to feel the bottom everytime you hit it. You can really tell it is putting off a nice vibration on the bottom each time it hits. Then once the baits start to go under your yak, repeat the process. This works well with sandbass as well. The bait barge area is good for halibut in San Diego Bay. It's a huge mud flat bottom about 40-45' depending on the tide. On the North Island side of the bay produces some nice halibut. Both ends of shelter island on a high to low tide transition in the early morning or late evening produces nice halibut. There are shallow shoals right there.mthe big fish move up on them during that time to feed on all of bait fish that are getting dragged out of the marinas.

Or you can do like a lot of guys and just drag the bottom with swim baits or live bait. A good rig for the bay for live bait is a reverse dropper loop. Every now and then I do something somewhat similar. I will make a bounce ball rig. I take a three way swivel, medium size flasher, and a medium diving crank bait and troll it. It is a rig that has produced a lot of fish for me. I usually only fish it when I fish solo. It's a perfect rig to use when trying to locate fish in the bay. Key thing is to go with the current, helps keep your line down and keep the weight on the bottom the best as possible. I use either a ball or torpedo weight, I get the same results with both, 4oz-8oz for the bay.

This time of year though is the perfect time to catch big sandbass with out having to go out and fighting the elements of the ocean. Stay inside and hit the big bay. The water has dropped in temp nice and all the big sand bass are moving in. Grant it sandbass are in the bay year round, but the big ones come in for the winter. I call them drifters, bc they come for the season. Best way to tell them a part is that all the bay stayers have dirty nicotine stained bellies vs the drifters have nice clean white bellies with a lot more color to them. They are usually a little more healthy. Also if you ever clean them, you will find worms in the bay stayers vs nice clean meat in the drifters. Whatever you do though, don't be afraid to throw big baits. I tell all my buddies all the time. They are so used to fishing for bay bass that they go small. Big to them is a 3/4oz head w/ 4" swim bait, that's tiny. You will catch fish, but little guys. Not saying you won't catch a big one, bc my biggest halibut, about 35lbs, came on a 3" grub in MB. Just bigger baits catch bigger fish period.

Well I hope this helps you out a little. These are just a couple techniques that produce good quality fish for me this time of yr, and halibut yr round. I think I had close to 45-50 legal halibut this yr, only kept maybe 15-20. I'm no pro, but I defiantly know how to catch fish in the bays. Good luck to you. Hit me up if you ever wanna get a line wet.

Hey Jeff can you put up a picture of that bounce ball rig? Ive heard you could use a jerkbait behind a dodger but im not sure what kind or how long to leave the line? Can you help out? Thanks.

[JeffB]

I do not have any flashers here at the house, all up at the shop. However I just do it pretty basic to the ones you can buy pre-made. I use two different set-ups. I either go Flasher straight to a 3 way swivel- 18"-20" 20lb mono ldr for the weight and a 4'-5' 30lb flor ldr for the crankbait. OR I will put a slider on my line and drop a 18"-20" 20lb mono ldr for the weight, then tie to the flasher then go 4'-5' 30lb flor ldr to crankbait. Here is something to kinda use as a reference for the slider rig, http://www.pcsportfishing.com/blog/75 I do mine just a little different. I would put my bait closer to the flasher if i was using a swimbait or even live bait. With the crankbait though, I found you want a little longer leader to allow it to put of its true action. If you use a 8'-10' diving saltwater rapala, you will feel it dig from time to time and bounce off the bottom. If you go with a 4'-6' rapala, it will however just above the bottom. I like to dig my bait into the bottom, go a few feet past the point, then pause it for a minute. Then continue on.

Be sure and play with your crankbait a little on a bass rod before you rig it up. A lot of crankbaits I have thrown need tweaking for the saltwater. I dunno if its bc of the density difference or what, but they run different in freshwater than saltwater. Note, this is all my personal opinion, experiences, and preferences. You can always play with it a find something that works just a little bit better.

[Biggameaddict]

Originally Posted by JeffB

I do not have any flashers here at the house, all up at the shop. However I just do it pretty basic to the ones you can buy pre-made. I use two different set-ups. I either go Flasher straight to a 3 way swivel- 18"-20" 20lb mono ldr for the weight and a 4'-5' 30lb flor ldr for the crankbait. OR I will put a slider on my line and drop a 18"-20" 20lb mono ldr for the weight, then tie to the flasher then go 4'-5' 30lb flor ldr to crankbait. Here is something to kinda use as a reference for the slider rig, http://www.pcsportfishing.com/blog/75 I do mine just a little different. I would put my bait closer to the flasher if i was using a swimbait or even live bait. With the crankbait though, I found you want a little longer leader to allow it to put of its true action. If you use a 8'-10' diving saltwater rapala, you will feel it dig from time to time and bounce off the bottom. If you go with a 4'-6' rapala, it will however just above the bottom. I like to dig my bait into the bottom, go a few feet past the point, then pause it for a minute. Then continue on.

Be sure and play with your crankbait a little on a bass rod before you rig it up. A lot of crankbaits I have thrown need tweaking for the saltwater. I dunno if its bc of the density difference or what, but they run different in freshwater than saltwater. Note, this is all my personal opinion, experiences, and preferences. You can always play with it a find something that works just a little bit better.

Thanks for the reply jeff, but do you use a dodger or a flasher? I got a 6 inch dodger will that do? And how long from the swivel to dodger or flasher?

[JeffB]

Yea I use a dodger, I just call it a flasher. I personally go my mainline straight to the flasher, then hook the three way swivel to the flasher. Then add on the leaders.

slider rig, I go mainline to flasher, then leader from the flasher.

[Biggameaddict]

Originally Posted by JeffB

Yea I use a dodger, I just call it a flasher. I personally go my mainline straight to the flasher, then hook the three way swivel to the flasher. Then add on the leaders.

slider rig, I go mainline to flasher, then leader from the flasher.

Oh i get you thanks. lll give it a try.