2 Days at Santa Barbara Island

[Fiskadoro]

Originally Posted by MrM

Since you mention it, who has fished SBI before? I haven't. Still a while out, just trying to get a grasp on what the targets will likely be. Looking forward to the trip.

I've fished it. Andy has fished it with me before talk to him. You want Fish it like La Jolla. That time of the year it's the same gear and same targets. Take heavy gear, there's big fish and plenty of structure.

SBI can really be very hit and miss, but if it turns on it can be great fishing.

One thing to note is SBI is right in the middle of the cow cod conservation area. That means you can not fish rockfish in over 120 feet of water, and if you have any rockfish on your kayak you can not fish in water over 120 feet period. My suggestion is if you get rockfish and want to keep them immediately go dump them off on the mothership, that way you won't be stuck if Yellows boil up in deeper water.

Be flexible and fish what's biting. That can be Yellows, seabass, halibut or even bass. Maybe I'll try and get my skiff out there and prefish it for you.

One other thing to remember is there are a lot of big sharks around SBI, occasionally whites but more commonly large Makos up to 10ft in the 1000 pound range. That's where the MDR sharkers go to hunt big Makos. June is the month the big ones first come in so you might want to be carefull about bleeding fish and don't let fish just hang over the side. There's a full on huge seal rockery there and the big sharks come in close to eat seals. When I kayak SBI I always try to keep my feet in the yak, and I usually won't swim there. I've just seen too many sharks there to feel comfortable.