Catalina report 5/24/2022. Long w/pic.

[Mahigeer]

CATALINA REPORT 5/24/2022

I dedicate this report to the memory of Gdude. I will never forget his generosity.



Due to lack of interesting action during the last two trips and having too much on my plate, I did not post a report.
Thus, this report contains some pictures from those trips.

It was time for a three days two nights trip to Avalon. As always I had fun, though fishing was slow.
These trips do a number on my body, and I do not know how many more I have in me.

Fish-ninja was able to join me on the first day and he did great. The only dark cloud was him losing his cell phone.
I told him to assume he went to a fancy restaurant and had an expensive dinner.






Tuesday May 24, 2022




1-I was in line first at 5:00 AM as usual with my (by now must be famous at the terminal) cart.


The picture is from previous lobster trip. Thus, the hoop nets.


2-These murals are in the inside of the Long Beach terminal.



Somehow fishing is omitted from the activities on the island. Hum!!!!!!!


We sat outside for fresh air. Masks are not required on the Catalina Express now.
By 7:10 we were at the Mole getting setup. I rigged two rods for bonito.
One with my go-to launcher/feather and one with Gdude rod and lure.


Every time I first see the Avalon, I am reminded of a story.


Side story as I was told by a local, for those who have not heard it before :
The house on the left of the picture belonged to Mr. Zane Grey. The famous western books writer and an avid fisherman.

Wikipedia----“Grey had built a getaway home in Santa Catalina Island, California, which still serves as the Zane Grey Pueblo Hotel.
He served as president of Catalina's exclusive fishing club, the Tuna Club of Avalon.”

He and Mr. Wriggly used to party a lot at this house. Mrs. Wriggly, being jealous of their friendship and time spent together,
commissions the clock tower on the right side of the picture.
This way every 15 minute the sound of the clock would remind Mr. Wriggly to come home. Of course the house that was originally built
probably did not have today’s sound proofing. It must have been loud inside.



3-House of Mr. Zane Grey and the clock tower.

The building in the middle is newly built. Maybe a rental.

These days at 5:00 PM, the yachts blow their horn reminding the island that it is drinking time.



4-During the last trip that I was at the Mole, I noticed this object, but could not net it.





5-This time there were a lot of them. Now we know what they are. Thanks to fish-ninja and others.




6-It had been a long time since I have seen or caught mackerel. These were the biggest ones that were caught by others.
Fat and full of eggs.






7-One of the latest addition to my gear is this umbrella. Extremely helpful to keep me from heat stroke.




8-The first time I used, it was attached to my cart. It tipped twice and each time dumped lots of loose gear on the ground.


During this trip I attached the umbrella to the bench to prevent the tipping of the cart.
Some additional PVC attachment needs to be made for a better fit.


I was unpacked at my hotel about 8:30 PM. After some microwave dinners, I went to sleep around mid-night.





Wednesday May 25, 2022




Next morning, I had to wait until 8:00 AM to talk to the hotel staff. I had to arrange to move my belonging to another (less desired)
room due to reservation situation.

Thus, by the time I got to the Mole, two other anglers had already got off the early boat and were catching bonito.
They were experienced. They each caught about 20 bonito with home-made cast-a-bubble. It had BB instead of water in the bubble.
They released a lot of bonito, but may have kept more than five. One also caught a legal sheephead. While other caught a lot of
ocean whitefish.

They left with 6:00 PM boat.



9-During most of my trips I have the pier to myself. Sometimes visitors or locals stop by to fish, but mostly for short periods of time.




10-Lately there has been a lot of bait around the pier. Lots of birds hitting the water in the distance also indicated the big schools of bait.




11-As usual the weather at the Mole changes a lot. From no wind to wind strong enough tip my heavy cart attached to an umbrella.




I was in my new room around 9:00 PM again.






Thursday May 26, 2022




To make sure I am at Mole before other anglers arrive, I got up at 5:00 AM. Still did not get to the Mole before the first boat arrived.
However, this time it was a couple fishing with one rod for Opaleye only. They left by noon due to lack of fish.




12-Bonito caught at the previous trip.




13-Fish-ninja with his catch during last trip. His lures from Japan do a number on the bonito. Far better than my launcher/feather rig.


I wish fish-ninja had met Gdude. Conversation would have been very interesting. Both so knowledgeable about computers.



14-See what I mean?




15-My clinch knot of the rope had been undone with the buckets movement in the tide. Sky noticed first. After the bucket
disappeared under the pier, it reappeared by the flag pole rocks. FN snagged it with his lure and it took team work to recover it.
Thanks gents.




16-Love the old style ships.




17-Our buddy at Avalon.




18-I was using whole frozen anchovies with one hook. Even with the Miracle thread, I was just feeding the small fish.
Then I added the second hook and my catch ratio went up.






19-This is a tow truck for the golf carts.




20-Is this cute, or what?




21-What a beautiful water. Notice the absence of rental and other boats.




22-During the last three trips to Avalon, the cruise ship was anchored the whole day off of the island.


I have a theory that since the bait looks for structure for protection, it stays under the ship.
Thus, bonito hangs around there which is too far to cast from the Mole.


I setup a cast-a-bubble rig with small Hoochie. However, as I was pulling the fish out of the water and over the railing, the tag line
on the hook knot pulled and I lost the fish.
I retied a proper Snell knot and caught bonito with it. Later a visiting angler gave me $15.00, even though I asked $10.00 for the rig.
He caught bonito with it too.

I took the 7:45 PM boat home and had a good night’s rest.
The bonito that I caught and the mackerel that was given to me, was given to my neighbor.
He loved it.


THE END

p.s. I won’t be back to Avalon for a while. Instead I plan to visit my relatives in Turkey and of course do some fishing this summer.
Plan to spend a month there. Report to follow.

[JohnMckroidJr]

It's a shame that they don't allow kayaks on the ferry. So what are the sea cucumber-looking things that you saw so many of? Regarding your theory on the ship, The ship provides shade from the sun as well as structure, plus provides lights at night that attract microorganism that the bait feed on. I have fished a few times off anchored ships. Usually, the best fishing is during the slack tides. Off Ft. Lauderdale, I sometimes catch bait off the ship's anchors from my kayak, but the wind against the ship's hull creates a microclimate that is sometimes dangerous to fish near. Catalina pier fishing would be improved at night with a light down near the water to attract bait. Glad that you had some Bonito action and all the nostalgic photos of Avalon. Good luck with your trip to Turkey. I have passed through the Straits of Dardanelle a couple of times on a ship. The Historic buildings, color-changing bridges, and a Trojan Horse are interesting sites. The area has a good energy about it. Prices are cheaper, so it's bound to be a good time.

[Mahigeer]

Here are comments and information posted by some knowledgeable members on Pierfishing.com Website.

“I did my research and found that they are pyrosomes aka sea pickles. Interesting creatures. There were tons of them around the mole that day.

Oh god not the pyrosomes again, looks like we're in for another year of whack water conditions.

Just looked them up. Too bad they aren't edible.

They are not, most of their weight is water, making them poor food sources for baitfish and whales. At the same time pyrosomes grow and reproduce incredibly quickly, and when the water is warm or there is weak upwelling, they can quickly outcompete other plankton by either eating them or starving them out. Normally they are limited by cold water temperatures, but with the 2015 "Blob" and other drastic oceanographic changes, they have been able to expand all the way up into Alaska.


So their presence is an indication of warm water?

Not necessarily. They are just still here from previous warm years. This year’s water temps are actually the closest to historical averages that we have had in almost a decade.”


As to Turkey trip, I was there in 2013 and miss my relatives, the food and of course the fishing. Thanks for well wishes.

[JohnMckroidJr]

Sea Pickles? GTK, BTW nice memorial to your friend, May Gdude RIP. Happy fishing in Turkey.

[Mahigeer]

Thank you for your kind words.


Tight lines.

Hashem