Ghost Fever...

[THE DARKHORSE]

Originally Posted by Jim Day

When the fish, chew wide open they do so because they are being stupid, if your targeting them when they are not wide, when they are not stupid, they are very hard to catch.

The Dreamer makes it's money chartering Seabass trips, sometimes a little mythology amoung the masses is good for business.

Anyone can pull up to a wide open bite and catch fish, the trick is getting them to bite when they are not wide open. When they are around, whether they are being stupid or not.

Someone gave me a hard time about posting a reference to Josh's fish on another smaller Kayak website, saying that the report would put a hundred boats on "the bite" and they would cut off all the kayakers fish.

My thought was: "How Naive!!!"

First off if a hundred boats showed up they would not stay long as they could never get bit in the current conditions. Second the kayakers fishing around the boats would be fishing the wrong area, and never get bit as well.

Ultimately fishing is a game, a thinking process. Those who don't think may get some fish at times doing what they have always done, or what everyone else does. Those that take the time to read the situation, and figure out what's really going on can catch fish when others can not.

No doubt you have heard the saying: "If a tree falls in the forest, and no-one is there to hear it does it make a sound?"

Well if the Seabass move into the kelp in a prespawn pattern and no-one sees them or better yet figures out how to catch them are they really there?

Well I would say definitely so, and the guy who figures out they are there, and on top of that figures out to get them to bite when no-one else can using the standard methods.... well that guy is going to catch fish even if others can't.

The truth is right now there are hundreds of thousands of seabass up and down the coast holding in their prespwn pattern in kelp beds from Conception to Loma.

They are not actively feeding, they are waiting for the temp to rise a few degrees and trigger the spawn. If the temp rise matches a squid spawn outside the kelp at a given location You'll see a traditional epic bite outside that kelp. That's a crap shoot, and even if it happens it will only last a few days.

The deal is all those fish are out there in the kelp right now even if they are not wide open on squid, and they will be there until the temp get's up to the right temp to trigger thier spawn.

It's a prime opportunity for those who can figure out how to get them to bite, and your not going to see that in the western outdoor news.

There is a difference between finding the bite, and getting the fish too bite, and that is lost on most anglers.

One thing I like about kayaking is it teaches you to fish for the fish that are there rather then running all over the place burning tons of fuel, looking for fish that are just being stupid to begin with.

If you can get them when they are not stupid, you can get them anywhere.


Jim

Especially in this sentence. : " The Dreamer makes it's money chartering Seabass trips, sometimes a little mythology amoung the masses is good for business."

If fishing with live squid during a feeding frenzy at greylight, another story. No doubt, Allyn Watson runs a top notch White Seabass six-pack outfit, great captain, awesome overnight boat. But, there's a reason you don't see that boat parked off the La Jolla kelp.

I'm not into mythology, so let me save some of you a few years of experimentation. Your line choice is a critical variable when fishing for large White Seabass, I'll leave it at that.

[screaming reel]

Caught 4 big ones 2 years ago on my standard 20 lb stren high impact walmart $ 5.99 cheep line. Stronger than you can imagine. Bait presentation is my theory to success. None last year though - although I pulled the hook on one at the gaff.

Nice job on the fish!

[PAL]

I wish our representatives who are arguing for us would bring up a catch and release proposal. I would release every fish that I caught in the future if I could still fish La Jolla instead of having it shut down. As long as you handle the fish like you described in your post I am sure that they survive. Another option would be slot limits like they have on the east coast... Don't shut us down, there are other options.

I'll give you the short answer. If you'd like more info afterward, I'll start a thread that lays out the major rules the MLPA's science team imposes.

Personally, I'm in favor of C&R - these days I'm a bass guy, virutally every one of them swims away healthy. And there is a proposal with limited C&R in it, the package submitted by UASC. Great! We'll all get to see how the science team and DFG rule makers score it.

I don't expect it to do well. The SAT will likely determine that anything with C&R provides low ecosystem protection. The DFG will say C&R is an enforcement nightmare.

Now don't throw darts at me - these aren't my rules. Here's something to keep in mind. The MLPA stands apart from traditional fisheries management, where slot limits and other regulations come into play. This thing is a habitat protection program.

As an aside, yellowtail and WSB are not considered likely to benefit greatly from MLPA closures. Why? Neither can be contained within a 9, 15, or even 18 sq mile reserve. That means there is a chance you'll see some MPAs that don't allow bottom fishing, but for YT and WSB, it'll be game on as normal.