GlumaceFishing.com » Sculpin

37th Trip: Boccacio Limits and More on the SPECTRA 8-22-10

Sean Glumace — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:15:02 +0000

Got back out on the water again on the Spectra with a group of my regulars (Noreen, Michael and Dino) and my wife. No kids this trip. Fishing has been slow as of late in the local waters, but we had a full tank of live squid and some cured sardines from the previous day’s trip to Catalina. Left Pierpoint in Long Beach right at 6am and headed out to the boccacio hole. Dennis made everyone a big breakfast (sorry forgot to get at pic!).

Crew consisted of Captain Chris, Ted, Dennis and owner Billy. Got to the spot earlier than normal (didn’t need to stop by the bait barge) and dropped down. Currents on the surface were not bad, but on the bottom we were getting dragged all over even with 12oz sinkers. Michael got the first 2 on the 3rd drift.

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

Finally got things right and we all started to hook up. My wife Hilda got her first two bocaccio on this trip.

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

I’ll let the photos tell the story…

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

I got one of the little ones for the day

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

Got our limits of the salmon grouper on about 7 passes. Headed over to the sculpin grounds along with every other boat in the fleet. Got a good picking there.

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

My wife and her first sculpin.

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

Michael and his scuplin.

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

Pulled up around noon and headed over to Izors to see what the bass would do with the live squid. Dennis made us all lunch as we headed over. I was getting pecked away on the whole live so I went with a circle hook and a strip and got a nice male sheephead.

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

Not much happening on Izors so we called it a day and headed back to the barn. Everyone went home with big bags of filets and it was a beautiful day out on the water. Hotter then hell when we got back to the dock though.

End of the day

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

One of the bags

From 37th Trip: Rockfishing on the Spectra

Once again Captain Chris, Billy, Dennis, Dino and Ted did a great job and put us on fish. It’s been hard out there as of late, and everytime we come home with limits or a big bag of fish. Looking forward to our overnight trip in mid September to San Clemente Island with the group!

36th Trip: Twilight Trip on the Spectra 7-27-10

Sean Glumace — Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:48:16 +0000

Got back out on the water again with Spectra Sportfishing at Pierpoint Landing in Long Beach for a quick twilight run on 7-27. The reports coming in from all the landings were slow poor twilight fishing the last few days, but after talking it over with Billy the owner of Spectra earlier in the day we decided to head out anyway. I had a few new people in my group who had never been on the Spectra and were excited to get out on the water, fish or no fish, so we were not going to disappoint them. Got down to the landing early (around 6pm, traffic was moving great on the 405 for a change) with my son Jonathan, Noreen who has been coming on alot of my trips, Hung who has been on a few, Dino and my friends Alan and Greg who had not been out before. The Southern Cal was also going out with a light load for the twilight.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Left the dock a little before 7pm to pick up some anchovies. We had live candy sized squid in the tanks as well, good bait all around.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Headed right outside the entrance of Long Beach harbor to a spot that had been doing good. Only about a 25 minute run. Dropped anchor between all the big cargo ships at anchor.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Dennis had got everyone rigged up, and we dropped on down. Jonathan hooked up right away on a sculpin.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Turned into a steady bite on the spot, lots of scuplin, short and legal. We started to pull up sand bass as well, both short and legal. Had to wind fast on the sand bass, they would hit hard and go right into the structure and snag you up. Lost a lot of hardware that way.

More hookups…

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Noreen’s first sand bass.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Alan’s first sculpin.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

As the night went on it was a nice steady fishing night. Much better than we expected. The cooler kept filling up little by little.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Smiles all around…

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Jonathan’s nice sand bass.

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

And another

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Bass!!

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Jonathan and a nice sculpin

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

End of the night

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Fish for everyone…

From 36th Trip: Twilight on the Spectra 7-28-10

Wrapped it up around 11:30 and headed back to the barn. Ended up with around 30 sand bass and 18 sculpin on the boat, plus many released. Everyone had a great time, and once again Billy, Ted and Dennis (and Dino too!) did a great job helping everyone! Looking forward to the August and September trips!

35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra 7-18-10

Sean Glumace — Tue, 20 Jul 2010 05:53:43 +0000

Got another group together this past Sunday 7-18 on board the Spectra for a full day local trip. Got down to the dock around 5:30am with my son Jonathan loaded up the equipment. My cousin Jason and his dad Mark came out on this one along with Lanny who I purchase my sinkers from and Chris. Left the dock right around 6:00am and headed out to the bait barge to pick up some dines and small anchovies. Had some live squid left in the tanks as well. Headed out to the salmon grouper spot to fill up the bags before searching for the sand bass and cuda.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Got out to the spot and dropped on down, and hookups all around.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Dennis and one nice bocaccio.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Big one of the day.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

This first drop was one of the best first drops we’ve had at the hole. All big fish (lots of limits of 2 on the first drop) and we only did 2 more passes to come up just short of limits.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

2nd Pass.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Headed back in to the flats along with the fleet. Did not find much and tried a few different spots. No love on the sand bass or cuda in the morning. Found a rock while heading over to Izors and anchored up. Dino got a nice ling.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

I pulled up a nice sheephead. There were also some big fish down there, grabbing the bait and tearing you off. Probably big lings or sheephead.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Baby sculpin.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Dennis cooked up a great breakfast and lunch for us. Plain and dry burger for Jonathan.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

At one of our stops off Huntington Beach and the flats (along with the fleet) we had back to back hookups on nice sized bat rays. Pulled Rick all over the boat. My uncle Mark also hooked up on one.

We finally got a few sand bass and calicos on board on a rock we found. They were in the structure, and if you did not hook and get them out of the rocks you hung up and lost them.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Bass hookup!

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Did well on this spot, picking away at everything. Decided to stay out a little longer and anchor up with the fleet one last time. And the entire fleet was there. The Matt Walsh, Victory, Sport King, Native Sun, Enterprise, So Cal and a few others. Got in on a good spot and started chumming, got the cuda running some and hooked up on a few nice ones. If the bait swam towards the boat while fly-lining it was over, change and cast out again.

Jonathan and Ted on a big barracuda.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Called it a day around 5:30pm and headed back to the barn. Filled up a cooler with a mixed bag of bocaccio, rockfish, a few sculpin, a sheephead, a few sand bass and calicos, and a few nice sized barracuda.

From 35th Trip: Local Full Day on the Spectra

Everyone went home with a nice sack of fish. Billy, Ted and Dennis were great as always, going above and beyond and working hard to find the fish even though they were not all that cooperative. Got another twilight ready for next Monday, hopefully the sandies will be ready to play!

33rd Trip: Great Day Rockfishing and Sculpin on the Spectra

Sean Glumace — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 21:36:38 +0000

Got to get back out on the Spectra again this week on Thursday for some more local rockfishing. Had a few returning people like my friend Noreen (she’s been on all my charters this year), my brother in law Chris and good friend and fishing buddy Deepak from my previous trips along with a few new faces like my cousin Jason and fellow teacher Chris. This was my 4th charter of the year with most had not fished before or had been out a few times with me. This was also the first time I had brought out my daughter Katelyn without my son Jonathan, so it was shaping up to be a great trip for her and I.

I had just done a trip last Sunday 6/13 (view the report here) on the Spectra with a group and had an excellent day, so with the same type of group on board we opted to do the same type of trip. We were going to hit up the salmon grouper then move over to the sculpin grounds on this 1/2 day run.

Left the dock from Pierpoint right before six with Captain Chris (we had 3 Chris’ on this trip) and deckhands Ted and Dennis plus the owner Billy was along for the trip as well.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Captain Chris gave everyone the rundown on what we were going to do as we headed out. Hit the spot for salmon grouper (Bocaccio) that we have been out at before then head over to fish sculpin and be back at the dock around 1:30pm or so.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Stopped by the bait barge and picked up some sardines. The bigger the bait, the bigger the salmon grouper. The did have live squid as well at the barge.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Katelyn watching the bait come on board.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Dennis loading the tanks.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Nice flat run out to the hole. Weather was perfect today, even better than Sunday, which was great. It was flat the whole day no wind even coming back in.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Deepak and Katelyn waiting to get fishing.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Almost there…

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Everyone got to see some dolphins play with the boat darting along the bow and playing the wake as well. Slowed down the engines out near the rigs and got the first yell from Ted to drop down. Everyone was set up with an 8oz sinker with a double dropper loop with big hooks, and big sardines.

Everyone dropped and hit the bottom. Everyone hooked up and fun began. I got hit hard after about 30 seconds on the bottom and set the hook. Started to crank away and asked Katelyn if she wanted to help, but she didn’t want to. It was a nice fish on.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Brought it up and it was my first big Red in a long time! Took one of the big sardines. We got one like this 2 trips back as well.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

My brother in-law Chris hooked up along side of me, and was on something nice. Either 2 salmon grouper, or one big one. It was his first big fish out on the salt in California, and the biggest grouper of the day on the boat.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Everyone else was also hooking up on the first drift. I’ll let the photos tell the story…

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

We did a few more drifts but even with no wind, the current was pushing us. The Spectra with her bow thrusters usually can keep us on a spot but we missed it a few times. Pulled a few more salmon groupers on board for a passenger limit.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Decided to clean it all up and set out for the sculpin grounds about 20 minutes away. I grabbed a quick nap as we went down below. Dennis re-rigged everyone up with a single leadhead dropper loop with a 4″ green mojo and a 4oz torpedo sinker. Last Sunday the sculpin were hitting the green color hard, and I had a big bag of them from the Fred Hall show still, so no reason to mess with success. We did use cut up frozen squid this time instead of the stripped mackerel. The engines slowed down and the anchor dropped so I came up and started fishing with Katelyn. Got a nice sculpin on the first drop.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

The sand dabs where back at this spot as well, and unlike the last trip, they were pecking away at the bait and stealing it. Last trip it was almost a hookup everytime with a sculpin or sand dab, so you had to feel and set the hook faster this time. Lots of nice sized sculpin came up all over the boat.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Katelyn’s first sculpin.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Katelyn’s first Sand Dab.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

More sculpin and sand dabs.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

The overcast morning burned off and it turned into a beautiful day.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Deepak got one more species on the day, a starry rockfish.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Called it a day around 11:30am and started to head back in. We had a nice cooler full of fish for everyone and Ted started to get to work on our way back in cleaning them all up. Ended up with just about limits of sculpin and about 20 or so sand dabs along with the salmon grouper.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Ted worked hard to clean all the fish on the way back in. Took him almost an hour and a half but everyone went home with big bags of fish.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Having fun with the locals…

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Bags for everyone to take home…

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

Once again the Spectra came through for me and my group and the crew was excellent. Dennis went way above and beyond the call to help everyone have a great time, and Chris was all over the place helping everyone. Ted put us on the fish as always and did an beautiful (and hard) job cleaning and putting everything together. I can’t recommend this boat enough to people. Billy runs a great operation with Spectra Sportfishing. I have a few more trips that I’m getting together for the next month or so including an overnight to the outer islands (San Nick, Santa Barbara or SCI) so it will be a fun summer! Plus everyone went home happy and with a lot of fish to fill the freezers.

From 33rd Trip: 3rd Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra in 2010

32nd Trip: Limits of Huge Bocaccio, Sculpin and More on the Spectra 6/13/10

Sean Glumace — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 01:00:45 +0000

Finally got back out on the water this past Sunday with Jonathan and friends who went on my April charter to Catalina on the Tide Change (read report here). Got back out on the Spectra again as well. This was a 1/2 day run out to the rockfish hole and hit the sculpin grounds for some good fishing for this group. Left the dock from Pierpoint right before six with Captain Chris and deckhands Ted and Dennis. This was my 3rd charter of the year taking out people who have never fished before, or have only been out with me once or twice. It’s fun working with and watching people learn to enjoy fishing.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Chris gave everyone the rundown on what we were going to do as we headed out. Hit the spot for salmon grouper (Bocaccio) that we have been out at before (read my report on my last trip on the Spectra) then head over to fish sculpin and be back at the dock around 1:30pm or so. For the majorty of the people out on this trip (other than myself, my son Jonathan) this was only the second trip out on the water. The last charter we caught a few rockfish and conditions were tough, today was a total 180, great flat weather and a ton of fish. Limits on almost everything for everyone and crew. Just as a taste of what is to come, here is the biggest fish of the day and our final load of fish in the cooler…

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Stopped by the bait barge and picked up some sardines and small mackerel. The bigger the bait, the bigger the salmon grouper.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Got out to the spot in about an hour and Dennis took care of everyone going out, rigging up and making sure everything ready.

Everyone got to see some dolphins play with the boat darting along the bow and playing the wake as well. Weather was a bit overcast, but flat and nice. Slowed down the engines out near the rigs and got the first yell from Ted to drop down. Everyone but my son Jonathan was set up with an 8oz sinker with a double dropper loop with big hooks, and big sardines or small mackerel. Jonathan had a single hook, but I was helping him fish with a big mackerel on it, hoping for one of those big lings to hit down there.

Everyone dropped, a few birds nests happened, a few people had never used a conventional set up but everyone got to the bottom to get hit on the first drift. Everyone hooked up and fun began. I’ll let the photos tell the story.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Jonathan and his nice salmon grouper.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

More happy anglers

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Did a total of 3 drifts on the spot. Had a few tangles but we pulled our boat limits in about 45 minutes on the spot. Ted the deckhand caught one of the biggest salmon groupers we had seen in a long time fishing with a big mackerel. Here is the fish in front of Jonathan (and yes, this is not held out from him, it’s right in front of his chest).

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Quality fish all around. Here is the cooler full.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

We cleaned everything up and headed out about 20 minutes away to the sculpin grounds to see what we could do there. Anchored up and got to work. Kept the same set up as the salmon grouper, but I had a big bag of green 2″ plastics I picked up at the Fred Hall Show earlier this year and I switched out to the lead head with one on. We fished with cut mackerel from the bait tank along with the lead head. Me and Jonathan were the first to the bottom and hooked up on a nice sculpin right away.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

We also found the sand dabs in the same spot and if you did not have a green plastic on, all you got was the sand dabs. Every drop produced either a nice sized sand dab or a sculpin, hardly ever came up empty handed on the boat. So for the next few hours we slayed them all. Everyone was having fun, most had never seen or caught either and we had limits on sculpin and about 50 sand dabs in 2 hours.

I’ll let the photos tell the story again…

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Even the Freelance got in on the fun…

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

One of the lone pictures of me and my son, hardly ever get in the pictures when you are taking them.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Jonathan’s first Sand Dab

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

We decided to call it a day around 11:45 and headed back to the barn. We had a ton of fish on board. Here is the cooler full the brim. I would not want to fall on top of that sculpin pile, makes me shutter just thinking about it.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Happy angler

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Ted worked hard to clean all the fish on the way back in. Took him almost an hour and a half but everyone went home with big bags of fish.

From 32nd Trip: Rockfishing Trip on the Spectra

Once again the Spectra came through for me and my charter and the crew was excellent. Dennis went way above and beyond the call to help everyone have a great time, and Chris was all over the place helping everyone. Ted put us on the fish as always and did an beautiful (and hard) job cleaning and putting everything together. I can’t recommend this boat enough to people. Billy runs a great operation with Spectra Sportfishing. I get to go out again this coming Thursday with another group I put together and I’m looking forward to it. Everyone went home happy and with a lot of fish to fill the freezers.

How to Fish Winter Time Sand Bass in Artificial Reefs

Sean Glumace — Tue, 18 May 2010 00:10:46 +0000

How to Fish Winter Time Sand Bass in Artificial Reefs
By Jimmy Bass

Great article on how to fish bass in the reefs. I had the pleasure to fish with Jimmy on the Tradition out of Redondo Beach back in January 2010 working the structure and bass. It was hard work, but the payoff was great and made for a fun day fishing.

Here is my report from that day.

http://glumacefishing.com/2010/02/29th-trip-34-day-tradition-bass-fishing-trip-130/

If you have any questions email him at jmbassfisherman@yahoo.com

Background
When I was younger, my dad and I fished out of Dana Point. That area is filled with natural reefs and artificial reefs, with plenty of hard bottom spots. We fished 10 and 12 pound test for the bass even while fishing the artificial reefs because the structure was not too rugged, and we landed plenty of big bass off of these spots. In 2009, I got to experience structure sand bass fishing in the Santa Monica Bay for the first time, and let me tell you, it’s hard! I lost plenty of leadheads and fish in my first time fishing these treacherous artificial reefs that most refer to as “stones”. After watching guys that were experienced at it, I grew to love it and caught more fish each time I went out. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t do too well your first couple times trying this fishing. It’s tricky, but once you get the hang of it, you’ll love it – trust me.

Where Are These “Stones”?
The artificial reefs I’m referring to are scattered around the Santa Monica Bay, with the vast majority of them being off of Malibu and Santa Monica. These reefs were planted in the 60s, 70s, and 80s, and ever since they have provided habitat for many species of fish such as sculpin, perch, sheephead, sculpin, cabazon, triggerfish, and of course, the popular sand bass. Most of the stones are in 40 to 60 feet, with a few other stones and wrecks out deeper to 90 feet. If you were to dive on some of these spots, I bet you would see plenty of old tackle and fishing line.

Tackle Tips: What to Get Before the Trip
These stones are very rugged with plenty of crevices for the fish to hide, so, you must come prepared! Begin by having a rod and reel that you feel comfortable with, something not too heavy, but not too light. My favorite set-up for this kind of fishing is a Trinidad 14 on an eight foot medium heavy Calcutta rod with 25 pound test. Others fish Avets, Saltigas, Sealines, Saltists, and Newells, but it is entirely up to you – just use a rig you feel comfortable using, because to be successful, you have to fish hard!

The line is the most important thing. You need to use heavier line – it’s not the size of the fish, but the structure they live in! Most recommend starting with 25 pound test, and if the fish are getting you stuck in the rocks and breaking you off constantly, don’t be afraid to go up to 40 pound test. Sometimes, the fish will get a little twitchy and some anglers will go down to 20 pound test. While they may get more bites, the hook-to-land ratio goes down. You be the judge of what needs to be done.

Next, don’t go light when it comes to leadheads. Bring plenty of one and a half to three ounce leadheads, because some days you will lose a ton of lead. Most of the time I use an ounce and a half, but sometimes current will get really bad and you will need the heavier head. Personally I would also pack some really light leadheads – it would probably come in handy on days where the current is slack and the fish are twitchy. Color of the leadhead doesn’t really matter, as plenty of fish have been caught on the plain leadhead. However, popular colors include chartreuse, glow-in-the-dark, and a brown-red mix.

Lastly, I would highly recommend bringing six inch Kalin’s Mogambo Grubs in the chartreuse, chartreuse salt and pepper, and slime colors. These plastic grubs are very popular and provide a little extra enticement factor to the fish. Most of the time, the fish will be eager to bite your bait with the six inch plastic grub, but sometimes when the fish get really finicky, a smaller grub would be the way to go. Ocean Logic from Wal-Mart makes a really great chartreuse four inch grub that would be perfect in this situation. However, when the fish want to really chew, they will be always eager to engulf a leadhead with a whole squid threaded up the shank of the hook. By the way, you can get mogambos from Wal-Mart, any tackle store, or you can order them online in bulk – I think the latter is the way to go, because of the value and you will have them for a long time to come.

Make sure you bring a lot of leadheads, as you may lose a lot! Shown below are chartreuse, chartreuse salt and pepper, and glow in the dark mogambo grubs slipped onto leadheads.

On left is the common 10-pack of Kalin’s Mogambo Grubs, and on the right is from a bulk order of 100 chartreuse salt and pepper mogambos. As you can see, they will last you for a long time to come.

The Bait
Fresh dead squid is more often than not the bait of choice for fishing these stones. Most often the fish will be eager to eat a whole fresh dead squid even with a mogambo slipped on the leadhead, but again when the fish are finicky, using strips would be the best way to go. Sometimes you will be lucky and the sportboat will have live squid, and that is the best bait of all for fishing the artificial reefs.

Fresh dead squid for the day’s fishing.

Now…Onto the Fishing!
You’ve got all the necessary gear…now you’re ready for the fishing! Your trip will begin with a stop at the bait receiver to pick up sardines or live squid. The sardines aren’t useless, as the captain may want to try a halibut drift and halibut do live in between these artificial reefs, so bring some torpedo sinkers and hooks just in case. If the receiver does not have live squid, it is possible that you will get it off a boat, but most likely, the crew will already have a batch of squid from the freezer that will work very well for the bass. I would have a squid catcher in your box just in case for the off chance you will be snagging squid. Anyways with the bait all ready, time to fish!

En route to your first location, it’s time to tie up your rigs! Any knot will work fine, but you may want to double up your line with a spider hitch or a uni-knot loop, but personally I would start with the regular knot, and switch over if you need to.

The captain will meter around the reef he wants to fish. Sometimes, there will be two reefs very close together, and he might anchor between them. Wait until the boat settles back before you cast your line in. Now here’s where the tricky part comes into play. These stones are relatively small, so you need to see where people are “hanging the rock”, and fish as close to you can to them, without pushing anyone out of their spot. The idea is to move around and locate the rock, because if you’re not in the rock, you’re not fishing. You need to work together to catch fish. Even if you’re not on the main part of the reef, you could be dropping on an edge that will have plenty of grumpy sand bass. Wherever the reef may be relative to the boat, you may have to make a long cast, a lob cast, or drop straight down – look around you and see where people are feeling the rock.

Next, let’s talk about the annoying perch. There are a ton of blacksmith perch on these reefs. They are actually great eating, so if you want to load up, drop a couple of small hooks with small squid strips, and have at it. However, if you want to catch a bass, ignore them. Let them peck away at your bait, because they will get the bass’ attention. This next step is the hardest thing about structure sand bass fishing – differentiating between a perch bite and a bass bite. The perch bite will be a continuous pecking action that will not put a load on the rod. A bass bite will have either a thumping or larger pecking action. Believe me, once you get the hang of it, you will know the difference between a perch bite and a bass bite.

When your bait is in the structure, you will get hung up sometimes. Don’t drive your leadhead into the rock, just loosen the line a tad, and give the rod a couple of popping motions, and you should be okay. Don’t fret if you lose the leadhead, it’s all a part of the game – in other words, if you’re sending down a favorite lure, have more of that favorite lure on hand! Most of the time that popping motion will work – just remember not to drive the hook into the rock.

Well, you were patient and you finally got a bass bite! Don’t think about it, you need to react fast to get that bass up many crucial feet out of the rocks. Sometimes, it takes falling into a crevice of the rock to get bit, so you absolutely need ninja-like reflexes. When you get that bite, swing and wind quickly at the same time. If you feel the fish but you also feel the rock, keep winding, because your line may be all frayed, but you can still get the fish up. Don’t delay, just keep winding until you get the fish out of the rocks, and you’re all clear, but it is still important to have a nice steady wind, because you don’t want a weak point in the line to fail on the way up. Once you get the fish up, you may notice that several feet of line are completely frayed. Even if you feel the smallest fray, don’t think you can get away with that – retie! It will be worth it in the long run and you will have a much better chance on the next fish.

Sometimes, a small calico or even a big sand bass might come out of its hole and hit you right before you hit the bottom. Pay close attention and keep your line taut, and you will be richly rewarded!

Good times will be had by all while fishing the stones.

Everybody working together and fishing hard at the rail.

Author working the structure.

Grumpy Sand Bass
These homeguard sand bass sure know every nook and cranny of their home, and they know where to go once they have their food. If you wait too long, the bass will wedge itself in the rock by flaring out its gills, much like you see them do when they lay on the deck. If you feel the rock rubbing against them as you pull them from the rocks, you will probably notice many scratch marks on them – well, you know why. Once you get them out of the rocks, just a slow, steady wind is sufficient.

Mike with a big grumpy sand bass caught in March 2010.

Author with two nice sand bass caught in December 2009.

Carlos with a group of big sandies.

Juan and Larissa with some nice grumpy sand bass.

Steve and Morgon with a nice big sand bass.

Chak with a nice sand bass caught on a mogambo grub.

Terry with another nice sand bass.

Ray with a couple sand bass caught in February 2010.

Bounty of sand bass for a day’s fishing.

Morgon and Carlos with the jackpot weigh in. A big sand bass will more often than not take the jackpot for the day.

Calicos
Calico bass abound these reefs also. Most of them are shorts, but quite a few nice ones live mixed in with the plentiful sand bass. As previously stated, you will find that they will be willing to hit a bait on the way down. Not much to say about these guys, but any calico over three pounds is suggested to be released for the future of these fine game fish.

Larissa with a nice calico bass caught in December 2007.

Oz with a nice calico bass caught in January 2008.

Kenny Mac with a nice calico bass caught in January 2006.

Pulling the Trigger – The Elusive Triggerfish
While not as common as catching bass on these reefs, there are quite a few triggerfish in these reefs that put up a great fight and are great to eat. Triggerfish will bite your bait like a big perch. You will feel a series of big taps, and once your rod loads up, set the hook, and keep winding like normal. They come in with a pretty erratic pattern, but don’t worry and keep winding until they are to the boat. These triggers range from just bigger than your hand to trash can lid sized. If you miss a trigger, you will know it because your mogambo tail might be missing – that’s definitely a triggerfish bite. As previously said, triggerfish are great eating. If you pan fry them, cook them just like you would a pork chop, or if you like ceviche, they are great fare for that.

Jason with a nice triggerfish caught in October 2008. This fish won both the jackpot and the BBFC side bet.

Watch out! These triggers have some serious teeth, so don’t get too close!

Author with a nice triggerfish caught in February 2009.

About the smallest you will see a triggerfish caught.

Juan with a nice triggerfish caught in December 2007.

Other Species of Fish in these Reefs
There are many other species that live in these reefs. There are quite a few sculpin that make the stones their home, and quite a few are economy sized. There are also cabazon, which are great eating and known for their flaky texture. Sheephead also are residents, and if they are in season, bring some shrimp and try for some sheephead. You might even catch a halibut in between the reefs – you never know! When you drop your bait down, you won’t necessarily catch a bass, and that’s the best thing about saltwater fishing.

Nice sheephead caught in December 2009. This big goat weighed in at 13 pounds.

Another nice sheephead caught in December 2009.

Author with a nice cabazon caught in December 2009.

There are some days where you might be able to catch a few great eating sculpin on these reefs in addition to some bass.

Little cabby caught in January 2010.

Walter and Morgon with a nice cabazon caught in November 2007.

Halibut can be caught right beside the bass while fishing the stones.

In Conclusion…
The author is not liable for chronic frustration as a result from readers fishing the artificial reefs. In all seriousness, this fishing may frustrate you, but I know that you will love it. There will be days where you get your limit no problem, days where fishing might be scratchy, or days where you might lose eight fish in a row…just fish and let learn from your mistakes! No fisherman is perfect at this kind of fishing, so learn what you can, watch others, and you will succeed. Remember to look to see where the rock is located, have fast reflexes, and above all, HAVE FUN!!!