Captain Dave Hansen's Saltwater Fishing Guide Service

Limits of WSB With Captain Hansen 5/16/12

Capt. Dave — Thu, 17 May 2012 20:07:58 +0000

After seeing all of Dave’s happy and satisfied customers here on BD, I finally made the call to Dave to take me out, so I could add some new tricks to my fishing bag. And glad I did!!! I told Dave that we wanted to target WSB, he said awesome and he came up with a great game plan. We left Davies at 3am and headed towards Avalon, the crossing was smooth in the morning. Got a healthy scoop of squirts from Darrell on the “Mary Claire” And we headed towards the east end. We made 4 different stops during the day where we set up anchor, and caught WSB at all of them. The Calicos were on the chew all day and it was pretty much a fish a cast all day, kept a couple bleeding Calicos and some sheepshead, sargo, and yellow fin croaker and one Hali for dinner. Limits for 3 on the WSB with 3 shorts and we left them biting. At our final spot of the day, the boats near us got limits of WSB also. Thanks again Dave for the awesome day and helping us fine tune our fishing skills…I HIGHLY recommend Captain Hansen, he helped us to spot and understand the right conditions, boat manuvering, anchor deploying and hes just flat out a great guy and had us rolling laughing all day!!! Captain Dave Hansen 949-374-0786 yoursaltwaterguide@yahoo.com sorry for some edited faces but my fishing buddy is a undercover drug agent and he doesnt like his face on the internet

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3/30/12 Rock Fish W/Captin Dave Hansen

Capt. Dave — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 17:59:13 +0000

I received aninvitation to be a third wheel on a rock fish / Catalina adventure aboard the Second Wind with Captain Dave Hansen and my pal Mickey. After reading all of these posts on BD and spending all of my allowance at the Fred Hall show on overpriced tackle, I am fired up and ready to go fishing.

We Left Dana Point at O’dark-thirty to Head out to the west side of Catalina for some rock fish. The swell picked up and we were on the hunt for the spot. Captain Dave assistedMick on the bridge to put us on the spots that were holding some fish. Baited up and dropped down and bingo! Fish on! We did this over and over drifting overrocks hooking up to limit on fat reds and rock fish until our arms were burning and felt like like rubber

The swell picked up and the bite turned off so we went to seek shelter inside a cove and switched to the lighter tackle to pick off some Sheephead. Much to our surprise, the Bass were willing to bite. After the usual harassment from some local Sea Dogs we were able to pick some fat quality Goats and Calico Bass. We stopped in to a Harbor to check out local Bald Eagles. This was a kick in the shorts to watch these Eagles leave their perch and fly downand pick up our sacrificial offering. Ace Ventura, eat your heart out, CaptainDave has the Eagle call down. A long boat ride back to Dana Point Harbor, and we were going home with a few fish and an experience to share with others. I had a great experience with Dave, I found out that I had a few bad fishing habits, learned some new tactics, listened to some great stories and told a few of my own. I drove to work Friday morning with a big grin knowing I played hookie and had agreat time doing it…

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Date night with Capt. Dave??

Capt. Dave — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 19:07:38 +0000

Date night with Capt. Dave??

Well….. not exactly. Had a chance to get out there and go hoop netting with my wife, two of my sons, and my daughter and her boyfriend. We asked Capt. Dave Hansen (www.yoursaltwaterguide.com) to join us, and we were pleased when he accepted. My daughter’s boyfriend had never been hooping before, but he was a quick study and a great help on deck. In fact, the kids pretty well ran the operation on deck. I hope we can all do it again very soon.

It was a pretty nice night out there – a little windy, a little cool, but not too bad overall. We enjoyed a nice dinner and, in spite of a bit of rockin and rollin, my wife even baked brownies (while we were hooping) for dessert Their was little competition on the spots, the sealions were not a problem. We used salmon for bait and never fished deeper than 45ft.

Called it quits around midnight. The kids all managed to get a lobster or two during their turns at pulling. We didn’t fish too hard, but still managed 7 legal lobsters and a half dozen rock crabs for the night.

Be well. PL

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Tails for Tykes

Capt. Dave — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 22:02:00 +0000

Was out with the kids (including Capt. Dave Hansen) again and had a pretty cool night on the water.

Managed 7 legals (ate two of them on the boat) and also kept 7 nice crabs. Everything ran smooth, the kids did a nice job pulling and keeping the deck organized.

One of the boys had never been fishing before, but he had a blast and will definitely be out with us again in the future. It was a great night for the kids as so many different things kept coming up in the nets.

We had a 19″ sand bass, 5 fat sculpin, 5 octopuses, urchins, starfish, several kinds of crabs, snails, skates, etc. We were not bothered by any sea lions.

What else….

oh yeah, the kids got to witness some knuckleheads out there with homemade floats that had no lites, reflective tape or markings, get wrapped up in his own gear. We had a close call with his gear as well. Anyway, that too was a teaching opportunity – something along the lines of ‘your expectations should not exceed your preparations’ (or translated, ‘what did they think was going to happen?’). The kids wanted to go by and offer them some reflective tape, but I suggested that (with their outboard out of the water) it probably wasn’t a good time to remind them of what they should have done.

Fished late, spent the night on the boat in the slip, and slept in.

Thanks Dave, a great time as usual. Be well

Dana Point Sand Bassing 1-29-2012

Capt. Dave — Tue, 31 Jan 2012 05:27:18 +0000

I finally got the opportunity to get Dave on my boat. I talked with him at a fishing show last year and thought it would be a good idea to have him increase my knowledge of local fishing. I called my brother Bob and he agreed to join me and bring his son Zach along. Zach’s only 11 but he’s already a pretty good fisherman.

We agreed to meet at 7:00 and Dave was right on-time. We loaded up, went to the bait dock and got some Dines to supplement the fresh dead squid Dave brought with him. The game plan was to have Dave show us some spots down the coast and see if we could get a Halibut.

Zach started the day with a short, which was released. Bob had a right kind bite that didn’t stick and Dave got us on-board with the first legal bass. We tried some other spots and had about the same luck. It was looking like a slow day although the company was great. It’s always fun telling your old stories to new people. The old group has heard them a million times and doesn’t want to hear them again.

Late in the day we ended up at Dave’s spot that has been biting well the past month. We got the fresh dead squid out and the fish were there, they were biting and it was game on. Not quite a fish for every cast since the starboard side was closer to the spot than the port side. It was consistent. Zach and Dave were the hot sticks. They were getting bit more and landing most of the fish. I always like seeing the kids do well, as did Dave and Bob. Bob caught his share and I was nowhere to be seen.

I’ve spent the past 5 years being more of a boat mechanic than fisherman and it showed today. In years past I used to get more than my share but today I got to watch not catch. No big deal. All I was looking for was a nice day on the water and I got that. After my fuel tank project I was happy to get blood on the boat and fish in the bag. We had 13 or 14 bass and had run out of squid. Dave started cleaning fish and pulled some squid from the bass. This allowed us to fish another 30 minutes and put a couple more on board. Zach ended up with the biggest Calico and Sand bass.

We had a great day on the water. I plan to hire Dave again. Thanks for the fun time.

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Captain Dave’s Tips and Tricks for Catching More Bass

Capt. Dave — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 20:37:18 +0000

The following is some pointers Capt. Dave shared with the members of Fishdope.com.

1. Fish water deeper than 60 feet at all times.

The Reason: Shallow structure does not hold hungry fish during the winter months.

2. Utilize your electronics.

The Reason: A sounder can often offer you a quick and accurate answer of whether or not a spot is holding fish. Be sure to meter around a spot before you take the time to anchor! No, your fish finder will not always tell you the whole story but it is one of the tools in your arsenal and should be used.

3. Anchor on structure.

The Reason: If you are drifting while you are trying to target calico bass and sand bass you are not taking full advantage of the spot you are fishing. Many of you have probably noticed that when you fish an area with structure by drifting you go long stretches of time with little to no action. Then, a sudden flurry of bites whips everyone on board into a frenzy but the chaos ends as quickly as it began and everyone is back to playing the waiting game. This scenario happens because the boat is positioned over the area of the structure that is holding fish for only a few minutes when you are drifting. When you are anchored properly the boat sits right on top of the “hot” spot for hours! To find the spot you want to anchor on meter around the structure you are planning on fishing and see which side (i.e. down current, up current, downwind, upwind) and depth is holding the most fish. Then, taking into account current and wind, anchor in a matter that will leave your boat sitting directly on top of the spot with all of the meter marks. Lobster buoys can be a helpful tool when anchoring. Look which way they are drifting/pulling in the water to figure out how your boat will lay up once on the anchor.

4. Chum!

The Reason: Once a decent chumline of bait is established it will get the fish into feeding mode. As the current moves the chum away from the boat more fish will be brought into the area. As the fish are feeding they are slowly moving up the chumline, which means they are working their way closer to the boat and into your spread of baits.

5. Be Patient.

The Reason: The fish are not always on your schedule. Getting a good chum line going and/or re-anchoring (once or twice) to get your boat in the optimal position will often result in catching a good quantity of fish. No one ever said fishing was easy!

If you are having trouble getting in on the good bite or would like to learn how to master the above tips plus some, give Captain Dave Hansen a call. He has been fishing the Dana Point area for more than 35 years and is running winter specials currently!

Captain Dave Hansen

Cell: (949)374-0786

As Good As It Get’s

Capt. Dave — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 05:43:57 +0000

OK so we have been saying how good the fishing is Now.So lets talk about it.There is lots of squid in Dana Point and really every where.I have been fishing Dana because that where my boat is.Let me just tell you what myself and my clients have been doing to get bit. There are lots of places to fish but what I have found over the last 35 years is when there is squid for bait spots over 60 feet deep seem to bite the best for Bass on the coast.Now when rigging I see guys putting on some unreal stuff( even after fishing with me they go back to rigging crap).What works the best is a sliding sinker and a hook no beads or anything just the hook and weight.The more stuff you put on the less bites.Now when your fishing that deep with the slider you have to let the fish run with the bait for a few seconds then set the hook hard then wind no pumping and then take the fish off and do it again.Why are they biting so good right now I think it is because we have been having great weather.If you want to know where we have been fishing take me on your boat from now until April I am only charging 300.00.After that we go back to summer rates.Good Fishing To all.Dave

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Killed’em at the Farnsworth!!

Capt. Dave — Sat, 31 Dec 2011 05:18:43 +0000

Saw the posts my old buddy Captain Dave had been posting on BD and decided to give him a call, and reconnect with an old friend. We arranged a trip for Thursday (12/29) out to Catalina to hit the Farnsworth Bank, Dave had just been out there with a client and whacked the Rockfish pretty good. I gave another good friend, Joe Rosales a call and we were on!

We left Dana at 4:00am on a flat dark ocean, cruised 15-20kts until greylight, when we hit the backside of the island and over to the Farnsworth.

From the first drop we hammered the fish until we had our fill of Reds, Coppers, Sheepshead, Lingcod (about 8lbs), Whitefish, Sandabs, and an assortment of other deep bottom dwellers. We fished at around 250 feet most of the day.

Finished a little early, and left the island by 1:00, flat seas, cruised back at around 25-30kts the whole way home. Hit a weird fog bank in the middle of the shipping lane that was kind of freaky.

On the way home after cleaning all the fish, Dave filled my GPS with a bunch a great numbers in areas around the island not covered in the closures (not much good are left).

If you ever want to learn something new about fishing, learn something new about your boat or gear, and have a great day on the water catching fish, give Captain Dave a call and have him take you out. My guess is you will have as good a time as we did!!

Tightlines and Happy New Year,

Tim on the “JollyMon”

Lucky Day at Farnsworth Bank

Capt. Dave — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 19:44:38 +0000

After talking to Dave Hansen about having him show me Farnsworth only to learn he was totally booked for the entire week, my spirits were low. After a couple of hours, Dave calls me to let me know that a client canceled. One big problem, the open day was my wife’s birthday. Thankfully my wife tells me to go and have a good time or else. So I start calling friends to see if they want to go, everyone is busy, so it will only be Dave and I.

Dave and I leave the ramp expecting cold weather and freezing spray along with rough seas, what a surprise. There was no wind, the ocean was greasely flat all the way to Catalina. Along the way, Dave was teaching me new methods for navigating, this would be the first of many lessons today. If you have never had Dave on your boat, you have seriously missed some incredible proffesionalism and teaching.

We get to Farnworth Bank just in time for the hungry bite to start. After teaching about what the fish look like on the bottom, we make our first drift. My line doesnt even make to the bottom before it get hammered by a nice Red. After the drift, we setup for another and at the same time I get another lesson on how to setup using my chart plotter. I have had this unit for 5 years and I had no clue it had the functionality Dave showed me. That my friends was worth the price of admission. We had a fantastic day catching Rockfish, Whitefish, Sheepshead, and Calicos.

We left for home as the sun was setting again expecting wind and spray. What a surprise, not wind no spray flat calm water, and speeding 25 knots the whole way back. The lessons did not stop, while learning new tricks on how to use Radar, Radar Overlay, and Guidance functions.

If you have the time, and would like to learn something new about what your boat and your electronics can do, call Dave. Everything about the day from beginning to end was fantastic.

Here is picture of the days catch. Yes I know the deck is not bloody, but it is fishy… If you get a chance this week, hit up the Farnsworth before it is closed to rockcod for good, also, call Dave, he has been the best investment I have ever spent on the boat to date.

What a GREAT Day Fishing with Dave Hansen

Capt. Dave — Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:43:55 +0000

I have enjoyed reading all the reports over the years with BD, and there really are so top Quality people that post here, this Being my 1^st post, I hope it measures up! : ) Met with Dave at DP, I needed some help with my newly installed electronics, and I set up a time with Dave to help me, I was not disappointed at all!! Dave was very knowledgeable with my system and probably took several years of trial and error out of my, learning curve. We left DP early on the 26^th, and H S it was cold! We went south, played with the electronics on our way down to SO, to do what I installed the system in the 1^st place for, FISH. We set up some drifts. And Dave showed me how to read the bottom, watch the tracks and set up the drifts. My wife picked up some really nice bottom fish, at least one evey drift, and we boated one of the most beautiful fish out there, a Barber pole (1^st time I have seen one). We moved in closer and drifted for halibut, and this time I came down to give it a shot, and I made a quality long distance release, of the only one we could get to play : ( We move closer to DP and stopped at a structure that had been producing some nice scalpin. The bite started out very slow, then it picked up, and we had a fish on every drop, but instead of scalpin, we had nice sized sand bass! Ending with 16 nice ones. It was hard to leave, but it was dark, so we left them biting. It was a great Day on the water, cold but perfect conditions, Dave was a joy to have along, his knowledge and experience, that he is so willing to share, was a joy. My wife and I really had an amazing time! Thanks agian Dave!! Sorry about picture quality, Blackberry’s suck!

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