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

.

PL 

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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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

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”

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.

Thank’s to Rick and Dave for a great trip. Happy Holidays to everyone on Bloody Decks.

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