James (GDude) and a nice bonito  from the Mole

Posted by Mahigeer — Date: April 30, 2009 — The following report is about the trip, rather than the fish count. The trip preparation for me actually started a month before the event. I usually get all of my fishing gear out and go through them. Then I decide what to take and what to leave. I had to get goodie bags from Marty Golden at NOAA, and get prizes from Bass Pro Shops etc. etc. Then over-pack as usual. This time I had to build a new cart as well, which worked fairly well. It needs some reinforcing for the next year.

Wednesday April 22nd — Pre-trip —I had my roommate to be, Santa, drop his gear at my house so we could pack the car. This way we were able to leave early on Thursday morning. He also helped me rebuild my Penn reel. After sharing a light supper with Santa, and the Jones’s it was on to bed for an early rise and departure on Thursday.

Thursday 23rd — The Trip — We (Santa and I) stopped at the Paul’s Bait and Tackle in San Pedro to pick up bait. They gave us $ 240.00 worth of bait free.

Next it was on to the Catalina Express Terminal where we found the Skipper and his wife Pat along with Rita and Kyle. Catalina was having a special “flying fish” season so I took a picture of everyone wearing their flying fish hats.

Mike (Santa)

We went to the line to get on the boat. I was first in line, and Santa saw the attendee, giving a dirty look to my “four wheel” cart. To his amazement I pulled a couple of pins out and it  met the requirement for a “two wheel” cart. On the way down the ramp to get on the boat, I did not see a protrusion, and the top heavy cart went flying. Fortunately Santa and Skipper helped me to upright the cart and Mrs. Jones took my clothing bag thus, reducing my load. We got on the boat and stored our gear at the stern of the boat. There was a clothing bag on top of this cart before the incident. I was proud of my cart and wondering if I looked liked a professional “pier rat”, but I was told by some visiting Floridians that I look like a homeless person with all of his possessions in tow!!

I was relaxed and happy to be on board. I decided to take a look at the dock to see what was going on. I suddenly see my jacket and the rod holder tubes still on the dock. When the cart went over, I had put them down to work on the cart. Then I forgot to take them. Fortunately the Captain was right there and he allowed me to go get my jacket and rods.

Derby Pics #1

Cabrillo Mole

The ride to the island was smooth for the most part. I took a pill and put on my wrist bands. This helped me recover, with no sea sickness. Upon arriving at the island, we decided to go to the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP). They had moved the floating dock and the ramp to one side, so there was plenty of railing space to fish from. One problem though, the entire back area was closed due to the construction going on. It happened that the man in charge was a “ham vatan” countryman in Farsi. Whether because I made friends with him or Skipper talking to him or to the Harbor Patrol, they provided us with a place to fish from for the duration of the weekend. Good thing, otherwise the Skipper would have been unbearable to be with. He looooves that pier.

The hotel was nice enough to let us check in early and after unpacking and a quick lunch, Skipper, Rita, and Kyle, went to the GPP. Santa and I went to check the Descanso Beach, for a possible surffishing site.

Derby Pics #2

SteveO and a barracuda

Rita with a bonito

Giant Kelpfish

After we returned to the hotel, I went to the GPP, and Santa went to the Casino jetty. Kyle got some good-size opaleye and sheephead, Skipper got his usual variety, and I got some short bass and medium-size opaleye.

We decided to meet later at Antonio’s with Gordo and Baitfish and family. I was the only one left at the pier when I saw the party of Gordo, and his guests arrive at the island. I used my small binoculars, and tried to wave at them. They waved back, but I am not sure if Gordo was waving one or five fingers!! After a nice dinner and conversation, everyone but me went to bed. I walked around with a powerful flashlight in hopes of seeing some thing, like a lobster, or flying fish.

Derby Pics #4

Eugene with a kelp (calico) bass

Rebecca (Roosterqueen( with an opaleye

Friday 24th — Pre-event —I wanted to meet Adam at the Mole around 5:30 AM, but did not set the alarm correct. Around 6:20, while I am washing up, my cell phone goes off and there is a picture send by Adam holding a 2-1/2 lb. bonito, and smiling. As though he is saying “see what you are missing by sleeping.” By the time I got to the Mole he had caught and released four bonito. We fished till it was time to meet others at the Jack’s for breakfast.

After breakfast, I had to take care of some organizing business and did not get to the Mole till afternoon. People started to show up and we fished the Mole. In the afternoon, some of the gang went to see the famous Tuna Club. I fished till it was time to clean up for the dinner at the Mia Casita’s. After dinner I again went for a walk at the GPP, where I saw Minnow magnet getting fish after fish.

Derby Pics #5

Scott and Steve waiting for bonito

Adam (Baitfish)  with a sheephead

Hashem (Mahigeer) with a bonito

Saturday 25th — the main event —I was at the Mole around 6:00 am, having set and worn my wristwatch, and having my cell phone next to my pillow in bed. The first bonito of this trip was landed around 6:30 or so. This time Adam was sleeping late. I fished till 9:00 am, at which time I went to the hotel to get all the necessary items for the “main event” By this time more and more people were arriving and setting up at the Mole.

After the derby, lunch, raffle, and distribution of the trophies, we took a group picture and then everybody went back to fishing or packed up to go home. It was dark when we left the Mole to clean up at the hotel and meet for one more dinner at the Antonio’s.

This time it was Baitfish and Rosterqueen, Santa, Gordo, SoCalNewb, and yours truly. We had a nice dinner and lots of laughs. After dinner I went for my after dinner walk, and checked the GPP. While there, Steve-O hooked in to something big. He will report on that I am sure.

Derby Pics #6

Mike (Santa)

Friends—Rita, Ross and Kyle

Adam (Baitfish) and James (GDude)

Day 4, Sunday 26th — The Saddest part of the trip! — After another breakfast at Jack’s we said good–by to each other, and went back to the hotel to pack and check out. Santa and I were on the 6:00 pm boat, so we went to the Mole, where we met Scooterfish and Steve-O. They were in their usual form of slaying bonito after bonito. We fished and had tourist fish with our gear, re-organized our stuff and cooler full of fish, etc. At one point while Santa was removing hook from a bonito, Scott, Steve, and I had a triple hook up on bonito.

The ride home was smooth as silk with no problems except the weight of the cart. We arrived at the Long Beach Terminal to find my wife waiting patiently for us. As with all good things in life, this event had to have an end. That is the sad part. Now I/we start to count the days to the next one.

Derby Pics #7

Jimbojack with a sheephead

James (GDude) with a bonito — background support Eugene and Adam

Barracuda

Here are some side notes: I mainly bought the “wave cast” reel for this trip. It did not disappoint me. I even had veteran casters such as baitfish and Scooterfish, cast some with it. They seemed to like it too. It is not the ultimate reel by any chance, but it will do for me. While cleaning the bonito at my house, two of them had hooks in their throats. The 1/0 hooks are still in pretty good shape, with no sign of rust.

In Conclusion, I would like to thank Scott, Adam and Rebecca for coming such a long way to fish and visit with us. Thank you Gdude and family for the food, and the prizes donated. Thank you Gordo for collecting donation instead of fishing, and putting up with my singing! Thank you everyone who endured long drives and perhaps some monetary hardship to come join us and making this one of the best gatherings yet. Thank you to all who attended from far and near. Without your participation it would have been just a fishing trip, rather than a Gathering.

Derby Pics #8

Rita with an ocean whitefish

Bonito

Cole with smallest fish award (sheephead)

Posted by Scooterfish — Date: April 30, 2009

Another Catalina event comes and goes! As I expected, this was another spectacular year for fishing and for catching up with friends. This report contains no pictures because I was too busy fishing to take many… I will post the pics I did take later once I have processed them. Steve-O is having trouble logging on the board for some reason, so his pics will come later (including a couple of a real monster!)

I left my house Friday morning at 5:00am CST, and arrived at Long Beach Airport at 12:55 PST. Steve-O was waiting for me after flying down from San Jose, and we grabbed our shuttle to Long Beach Downtown Terminal for the Cat Express. Upon arrival we noticed a fellow fisherman already waiting, which turned out to be SoCalNewb and his lady friend. Took our seats up in the Commodore Lounge, had a beer or two, and before we knew it we had pulled into the harbor at Avalon.

Derby Pics #9

Adam with a bonito  

Cole with an opaleye

Barracuda

Upon disembarking, the usual suspects were fishing the Mole… Quite a few Bonito had been caught just before we arrived, so we high-tailed it to the room, checked in, loaded Bonito gear and headed back to the Mole. Fished for a couple of hours for nothing but jumbo mackerel before it was time to return to the room and then head over to the Mexican restaurant for dinner. Dinner was good, drank Raki in moderation washed down with a few beers, and then back to the hotel.

Rigged up a pole with a Big Hammer and headed for the GPP for some nighttime Calico action. I managed a couple of legals and several dinks on artificials before calling it a night.

Following morning (Saturday) I woke up at 4:45, loaded up and headed for the Mole to secure my favorite spot for the derby. Caught two nice bonito before the derby started at 10:30. Once the derby started, I got focused and really hammered the fish!! Most of the bonito were nice sized, with an occasional 5-6lb’r mixed in. Fish number 5 was a killer for me Sad I have fought and landed lots of fish on my G-Loomis, and this one was no different. I usually land these fish by reeling down until my rod is pointing straight down at the fish, then I pendulum swing the fish onto the Mole. This was a slightly larger than average bonito and I did my standard swing landing with very little load on the rod (mostly on the line) but when I reached the apex, the top half of my rod just snapped loudly in two! I was bummed for a minute, but since it was the middle of the derby, I went to my backup rod (8.5’ G-dude special) immediately and kept catching fish. I landed 11 bonito during the derby, officially counting 10 towards my score. (One fish that was caught near the end of the derby was returned to the water before I could find someone to record it.) The Loomis will cost $50 to replace with the lifetime warranty.

Scott and a bonito

After the derby and raffle concluded, we headed back to the hotel for some R&R. Napped for a couple of hours, grabbed some dinner at Antonio’s, then grabbed our heavier gear and headed for the GPP to soak some bait. Using whole fresh squid we landed a couple of 10-12lb horn sharks, which is something like fighting a wet blanket… Pretty boring fish to catch, although cool to look at! We jigged up some nice 8” Jack Mackerel and threw them in as live bait. I was first hit, on my Ugly 7’ Tiger with a Penn 965 spooled with 50lb PowerPro and a 50lb mono leader. The fish took two long smoking runs against max drag before breaking off the 50lb leader halfway up. Steve-O was up next on a Jack Mackerel he had just tossed out. Steve was rigged with a 10ft MedHvy Ugly Stik with a Shimano BR6500 loaded with 65lb braid. The fish took the bait slow, Steve set the hook, and the fish headed seaward at a steady rate. 5 minutes later and nearly spooled, Steve got the fish turned around, it came in very slowly, lots of pump and grind kept it moving in. Halfway back to the GPP, the fish broke off the 65lb mainline. Whatever it was, it was huge! We had a couple of small hits after that, before calling it quits and getting some much needed sleep at 1:30am.

Fish On! — SteveO and a big one on the line

Sunday was a mellow day… we fished the Mole all day, picking off bonito at a steady pace, with the occasional mega-mackerel thrown in. We were the only fishermen out there most of the day. Capped off the day with another dinner at Antonio’s and decided to save ourselves for Monday’s fishing.

SteveO with a nice-sized bonito

Monday we slept in a little, but still hit the Mole by around 8:00am. Bonito were sporadic early but still present in good size and numbers. Early afternoon was epic! At some point, seemingly out of nowhere, the entire Lover’s Cove area lit up with a huge school of giant mackerel chasing smaller bait up against the beaches, and all of the associated Seagulls and Pelicans taking advantage of the situation. I wish I had my camera with me at the time, as it was incredible to watch. This continued for quite some time before the macs headed offshore a bit and the birds followed. We caught more jumbo macs (16-19”) than we could count, with quite a few bonito mixed into the bunch.

Scott with a kelp (calico) bass

We also met a fisherman named Harold at the Mole Monday afternoon. He was on the island for a fishing day trip. This guy knew his stuff from top to bottom, and was an expert at fishing the Mole. He limited on big Opaleye, and caught two Calicos that were at least 4.5-5lbs (with a couple of other nice ones for a limit of Calico). He also had a heavy lever drag rig that was loaded with 150-lb braid. He threw a big 9” smelt on as live bait and threw it just past the kelp. 10 minutes later the smelt was picked up and the clicker started a slow deliberate crawl. Harold waited patiently for about 12 seconds before setting the hook hard on the fish. He was instantly pinned to the Mole railing by the fish surging out to sea!! After a very long, dogged battle though the kelp, this MONSTER ray appears… in the water it looked bigger than it was, but we taped it at 58” or 59” wide with a massive head and body… Steve-O has the pics, which will be put up later… I had never personally seen one this big, and certainly had never seen anything that size landed through kelp like that!! The two huge calicos were also very impressive fish!

Nice bat ray from the Mole

We fished Monday to the point of exhaustion, and headed back to the hotel. We stopped by the GPP and found it was closed off at the end again, so our plan for night fishing there was cancelled, and we decided on a good night’s sleep instead after a final dinner at Antonio’s.

Woke up, finished packing and checked out for our 8:00am departure. Arrived at the Mole and realized we had no time left to fish, so we snapped a couple of pics and jumped on the ferry home. 28 hours 4 shuttles and 4 flights later I arrived on my front doorstep… Long story short we had mechanical failure in Phoenix that kept us on the runway for 1.5 hours, causing me to miss my connection in Denver, resulting in a free hotel room in Aurora, Colorado, followed by two more flights (Denver–>Charlotte, Charlotte–>New Orleans), My luggage came in on the wrong airline so I had to go through hell to find and claim it…. Woo Hoo!! I was so exhausted when I got home yesterday, but I promised my wife I would take all the baby feedings, so STILL no sleep for me, and I’m back at work already….

The trip was awesome as usual… Great to see and catch up with all of you! I look forward to next year’s event. Thanks to all that helped organize, prepare food, prizes, etc… Now just counting the days until next year! Scooterfish

Derby Pics #10 — The Food

Posted by minnowmagnent — Date: April 30, 2009

My dad and I drove down Friday and arrived at the ferry terminal at about 5:00pm. I fished a while around the ferry terminal with jigs and missed two hits and saw a guy catch some undersized sand bass. We got on the ferry at 7:00pm and arrived at the island just after 8:00pm. To my surprise there were still many garibaldi under the docks. We stopped at the hotel and my dad went to bed and I came out to the Pleasure Pier at about 8:45 pm. I started catching calicos one after another using jigs as soon as I got there. within the first 45 minutes I caught at least 10-15 with two about 12″ and one at 14.” After that the calico bite slowed down a bit and a few others joined me. I ended up catching a total of 27 calicos and a scorpionfish. I also saw some big fish that started surfacing just after midnight. I stared getting these soft hits on my big rod and then around 1:30 am I finally hooked one, I took off running and I could feel head shakes. It was not a bat ray, it jumped a couple times a couple hundred yards out then broke off. I ended up leaving around 2:00.

I got up around 6:00am on Saturday and was at the Mole by 6:45 am. I set up on the corner and started catching calicos and small opaleye on peas, then around 8:00 the wind picked up and I moved down to another spot. There I started catching lots of fish on peas including opaleye, calicos, smelt, sheephead, mackerel, halfmoon, blacksmith and wrasse.

Minnow Magnet with a nice–sized opaleye

After the derby started I continued my method of fishing for opaleye with peas and caught a few opaleye in the derby along with many other fish all caught free-lining a single pea with 4-lb fluorocarbon. That method came through for me and I ended up getting second place overall and the award for the most fish. I moved back to the corner and continued catching macks and opaleye. Then I caught a nice garibaldi about a pound on free-line ghost shrimp.  A little while later I caught a nice opaleye about 2lbs.

Minnow Magnet with a garibaldi

I caught a few more fish before we caught are ferry at 7:30pm. We ended up driving all night to get to the Sierras to fish for trout. We stopped a few times and got to our first spot around 7:00am. We fished all day and I ended up; spending a lot of time stalking some suckerfish that were very difficult to catch. I ended up catching five of them up two about 2-lbs and eight trout all around 2-lbs. The suckerfish fought real hard and I could not get the to hit on 6-lb line and had to change to 4-lb fluorocarbon, they fought like carp and jumped when hooked.

Posted by santa — Date: April 28, 2009

FIRST Catalina Get Together, FIRST time fishing on island, many new FIRST time species caught, and the best FIRST was meeting many new friends/anglers, (as well as renewing ties to dear friends).

Some visiting Aussies!  

Highlight of my trip was having a dad and three young daughters work together and reel in a decent Bonito (near right knee of girl in middle of pic). I had just hooked off the Mole. They were visiting from Australia and were watching us fish while waiting for boat to mainland, gave him my UPSAC business card and told him to E-me and I’d send them a pic. Great food, great friends, great time. Kudos to Hashem for all his hard work in setting up and coordinating the overall event. Thanks to all the folks who, worked, donated time/food/prizes/money, made suggestions, shared a meal/drink/laugh/conversation, and just being there. Whew! Still unwinding from trip. Talk about your getting back to the REAL WORLD shock.

Mike (Santa) and a bonito

Mike (Santa) with an opaleye

Posted by SoCalNewb — Date: April 27, 2009

Alright, so my report: I played hooky from work so my girlfriend and I could catch the 2 pm ferry from Long Beach on Friday. While waiting I spotted the only other two people carrying rod cases, with a suspicion they were pier rats. Once we got in line, my suspicions were confirmed, and I met scooterfish and steve-o for the first time.

After a couple rum and cokes, (sorry, I’m bad with time…) the ferry reached the Mole. As tempting as it was to just start fishing, I decided to check in first (I didn’t want to have to unpack all my gear out on the pier) before heading down to Vons for some frozen shrimp and peas before going to check out the fishing. I’m guessing by then it was sometime around 5.. I settled into a spot near the corner where scooterfish and steve-o had set up casting for bonito and met Mahigeer who wasn’t too far away, and soon after met Gordo and Santa, and later Mr. Ken Jones himself. I met a few more forum members that night, but at the moment I can’t recall who I met on Friday and who I met at the derby. (hint: too many margaritas that night) but I’m pretty sure I met everyone there before it was over.

Derby Pics #11 — The Raffle

Ross (GordoGrande)  aka “Raffle Master”

The water quality was incredible — my photos can’t do it justice. There was only a mild swell and so I decided to set up a high-low and drop straight down between the pilings. My bait was stripped many times until I figured out just the right size to cut it for it not to be stripped — the peas were just hit or miss. My first catch was a seniorita — unfortunately it had somehow been foul hooked deeply through the side… Not a nice way to start the trip. A few minutes later I picked up a decent-sized (about 6 inches) blacksmith perch, followed by another seniorita and a nice sized garibaldi (6-7 inches, but fat.), which was promptly returned to the water. I was using an 8′ ugly stick 8-20-lb. for those hookups, with spinning reel outfitted with 20-lb. braid, and 8-lb.-15-lb. leader, varying between high-low and single surgeons loop.

My bait continued to be stripped for some time before I hooked up with another garibaldi — again it was promptly returned. For a change, I was busy spending more time talking with the people around me than paying attention to my rod, and so I lost a few hook ups after. I decided to switch to my Sabiki rig while the others were getting their gear packed up to get ready for the dinner. I was using a 20 dollar 5′ Ugly Stik kit with 6-lb braid, and a size 12 circle hook Sabiki. Jigging produced nothing, so I switched to a 1 oz weight and tried my luck casting. Immediately I began to hook up with small jack mackerel and a few good-sized Pacific mackerel, keeping a handful of them for bait. Once it got dark, I packed it up to go to dinner myself.

Derby Pics #12 — The raffle

Hashem (Mahigeer) wins a  prize

SoCalNewb wins the “Grand Prize” — GDude hand wrapped Rod and a Reel

I came down to the mole later, with some glow sticks and bait hoping to hit some more mackerel, but, no takers for two hours before I gave up and went back to my room at the Hermosa Hotel.

Saturday morning I hit the Mole a couple hours before the derby was to begin, and took up the same spot near the bait board between where Hashem had taken up residence, and the corner that Scott and Steve-O were sharing… which happened to end up directly in front of the lunch/raffle table.

My luck before the derby was just decent — a couple jack mackerel, my first calico, a little 4-5 inch thing, and a garibaldi. During the derby I didn’t do much better — a seniorita, a jack mackerel, and another, smaller calico if I remember right. Scooterfish and Steve-O were slaying the Bonito, and I spent more time just enjoying watching their battles over paying attention to my own line, making for some good photos. I remember seeing a massive sheephead pulled up, and a nice barracuda being landed, and watching G-Dude wrestle in some nice bonito of his own. Some kid and his dad were trolling in a boat, and everyone enjoyed the show as a kid landed a 32-inch or so barracuda out in the area where the bonito were being caught from.

Derby Pics #13 — Awards

Jimbojack

Rita

Robert

Lunch was great, and Gyozadude’s potstickers were incredibly good. After the derby, the winners received their trophies, and a few goody bags were handed out. I won a few small prizes at the raffle — a couple towel clips, some tackle, some nice lead-free split shot that I later put to good use.. After all the other prizes had been awarded, the big draw came up; most of the numbers pulled had been much higher than mine, and the competition was pretty fierce. it must have just been beginners luck, because the final ticket just barely fell into the low end of my spread… I’ll post a couple close ups of the details on the rod, it’s a piece of art. yet another thanks to G-dude for donating it, and the Daiwa Excel reel he paired it with.

I had gotten pretty sunburned after my girlfriend had borrowed my jacket against the wind (the swells were like a washing machine, snags were unavoidable, though I only lost 6 hooks and 3 sinkers including a “snag free” sinker) so I decided to head back to my room to rest and recover, as well as to safely stow the new rod, despite the temptation to use my spooled light reel on it for the time being. (after watching and hearing Scotts rod break, I had bad visions in my head…) After a late second lunch with my girlfriend, I returned to the mole for some late afternoon fishing with Scott, Steve-O, Hashem, and Ross, and got to chatting with Adam and Rebecca. Towards sunset as everyone began to pack up, I decided to toy around with my cheapo 5′ rod again, and sure enough began picking up mackerel. I had decided because of the time I was only going to cast as long as they were biting, or until I caught a dozen… that only took me 7 casts, and so I managed to catch up with everyone else on the way back to the hotel.

My girlfriend had received some tough news regarding a family emergency and wanted some alone time so I tagged along to dinner at Antonio’s with Hashem, Ross, Mike, Adam and Rebecca, for some good food and better conversations. The dinner was a blast, and lasted til long after they had stopped seating customers.

Derby Pics #14 — Awards

Minnow Magnet and Kyle

Adam (Baitfish)

Award Winners

I decided to call it a night and rest my back and legs rather than night fishing  and on the way back Hashem received a text regarding horn sharks at the Green Pleasure Pier if I recall correctly, which tempted me, but with my sunburn sleep beckoned.

I woke up early, and went down to the Green Pleasure Pier Sunday morning around 6:30 to get some photos, where I found Mr. Jones in the corner with his lines out. After getting some photos of the casino and the harbor, I retreated to let him fish in the morning peace. The crowds were still in their hotel rooms, and the bay was still and quiet, perfect for photos and fishing. I made my way out to the Mole to get more photos before returning to my room. My girlfriend and I decided to pack early to get it done with, and so I only left my 5′ rod out, with one of my mini-trays with artificial baits and that Sabiki that had been working wonders.

Leaving our gear in the room, I took the rod with just a 2-inch pumpkin seed grub on a 1/16th oz jig head, and my girlfriend and I walked down to the pier. I tried jigging it a couple times, nothing, so I cast out as far as I could underhand with such a light jig, not far. I let it sink for a couple minutes until I guessed it had reached bottom, and began a slow retrieve. I got a couple nibbles the first couple casts, then nothing. I promise my girlfriend one last cast and of course then I catch my first fish from Green Pleasure Pier, a 7 inch or so calico. After returning to the room to store my gear, we ran into Mr. Jones on the way out and I heard about some bat rays he’d hooked up with that morning.

Derby Pics #15 — Group Pic

United Pier and Shore Anglers of California (UPSAC) Banner

The 2009 Catalina get Together Pier Rats

My girlfriend wanted some food, but it was still a couple hours before the breakfast the others had invited me to, and so I indulged her, deciding that I would go to the other breakfast at 9 am anyways… I got back to my room around 8, and returned to the Green Pleasure Pier thinking I’d just get a couple casts in. After a couple more small calicos I realized it was already well past 9 and that I’d likely missed the breakfast.

We got our gear and decided to head to the mole, just in time to see Adam, Rebecca and Ross about to get on the ferry before I could exchange any words—unfortunately. I set up beside scooterfish, steve-o, mahigeer and santa and proceeded to get skunked at the Mole while waiting for the ferry. A big thanks to Mike for rigging up a strap for my wide brimmed hat , without it I would have had to retreat to the benches in the shade, rather than being able to enjoy everyone’s great company while waiting for the ferry, even if I did get skunked.

I sure hope I can make it to the get together next year, whatever happens I know the next time I head to Catalina, I’m arming myself with those launcher floats and heavier gear so I can target those Bonito myself!

Posted by gyozadude — Date: April 25. 2009

So much to report, but sooooo Tired … with a capital T. Smile It was a great time to fish with all of you and what fishing it was! Perhaps the best bonito fishing of any year I’ve attended was Scooterfish’s opinion and I have to agree. We really hooked up this year and my arms, back, legs are slow, cramped and burning as proof. More to come as I process the images.

I always find the journey over to Catalina to be one of intense anticipation and this trip would be no different. Riding the gentle waves, watching an occasional pod of dolphin, sipping on a hot cup of Joe, and recalling past visits to the storied isle: all part of the short, one-hour ferry ride. Then the island and its hills come into focus. Sometimes the canvas is a brightly lit, sun-shined mural, but this day will see low clouds surrounding the island.

I find the cloudy days much more appealing. Why? Well, I guess I still retain that ‘60s belief in fantasy and am thinking I’ll see King Arthur’s Castle poking out amidst the hills that line the island’s coast. This trip those hills still showed the effects of the winter rain—a swath of green along the arroyos that crease the normally brown hills, like veins dropping down to kiss the salty waters of the Pacific. Of course you then see the harbor of Avalon and the fairly new condos that have disfigured the hillsides to the right of the city. Tis a bit sad to this romantic mind.

But there’s still a second anticipation, that of seeing what now seem old friends, and once again partaking of the fishing in this magical isle, will more than make up for a non-existent castle, or even a round table for that matter. We will have our own knights and conquer our own foes; at least that is what we thought at the start of the trip.

Day 1, Thursday — After arriving at the Catalina Express office in Long Beach and checking in, we were soon joined by Rita and her son Kyle. A short time later Hashem (Mahigeer) and Mike (Santa) arrived with about a thousand pounds of equipment and we were wondering if his cart would survive the trip. Boarding the ferry Hashem had a little trouble with the cart but he made a couple of McGiver fixes and everything was soon safely stored at the rear of the ferry.

Apparently Avalon was celebrating flying fish during the year and the landing supplied us all with “flying fish hats) which were hidden away until Hashem said we needed a picture. Amidst considerable enthusiasm (not), we took a group picture.

KJ, Pat, Mike (Santa), Kyle, Rita and Hashem (Mahigeer)

Soon the ferry was in the open ocean waters where we enjoyed a smooth and fast trip to Santa Catalina Island and Avalon.

As we entered the Avalon Bay Hashem mentioned that the front of the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP) seemed to be open, the dock normally anchored out front seemed to be missing, and we wondered what was up. Then, as we traversed the walk around the bay, we got a better look at the pier. Sure enough the GGP was open but it was also obvious that some sort of construction was going on. What would we find?

We soon arrived at the foot of the pier and Rita and I decided to walk out to the end. Sure enough workers were working, construction supplies blocked the end, and roping sealed off the end. #*##***##*! Rita and I both said this is BAD, why hadn’t they let us know it would be closed?

The group then headed on to the hotel with several people in a very FOUL mood. After unpacking the bags, and a quick lunch at Antonio’s, it was time to fish. I was at the pier at 2 P.M. and would find a spot to fish. Soon I ran into the Harbor Master and explained our predicament. He said the end was supposed to be closed until June but he would see what he could do. Still in a foul mood I found a small corner next to the dive shop that was fairly open to the water and soon after began to catch fish. Rita and Kyle arrived soon after and located on a spot just a little bit down the pier. Neither spot was perfect but if you knew how to cast the areas were fishable—and still full of fish. Rita and Kyle also began to catch fish.

I soon managed a couple of nice-sized opaleye on ghost shrimp, a garibaldi on the same, an unending number of bass (on cut bait and ghost shrimp), rock wrasse (whenever I used the lug worms I had brought from Big Fish), and senorita (on whatever).

KJ and a garibaldi

Then I pulled in a blackperch, the first I had seen at the pier after 32 trips. All right, a new species for the pier! Kyle was also pulling in fish, especially after he decide to bait up a Sabiki with peas. He managed two opaleye and a keeper sheephead on the vegetables. This trip was starting to look interesting even if the pier was a mess. Eventually Hashem also joined us and he too managed to catch fish (including an opaleye) so we were a semi-happy troop catching fish (including some jack mackerel that decided to join in the fun) but still wondering what we would be catching if we were out at the deeper waters at the end.

Hashem (Mahigeer) and an opaleye

Soon after, the Harbor Master walked over and explained that he had talked to the construction crew and that they were going to open the end for us Friday afternoon. They would move their supplies back and allow us to fish the area during the weekend. Hallelujah! We fished until 6:15 and then headed back to the rooms before once again heading down to Antonio’s where we typically have dinner the first night

Dinner at Antonio’s — clockwise from left — Mike (Santa), Hashem (Mahigeer), Adam (Baitfish), Rebecca (Roosterqueen), Pat, KJ, Ross (GordoGrande), and Rita

The results the first day showed the fish were still there but the number of halfmoon and sheephead seemed a little down. I was hoping that they would be more evident out at the end of the pier when it opened (and they were, but both would indeed turn out to be in lesser numbers than the prior two years).

Day 2, Friday—Most of the day would see fishing at the Mole but I managed a 6-8 AM visit to the GPP, a visit that yielded kelp bass, rock wrasse, sheephead, Pacific mackerel and yet one more blackperch.

The breakfast group — clockwise — KJ, Adam, Rebecca, Ross, Mike, Pat and Hashem

A short breakfast at Jacks ensued before heading out to the Mole where I fished from 10:50-3:05 PM. I was targeting new species, and still trying to find a moray eel, but only had luck with the former when I caught a small spotted kelpfish. People (including Scott and GDude) were catching bonito right and left but I wanted variety and I did find it getting 12 different species—kelp bass, garibaldi, giant kelpfish, opaleye, halfmoon, spotted kelpfish, scorpionfish, sheephead, treefish, senorita, jacksmelt and kelp bass.

By now people were arriving from a variety of spots and it was time to prepare for our Friday night “Get Together.” However, before dinner we had one more place to visit. I had arranged a private visit to the hallowed grounds of the Avalon Tuna Club, a normally inaccessible spot. A group of us including Pat and myself, GDude, Adam and Rebecca, Mike (Santa), and Rita trekked down to the club where we were amazed by the pictures, equipment, and historical fishing artifacts that we found. We only stayed one hour but it was amazing. [BTW, the Tuna Club was the world's first marine conservation organization when it was founded in 1898. And interesting was the comment we heard while we were there. Members are not allowed to fish in any tournaments for money; if a member breaks that rule they lose their membership.]

Mike (Santa), Adam (Baitfish), Rebecca (Roosterqueen), Rita, KJ, James (GDude)

That night would see our annual group dinner this time at the Mi Casita restaurant. As always there was good cheer and fun and everyone had a good time.   At the conclusion, a couple of people talked of heading back down to the pier (or mole) for a little night fishing; I headed back to the hotel for some sleep.

Ross (center) and Rebecca (right)

Rita (left) and Mike (right)

Eugene

Hashem, Scott and Steve

Warren Li

Amanda Liu

Dora and Elaine Liu

Ross (left) and Robert (right)

Kyle

Group shot #1 — clockwise from ed on table — Hashem, Rita, Mike, Eugene, ?, Ross, Rebecca, Adam, KJ

Group shot #2 — From left clockwise — Scott, Steve, Kyle, James, Dora, ?

Day 3, Saturday—This would be the day of the derby so once again most of the day would be spent at the Mole. But, once again I slipped out to the GPP for a 6-8 AM visit. This visit would produce kelp bass, senorita, rock wrasse, salema (a first for the pier), jack mackerel and two more big opaleye. Not a bad start to the day

Back to the room, pick up Pat, and head out to the Mole for the festivities. The fishing itself would now take a back seat to the other activities even though I did have a pole in the water part of the time at the Mole and managed a decent amount of fish including kelp bass, senorita, garibaldi, blacksmith and an ocean whitefish. Only problem was that Pat and I were both feeling a little under the weather (and a cold wind didn’t help) which made the day a little funky.

As mentioned in several earlier reports the bonito were the highlight of the day and provided most of the big fish. However, just before the derby started Redfish pulled in a nice barracuda just one inch short of being legal.

Robert (Redfish) with a barracuda

He then followed that up with a 6+ pound sheephead during the derby that won the big fish award. And, shortly after the derby was over a legal barracuda was caught.

Robert with an 8-pound sheephead

Without repeating the reports of Hashem, GDude, JimboJack, Scott and others, just let me say the time together was great, the food (as always) was plentiful and delicious, and the drawings for gifts were a lot of fun (as well as making a few needed bucks for UPSAC).

The official prizewinners (based on a point scale for different types of fish) were:

1st Place: Scott; 2nd Place: Minnow Magnet; 3rd Place: SteveO; Awesome Angler Awards: Kyle, Adam, Rita and JimboJack; Big Fish Award: Redfish; Smallest Fish Award: JimboJack; Most Species Award: Minnow Magnet

Derby Winners

Group Picture

After the derby, the festivities, and a final group picture, many chose to stay and fish the Mole. I decided to head back to the GPP which was now open at the end and which is always a little warmer and less windy than the Mole (did I mention the windy conditions that confronted us off and on at the Mole?). A 5:30-8:45 P.M. visit produced kelp bass, jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, senorita, blacksmith and rock wrasse.

However, I was on a mission. One of my goals was to catch a flying fish, interesting creatures that inhabit Catalina’s inshore waters (including Avalon Bay). I figured a Sabiki baited with lugworms, and fished under a float, just might yield a flying fish (since they so closely resemble jacksmelt). I might have been right except that jack mackerel kept hitting the rigging (darn them!).

Not only did I not catch a flying fish but I also missed what had to be a really nice fish when I baited up my heavier outfit with a lively jack mackerel. I had a hard hit, struck hard—and missed the fish. I pulled in a mackerel devoid of much of its skin on both of its sides.

Day 4, Sunday—Again I was up early for one final visit to the pier, this time from 5:25-7:55 AM. The visit would yield kelp bass, jack mackerel, Pacific mackerel, senorita and rock wrasse but the news was the fish I lost.

Looking toward the Mole at Sunrise

I baited up my heavy pole with squid and cast out to the deeper waters while I fished my light pole by the pier. I managed to lose what had to be three big fish. The first was within ten minutes of baiting up when something hit my heavy pole, started to peel off line at a tremendous rate, and then saw the line go dead. When I reeled in it appeared the 30-pound braid had simply been cut in half. Never saw the fish but assume it was a big shark (big threshers, makos and blues are fund in these waters).

A half hour or so later another big fish hit the squid. This time the fish took the line but I was able to hook it and play it for about fifteen minutes before it tangled in something on the bottom and eventually managed to break free. The fight was that of a typical bat ray, a big one, but not as big as the bat ray that kept showing up in the waters next to the GPP. That ray seemed at least six foot across (so probably was only five) but kept swimming around the pier for over an hour. I did try some squid by the pier but the ray ignored it.

I did however manage to farm one more fish—on my light line. After baiting up some cut mackerel for some mac action, something simply inhaled my bait and took off on a steady journey headed out of the harbor. It wasn’t at a spectacular speed but just a steady speed that did not even slow as I tightened up the drag. As I neared the end of a spool of brand new 8-pound P Line, Halo line, I decided enough was enough and finally cranked it down and the line broke. If I have ever hooked a black sea bass this might have been the time but I don’t know what a large fish like that would have been doing grabbing my fairly small bait. Whatever it was though was big and strong and not a bat ray.

Later, after talking to Scott and SteveO about their battle with a huge fish from the GPP, I wondered if that huge bat ray that was visiting the pier Sunday morning might also have been what they hooked? It was certainly the largest bat ray I have ever seen but they felt their fish wasn’t a bat ray. Whatever the fish we all hooked, it proved there are some really big fish to be had in these waters and the need for some heavier gear next visit.

I hated to stop fishing but had to get ready for the ferry, check out of the hotel, and visit friends for a final breakfast. But I wished I could have stayed and had a chance to hook another big fish.

Some stats—new species for the piers—GPP/blackperch and salema—Cabrillo Mole/spotted kelpfish. I’ve now caught 18 different species from the GPP, 24 species from the Mole. Total fish for the trip = 234 fish (my fifth lowest total for the 8-year history of the “Get Togethers”). Most of the fish were returned excepting a few sheephead and opaleye that made it to my dinner table.

Notes—

• Return of the mackerel. This was the first time we saw large numbers of jack mackerel and Pacific mackerel at the “Get Togethers” since 2003 (and that year saw Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel and Pacific sardines). Both were in evidence in large numbers during this trip and may help explain the number of large fish that were seen and/or hooked.

• Big fish—2007/2008 saw several huge fish swimming around the Green Pleasure Pier and the Mole. The biggest was a black sea bass that easily exceeded one hundred pounds that placidly came swimming along mid-water by the GPP. Another large fish was what looked like a large angel shark. As noted, this year on Sunday morning a huge bat ray was swimming back and forth around the GPP. A similar huge bat ray was seen Saturday at the Mole and a huge bat ray was caught Sunday from the Mole (and seen by Scooterfish and SteveO). Given the number of large fish seen, and lost, during 2009, it would seem wise to bring along a heavy duty reel loaded with 100+ pound braid next trip. There out there, can we catch them?

• Kudos to: (1) Brian Bray, the Avalon Harbor Master who made it possible to fish the end of the GGP most of the weekend; (2) Hashem who coordinated the event this year and did his usual excellent job; (3) GDude who once again provided much of the delicious food at the derby; (4) My friend Gary Graham who set it up so that we could visit the Avalon Tuna Club. Gary runs Baja on the Fly and is a great guy (and very knowledgeable). If you ever want to go fly fishing for sailfish, dorado, roosterfish or other fish in Baja visit bajafly.com; (5) The good folks at the Hermosa Hotel who provided a 10% discount for UPSAC members and provided their usual friendly and efficient service; (6) Paul’s Bait and Tackle in San Pedro who supplied live ghost shrimp, frozen anchovies and frozen squid for the anglers in the derby; (7) Big Fish Bait and Tackle in Seal Beach that supplied some live lugworms for the event.

(Cool All who traveled to Catalina during these hard times. It was especially good to see Scott (all the way from Louisiana) and Adam and Rebecca (all the way from Florida) but given today’s economic conditions it was a real commitment from everyone who made it over to Catalina. Thanks!

End of Part 1 — Main derby pictures and other Reports in Part 2 — 8th Annual PFIC/UPSAC Catalina Get Together — 2009 (2)

The official 2007 Catalina Get Together Logo

This proposed logo finished second among PFIC voters

This proposed logo was considered just a tad bit too risqué

Another Catalina Report—by Ken Jones — More Than You Probably Wanted To Know About The Sixth Annual Catalina Get Together

KJ and Friend

Scene 1A:  It is somewhere around 1 PM on April 20, 2007. An aging, out-of-shape angler stands at the railing of the Cabrillo Mole at Avalon on Catalina Island. The angler is soaked to the skin/bone—and cold. He has a hat, and a hood from his jacket covering his head, but drops of rainfall steadily from the puddle crowning the cap. The Thought-O-Meter LE200 records his thoughts —“Maybe Algore and his Goebell Warning is responsible for this rain? Or perhaps it’s Adam and Rebecca? After all, we never had rain until they gave up their title as hosts and moved to sunny Florida. But wait, I’m one of the ones hosting the event this year; maybe it’s partly my fault! God I hope we don’t have rain tomorrow when we have the tables and food and raffle items and kids and wives and the banner and whatever! No, come on, snap out of it, quit worrying about the rain and be ready for the fish. An opaleye is starting to inhale that shrimp; should I strike now or give it a couple of more milli-seconds? Strike—and fish on! Be cool little fish; come this way instead of heading down into that kelp. A really nice day on the opaleye, just wish I wasn’t so dad blasted cold.”

Scene 1B—Alternative version:  It is somewhere around 1 PM on April 20, 2007.  An angler wearing a semi-transparent, yellow rain poncho over stylized fishing apparel is singing (and dancing?) next to the railing of the Cabrillo Mole at Avalon on Catalina Island.

I’m fishing in the rain — Just fishing at the pier — What a glorious feelin’ — I’m happy again

I’m laughing at clouds — So dark up above — The sun’s in my heart — And I’m ready to fish

Let the stormy clouds chase — Everyone from the Mole — Come on with the rain — I’ve a smile on my face

I stroll down the rail  — With my rod and my reel  — Just fishin’, — Fishin’ in the rain

Why am I smiling — And why do I fish? —Why does Catalina — Seem sunny as spring?

Why do I get up — So early each morn’? — Happy and head up — With joy in my heart

Why is each task — A mere trifle to do? — Because I am living —A life full of you.

Fade to large fish (opaleye or male sheephead) on surface of the water

With apologies to Don Lockwood, lyricist for Singin’ In The Rain.

Yes, Catalina Get Together Number 6 has come and gone once again and, as most years, it reflected a personality all its own.

Quick thoughts: (1) The heavy rain Friday morning didn’t stop anyone from fishing but eventually took its toll. Most were ill prepared as far as “real” raincoats and eventually the coats and layered clothing were wet to the core. In time people were not only watching the water drop in rivulets from brow but were experiencing a cold to the bone feeling that was unexpected on Catalina. Too heavy to be popsicles (with the exception perhaps of JimboJack initially and Scott and Steve later) we looked more like frozen stout bars. However, the slightly more murky water provided some top-notch fishing and that fact, along with the refusal of anyone to cry uncle, led most to brave out the conditions. If Mola Joe can survive snow and ice, we can survive a little wind and rain. However, most were glad (even if they didn’t admit it) when the time came to return to the hotel and change clothing and equipment for the surf derby (which was rain and fish free).

(2) Several of the long-distance, partygoers drove all-nighters this year and, as a result, were really tired out upon arrival. Whereas most years there is a straight line to the motel followed by a straight line to the pier, this year people actually got some sleep and rested before starting their fishing adventure. People were asking where’s GDude, where’s Ben, where’s Minnow Magnet? Little did they know they were enjoying some peaceful bliss before renewing the quest.

(3) The group itself was smaller this year but also very cohesive and seemed to have a really friendly and helpful karma, a somewhat unusual trait for such a disparate group. And while the numbers of fish were down slightly (at least during the actual derby), the number of larger fish like opaleye, legal sheephead and bonito were up, reflections of improved bait—ghost shrimp, and improved technique. A logical extension provided by anglers who had given thought to past experiences.

(4) The only thing that didn’t seem to change was the events designation as the highlight of the year and a call for additional visits—where and when possible. Perhaps unsaid was a little envy by those who had traveled down from the Bay Area, the home of a vast bay that seems at times like an inland sea. Drives of 30-40-50 miles to fish are common. Why, given the short one-hour ferry ride from Long Beach, are there not more southern PFIC members present at Catalina? Even more, why would those who live close not travel over the Catalina Channel several times a year? Would more frequent visits make the experience less special?

KJ and opaleye

The Prelims — There are many things involved in setting up such an event. Luckily the three caballeros—KJ, Ben and Mahigheer —were able to take the past work of Adam and Rebecca, and the lessons they learned, to give us guidance this year. Early on I posted the general specifications—with only a few modifications from what Adam and Rebecca had originally done. Notification and permission to use the Mole was then gained from the Harbormaster. Once that was done we needed to figure out the Friday night “Surf Get Together” and the Saturday “Derby—Food—Raffle.”

We decided to do the Friday dinner at the Buffalo Nickel different this year—pre-pay for dinner, use their menu, etc. (Good thing because we didn’t catch a single fish at Pebble Beach.) Ben was assigned the task of talking to the restaurant manager and events went as planned even though we wound up walking over earlier than expected. Due to a road closure we were even able to get the restaurant to provide transportation to and from the restaurant. For Saturday’s event we needed UPSAC materials stored in San Diego—which Mahigheer drove down and retrieved. With materials on hand and some additional prizes I was able to scrounge up from different sources (including a Beachmaster Rod Holder), we felt we had a decent list of raffle prizes even before seeing GDude’s beautiful rod and reel.

Where’s the banner, where’s the raffle tickets, do we have bags for the fish fillets, do we have cards for the derby and pens to mark them? What about tables and chairs and certificates for the winners? Ben spent part of Wednesday making certificates in his classroom.  Mahigheer and KJ spent part of Wednesday night going through the various materials and figuring out how to carry it to Catalina. Thursday—nothing to do other than the trip itself.

Thursday — A 6:30 journey to Mahigheer’s house resulted in a free breakfast, free storage space for my truck for the next four days, and a loaded van full of the various accouterments needed for the trip. I of course had my pier cart together with a duffel bag and one of Pablo’s rod bags. Mahigheer had his normal equipment plus a cooler filled with prizes for the raffle drawing and extra rods/reels.

Once on our way we headed to San Pedro and Paul’s Bait and Tackle. There we met up with Matt who graciously filled 30 of the large Styrofoam containers full of ghost shrimp—30 per cup. Normally selling for $8.00 a large cup (he also has two smaller sizes) this represented a retail value of $240. I had actually tried to talk Bill the owner into less shrimp but he said no, one cup per person per day and better to be as little over than a little short. This would be free bait for participants for Thursday and Friday. Another load of free live shrimp, 36 containers, was to be picked up by Eugene on Saturday (or a value of $288). All told, Bill and the bait shop donated $528 worth of bait to the Get Together. Everyone at the gathering  (PFIC and UPSAC members alike) should appreciate the donation and I sincerely hope that local anglers who need bait remember this largess and give Bill their business.

Next it was on to the Catalina Landing in Long Beach for the 10 AM boat and one-hour trip over to the island. Unfortunately, at the boarding, Mahigheer was given grief and told his four-wheel cart, heavily loaded with items, would not be allowed to be pushed onto the boat. Instead he would have to hand-carry the items onto the boat and then return for more items. Only problem: a catch 22 situation in which once he carried an item onto the boat he would not be allowed to leave the boat for another trip. What to do? Luckily Gordo Grande was taking the same boat. A couple of additional items were tied down on top of my cart, a couple of additional items were tied down to the top of Gordo’s cart, and Mahigheer has several items piled on top of his big cooler (thankfully one with wheels) while hand carrying his four wheel cart. Once on the boat we all sighed in relief. On the trip back the deckhands jumped right in to help carry everything off of the ship; no such help on the way over. But we made it and didn’t lose a single bag.

Immediately upon arrival we (KJ, Mahigheer and Gordo) headed toward the Hermosa Hotel but on the way we saw Harry (Graybeard) eating breakfast and told him to join us in fishing when he finished. We then checked in at the hotel, unpacked our fishing equipment, and headed down to the pier.

Green Pleasure Pier

While Gordo and Mahigheer grabbed a bite to eat, I headed out to the end of the Green Pleasure Pier where I found myself alone with all the fish. The fishing was fast and furious with a nice mixture of fish. A short time later Harry joined in the fun while Mahigheer and Gordo arrived a little later. Everyone was catching fish and once again the Catalina experience was taking place.

Surprisingly we didn’t see anyone else that day except for GDude and family at Antonio’s, the spot where we traditionally have our first night’s dinner. That scene was repeated and I, for one, was rewarded with a delicious calamari dinner. Should we go fishing after dinner? No, we were all too tired.

Friday — This day we’re scheduled to fish the Mole in the morning and do the surf fish derby at Pebble Beach late afternoon. Unfortunately when I make my bi-hourly pee run at 4 A.M. I notice an additional little pitter-patter, this time coming from the roof. A look out the door reveals rivulets of rain tracing their mercurial way down the vines of the bougainvillea on the deck. Great!

Instead of a 6:30 journey to the Green Pleasure Pier (normal routine) Mahigheer and I do breakfast. The Mole can wait until 8 when we join Gordo. Luckily even though the rain is steady so is the fishing—including numbers of good-sized opaleye who seem to like the ghost shrimp.

Eventually the cast of the Get Together begins to arrive—Ben and Brandy, Jimbojack, Scott and Ben, Redfish and Sylva, Ark and his wife, and of course Minnow Magnet, Robin and friends from the north, Dylan and Dave. By late morning the Mole is filling up and fishermen, rods, pier carts, bait and assorted fish are littering the deck. Early afternoon the sun arrives along with some bonito and GDude limits out in fairly quick fashion with his Buzz Bomb. Things are looking up and it even appears a dry surf derby is on tap. Most people head back to their cabins around two o’clock to change into dry clothes and drop off excess equipment. Then it’s back to the Mole and a hopeful pick up by the restaurant’s shuttle vans.

GDude and a bonito

Everything seems to go smooth at first, although somehow we lost Scooter and Steve, but then the surf derby is a bust.  We had been told the whitefish were late this year and hadn’t made a showing but we hoped some would still show up. Nope, they wouldn’t cooperate and none of the other species would fill in for them (maybe it’s a union thing?). Anyway, after two hours, only a few nibbles, no fish, and increasing winds, we decided to walk over to the restaurant for dinner.

The Buffalo Nickel provided good food and with an encouragement from Mahigheer’s Raki (Lion’s Milk) everyone opened up and really seemed to have a good time. We talked the van driver into taking us back to our hotel where most went to bed. Ben and Jimbojack headed back to the Mole where Ben got a nice-sized rubberlip perch.

Saturday—Everyone was at the Mole bright and early but the sun was out and the fishing had slowed. It seems to always be the case that the fishing during the Saturday event is somewhat slow and as soon as the event is over the fish pick up the bite. It happened again.  Of course about 9 A.M. the three caballeros are discussing final plans for the food.

What additional food is needed to supplement the items GDude is bringing? KFC has closed so we’ll do the chips and salsa routine to match his Mexican food along with soft drinks and a few sweets. People pitch in money while Ben and Brandy (since they’re younger and stronger) are stuck making the actual run to Von’s Express (and they come back with a big honking cart of stuff). We’re well on our way to once again having more than enough food.  Then it’s time for the derby and raffle. Cards are passed out and people fish; some even catch fish.

Although several additional people fished and watched, only twenty-two people actually signed up for the event: GordoGrande, JimboJack, Gray Beard, Mahigheer, Eugene & Mina, Scooterfish, SteveO, Dompha Ben, Pop, Mom and bro. Johnny, Ark, Redfish and Sylva, Robin & Minnow Magnet, Dylan & Dave, Lee, Warren and Amanda.

The derby was catch and release using a point scale: and as seems usual, the fishing during the derby was slower than that before or after the event. Ten to two are not the best hours for fishing, especially when you have the crystal clear purity of water that you find at the Mole, and action seemed somewhat desultory. One difference this year was less small fish, reflecting the use of ghost shrimp by many contestants. Less small fish and thus less fish in the total count but more big fish than at most derbies. MinnowMagnet though was able to use small bait and hooks to snare enough jacksmelt to win the junior division. James (Gdude), who had a limit of bonito and would have won the derby, was strictly catch and keep so ineligible for the derby.

Then the announcement of the winners:

Adult Category: 1^st Place — SteveO; 2^nd Place — Scooterfish; 3^rd Place — Lee Smgley

Junior Category: 1^st Place — Minnow Magnet; 2^nd Place — Dylan; 3^rd Place — Warren Liu.

The raffle followed with Amanda picking out the tickets. Lastly it was time for a group shot of this year’s participants to finish off the festivities. Finally, back to more fishing.  The events had gone as planned and everyone seemed to have a good time. Around 6 PM the group starts to break up and people head off to various haunts for dinner. Several of us go to Antonio’s one more time for an excellent dinner. Ben says he wants to do a little late night fishing at the Mole and I agree to meet him. But I could barely make the walk back up to the hotel and with sore back and legs am forced to forgo the search for my moray eel (for the first time at a derby I felt my age). Ben heads down with Mahigheer, Scott and Steve. But after fifteen or so minutes, and not much action, they head back.

Pier Rats — 2007

Sunday — Last day and I am up early and out to the Green Pleasure Pier at 6:30. I know there are some good fish there so I’m casting bigger baits and have the pier to myself. I don’t get a lot of fish but in two hours manage three keeper-size sheephead along with another large opaleye in a mix of a dozen and a half fish. Then it’s back to the cabin where I meet Mahigheer for breakfast prior to checking out. From there we haul all of various bags down to the Mole to fish until our 3:45 ferry departs to Long Beach. Good-by Catalina — for now!

Personal fishing: As always the fishing was superb but there was a slight drop-off in overall numbers for myself partly because I fished fewer hours and partly because I chose to fish with the “Pier Rats” at the Mole rather than at the too congested Green Pleasure Pier. Thursday, the first day, I did fish the pier and averaged more than 20 fish an hour but it was potpourri fishing, anything goes . However, with its various ropes, cables, boats and docks interfering with space only a few people can now fish the pier at a time. Thus most people drift over to the Mole where the fishing space is more open. The Mole is also home to some of bigger species such as bonito, barracuda and an occasional yellowtail. However, it’s my firm belief that you can catch as many, if not more, BIG opaleye and BIG Sheephead at the pier; it’s just harder to hook and land them. The time at the Mole did give me a chance to check out the rocky inshore section a little more and I managed a couple of new rockfish species that I had not caught previously at the Mole—a kelp rockfish and two brown rockfish. The time also gave me a chance to land a new pier species for myself, a Mexican scad, an uncommon species rarely caught in California (which makes up for the eel I wanted to catch)* The variety was good as were the number of big opaleye that were caught and the legal-size sheephead. Both figures were undoubtedly up because of the ghost shrimp.

The variety: Cabrillo Mole (16 species) — opaleye, halfmoon, garibaldi, blacksmith, rubberlip seaperch, sheephead, rock wrasse, senorita, California scorpionfish, giant kelpfish, treefish, kelp rockfish, brown rockfish, kelp bass, jacksmelt and one new species—Mexican scad (looks similar to a jack mackerel).Green Pleasure Pier (8 species) —  opaleye, blacksmith, sheephead, rock wrasse, senorita, kelp bass, jacksmelt, island surfperch

Graybeard and a friend

Date: April 20, 2007 — From: gyozadude — Subject: Catalina; Prelude to PFGT 2007

The family and I arrived Thursday. Gordo, Graybeard, Mahigeer and the Skipper had arrived already and were fishing. I didn’t fish much and had dinner with the family, opting to get up earlier today to fish.

Well, we didn’t wake up that early, but Ken and Mahigeer were already on the Mole in the morning, and we bumped into Gordo on the way out. Ken and Hashem had picked up a whole bunch (hundreds of dollars worth) of Ghost Shrimp live bait from Paul’s Bait in San Pedro on Thursday. Most of it was in Gordo’s fridge and the bugs were still mostly moving except for a few of the ones that froze by accident on the top level of the fridge.

Mahigeer

The weather was wet -— raining cats and dogs during the morning, but finally stopping after lunch time. I saw Minnow Magnet and Rockin’ Robin’s pier cart early in the morning next to a breakfast restaurant in the heart of Avalon’s main strip, but couldn’t find them inside or out, but I was sure that was their equipment.

I was skeptical about ghost shrimp, but Wow! They work. Just ask my kids. My daughter’s new fishing rod with pink wraps and she got her first Opaleye. Big one too. My son had lots of lost fish too. All on ghost shrimp. and no need for hyper-thin leader. They  crave these shrimp and hit hard. Ken cleaned out a lot of great opaleye at the Mole. And all the while the rain was coming down, sometimes, hard. Not a bonito in sight, and I was getting disappointed that all the rushed work to build a 10-ft spinning rod for underhand casts would be wasted.

Mahigeer helped out lots with his net, and we used it a lot. It was small, compact, and the new weights on the base really gave it great support. The rain stopped after lunch some time, and the calm surface beckoned me to cast again for more bonito.

Meanwhile, DOMPFA, Red, Scooterfish, Jimbojack, Ark and others showed up on the ferries as they took turns to dock. Minnow and his friend showed up just as the bonito started to bite. Scooterfish dropped by as well and we started casting bobber and golf ball rigs. I got a limit of these in a fairly short time and decided to go back to the cottage and clean the fish and rest up for tonight’s dinner. Not a bad day so far. And if the weather holds, it looks like tomorrow will be even better.

Date: April 21, 2007 — From: gyozadude —  Subject: PFGT Catalina 2007

A great day and great weather for this 6th Annual PFGT. I met a lot of old fishing friends and some new ones as well. Fishing was pretty good through most of the day, and for my kids as other familiar pier rats, there were some “first evers.”

Watching the kids watch the water

Again, I limited out on bonito today — 2nd day in a row! They were a bit deeper today and not always on the surface. But they fell victim to a blue-pearl size 4W Buzz Bomb. I am impressed with the performance of the Cabela’s Fish Eagle II 10 ft. steelhead spinning blank and the Daiwa Exceler 3500 reel. They let me toss 1.75 oz. of metal underhand more than 60 yds. — more than far enough. I’m looking forward to ordering a few more FEII blanks while they’re still on sale. More stories from others to come, I certainly hope, and at this hour, some folks are night fishing and still making more stories.

Dompfabryan lands a kelp bass

Date: April 22, 2007 — From: gyozadude — Subject: Buffalo Nickel

The crew had headed out yesterday to fish the Pebbly Beach from 3pm until dinner, which was scheduled at 7:30 pm. I headed back to our room to rest up and clean my fish instead and start the freezing process.

Then my son got a hunkerin’ for more fishing, so around 6pm, we headed out and walked to the Mole and saw no one there. We kept walking toward the Buffalo Nickel and about halfway, there was a sign warning against Pedestrians walking further due to rock slides. I realized that this was going to be a problem and decided to call the restaurant to see if they had a shuttle/van that could pick us up out there. The line was busy for quite a while, but just as I made my 4th attempt to call, their new van drove by and I was able to flag the driver down and the two of us got a ride, which saved my already aching feet.

When I got off at the restaurant, I poked my head inside, even though it was only 6:30. But behold! The skipper, Dompfa and his better half, Ross, Rockn Robin, Minnow, Mahigeer (with Lion’s Milk Liqueur!) and others were already having dinner. The story was that they all fished for two hours and didn’t have a single bite, so they came in from the now colder breeze and had dinner early.

My wife and daughter were still on the old schedule of 7:30pm so I tried to call her on the mobile phone — but they had no service on that side of the island. But my son and I got into conversations so much that we just decided to start and place our orders and before we knew it, my wife and daughter showed up via Shuttle.

The service was pretty good at the Buffalo Nickel. I had the chicken/ribs combo with fries and even my son liked the ribs and had his fill. They also drove us back all the way to the Hermosa, and we paid to rent a couple of tables and chairs from them for the Mole for the PFGT event the next day, which they’d deliver, set-up, and then come back to pick up. Yes, they’re out of the way, but the food is reasonably priced, tastes good, and their service is great.

And yes, I gotta give kudos to Mahigeer for the “Lion’s Milk.” It’s a potent drink with strong licorice flavour that perks you up, even served just on the rocks. I think Mrs. Dompfa like the stuff as much as I did.

The junior division — Warren, ?, and Minnow Magnet

Date; April 22, 2007 — From: gordo grande — Subject: Catalina GT 2007

First and foremost… Adam and Rebecca…We missed you! The fact that we even had a Catalina GT without you guys is a tribute to how hard you worked through the years organizing all the previous events. You better be there next year! I’m writing this on Sunday evening, so I hope I get all the facts right. Please forgive me if I don’t.

Graybeard, Jimbojack and Gordo at the railing

I went out early this year, hoping to get as much fishing out of my system as I could before the big event. It’s a good thing, too, since the only luck that I had seemed to come on Thursday. I happened to run into Ken and Mahigeer on the 10:00 boat, and we found Graybeard already on the island when we got there.

Our first stop, after checking into the Hermosa, was the Green Pleasure Pier. I got immediately slammed on my very first cast with a double—a calico bass and an opaleye! The bite there was pretty consistent, thanks to the ample supply of ghost shrimp that had been generously donated to our group. After a while I wandered over to the Mole  by myself, where I connected with another few calicos, an opal-eye, a rock wrasse, and an almost legal sheephead. Dinner that night was at Antonios, and then off to bed for an early rise and another trip to the Mole.

Friday morning was wet, wet, wet!!!!!! The rain started as a drizzle, but it built and ebbed as the morning wore on. At times we were standing there in a deluge, but it didn’t seem to slow us down much. The bonito hadn’t really showed yet, but we were getting a slow pick on most of the other typical Catalina species.

Jimbojack with a halfmoon

We were joined by G-dude and family, who had come in the evening before, and by Jimbojack who arrived on one of the morning boats. By about noon I was chilled to the bone, and was the first to throw in the towel. All I can say is that most of my clothes were still wet when we packed up to leave Sunday morning.

Friday afternoon we made our trip out to the Buffalo Nickel. The road had been closed due to rockslides, so the restaurant agreed to shuttle us out there. Last year we caught a ton of fish out there at Pebbly Beach, and had them cook it up for us. This year we changed the game plan. We were still going to fish, but we would just order regular dinners at the restaurant, e.g. prime-rib, chicken and ribs, etc.

Good thing, because we were out there for two hours and never got a solid hit! We would have starved if we had been relying on our catch. It was still pretty darn cold as well, so we packed it in early and headed in to eat.

Unfortunately, I think Scooterfish and Steve0 got left behind at the Molee  due to some confusion over the transportation arrangements. Sorry about that guys. G-dude and family came at the scheduled time, but we quickly made room for them, and continued to enjoy some fine spirits and good conversation while they ate. Dinner was good, and we all survived the Raki that Mahigeer provided for us.

Put it back Scooterfish!

Saturday promised better weather, and the whole group slowly assembled. It was great to see Rockin Robin and Minnow Magnet, and their friends Dave and Dylan, Jimbojack, Scooterfish and SteveO (nice to meet you guys), Graybeard, Dompfa Ben, Brandy, Dompfa Pops and Dompfa Mom and other assorted Ackers, Redfish and Sylvana, Ark, Eugene and Mina, and of course the wonderful G-dude Clan, James, Dora, Warren and Amanda. Forgive me if I’ve forgotten anyone.

SteveO with a bonito

A pleasant surprise was the addition to our group of a gentleman from Long Beach by the name of Lee. He happened to start talking with my wife on boat trip out to the island Saturday morning, and she told him about our get-together which was already in progress. He stopped by as he got off the boat, and started chatting. I offered him the use of a spare rod, and that was all he needed. He stayed all afternoon, and ended up taking third place in the derby. He’s promised to stop by the website and post a few messages.

A special thanks to Paul’s Bait and Tackle in San Pedro, (I hope I got the name right), who generously donated several hundred dollars worth of ghost shrimp. We can’t thank you enough, and I can tell you that it worked wonders. They got bit on almost every cast, and really made the difference for us. I’m sure that Ken will correct me if I didn’t get the name right, but I couldn’t post this report without thanking you.

Finally, the best part for me was the fact that Mrs. Grande finally made it to her first Catalina GT, and she had a great time. She even managed to catch her first fish! She asked me to thank everyone for being so kind to her, and she promises to be at the next one as well.

Date: April 22, 2007 — From: Jimbojack — Subject: More Catalina

I left my house on a rainy Friday morning. I got a few miles down the freeway when I remembered that I forgot to grab the bait. I was having visions of my wife finding the plain, innocent looking Styrofoam boxes in the fridge and opening them up to discover the writhing masses of multi-legged lugworms inside, screaming, and throwing the contents all over the kitchen. So, I turned around and got the bait to continue on my way.

Because of the little delay, I arrived at the Catalina Express ticket counter just in time to see my 6:15 AM boat pulling out. Next ride wasn’t until 10:00 and I had the entire terminal to myself. A few minutes later, two guys with fishing gear show up. I had to inquire, and was finally fortunate enough to meet Scooterfish and SteveO. We talked a bit, and since we had three plus hours to kill went to check out the little finger pier near the terminal. Absolutely no bites, so we went back just in time to avoid the heavy rain.

It was pouring rain when we arrived at Avalon, but several of the guys were out at the Mole fishing anyway. I stowed my gear, put on my rain suit and joined in the craziness. Fish were plentiful as usual, and were very much liking the generous supply of ghost shrimp from Paul’s Bait & Tackle. After awhile, the rain stopped, and eventually, the sun broke through for a beautiful afternoon.

We met up at 3:00 for the shuttle over to Pebbly Beach. I was so looking forward to this since we had such heavy action there last year. What a disappointment! Not one fish was caught. I had a few weak nibbles. We left a little early and hung out at the Buffalo Nickel restaurant for a pretty good dinner and excellent company and conversation.

Dompfaben with a bonito

After dinner, Dompfa Ben and I fished th Mole for about an hour. It was pretty slow. Ben caught a pretty big rubberlip.

The derby on Saturday had some pretty good fishing for us, but it always has its slow times too. As usual, I always catch my best fishes before or after the tournament. I got a keeper sheephead, a huge halfmoon, rubberlip, blacksmith, and a few big opaleye. I avoided the usual plethora of smaller fish by sticking with bigger baits and bigger hooks.

Jimbojack and a small sheephead

The fishing on Catalina is nothing short of amazing. The whole PFIC group there every year are just good people that are good to hang out with. They welcome old friends and newcomers alike. I always leave wondering how soon I can come back to fish again. A huge heartfelt thanks to Ken, Dompfa Ben and Brandy for all their hard work. Thank you to Gdude and Dora for all the food and the absolutely beautiful spinning rod I won. Already looking forward to next year. Jim
PFGT cont’d

Date: April 23, 2007 — From: v6v6v6 — Subject: Catalina

Mina and I enjoyed our first PFGT which was also our first trip to Catalina. Just wanted to thank Hashem and Leslie for being sweet to Mina–she had a rough morning (throwing up twice on the boat, nipped by the pelican, admonished by Hashem–haha, just kidding). Also, a very special thanks to Dora and Amanda for taking Mina to the playground and treating her to ice cream! She mentioned Amanda several times to my wife when we got home.

Mina

The fishing was all too brief (ended up with two short calicos and two  bonito in four hours) but it was nice to be fishing amongst friends. My only regret is that I didn’t spend more time greeting everyone. Gyozadude, jimbojack, greybeard, and ark, it was nice to meet you. Also good to see Ross, Ben and his wife, and Ken again. Congrats to all the winners and hope to see you next year (or sooner)! Boarding the boat… nasty runoff from the LA River after the

DompfaBen and a bonito

Oh, the Dompha, he draws circles
Up and down the mole.
I’d ask him what the matter was
But I know that he don’t talk.
And the anglers treat me kindly
And furnish me with line,
But deep inside my heart
I know I can’t escape.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

KJ and a bonito

Well, Ken, he’s in the alley
With his pointed shoes and his bells,
Speaking to some French girl,
Who says she knows me well.
And I would send a message
To find out if she’s talked,
But the tackle store’s been stolen
And the tackle box is locked.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

GordoGrande and a treefish

Gordo tried to tell me
To stay away from that Catalina mole
He said that all those older fishermen
Just drink up your blood like wine.
An’ I said, “Oh, I didn’t know that,
But then again, there’s only one I’ve met
An’ he just smoked my eyelids
An’ punched my cigarette.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

Kelp at the Mole

Grandpa died last week
And now he’s buried in the kelp,
But everybody still talks about
How badly they were shocked.
But me, I expected it to happen,
I knew he’d lost control
When he built a fire on the mole
And shot it full of holes.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

GDude and a bonito

Now the GDude came down here
Showing ev’ryone his rod,
Handing out free tickets
To the gathering on the mole.
An’ me, I nearly got busted
An’ wouldn’t it be my luck
To get caught without a license
And be discovered beneath a trunk.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

Baitfish and a bonito

Now Baitfish looked so baffled
When I asked him why he dressed
With twenty pounds of feathers
Stapled to his chest.
But he cursed me when I proved it to him,
Then I whispered, “Not even you can hide.
You see, you’re just like me,
I hope you’re satisfied.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

Mahigeer waitin’ for a bonito

Now Mahigeer gave me two cures,
Then he said, “Jump right in.”
The one was Persian medicine,
The other was just plain Raki gin.
An’ like a fool I mixed them
An’ it strangled up my mind,
An’ now people just get uglier
An’ I have no sense of time.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

Rita and a bonito

When Rita says come see her
In her honky-tonk lagoon,
Where I can watch her waltz for free
‘Neath her Avalonian moon.
An’ I say, “Aw come on now,
You must know about my debutante.”
An’ she says, “Your debutante just knows what you need
But I know what you want.”
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

Metropole

Now the bricks lay on Metropole
Where the neon madmen climb.
They all fall there so perfectly,
It all seems so well timed.
An’ here I sit so patiently
Waiting to find out what price
You have to pay to get new balls and feathers
After losing them more than twice.
Oh, Mama, can this really be the end,
To be stuck in Catalina
With the bonito blues again.

Bonito

(With apologies to Bob Dylan and “Stuck Inside of Mobile With The Memphis Blues Again)

Posted by Mahigeer (Hashem Nahid) — I would like to start with thanking the Mr. and Mrs. Baitfish for their hard work. I would also like to thank all of the better halves, i.e. Mrs. Jones and my wife and others, who allowed us to go. I have been given the great news that this get-together is to be my yearly birthday present. (Though mine is in March).
Since I got the great news, I have already started shopping. (Golf balls, Bonita feathers, Megabait, and anything that!@#$%^& Bonita my hit.)
Now that you have tasted the Turkish national drink called RAKI, (pronounced like lucky), I will have plenty to go around next time. Also the kadayief will be plentiful. I am also thinking of bringing Persian and Turkish food to the potluck if I get a room with frig. And the logistic works out.
It was great meeting everyone, from Chris and Joey, to John and all of the nice people who made it possible to make this event such a fun time. I had such a good time that I talked my head off, and maybe bothered some people, for that I apologize. Since this was my first time (too bad I did not know about PFIC, before), I had too much of tackle that really was not useful and not enough of useful stuff. So I will be making a detail list of everything I needed and will share it if anybody who wants it.
I will also be working on setups to reduce loss of tackle to the kelp. Thank you all for allowing me to share this great time with you and thanks to the shutter bugs who made it possible to record forever this momentous Occasion.

Fish caught: Garibaldi on peas; White fish on squid; Sheephead on squid; Calico bass on anchovies; Smelt on Sabiki; Bonita Lost one due to line break, one due to mishandling of drag, several to perhaps not very sharp single hook. There is a Bonita somewhere with a hook in his mouth and a cast-a-bubble in tow.

Hope to see you sooner, if not, see you next year. Hashem — CHEERS English —  BE-SALAMATI Farsi — (to your health) SHARAFINIZE Turkish (to your honor) — LAKHAIM Hebrew — KOMPI Japanese — PROST German

Posted by orkspace — t was a pleasure to meet and fish with you Hashem. Thank you for your generosity and patience. We hope to fish with you again.

Orkspace (Dan) fighting a bonito

Posted by baitfish —Hey Hashem, I’m really glad you could make it to the PFGT, I will never forget your Bonito rant or your friendly conversation. You definitely fit right into the whole Catalina crew and I hope we can hook up before next years event, maybe do some fly fishing.

Posted by baitchucker — He gave me the chance to steal his BONITA!!! He came over to our side of the Mole, complaining about how he hadn’t caught a bonito, looking left and right… yakkity, yakkity, yak… “Oh, I haven’t caught a bonito,” blah, blah, blah…. AND not paying attention to his feather during his retrieve. While out in the deep blue yonder, I saw several flashes just behind his offerings. This happened with several of his casts. Twice, I was able to make out the fish smacking his feather without subsequent hook set. Twice, I alerted him that he had a bony on! Enough was enough… I couldn’t take it any longer. Mahigeer made yet another, long, cast. I waited to see the flash. I let the chase happen until his feather got near the weed line. I shot my spoon just past his feather…. did a lil’ dance and BINGO! Baitchucker 1… Mahigeer 0…  Sorry mang, just couldn’t handle it any longer! (hehehe)

Posted by mahigeer — Baitchucker; I remember meeting you, but cannot recall the face. Can you tell me where you are in the group picture? As to the incident you are describing, I remember talking too much and the hit and miss of bonies, but don’t recall anybody telling me where they were. I did see some flashes, but they disappeared too quickly. Maybe it’s the old man syndrome. Will get stronger contacts next time.

Posted by baitchucker — Mahigeer! We were on the other side of the gated-off portion of the Mole, next to the sheriff’s truck. Dompfa, Baitfish, Orkspace and I were all in the same area. It was later in the day, close to when we took the group picture. Our Ferry came to dock @ 4:00, so we didn’t get to talk much. I remember a flap on your baitcaster would come up every so often. Anyway, it was good meeting you. You’re a funny guy; I hope to hook up with you when we come back to SoCal this summer. As for the bonies…. I predict you’ll get’em before summer officially hits.

Posted by socaljerry — You sure made the trip for Jacob and me a whole lot of fun! We sure enjoyed your friendly open demeanor, and you kept us laughing the whole time we were there! Thank you!

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Although there were many stories that emerged from the 2006 Catalina Get Together, one was the fishing highlighted by a large number of bonito — for most. However, many other species were also present and everyone was able to enjoy the derby, the food, the prizes and the good companionship.

Arrival from Long Beach

A cruise ship was sitting just offshore from the Mole when we arrived.

A plethora of “Pier Rats”

Kyle and Minnow Magnet arriving

Green Pleasure Pier

GordoGrande and his mini-pole (with a mini-bass)

A young Kyle Pease with a sheephead

Cabrillo Mole

Ark and a sheephead

Baitfish (Adam) with another bonito

Ark and a variety of fish

Boys will be boys — Adam and Kyle

Kyle and a bonito

The Mole and xpostman

Warren Liu with a sheephead

Additional pictures — 5th Annual PFIC/UPSAC Catalina Get Together — 2006 (2)

SteveO and a bonito

Jimbojack with an opaleye

Here’s looking at you!

The Mole and UPSAC Banner

Omar, his son and a sheephead

Baitfish helping Orkspace land a fish

Ark and a bonito

Rita waiting for a bite

Another sheephead

The railing was crowded at times

How about some food?

As always, some delicious treats!

Next up was the raffle followed by the announcement of derby winners

Roosterqueen (Rebecca), Baitfish (Adam) and Warren Liu with mother Dora and sister Amanda in the background.

Rockin’ Robin and Minnow Magnet checking out the prizes

Adam calling out a raffle number

And the winner is…

Derby Results

Joramaca was the 1st Place Winner

Orkspace was the 2nd Place Winner

Minnow Magnet was the Jr. Division Winner

Last but not least — the Group Photo

The “Pier Rats” at the 2006 Catalina Get Together

But wait, many were not satisfied just to fish the Green Pleasure Pier or the Cabrillo Mole, many decided to also do a little surf fishing at — Pebbly Beach.

Rita and Kyle Pease with ocean whitefish

Mahigeer (Hashem) after an encounter with a whitefish. Be careful out there! 

After the fish were caught, they were cleaned, and then we went up the beach to the Buffalo Nickle Restaurant which agreed to cook our fresh fish and combine them with their food  to make our  dinners. Good food and decent prices (since we supplied the fish). Only problem, no one knew if he or she was getting the fish they had caught. Bummer!

But the conclusion to a fun filled day, one where people were able to match up faces with the names they had seen on the PFIC Message Board. New friends were made, the fishing was top notch, GDude and family provided their usual excellent food, and everyone seemed to walk away pleased with the event. On to 2007! 

Date: April 25, 2005 —To: PFIC Message Board — From: Ken Jones — Subject: Catalina 2005 — Another Catalina Weekend

Day 1 — Thursday, April 21, 2005 — As for myself, I took off at 3 a.m. on Thursday morning and headed south on I-5. I knew I was cutting it short since I had a reservation on the 10 a.m. boat but thought I could make it. Wrong! Great time until about ten miles from downtown Los Angeles when the traffic stopped. No way around it and when I pulled up at the Queen Mary Landing the boat was just heading out.

The Queen Mary next to the landing for the ferry

Downtown Long Beach across the bay

Missed it by ten minutes and for my efforts got to hang around the landing until 12:30. (Knowing what I now know, I could have gone and gotten some fresh bait but at that point I was just tired from the drive and had a leisurely lunch.)

Arriving at Avalon

Upon arrival at Catalina I checked into the palatial edifice know as The Hermosa Hotel, unpacked the gear, and headed down to one of my favorite piers. By 2:30 I was rigged up and catching fish but soon noticed a paucity of the fish I was seeking. Yes, there were fish there—as evidenced by the quick nibbles and resultant fish. But the numbers of not-a-bass that I was seeking were down. Part of the problem was that I did not have as good of bait as last year (variety) but I truly believed at an early point that the fishing variety itself would be down, at least at the Green Pleasure Pier, and my results over the next four days would unfortunately prove that true.

What was of fairly immediate interest was the appearance of a large black (giant) sea bass that swam into the waters by the pier several times that afternoon. It was only a few feet down in the water and its massive shape was impressive to say the least. We estimated the weight at 100+pounds but it may have weighed twice that much. People disembarking from the glass bottom boat said they had seen it on their cruise; we were able to see it from our perch at the end of the pier. A second creature, 4-5 foot-long, also made an appearance but it was a little deeper in the water and we could not provide a positive identification. It had the triangular shape of an angel shark and if so would have been up around 40-50 pounds in weight. Neither fish was hooked which is probably a good thing.

I was joined by Pierhead himself later that afternoon and was provided with the clear and coherent loquacity that is his mark. We swapped stories and caught fish until dinnertime at which point we retired to an excellent dinner at the Galleon Restaurant.

Results Green Pleasure Pier — 2:30-6:30 p.m. — 32 Kelp Bass, 16 Senorita, 5 Rock Wrasse and 1 Halfmoon

After dinner I decided to give the pier one more chance hoping for a big sculpin (scorpionfish) or a shark on the bottom (several horn sharks have been landed over the years). Alas, results were nill with the exception of a few bass which can always be found hanging under the pier. (Nightime action is always different here since the senorita and rock wrasse bury themselves and take a snooze at night—along with the sheephead.)

Results Green Pleasure Pier — 9:00-10:00 p.m. — 5 Kelp Bass

Day  2 — Friday, April 22, 2005 — I slept a little later than planned this morning but still managed to arrive at the pier by 7:30. The bait was ready but I wasn’t. I needed a cup of Joe so I followed the smell of bacon emanating from the adjacent stand. Caffeine—oh yea!  The bacon was awfully tempting but so was the fishin’ so the lines were soon in the water and the fish came over to say hello. Shortly thereafter I was joined Pierhead and not too long later Gdude showed up.

As the boats began to arrive from the mainland, we were joined by several additional and esteemed pier rats including Jimbojack, Joromaca, Graybeard, GordoGrande and eventually Kyle and Rita.  By then we had figured out which fish were where and what bait was working for each so it was all pretty easy. Unfortunately neither our giant bass nor our mystery fish made an appearance but we were so busy catching fish it didn’t matter.

Collage by GDude (James Liu)

GDude had discovered the attraction of large opaleye (the famous Ray Cannon’s favorite fish) and a school that ranged at times up to fifty fish or so made their tantalizingly presence known. They would head over to a bait, give it a quick look and be on their merry way. Shrimp, peas, bloodworms, squid: nothing worked. Then jimbojack volunteered some moss he had gathered that morning and the opaleye began to pay real attention. At least they made a few hits but were still wary. Finally Gdude switched to two-pound monofilament and he began to get bites. Unfortunately the lines, cables, structures and pilings that make up the end area provided perfect opportunity for the big button-backs to break off. I was finally able to hand line one of Gdude’s nice-sized fish up to the pier but the rest got away. They wouldn’t hit when he switched to four-pound test but were hard to keep out of the pilings with the two pound test. BUT, James had some nice and exciting fights.

Fishing with Graybeard (Harry Goddall)

While Gdude was experimenting on the opaleye the rest of us continued to catch the easier to catch species. It was good to have the opportunity to show Gordo a couple of tricks for catching the bass and it brings to mind an old Latin saying—a bove majori discit arare minor (the older ox teaches the younger how to plow). However remember, in this case there isn’t too much difference is age.  Finally people began to look at their watches and head off to wash up for the 8 p.m. dinner. Since I was approaching a 100-fish day I tried just a few more casts.  Finally hit the mark and retired shortly thereafter.

Results Green Pleasure Pier — 7:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. — 77 Kelp Bass, 9 Senorita, 7 Rock Wrasse, 4 Blacksmith, 2 Halfmoon, 2 Jack Mackerel and 1 Jacksmelt

Amidst a large and very enthusiastic gathering of pier rats at Antonio’s we had a great dinner. The UPSAC Board then retired to the Hermosa’s lobby for a meeting (and I want to thank Boyd, James, Adam, Rita, Ross and Ben who were willing to meet until past 11 p.m. that night after a hard day of travel and fishing). Spouses were ignored and the very tired group discussed matters of earth-shattering importance even though everyone planned to be up early the next morning fishing. Thank you guys (and a certain lady) for your hard work.

Jimbojack

Baitfish (Adam Cassidy), Roosterqueen (Rebecca Cassidy) and Anadromous

DompfaBen (Ben Acker), Brandy Acker and Jimbojack

Dora and Amanda Liu and Gordo Grande (Ross Kestin)

Day 3 — Saturday, April 23, 2005 — After dinner and the late-night meeting it was good to get a little extra sleep. Finally headed down to the mole where several people were already catching fish. Unfortunately the action remained slow for me for much of the derby hours just as the previous year. A little variety did show up but most of the fish were not too big with the exception of a couple of the sheephead and garibaldi.

Cabrillo Mole—8:15 a.m.–2:15 p.m.—south side — 7 Kelp Bass, 5 Sheephead, 4 Garibaldi, 2 Treefish and 1 Senorita

We had a decent crowd at the Mole and some decent but not great action.

The railing was lined with “Pier Rats”

DompfaBen and a bonito

Chaum with a hook up!

Baitfish with a sheephead

Jimbojack with an opaleye

A young Kyle Pease with a young sheephead

Rich Reano pulls in a bonito

A colorful giant kelpfish

DompfaBen with another bonito

Sheephead

Collage’s by GDude

About one o’clock James and Dora showed up with some delicious food!  

The awards were at 2:30 and once again there were many, many prizes — and happy faces.

Gordo Grande is the “king” of ticket salesmen

Adam calling out ticket numbers

Picking the tickets

PFIC Webmaster Rich Reano

DompfaBen

Last but not least was a group photo

Everyone again seemed to have a great time. Good companionship, good food, and good fishing.

After the festivities and picture taking it was time for a little more fishing and just as the previous year I changed sides of the pier and began to pull in the fish. The current was different, the water was now a darker color (with the sun being blocked in part by the mole itself), and the fish were far less wary. A school of halfmoon made it interesting along with the beautiful little blacksmith. Finally though I hit one of those toad opaleyes that had been making fun of us all day long. This one got hooked on a combo piece of shrimp w/one pea. After a scare as it headed into the kelp I finally got it where we could hand line it up. A nice fish that might have won the derby but the derby was long over. No problemo, it was just nice to get the fish — which was released.

Cabrillo Mole — 3:30-7:30 p.m. — north side — 26 Halfmoon, 16 Blacksmith, 2 Kelp Bass, 1 Jacksmelt, 1 Kelp Perch and 1 Opaleye—15 1/2” length, 12 1/2”girth

I finally headed back to the motel but decided to make a short stop at the Green Pleasure Pier along with Boyd. Still seeking out some sculpin, whitefish or sharks but alas just more of the bass. At least the company was good but we both were tired and decided to call it an early night.

Green Pleasure Pier — 7:50-8:50 p.m. — 9 Kelp Bass

Day 4 — Sunday, April 24, 2005 — Up at the crack of dawn for one last shot at the fish but bait was now limited and it showed with a relatively sparse catch of bass and one senorita. I kept thinking if I had just brought some ghost shrimp the sheephead would have made a better appearance but hindsight is, as they say, always 20-20.

Green Pleasure Pier — 6:15-7:45 a.m.  — 6 Kelp Bass and 1 Senorita

Kudos — The main people to thank for this annual gathering are Adam and Rebecca, the conductors of this little opera. Adam first proposed this trip four years ago and they have overseen the planning and execution ever since. It’s an amazing job considering the logistics involved. Obtaining the food and prizes and transporting them to Catalina is, in itself, a big endeavor. Combined with the willingness to spend time judging instead of fishing (a big matter in my book), require a deep commitment. I hope both understand how deeply our thanks run for their actions. A BIG THANK YOU is not nearly enough of a thanks.

A special thanks also has to go out to Mr. Gdude and his wife Dora who have annually provided the exquisite pot stickers for the lunch. It takes preparation, as well as hauling quite a bit of food and cooking utensils to Catalina to provide this treat. Thanks—again!

Many more people provided food, cash for the drawings, and help when needed. Unfortunately I do not have all the names but a BIG thanks goes out to all of you. Overall, there were close to forty people present and a final thanks go out to each of you. Some of you traveled several hundred miles to attend but your presence makes the event special. Gemütlichkeit is a German word that represents a certain cozy and relaxed atmosphere and that was what we had Saturday. Forty people in a synergistic, friendly gathering that seemed almost clan-like in feeling. Of course even those who were new to the gathering were seen as old friends since all have posted on the PFIC board. So, there were really no strangers even if some of the faces were new. Amazing! But I shouldn’t have been surprised since it’s now an annual occurrence!

I do want to make my annual apology for fishing too much and personally socializing too little. When I’m fishing I’m concentrating on the fish so sometimes I fail in my role as one of the hosts. Sorry!

Quite a few fish were caught but as I said the results were down from previous years, at least in regard to the Green Pleasure Pier.

It is hoped that additional PFIC posts will be found once the “old” message board is accessible.

Date: April 26, 2004; To: PFIC Message Board; From: Ken Jones; Subject: A Catalina Report 2004

Day One — Thursday, April 22, 2004. Following a quick 5 1/2 hour drive down from Lodi, I caught the 12 o’clock ferry to Catalina (which was late), arrived a little after 1 o’clock, and soon checked into the Hermosa Hotel.

Arrival in Avalon

The bags were soon put away and I got ready to fish. I lathered sun tan lotion on every conceivable inch of exposed flesh, and headed out to the pier. HOT and sunny but just a slight kiss of breeze—which was welcomed—and a slight ruffle to the water. Rigged up the usual rigging—two size 6 baitholder hooks and a one ounce torpedo sinker and was soon landing a few fish. Did try out a variety of baits: pile worms, ghost shrimp, squid, market shrimp, frozen peas, anchovies, and some exotics I had brought—garden snails and abalone trimmings. The latter two baits had been brought along in a attempt to solve the problem that always exists at the pier. You need small hooks and small baits to get the large opaleye but the smaller fish—senorita, rock wrasse, blacksmith, etc., will generally grab your bait first. You need to have bait that is tough enough to withstand the ravages of the smaller fish but still attractive to the opaleye. The tough little snails actually proved good for this task while the abalone didn’t seem to work as well at attracting the fish.

 Tossing one of many fish back into the sea at the Green Pleasure Pier

Fished from 2:30-7:30 p.m. —Results 61 Kelp Bass – but only three legal size fish, 15 Senorita, 11 Blacksmith, 7 Halfmoon, 5 Rock Wrasse, 1 Garibaldi, 1 Sheephead and 1 Jacksmelt

After a short trip back to the hotel to change into something a little warmer, I grabbed a snack, and then headed back to the pier where I was joined by Gdude and his brother-in- law.  As soon as the sun disappeared over the Catalina hills the species changed. That   was o.k. since I was seeking out some mackerel, sculpin, and possibly a shark or ray (generally horn sharks or swell sharks). Unfortunately the pelagics were absent, the bass bite had slowed, and the close-in waters were invaded by a hungry group of fat, gravid shinerperch which had the audacity to keep hitting my light line. Even though I switched to larger hooks, the shiners kept grabbing the bait (initially worms but then squid strips and/or shrimp). I was now also using a second pole, and a larger rigging for the sharks/ray, but my plans were thwarted by a group of maurading lobsters that seemed to grab hold of the squid bait as soon as it reached bottom. They were determined to frustrate me, and they succeeded. Disgusted by the shinerperch and lobsters, and a little tired out, I decided to quit early and head to the arms of Morpheus.

Dusk at the Green Pleasure Pier

Fished from 8:45-11:00 p.m. Results—13 Shinerperch, 12 Kelp Bass and 1 California Scorpionfish

Day Two — Friday, April 23.  Overslept and didn’t make my 6 a.m. fishing goal. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful morning with just a slight breeze. Unfortunately the water was a little too placid and crystal clear. Even worse the bite had slowed, due perhaps in part to a grunion run the previous night. Once again good variety but slow compared to the previous day.

The “Skipper’s Corner” early in the morning

Fished the GGP from 6:30-10 a.m. Results—19 Kelp Bass, 14 Rock Wrasse, 13 Senorita. 3 Halfmoon, 1 Sheephead—legal size and 1 Blacksmith.

Was joined during the morning by Joromaca and JimboJack after their arrival from the mainland. Nice to see their familiar faces and they too immediately began to catch fish.

Fished the GGP from 12:30-2:00 p.m. Results — 8 Senorita, 4 Kelp Bass, 2 Rock Wrasse, 1 Garibaldi, 1 Scorpionfish and 1 Blacksmith.

 KJ and GDude at the GPP

We all decided to visit the mole in the afternoon to check out the site of the next day’s derby—and to see if we could get some bigger fish. There was a gentle current and the kelp was avoidable. In addition we located some big opaleye (I got three derby-size fish, one on a garden snail, one on a pile worm, and one on a ghost shrimp). Not too many bass though and all the bass were smaller here than at the GPP.

The Cabrillo Mole and a couple of the “submarines”

Fished the Cabrillo Mole from  2:30-5 p.m. Results — 4 Senorita, 3 Opaleye, 2 Sheephead, 2 Halfmoon, 2 Kelp Bass, 2 Blacksmith and 1 Rock Wrasse

Collage — KJ and an oplaye (top left) — GDude (James) unhooking a fish (top right) —Baitfish (Adam) with an opaleye (Bottom left) — Baitfish (Adam ) bottom right.

However, the wind came up (as in TOO WINDY). After having the top of my cooler blow into the water (got it back with the help of JimboJack’s net), watching two bicycle racks blow over from the wind, and being just a tad bit uncomfortable, we decided to head back to the hotel before dinner. Following an excellent dinner with the fellow pier rats (around twenty) took a look outside at the same blustery conditions and decided to call it a night.  Gdude headed out to the pier and later said that the wind was much diminished by 10 p.m. or so and that the fishing was decent.

 A Catalina sunrise

Day Three — Saturday, April 24.  Had to get in a little GPP fishing before the derby at the Mole so got up early, woke up JimboJack, and we headed down to the pier. Was greeted by a reduced wind and a beautiful sunrise to the east portending another wonderful day.  Expected a possible sculpin or shark due to the early hour but instead found an ocean whitefish hitting my squid bait. Got a picture but it was still kind of dark so don’t know how it will turn out.   As usual in the early morning, the wrasses (rock wrasses and senorita) were asleep so initially the action was on bass. As soon as the wrasses awoke they began to attack the baits — rock wrasses hitting on the bottom, senorita at mid-depth.

Fished the GGP from 5:50-8:20 a.m. Results — 10 Kelp Bass 8 Rock Wrasse, 2 Scorpionfish, 2 Senorita, 1 Garibaldi – a large fish, 1 Ocean Whitefish – legal size and 1 Sheephead

 At 8:30 headed back to the room to put on shorts and the “official” t-shirt.

Joramaca with a garibaldi

At the Mole I set up next to Joromaca and JimboJack in the same spot where we had enjoyed success the previous day. Unfortunately the conditions were not the same in the morning: no wind, bright sun, an uncooperative current that kept the leaves of the kelp directly in the path of the lines.

Tournament time and slow fishing, a somewhat disconcerting chain of events given the fact that a photographer from Inside Sportfishing was scheduled to film the derby for posterity. But a nice turnout: Baitfish and Rebecca, Rich and Tammy, Ark and Josephine, Shorepounder and Cindy, Josh, his brother and dad, Pescador, OB PierRat, Joromaca, Jimbojack, the large Liu clan and a few people that I failed to get the names (sorry).

Top picture KJ, bottom picture center JimboJack

Fished the Mole from10 a.m. — 2 p.m. Results — 3 Garibaldi, 3 Kelp Bass, 2 Giant kelpfish, 2 Opaleye,  2 Blacksmith, 2 Senorita, 1 Halfmoon and 1 Jacksmelt

Pescador with a small bass

All in all the fishing was slow (except for Shorepounder and Cindy who used slip sinkers, size 16 circle hooks, and frozen peas to attract a number of good sized opaleye up to their waiting arms. But the company was great, got a chance to socialize with the fellow pier rats, and even got to partake of some of Gdude’s famous pot stickers once again. What more do you need? As for the photographer, his camera malfunctioned and the audio wouldn’t record properly. He took a couple of pictures of Cindy pulling in some opaleye but that was about it.

 A variety of fish were caught.

At 2:30 the derby ended, the prizes were given out (thanks again Inside Sportfishing—and Adam), and some final group pictures were taken.

Roosterqueen (Rebecca) and the GDude clan (Amanda and Warren)

Prizes: Ist Place—Cindy with a 2.5 lb. Opaleye; 2nd Place—Joromaca with a 2 lb. Opaleye; 3rd Place—KJ with a 1.6 lb. Opaleye. Several sheephead were close to these weights in size.

The winners and the group from 2004

 And, as the festivities wound down the tidal conditions changed and the fishing picked up.

Fished the Mole from 3-5:30 p.m.

6 Garibaldi,  5 Jacksmelt, 5 Blacksmith, 4 Senorita, 2 Kelp Perch, 1 Sheephead and 1 Striped Kelpfish

Shared a good meal that night with Adam, Rebecca, Shorepounder, and Cindy before retiring once again to the soothing sounds of Catalina at night.

Day Four — Sunday, April 25.  Got up early in order to get a little more fishing before the required 11 a.m. exit from the motel. Most of the worms were now gone as well as much of the shrimp and squid. Decided to use anchovies and, as usual, that meant more bass.

Fished the GPP from 5:50-9:50 a.m.

30 Kelp Bass,  4 Rock Wrasse, 4 Senorita, 2 Blacksmith, 1 Jack Mackerel, 1 Garibaldi and 1 Scorpionfish

Once again headed back to the hotel with memories that will last a long, long time.

Some lessons learned:

1. The species and their numbers at the Green Pleasure Pier have changed little over the past four decades. With the exception of more sheephead and (I believe) more sculpin (scorpionfish), the records are almost the same. In fact, my fish per hour and point totals are nearly identical to those recorded in the ‘70s. The biggest variance year to year is in the pelagic species—Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel and Pacific sardines. Some years finds all of these, some years none, and some years just one or the other. The bottom species are pretty consistent.

2. Late afternoon, and a LITTLE wind, seems to helps the fishing. One result is that the fishing after the derby is often better than during the derby.

3. The bass love worms, cut anchovies and mackerel, and strips of squid best.

4. The rock wrasse love worms fished on the bottom; worms hanging mid-depth may get you some bass, blacksmith and halfmoon but usually will result in senorita who seem both more numerous and more aggressive.

5. Halfmoon definitely prefer strips of squid.

6. An ungodly number of bass, many legal-size, hang UNDER the pier, but there are so many ropes, cables and other obstructions that it can be almost impossible to fish that area let alone land a fish if hooked in that area.

7. At night, bait dropped straight down or under the pier will almost assuredly attract a bug (lobster) and that often means lost riggings if you are using light tackle.

8. The opaleye are there but are more wary in the crystal-clear waters around the pier than at the mole. Light line and small hooks are your best bet along with peas as bait. The trick though is having the bait survive the onslaught of senorita, blacksmith and halfmoon until such time as the opaleye grab the bait.

Two logos were available for the 2nd annual Get Together

May 1, 2003; Memo To: PFIC Message Board; From: Ken Jones; Subject: Catalina Get Together #2

Green Pleasure Pier (Avalon, Catalina Island) – It was pretty much non-stop action for the pier rats who invaded the pier last Friday-Sunday. An assortment of fish on the bottom together with a mixture of mackerel, jacks and sardines on top if you got bored with bottom action. Personally, I fished the pier for 17.5 hours between noon on Friday and 9 a.m. on Sunday (had to take a few hours off to fish over on the Mole on Saturday). Results: 91 Pacific mackerel, 69 jack mackerel, 48 kelp bass, 32 Pacific sardines, 14 senorita, 7 blacksmith, 6 rock wrasse, 5 California sheephead, and 3 California scorpionfish. Also caught 2 lobsters and I lost I BIG spider crab that broke my light line as I tried to lift it up to the pier. Surprisingly, didn’t catch a single halfmoon or an opaleye although Sunday morning there were about a half dozen BIG opaleye teasing the anglers (me). They were down midway to the bottom and refused to bite anything I threw at them – ghost shrimp, bloodworms, cut shrimp, or even peas. They would swim up and eyeball the bait in the crystal clear water but refused to even take a quick nibble. Just a little frustrating to sit and watch them refuse my humble offerings. But what a great weekend. A highlight on the pier was Friday night when Rich and I saw a large sea lion speeding after something in the water. All of a sudden we see a large flying fish take off in the spotlights from the pier and it must have sailed 30-40 feet out in front of that sea lion. I’m sure the sea lion must have wondered what happened. The pier is a special place at night!

 Posted by Rich Reano — Sitting on the Catalina Express waiting to depart. The get together was awesome. Many thanks to Baitfish, the people and companies that donated gifts, and for the pier rats who came. Fishing was stellar. Complete reports will come I’m sure. Last night, saw a sea lion start chasing something then all of a sudden, a flying fish took off and glided a few hundred feet to safety. Pretty cool. I said to myself, you don’t see that every day. Well I did. Today, another flying fish took flight for safety but ended up flying right into a stack of Cobra Kayaks. His fate is unknown.

Pierhead (Boyd Grant) and a sheephead from the Green Pleasure Pier

Josh and a rock wrasse

Baitfish (Adam) and a sheephead

Roosterqueen (Rebecca) and a sheephead

Posted by gyozadude —I  arrived back home about 3 hours ago; it had been a long drive back from Long Beach and I’m now resting; a little sun burnt on the neck, face and tips of my ears, and happy to have made the trip and met all those Pier Rats. This second annual Catalina Get-Together was great. Lots of old faces and some new ones too. Met with Ken and some of his family, Rich, Josh and Family, Pierhead, Catfish and crew, Joromaca, Jimbojack, Baitfish and RoosterQueen and quite a few others. We arrived around 1:15 pm and unpacked our things and did some grocery shopping at the local Von’s supermarket. I didn’t bring any bait, and just to be sure I bought a half pound of prawns at Armstrong’s Seafood market and restaurant. But I later found that was simply a waste of money because bait was plentiful everywhere.

Fishing started for me around 5:30 pm. I met some Pier Rats already fishing the end of the Green Pleasure Pier. A glance down below showed swarms of thousands upon thousands of schooling mackerel. Some bigger macks were caught on spoons and lures. Smaller ones on small bits of bait, usually cut mackerel. I established a personal best of 6 consecutive macks the same piece of skin on the hook.

The The whole party met at Antonio’s Pizzeria and Caberet where we dined al fresco next to the water. After dinner, most of the folks walked back to the rooms to grab their gear to meet up for some night fishing. I missed out on most of the earlier action because I had to put my kids to bed, and my son wouldn’t sleep until midnight. By the time I headed out, Ken and Rich were heading back in. Some diehard anglers like Josh, Adam, and Jimbojack were still fishing though, pulling up lots of macks, some calicos, a couple of horn sharks, and quite a few lobsters, where were out of season and illegally caught on hook and line. There seemed to be a few poachers of the south east Asian/Filipino kind who occupied the corner and were pulling up many bugs and keeping them. Ken apparently had told them these were illegal, but they decide to keep them anyway. After I arrived and talked it over with Adam, the two of us confronted these folks and after a brief lecture from the two of us, they seemed to have thrown their lobsters back. I managed to hook into my first bug that night, which was fairly large, Adam tells me. It was tossed back after Adam took a photo. I hope to get it to prove it to my wife, who was sound asleep back at our rental cottage. Adam and I called it a night and headed back sometime around 1:30 am. It was a bit chilly, but most of all, I needed to get ready to wake up and cook  for the Get-Together in the morning.

The Cabrillo Mole

Posted by joromaca — I arrived early Friday morning and by 8 o’clock was busy fishing the pier only to be humbled by one of the locals (he must of been all of 12 or 13 years old) who proceeded to catch 4 or 5 legal calicos using cut swordfish. I tried using his method of a big hook and big bait but all mine were still short. Fishing at Catalina was like fishing in a huge overstuffed aquarium…many species and superb water clarity. I was later joined by baitfish and the skipper and throughout the day many other pier rats made their way to the pier. The fishing was excellent as was the company. Many thanks to all who participated and helped to make this a truly enjoyable experience…Oh yeah…as for the winner of the smallest fish at the derby…thank goodness I lost the coin flip!`

Joramaca and a sheephead at the Cabrilo Mole

My daughter Kim and a garibaldi

My son-in-law Dave and a garibaldi

My Danish “son” Martin with a giant kelpfish

Posted by jimbojack —I arrived at Catalina late afternoon on Friday. Went directly to the hotel, rigged up my gear and headed out to the Green Pleasure Pier before finally taking a breath. Rounded up all the usual suspects: Ken Jones, Baitfish, Roosterqueen, Rich, Josh and his family, and Joromaca. Later joined by Gyozadude. Lots of mackerel. Huge schools that would just hang out and wait for you to drop a hook. Shortly afterwards, we split up and got ready for dinner at Antonio’s. We sat outside right on the water, and of course thought it was a shame that we couldn’t fish while dining. Ken went over his outline for UPSAC. It was nice to sit and get to know people, but I could tell towards the end of dinner that I wasn’t the only one anxious to get back to fishing. Catfish (Tom) showed up with his GF and made the rounds before we adjourned to get back to fishing. Back out to the pier and it was crowded at the end. Same old macks. I fished in shallow for awhile until some people cleared out. I was dropping a bare Sabiki over the rail and picking up baby macks for bait. Caught one smaller calico and got constant hits from smaller fish trying to steal the bait. Later on, I moved out to the end where a group of poachers were keeping lobsters. I think we all caught plenty of macks as well as occasional calicos. Caught my first lobster as well as a horned shark. Fish are pretty much nonstop and you are hard pressed to keep two rods rigged and in the water. Gdude showed up later and sternly but diplomatically told the poachers about their illegal lobsters. They thought about it, discussed it and then threw them back! Way to go James! One by one, everybody made their exits for the night. I left at about 2:00 AM and left Josh to claim the title of The Most Hardcore.

Jimbojack fighting a fish

A collage of the Green Pleasure Pier and Cabrillo Mole by gyozadude

Marcus with a kelp (calico) bass

Grreenrag (Martin) with the winning derby fish — a moray weighing just over three pounds

Catfish (Tom) waiting for a bite

Baitfish (Adam) with a barracuda

Pierhead (Boyd) telling a story

An ocean whitefish

Baitfish (Adam) and a nice calico

The “Pier Rats” at the Mole

I’ve been coming to Avalon on Catalina Island for 51 years and it’s always a highlight of the year. However, just like the changing seasons, the face of Avalon reflects changes throughout the year. In the spring to fall seasons it can be crowded which, if you are trying to fish on the Green Pleasure Pier or the Cabrillo Mole, can mean less fishing space and less of the solitude which I enjoy while fishing.

In the wintertime, especially during a mid-week visit, the streets (and piers) can be almost deserted. That’s fine with me, since my visits are fishing visits and having the piers and the fish to myself is a good thing.

Thus a short trip toward the end of December 2017 proved to be most pleasant. The weather was of the shirtsleeve variety (at least during the day), the piers were uncrowded, (although there are always tourists checking out your fish and wishing they had a fishing pole), and the fish were biting.

In addition there were the signs of Christmas, the Casino had its Christmas lights, businesses and homes were lit up for the season, and a Christmas tree greeted visitors smack dab in the middle of the beachfront area on Crescent Avenue.

A morning view of the Casino

It was a short two-day visit but one that was long enough to reenergize the batteries of life: it was good for the soul.

Lover’s Cove

Day 1, December 20, saw a very early morning trip to Long Beach with my friend Hashem and a smooth ride to Avalon on the 6 AM ferry. Upon arrival at the Cabrillo Mole we noticed an angler casting for bonito—and shortly thereafter a hook-up. Since Hashem was going to do two main things on the trip—fish for bonito at the Mole and hoop net for lobster at the Green Pleasure Pier, we went over to check out the action.

An angler on the Cabrillo Mole

Yes he had been getting strikes and the fish were nice sized. As we talked he hooked up and fought a good-sized bonito until a sea lion, decided it too wanted a meal of the bonito. The saying “thrill of victory and agony of defeat was epitomized in the fight with the fish. What started as a good fight ended with the angler pulling in about half of a bonito after the attack of the sea dog. But he would hook and land more bonito. Hashem was pleased, he was planning on fishing for bonito early Thursday morning and now knew the fish were present and that they were good-sized.

The “Sea Dog” got it!

But we moved on to the Green Pleasure Pier since Hashem had about a half a ton of equipment (he really follows the 7 P’s—Proper Prior Planning Prevents Piss Poor Performance) and didn’t want to unload it at the Mole and then repack and unload it again later at the pleasure pier. This of course was necessitated by the closure of the Cabrillo Mole to lobster hooping due to the regulation changes in the past few years. You can still hoop at the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP) but not at the Mole. Hashem had come to the GPP opening night and limited out on the bugs and was hoping there might still be a few around for his Christmas dinner.

The Green Pleasure Pier

As for myself, I just wanted to catch some fish and as usual was mainly seeking out variety and possibly something new to add to my list. I would see good variety, a few good-sized fish, and although not catching a new species, did see a new species that to date is stumping the experts that I have contacted (with pictures). So, all in all a very good visit even if these old bones were really tired by the time we left Thursday night.

As for the fishing: Wednesday was spent at the Green Pleasure Pier. I had brought three rod/reel combinations, one for the light tackle fishing I would mainly be doing, one a little heavier combination for hopefully some bigger fish, and a third fairly heavy rod/reel that I planned to use for sharks at night when Hashem was hooping.

A Sheephead

I fished from 8-1:30, 2:30-4:45, and 5:15-6:45 a total of 9.25 hours and caught 78 fish. Most of the fish were of the smaller or mid-size variety—the wrasses, smelt, perch-like opaleye and garibaldi. Unusual was the paucity of small kelp bass fish that are sometimes so common in spring and summer that it is hard to keep them off your hook. What was high was the number of sheephead; usually most days at the GPP will see only a few of the big-toothed fish.

A “Mr. Limpet” kind of look — a Sheephead head

Unfortunately the largest fish of the day, a sheephead I estimated at 6-7 pounds was lost. I had cast out a piece of shrimp on my light line and hooked the sheephead while Hashem had gone to the store and had not as yet taken out his net. I got the fish up to the pier and a boy I had been talking to, one who said he worked as a “pinhead” on Sportfishing boats in Santa Barbara, said he would go down to the adjacent float and grab the fish. He grabbed the line and half way to the dock the fish gave a jerk and was off. Although Hashem had followed the 7 p’s I had not and had lost the biggest fish I would hook on this trip.

One interesting creature this day was a California Two-Spot Octopus, the second I have caught from the pier; they are always an interesting and somewhat gnarly catch.

California Two-Spot Octopus

Although the bass were few, they were bigger than normal. Most of the bass were 10 or more inches and I caught fish of 12-½ inches, 13 ½-inches, 13 ½-inches, and 13 ¾-inches. However, the new 14-inch minimum length meant all of the bass were returned to grow a little bigger.

I had brought four main baits—three boxes of lug worms, a little over a pound of market shrimp, two containers of frozen mussels, and a half pound of baby octopus (for the sharks).

As usual, if you fished a size 8 hook baited with worm and cast out and made a slow retrieve you would get a wrasse on almost every cast. That is you would get a fish or lose the bait to the bait stealers. As for the rock wrasse, they are a favorite fish on light tackle. Most are under a half-pound but put up a very scrappy fight for their size, fighting all the way up to the pier.

Rock Wrasse

Given that ghost shrimp, my favorite bait for sheephead and opaleye, was unavailable, I had brought back-up bait—market shrimp and mussels. The middle rod, the one that was cast out and used with a Baitrunner feature, was rigged with size 4 hooks and baited with the shrimp and mussels. It caught several of the sheephead, opaleye and garibaldi (but several were also caught on the worms). Whatever the case there was steady action throughout the day.

An Opaleye

Since Hashem could not hoop net for the lobsters until the evening, he was concentrating on catching opaleye (and he’s become an expert on the good fighting fish). He uses a bobber, a long opaleye leader, and frozen peas for bait.  He also uses a chum mixture to attract the opaleye—a mix of bread crumbs and peas that he would throw out every so often to attract the opaleye (and there were many). Hashem out fished me on the opaleye at least 2-1.

By 4:40 the sun was going down and the bite on the “diurnal” fish stopped (the rock wrasses and sheephead sleep at night) while the bass action would pick up.  Unfortunately the wind also picked up and I found that I was much colder than I had planned even though I had brought what I thought were warm clothes. I think it was age and tiredness from the long day more than anything but my plan to fish for sharks until the late hours while Hashem hooped would not survive the wind chill. I was dragging by 7 PM and headed back to the hotel. Hashem continued to hoop but with nary a lobster he too would stop much earlier than he had planned. My take for the day:

43 Rock Wrasse
12 Jacksmelt
8 Kelp Bass
5 Sheephead
5 Opaleye
4 Garibaldi
1 Ocean Whitefish
+ 1 California Two-Spot Octopus

The Casino

Crescent Avenue during the Christmas season

Day 2, December 21, saw our usual outstanding breakfast at “Jack’s” (although later than usual) before heading out to the Mole. Although Hashem had planned to be at the Mole by 7 AM casting for the bonito, he too was tired out and decided that the fishing would follow breakfast.

I fished from 9:40-12:40, 1-3, 3:30-4, and 4:30-5:30, a total of 6.5 hours and this day would catch 69 fish, a very nice variety with 13 different species.

A brown-colored Giant Kelpfish

A reddish-colored Giant Kelpfish

I started out fishing at the south end of the Mole casting down around the rocks (or under the Mole) with my light rod baited with worms. I was quickly rewarded with a number of garibaldi (which I didn’t want), a striped kelpfish, a small giant kelpfish, and an opaleye. I soon added a number of sheephead to the mix. The action would continue with about one fish every 8-10 minutes while I was there.

Sheephead

At 1 PM I headed down to the other end of the Mole to fish with Hashem who was primarily casting for bonito. I stated fishing down by the shoreline rocks while occasionally I would move out to the main railing. The variety was good with a number of different species.

Brownish-colored Striped Kelpfish

Reddish-colored Striped Kelpfish

About 2 PM I caught a largemouth blenny, a new species to the Mole that I had also caught in June. It would be followed by a second largemouth blenny later in the day.

Largemouth Blenny

One fish I wanted to catch was a blacksmith. I had caught over a hundred in my visits over the years but for some reason had not taken a good picture of one. I didn’t catch one most of the day and when I spotted a fellow angler catching one asked if I could take a picture. He said sure. Not long afterward I caught five in fairly rapid succession.

Blacksmith

Unusual for the day was the number of garibaldi. They are illegal to keep but at times it’s hard to keep them from grabbing bait when you are fishing for opaleye or halfmoon. For some reason they were very, very numerous this day and acted hungry as they grabbed bait after bait. All were safely returned to the water but I’m not sure how to avoid them without using large hooks and then you miss the other fish.

An adult Garibaldi and a juvenile Garibaldi with its blue spots

As the day when on I took several pictures of fish even though I already have a library of such pictures.

An Opaleye and an Opaleye head

The most interesting fish of the trip  was one I did not catch. I stopped fishing at 5:30, went to get a hot chocolate, and then put everything away prior to our departure on the late ferry. I noticed a nearby angler, the only other angler on the Mole, had caught a fish in the darkness and I went to see what it was. I suspected a type of rockfish or a salema, both of which hit well at the Mole after it is dark.

Unknown fish — picture #1

The fish turned out to be a fish that was new to me (and a quick check of my reference book did not reveal a picture). My first thought had been of a tiny, juvenile giant sea bass (it was only 5-6 inches long) but the fin structure was wrong. My next thought was of a was a popeye catalufa, the fin structure was about right but the color was wrong. We talked the angler into letting us take a couple of quick photos before returning the fish to the water. That fish helped make my trip even though I didn’t catch it.

Unknown fish — picture #2

[Upon returning home I sent a copy of the pictures to Milton Love at UC Santa Barbara for identification but he said he'd never seen it before so he was sending the pictures out to his network of friends to see if anyone could identify it. (He also said he wished I had gotten the fish for study.) In time, the best guess among various fishery biologists was that it was a Pacific Glasseye, scientific name Heteropriacanthus carolinus. I would eventually do a post on the fish — http://kenjonesfishing.com/2018/09/pacific-glasseye/ 

By 7 PM we were lined up awaiting the ferry—and wishing we had a few more days in Avalon. It wasn’t to be but hopefully a few more trips are still in the future.

My take for the day:

24 Garibaldi
13 Kelp Bass
9 Sheephead
5 Blacksmith
4 Rock Wrasse
3 Striped Kelpfish
3 Giant Kelpfish
2 Opaleye
2 Largemouth Blenny
1 Halfmoon
1 California Scorpionfish
1 Señorita
1 Jacksmelt

A sign on the walkway to the Mole that seems appropriate for the Christmas season.

Garibaldi in the island waters; the colors present an almost surreal scene

Derby Day — Saturday, July 18, 2015

“Well, first time that’s happened.” Only once in 14 years had the PFIC/UPSAC Catalina Get Together experienced rain and never during the day of the derby. That would change. What started as a beautiful day saw clouds emerge followed by thunder, lightening and a steady rain from tropical hurricane Dolores. The combination resulted in an abbreviated James Liu Memorial Derby at the 2015 Catalina Get Together.

Hashem Nahid and a little rain (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Although the derby was shortened by about an hour no one seemed to mind. It was just too wet to keep fishing and no one knew when the rain would stop. A couple of times the rain seemed to slack and then here it came again*. Finally things calmed enough for a quick awards ceremony and it was over — although when the rain did eventually stop everyone went back to fishing.

The Derby results: 1st Place — Hashem Nahid; 2nd Place — Rita M;

1st Place — Hashem Nahid (Second photo, showing the perpetual trophy, courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

2nd Place — Rita Magdamo (Second photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

3rd Place — Christina Ballard (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Honorable Mention — Arcadian (Second photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Jr. Division Winner — Kyle Pease  (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

KJ, Kyle, Rita, Arcadian, Christina, and Hashem

Unfortunately it was a very small crowd this year and one of the main questions was if this would be the “last” Get Together? The sentiment was no! Given the fun and good companionship exhibited during the weekend all agreed that they at least would be ready for an event in 2016. Luckily the fishing had been good with the variety including bonito, kelp bass, sheephead, opaleye, garibaldi, halfmoon, sculpin (scorpionfish), grass rockfish, blackperch, blacksmith, rock wrasse, senorita, giant kelpfish, moray eel, ocean whitefish, sand bass, kelp perch and even one horn shark. Some big fish and some small fish, and just enough fish to keep things interesting.

Nevertheless, of note was the absence or near absence of several species that are commonly encountered at the Mole and GPP. We saw only one senorita and one blacksmith and did not see a single Pacific mackerel, jack mackerel or jacksmelt. The water was warmer than usual and the kelp canopy normally found at the Mole was almost missing. Both conditions affect the type of fish found in local waters.

• The average rainfall at Avalon for the month of July is .01 inches. Derby Day saw .33 inches of rain at Avalon including .23 of an inch between 12:40 and 2 PM, the scheduled end of the James Liu Memorial Derby.

The rest of the story:  Thursday — July 16, 2015

Hashem and myself took the first ferry over from Long Beach at 6:15 AM. We wanted a full day of fishing at the Green Pleasure Pier (GPP) and we got it. It was the usual mix of fish including an amazing number of small kelp bass.

The Green Pleasure Pier sits in the middle of the harbor surrounded by boats

The Casino

Amazing too was the number of medium to large-size opaleye, amazing both in their number and their unwillingness to take a bait. It wasn’t unexpected since the opaleye at the GPP always seem more wary than those at the Cabrillo Mole aka the Mole. It’s one reason that James Liu finally started fishing a 2-pound fluorocarbon line when fishing at the GPP. We did not have 2-pound fluorocarbon nor did we have any ghost shrimp, my preferred opaleye bait, but we did have frozen peas.

A medium-size opaleye (Picture courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

The opaleye would swim over, take a perfunctory look at the peas, and them swim off. The water was crystal clear and their behavior was easily observed. Nevertheless we did manage a few opaleye as well as the other usual species. Somewhat unexpected was a sand bass, the first I have taken at the GPP.

The Green Pleasure Pier as seen from the beach. (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Green Pleasure Pier — 7/16/2015 — 8:45 AM-3:30 PM

Species—Kelp Bass, Rock Wrasse, Sheephead, Opaleye, Ocean Whitefish, Sand Bass.

During the summer this dock is situated out at the end of the Green Pleasure Pier which reduces, somewhat, the amount of water open to fishing.

Looking toward shore

Boats clogged the harbor

Looking toward the Cabrillo Mole where we would do most of our fishing

The beach as seen from the Green Pleasure Pier (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

A male rock wrasse

Female rock wrasse

Small ocean whitefish

Sand Bass

We knew Rita and Kyle were coming over on the 3:00 PM ferry so we decided to check into the motel and then head out to the Cabrillo Mole. The Mole would be a little different, minus the usual thick canopy of kelp due to the warm water that kills giant kelp. It made fishing a little easier (especially when bringing in bonito) but also meant less of the kelp-loving species such as kelpfish. In years past we have seen giant kelpfish, spotted kelpfish, striped kelpfish, and crevice kelpfish; this year saw one lone giant kelpfish. However, there were still plenty of fish.

A female sheephead beginning the transition into being a male (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Sure enough Rita and Kyle were on the afternoon ferry and we talked to them and agreed to meet up for dinner at Antonio’s. We got in a few hours of fishing before dinner and once again saw a nice variety of fish.

July is a busy time of the year and the harbor sees boats coming and going at all hours

Cabrillo Mole — 7/16/2015 — 4:30-7:30 PM
Species—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Halfmoon, Sheephead, Sculpin (Scorpionfish)

California scorpionfish aka sculpin

A beautiful juvenile Garibaldi; the blue spots disappear as it reaches maturity

This young lady was on a fishing trip with her dad and she caught several nice fish including this Kelp (Calico) Bass

Friday — July 17, 2015

Friday and Saturday would be dedicated to fishing the Mole and we were at the Mole early in the morning Friday hoping to see some boiling water and schools of bonito. Greeted by a beautiful sunrise, we would not be disappointed. Fishing in many ways mimicked the 2006-2010 Get Togethers, all of which had seen a plethora of bonito along with numerous other species.

Boats and the Avalon Casino as seen from the Mole

Sunrise at the Mole

Sunrise at the Mole (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Sunrise at the Mole (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Sunrise at the Mole (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Lovers Cove sits to the right of the Mole

The goal getting up early was to catch some bonito. Mission accomplished! (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Good morning Kyle (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Rita and a little bonito aka bonehead (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Kyle and a second bonito

Hashem and a bonehead

Rita and a nice Kelp (Calico) Bass

Kyle and a Horn Shark

She’s not too sure she wants to touch the bass

Time for a little watermelon break! And, after affixing a piece of watermelon to a hook, it was proven to be a poor bait. (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Bonito aka bonehead aka flasher aka bongo and aka Mr. Bojangles to some PFIC’ers

Action was steady throughout the day with bonito, some large and some small, moving in and out. Most of the fish were the usual species although the total included a grass rockfish, a species fairly uncommon at the Mole.

Grass Rockfish

We stopped at 5:15 PM to get dinner with Rita, Kyle, Arcadian, and Christina (who had arrived on the afternoon ferry).

Cabrillo Mole — 7/17/2015 — 6:30 AM-5:15 PM
Species—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Sculpin (Scorpionfish), Rock Wrasse, Halfmoon, Bonito, Sheephead, Opaleye, Senorita, Kelp Perch, Grass Rockfish, Blacksmith

After dinner Hashem and I headed back out to the Mole. For me it was a search for a moral eel. I had caught one once from a partyboat but never from a pier and what better place than Catalina? It would be an unusual night. I was using two rigs, one a rod equipped with a Sabiki and a float, which was floated out to sea in hopes of attracting a flying fish. The other was a medium-heavy combo loaded with 50-pound line and squid for a moral eel.

The Sabiki would yield no fish. The heavier rig saw pretty steady action. Fishing inshore, near the rocks, I dropped down the squid and had an immediate hit from something big, something that immediately went under the Mole and quickly was hooked onto seaweed or possibly a piling. It was big, it was strong, and I couldn’t even turn it. The heavy line was tangled up with something and I could feel the large fish but the rock/piling/seaweed eventually won the battle and I wasn’t too happy.

However, the next drop produced a moral eel, the elusive species I have been seeking for the past five years or so. So that quest was over — finally. Not 20 minutes later Arcadian who was fishing a short distance away would pull up another moral eel and some kids down the Mole would do the same.

I finally got my moray eel — although a small one! (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Arcadian’s moray eel  (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Nighttime was “bass time” (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Next up was a legal 15-inch kelp bass followed by another legal kelp bass and then a chunk of squid yielded a large blackperch. Blackperch on a big chunk of squid on a 3/0 hook? It never happens but it did. Soon after I pulled in a large opaleye on the same squid. Opaleye at night on squid? Just a little strange. Several additional legal-size bass showed up, as well as a small spiny lobster, before we headed back to the hotel hoping to be fresh for Saturday and the derby.

A small lobster, out of season, too small, and caught on a hook and line; it was returned safely to the water

An early morning view of the harbor and the Green Pleasure Pier (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Cabrillo Mole — 7/17/2015 — 9:00-11:45 PM
Species—Kelp Bass, Moray Eel, Blackperch, Opaleye, Halfmoon

Derby Day — “Rainy Saturday”

Saturday was finally Derby Day and hopes, as always, were high. Would we see a yellowtail or a triggerfish like last year? Would we see continued excitement from the bonito? What strange fish might bring something new and interesting to the Derby? And, would the rain, predicted at 20% hold off until another day? As it turned out, the last question would be the most relevant. It did rain but after the rain the fishing would begin anew.

Here comes the rain! (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

People TRIED to stay out of the rain. (Photo courtesy of Hashem Nahid)

Rita and a bonito

KJ and a bonito

A Giant Kelpfish, a fish that comes in several colors depending upon its habitat

Rita and a good-sized bonito (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

What’s a little rain? (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

Hashem and Kyle share some hot chocolate after the rain (Photo courtesy of Rita Magdamo)

A golden Garibaldi, California’s state marine (saltwater) fish

Fish were plentiful

Yep, surreal-like

For myself, Saturday yielded the following fish:

Cabrillo Mole — 7/18/2015 — 8 :00 AM-9:00 PM (off and on)
Species—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Halfmoon, Sheephead, Sculpin (Scorpionfish), Rock Wrasse, Opaleye, Giant Kelpfish

Between the strange weather, the successful search for an eel, the bonito bite, and the fair number of usual species, it was one more delightful visit to Catalina, one I hope to repeat next year.

The Catalina Ferry getting ready to head back to the mainland

Something for the “Stats Geeks” out there — some statistics regarding the Green Pleasure Pier and the Cabrillo Mole:

I keep records of all my fishing trips and record the fish and approximate size. That’s then broken down into fish per hour and points per hour figures.

Based upon the 2002-2015 Catalina Get Togethers, this year saw the second highest points per hour figure from the Green Pleasure Pier at 44.4. The highest was in 2014 with a 45.9 figure and the third highest was 2003 with a 40.3 figure. The lowest years were 2012 with a 14.4 figure and 2010 with a 14.8 figure.

These figures are comparable to a trip I made in 1977 when I fished the pier three times and averaged 34.2 points per hour. [And there was no Mole in 1977.]

The Cabrillo Mole though was a different story even though bonito were present this year. The points per hour figure for the Mole was only 9.87, the second lowest for 2002-2015. The lowest year was 2006 which saw a 9.00 figure. The highest years were 2011 with a 25.4 figure and 2014 with a 21.7 figure.

However, the Mole is the place to go for variety (I now have 32 different species from the pier) and it has a better chance than the Green Pleasure Pier for pelagic species such as bonito. Almost all of my single day, single pier records for species have been at the Mole.

Sixteen species trip:

Cabrillo Mole, April 26, 2013—Jack Mackerel, Kelp Bass, Blacksmith, Senorita, Kelp Rockfish, Garibaldi, Halfmoon, Opaleye, Grass Rockfish, Pacific Mackerel, Treefish, California Scorpionfish, Sheephead, Pacific Sardine, Black Seaperch, Spotted Kelpfish

Fifteen species trip:

Cabrillo Mole, April 27, 2013—Kelp Bass, Pacific Mackerel, Jack Mackerel, Kelp Rockfish, Blacksmith, Treefish, Black Seaperch, Sheephead, Garibaldi, Senorita, Halfmoon, Opaleye, Pacific Sardine, Grass Rockfish, Spotted Kelpfish

Cabrillo Mole, September 19, 2010—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Senorita, Jack Mackerel, Jacksmelt, Opaleye, Halfmoon, Sheephead, Giant Kelpfish, Treefish, Blacksmith, Striped Kelpfish, Rock Wrasse, Black Seaperch, Finescale Triggerfish

Fourteen Species trip:

Cabrillo Mole, July 17, 2015—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, California Scorpionfish, Rock Wrasse, Halfmoon, Pacific Bonito, Sheephead, Opaleye, Senorita, Kelp Perch, Grass Rockfish, Moray Eel, Black Seaperch, Blacksmith + 1 Spiny Lobster

Thirteen species trip:

Avila Pier, August 3, 2013—California Lizardfish, White Croaker, Speckled Sanddab, Brown Rockfish, Vermilion Rockfish, Yellowtail Rockfish, Bocaccio, Cabezon, Kelp Greenling, Blue Rockfish, Onespot Fringehead, Barred Surfperch, Jacksmelt

Cabrillo Mole, April 27, 2012—Kelp Bass, Pacific Mackerel, Jack Mackerel, Pacific Sardine, Senorita, Blacksmith, Opaleye, Treefish, Sheephead, Cabezon, California Scorpionfish, Kelp Rockfish, Halfmoon

Cabrillo Mole, April 16, 2011—Blacksmith, Jack Mackerel, Kelp Bass, Halfmoon, Pacific Mackerel, Ocean Whitefish, Senorita, California Scorpionfish, Salema, Treefish, Kelp Rockfish, Brown Rockfish, Pacific Sardine + 2 Spiny Lobster

Cabrillo Mole, April 23. 2010—Kelp Bass, Opaleye, Senorita, California Scorpionfish, Garibaldi, Rock Wrasse, Sheephead, Jacksmelt, Halfmoon, Kelp Rockfish, Treefish, Giant Kelpfish, Spotted Kelpfish

Twelve species trips:

Cabrillo Mole, April 25, 2010—Sheephead, Garibaldi, Kelp Bass, Opaleye, Halfmoon, California Scorpionfish, Kelp Perch, Rock Wrasse, Kelp Rockfish, Senorita, Jacksmelt, Black Seaperch

Cabrillo Mole, April 24, 2009—Kelp Bass, Garibaldi, Giant Kelpfish, Opaleye, Halfmoon, Spotted Kelpfish, California Scorpionfish, Sheephead, Treefish, Senorita, Jacksmelt, Kelp Perch