Fishing Fun

1-31-21

Hello fellow anglers!  I hope all is well with you.  I was able to fish five times in the last two weeks, or since my last blog.  I spent a day fishing in the ocean, 3-night sessions fishing at Silverwood, and one short session at Hesperia Lake.

Last night (1-30-21), I met up with some fellow anglers at Silverwood Lake to try to get on the Striper bite.  We met up at 7 PM at the Vista Point Turnout #1, and we hiked down to the shore.  Not sure of what the night would bring, I felt confident as I limited out on Stripers two days before.

As we approached the spot, I immediately tried the lure which worked last time and caught a fish relatively fast.  I was working a Rat L Trap Lure, and when I hit my first Striper, I let the others know to tie that specific lure on.  In a few hours, I had seven Stripers with one of the Striper weighing 2 & ½ pounds.  My buddy was able to land three Stripers, his first Stripers of the year, and the other fisherman landing one Striper right before packing up.  Walking away from that area, we had a total of ten Stripers altogether.  The night was definitely a good one, as we had about a solid three hours of fishing.

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Fortunately, I was able to go on my first ocean fishing trip of the year, a ¾ day trip out of Davey’s Locker in Newport, CA.  The start time was 6 AM, and the end time was 6 PM, minus the driving which was about 3 hours to drive both ways, so I knew it would be a long day. The fishing was great, as the two anglers I was with and I had caught our limits of Sculpin (5 each).

The 8-ounce weights seemed to be working better than the 10-ounce weights on the dropper loop rig, as we were fishing in very deep water.  As the Sculpin bit my strips of squid, I could feel a tap on my rod and would wait before I set the hook.  I thought by doing this it would provide more time for the fish to really latch on.  That technique actually worked well for me on those fish because rather than pulling too quick and removing the hook from the fish’s mouth after sensing the first strike, by giving them some more time I landed more fish than I missed.  Also, during this time, I landed a very small Rock Bass.

My arms were rather worn out from constantly reeling my pole in.  The captain announced that the Sculpin limit had been reached, so he took the boat to a new location which was pretty slow.  Switching to another location, pretty much the last spot of the day to fish before heading back, I caught a relatively small Kelp/Calico Bass on a dead whole squid on a Carolina Rig.  This day, was one I will not forget for a long time, as it has been about 5 years since I have been out on a boat to ocean fish.

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On 1-21-21, I was able to get out to fish for a couple of hours.  Not much action was going on, but I was able to land one Striper on a jerkbait at the Vista Point Turnout #1 location.  Avoiding the skunk was my goal!

I traveled to and fished at Hesperia Lake which I haven’t been to in some time.  I was able to fish for Trout for a couple of hours.  I tried Power Trout Worms, Powerbait, and jigs with no bites at all.

Overall, in the past two weeks of fishing, I was able to land a total of 25 fish (18 Stripers, 1 Rock Bass, 1 Calico Bass, & 5 Sculpins).  17/18 Stripers caught were landed on a good ol’ Rat L Trap Lure.  Until next time, tight lines!!!