The barracuda counts exploded for Long Beach-based landings on Friday, which led to high hopes for the 33 anglers who boarded the twilight on the Native Sun.
We would be heading down to an area not yet fished before on Fishing with Phil twilight trips this year, much further down than where we’ve been fishing. In addition, the technique has changed from winter style to summer style – we’ve been fishing finbait for the bass, with the recent influx in lively and decent sized anchovies.
Many anglers tied on jigs as we were expecting barracuda. But when we got to the area, we saw something different. Captain Gabriel Ceballos took note of many thick worm shapes on his meter.
“Just nothing but sand bass – all sand bass,” said Ceballos. When asked if they were migratory sand bass, he replied, “That’s what I’m guessing.”
Thus begins our summer sand bass season. Unfortunately, for all the great marks, the fish just weren’t eager to bite. But Gabriel had plans to get us on some fish, so we anchored up nearby and the fish gave an immediate response.
Not only sand bass but quality calicos gave an immediate response to the great anchovies on our hooks. Most were fishing dropper loops to fair success, but Gabriel said most of these fish were suspended. He suggested some anglers fish light line and a light slider.
The current wasn’t too bad so some anglers were able to get away with that technique. Nice calicos and a few grumpy, ready-to-spawn (with yellow under their eyes) sand bass took baits on the way down. If you hit bottom, quality sculpin, small cabezon, swell sharks, and even more bass awaited you. The bass fishing really was good in true summer form.
For those that were looking to bag a jackpot, concentrating on barracuda is usually a sure thing during a bass bite. David Akamine and Young Kim bagged some trophy sized barracuda during the evening.
Our final count for Friday evening was 26 calico bass, 79 sand bass, 4 barracuda, and 14 sculpin for 33 anglers. It was a great night on the bass with even better marks on the meter. We thought it won’t be long before something busts wide open.
Live from the Native Sun – it’s Saturday night! Fifty-two anglers boarded the boat on a heavier-than-usual load for a Fishing with Phil trip. Would fishing go wide open after seeing all those marks on the meter the night before? Well, bass weren’t wide open, but something else sure was...
From the first baits and jigs that hit the water, it was evident that this trip would turn out to be the best Fishing with Phil twilight trip thus far in 2012. Raul Martinez of Long Beach fished a dropper loop to start out, of which he’s not a huge fan. All of a sudden, he landed a very nice barracuda. Seeing that he got bit so fast, he switched to the iron – as did a lot of anglers – and the barracuda went on the chew, full rack.
It was pure pandemonium on deck as shouts of “Gaff!” echoed up and down the rail, in between the jig fishermen bouncing trophy sized gar. The fishing was so fast and furious that a few of the Fishing with Phil staff joined in to help out the Native Sun crew. Fifty-two anglers in a wide open barracuda bite is a lot to handle. But everything worked out fine and a multitude of quality barracuda came over the Native Sun’s rail. The barracuda sure were piling up...
Everything you threw at the barracuda was bit – jigs large and small, bait, plastics – fishing was WIDE OPEN. In between the barracuda frenzy, a few quality bass came up on jigs, both calicos and sandies. Christina Ho and Sergio Fainsztein show off a nice sand bass taken on a jig below.
Meanwhile, Hector and Manuel Medina, two kids from Carson, were getting
coached by Philip Friedman himself. By the end of the evening, these two youngsters rounded up a nice haul of barracuda. From not fishing at all to landing quality barracuda in no time speaks volume about Phil’s amazing ability to introduce kids to our great sport.
Another angler on fire with the barracuda was Ron Hobbs. Fishing the jig, he landed several big barracuda, and then some, including some quality bass as seen in Phil’s great video.
The great thing about this trip was that novice anglers were having a blast catching fish alongside the veteran anglers. It’s always a thrill for the Fishing with Phil staff to see the smiles on faces of anglers who have never been out on the water before. A big part of Fishing with Phil is to give anglers a positive experience, and I believe we did so this weekend.
By the end of the evening, the 52 happy anglers on board had landed an impressive 336 barracuda, along with around 30 nice bass. This truly was a Fishing with Phil trip to remember!
After the great trip Saturday evening, both Gabriel and Phil had hoped that we would get another big load to get back on the gar Sunday night. Unfortunately, we were to make it out with a light load Sunday evening. Having work on Monday could be the reason why many people could not make it.
But nevertheless, Gabriel was going to try to get us back on the fish. We headed back down to the same area and anchored up. Gabriel didn’t meter a whole lot of barracuda, but the bass were definitely there. Some of us fished a light slider with an anchovy, and the bass started to suspend and bite our baits on the way down.
There’s truly nothing like slowly letting your bait out, and then getting hit all of a sudden. While winter time leadhead and squid fishing is fun, this is a whole other type of fun. Bass fishing is just fun, period!
Later on in the evening, the barracuda made an appearance. Several anglers got bit on jigs. However, the “Fidos” (California Sea Lions) crashed the party and started stealing the hooked barracuda. The ones we did land were bigger than the night before – bragging size barracuda.
Raul Martinez got a couple nice ones including a jackpot contender. Phil Bass caught a large barracuda on 10-pound test and a smoke sparkle grub. He said he timed catching one right based on the sea lion’s activity. While they were eating and tossing around barracuda, he made a cast, got hooked up, and was able to land a trophy gar on light line.
Our opportunity with the barracuda slipped away with the sea lions around us, so we went back to concentrating on bass. By this point, the bass were near the bottom. Dropper loops with anchovies were the ticket, and several nice bass came aboard, including this one caught by Sergio Fainsztein.
You may notice the yellow under the eyes on Sergio’s fish. That’s an indicator that they are getting ready to spawn or are presently spawning. Same goes for golden cheeks in calicos. It’s a good thing to see whenever you’re fishing bass.
Meanwhile, Christina Ho was slaying the bass on a dropper loop. She was on fire with the hot rig for the night, a dropper loop and a lively anchovy. Below are Christina along with Sergio Fainsztein, Captain Gabriel Ceballos, and Deck Boss Thomas Dunkerley with a handful of nice bass.
After a great evening on the bass, Gabriel called it and we headed for the barn, wrapping up an epic weekend on the Native Sun. Thomas weighed up jackpot, and, all of a sudden, Raul bags another JP! Excellent job!
Our final count for Sunday evening was 22 calico bass, 53 sand bass, 24 barracuda, and 17 sculpin for 14 anglers.
The bass wormed up on the meter, yellow under their eyes, them hitting the jigs and plastics along with wide open gar fishing in the middle all tell us that summer is here. So come on out Fishing with Phil, because it’s always a thrill when you’re Fishing with Phil and learning new techniques to make you a better angler. Go Fishing with Phil this week!
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