Spitfire 3-29-08

[Ricky-Ray]

My girlfriend’s sister wanted to go fishing during her college spring break and she asked me if we could go. How can I say “No” to a fishing trip right? A few of her friends also wanted to go to since they had never been saltwater fishing before but none of them hand any gear. I told them no problem I’ve got plenty of rods and reels for them to use (the benefits of being a tackle ho…LOL). Original plan was to head up to Ventura and jump on the Coroloma and do some deep water rockfish. Given the weather forecast I changed the game plan to the Spitfire out of Redondo Sport fishing.

Saturday morning got to the landing and already there beating me to the landing by a few minutes was Jason Lopez, and a few other Spitfire regulars. Once the doors opened up we got our tickets and validation and then headed over to the launch ramp of the Spitfire. Today’s crew would be Captain Craig Sawa running the boat along with deckhands Morgan and Bobby and Derrick cooking up some fabulous food in the galley.

Once we packed the boat with a huge load of 24 anglers we made our way over to the bait receiver to get some sardines to go along with some frozen squid that was already on the boat. Once we got our bait we were out of the harbor and made our way up to what Craig called the South Bay area for some rock fishing and maybe finish up the day with some bass fishing if time permitted. The ride up was a gnarly one. I lost count how many times Craig had to throttle down on an oncoming wave. This was one heck of a roller coaster ride. Once we got there the current was moving at a pretty fast pace. 12 oz sinkers or more was needed if you wanted your bait to stay right in front of you. The fish were just a bit suspended so 6-10 cranks off the bottom and you were in the zone for the fish. Today it seemed like they were lock jawed on the plastics and the jigs, even the Berkley gulp baits that I normally use that would be a killer on them couldn’t get bit. It seems like the bait they wanted most was live fin bait and then maybe squid. Guys that were using fin bait were bringing up nice size groupers along with some reds, and chuckleheads, a few chili peppers and other misc rockfish and also some sand dabs here and there.

Craig was doing a great job of resetting the boat all the time and always put us on the fish. It wasn’t exactly wide open but for the guys that fished hard you would get limits or near limits. Morgan and Bobby were doing a great job deck handing, getting people’s fish in the sack and getting everyone out of tangles. I have to give Morgan credit I was in one heck of a tangle and he spent almost 10 minutes getting my line untangled so I wouldn’t have to cut my line and lose almost half my spectra.

By mid morning/afternoon sun had come out and the seas had calmed down and it turned into a beautiful day. Craig made a run to Venice and finish the day off with some sand bass fishing. The bas seemed a bit lock jawed also and the water in that area had turned green so we only managed a few bass. After a bit of sand bass fishing Craig called it a day and made the run back for home. The swells had started picking up again so it was a bit of a bumpy ride back but we make it back safe.

Thanks to the crew of the Spitfire for getting us on the fish, always a great time on the Spitfire.
I only managed to take a few pictures, but you’ve all see what a rockfish look like. LOL

[Sea Hag]

Thanks for the report.... Rough ride, huh Ray?

How many people were "chumming"? ; )

I'm heading out Friday night, and if the forecast holds we should be able to make it this time!!!

[PADavid]

Nice report - looks great!