Mission Bay, 10-15-15
 

Launched just before 6am with Landwhale from the Ski Beach ramp. It cloudy, breezy, and there was off and on drizzle. Not much current and clear. Water Temp was 74. Boat traffic was minimal until about 8am. Then the skiers came out.

We fished our typical areas, but never got into a decent bite. Lots of short biters, few fish boated, and no legals. Finished with only 6 a piece.

Best bait was a 5" Paddlerz in Sexy Mullet. Second best was a 4" Paddlerz in Bad Shad. Also caught one on New Penny. All baits were fished on Warbait Slayer heads in either 1/2 or 3/8 ounce. Got hammered a few times on a skirted bait, but couldn't set the hook fast enough. And that was pretty much the theme of the day. Fish were biting really quick with no follow up hits. Hot Sauce for flavor of course. At 10am I got swamped by a couple of ski boats and called it quits. Back was hurting anyways.

Part of the reason for the back pain is that I'm finally wearing a pfd and it's taking some getting used to. It hinders my hooksets also. Got to change how I do it and I don't like change :(

Do you have a high back PFD? I cant fish with the low back ones.

Thanks for report by the way.

It's a Hobie with a very thin back. Just not as thin as nothing.

I googled the hobie thin back and it still looks like a lot of material. I wear a NRS Chinook that is mesh along the back and I was surprised that I don't really notice it. Good on ya for giving a PFD a go.

@ 6'2" 325lbs my options are minimal. I'm getting a bike tomorrow though, and hopefully I can shed some excess weight.

you don't look 325, I thought you were wearing a PFD last week but I guess I wasn't paying attention. I got swamped pretty good by that guy in the skiff last week but my boat drains pretty fast. I'll let you know how we do at Newport tomorrow, hopefully a good report.

do you ever fish for Sand Dabs in Mission Bay? I hear if you find the right spots you can clean up on them and they are great eating. I've been riding my bike but my knees aren't happy about that yet. It takes about 1/4 mile for them to loosen up. My wife's min pin runs with me so we both get some exercise.

I was wearing a pfd last week. Only my second time. I've never fished for dabs. I don't like eating fish, so it's never crossed my mind to fish for them.

I'm a little nervous about my knees too. But, I think I can build them up. My ankle is all jacked up, so walking is out for now.

Ed, I damaged my right knee when I was fifteen, so I only had to wait 50 years to get it replaced, then they did both knees in 8 months, tough recovery but I am so glad they are done. I just need to remember to jump out of my boat in deeper water, I can't get up from a low sitting position. Sorry to hear about your ankle, leg problems are a bitch. You don't eat fish? That explains why you are big on catch and release. I am a fish eater, so I'm big into the circle of life routine, catch a few to eat but release most of what I catch. I need to try Mission Bay pretty soon, see if I can figure out the sand dab and corvina down there. Let me know if you are fishing next friday if you want some company.

I can't believe you weigh 325 can you post a current
Picture of yourself Ed
I don't think there are any sand dabs In mission bay
Don't you use the blade? That's about the top bait in mission
Bay although i hear the umbrella rig has been pretty
Good lately

Dang, you guys need to put a handicap sticker on your boats :D

Good on wearing the PFD, I don't even notice I have one on anymore. It's almost like a nice warm ThunderShirt - I feel safer with it on.

I do have a higher back seat now than before, so I might look for another PFD with an even higher back. A lumbar support helps a lot to fill in the area below the PFD back.

I'll let you know about Friday. I'm sure we'll fish. Just not sure where.
didn't think about the blade. Usually if the Paddlerz don't get them nothing will. The umbrella seems like cheating. No pics, because then there'll be proof :)
Yeah, definitely a bunch of gimps. I've had back problems since I was 9, and ankle and knee problems since I was 18. Ageing doesn't help things. Once I loose some weight i'll look for a new pfd.

Having a new radio and a pfd definitely helps me feel safer.

Newport 10/17/15
 

Launched a little after 6am, it was my wife's first trip on salt but she did fine. Newport is a great place to start someone out as long as you don't get run over by the boat traffic. We spent a little time casting white flukes on scrounger heads, my wife caught a spotty right away but it was short. We headed towards the mouth of the bay trolling krocodiles with no luck then we spent the morning fishing around the bait barge. Lots of fun catching greenbacks but the sea dogs were heaving into the stealing business. My wife's first greenback got grabbed by a dog and played tug of war until the fish broke in half. The dogs were aggressive, I landed one mackeral and the dog came right along side my yak and snotted me, then it started bumping my boat from underneath. I saw one guy catch a really nice calico, maybe 5 pounds, I caught some short calicos if I could get my bait to the bottom. All in all a good day, about 6 hours on the water, saved a couple of mackerals for cat food, the macs are fun on light tackle. Most importantly my wife had a good time.

I have a handicap sticker on my boat, it says "Ascend FS12T"

Good job getting the wife out, Harry. I stay away from the bait barge because of the aggressive sea lions. That, and the 5 billion macks. But, I'm sure the cats are happy :)

hey, it was fun just catching fish, she has been getting skunked at Silverwood Lake lately. I talked with one guy who told me the calico's had just quit biting when we rolled up. The bait boat had made a drop off and the calico's were on a feeding frenzy. It all pretty much died down by the time we got there but we did see one guy catch a big one. I couldn't buy a bite down where we fished last week. Laura caught one spotty down there but the bite was real slow. I could see catching some macks and going out by the kelp beds for something bigger.

Hey, you both had fun. That's all that matters. Was your wife stoked?

She was Ed, the only flaw with the day was my DIY kayak cart. One of the wheels locked up(probably why it was so hard to pull last week), but that meant we had to carry my yak up to the gate. That yak of mine weighs way to much. I can see what the problem is with my cart and will fix that while I'm looking for wider sand wheels.